Science & the Skeptics

Instruments, studies and the explanations that solved many cases. 23 entries, oldest first.

FG-013 · 1948–1951Unresolved

The Green Fireballs

Bright green lights over America's most secret nuclear sites. They came back in the 2026 files.

Los Alamos and Sandia, New Mexico
FG-016 · August–September 1951Probably explained

The Lubbock Lights

Texas Tech professors watched V-shaped groups of soft lights glide over town.

Lubbock, Texas
FG-020 · July 2, 1952Probably explained

The Tremonton Film

A Navy photographer's 16mm film of shining dots, reviewed by the CIA. It reappeared in 2026.

Near Tremonton, Utah
FG-022 · January 14–17, 1953On the record

The Robertson Panel

The CIA asks top scientists if UFOs are a threat. Their answer shaped policy for decades.

Washington, D.C.
FG-023 · 1955On the record

Blue Book Special Report No. 14

The first big statistical study of UFO reports, and an argument still running.

Battelle Memorial Institute, Ohio
FG-025 · 1952 – 1970sOn the record

APRO, NICAP and the Civilian Investigators

Ordinary citizens organize to investigate UFOs and push the government for answers.

Wisconsin, Arizona and Washington, D.C.
FG-026 · July 17, 1957Unresolved

The RB-47 Encounter

A spy plane's crew, its electronic sensors and ground radar all tracked something for hours.

Over Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas
FG-029 · February 20, 1962Explained

John Glenn's Fireflies

The first American to orbit Earth sees thousands of glowing specks dancing around his capsule.

Earth orbit, aboard Friendship 7
FG-035 · March 1966Probably explained

Swamp Gas in Michigan

Two words from an astronomer led Congress to its first UFO hearing.

Dexter and Hillsdale, Michigan
FG-040 · 1966–1969On the record

The Condon Committee

An independent scientific study concludes UFOs are not worth further study. Its own data was messier.

University of Colorado, Boulder
FG-041 · July 29, 1968On the record

The 1968 House UFO Symposium

Scientists, including Carl Sagan, argue about UFOs before Congress.

U.S. Capitol
FG-049 · 1977 – presentOn the record

GEIPAN: France's Official UAP Office

The longest-running government UAP office in the world publishes its cases online.

CNES, Toulouse, France
FG-057 · January 8, 1981Unresolved

Trans-en-Provence

The French government's scientists analyze a landing trace in a garden.

Trans-en-Provence, France
FG-058 · 1981 – presentUnresolved

The Hessdalen Lights

A Norwegian valley where strange lights are studied with permanent instruments.

Hessdalen Valley, Norway
FG-066 · September 15, 1991Explained

The STS-48 'Zigzag' Video

Shuttle video shows dots drifting, then darting away after a flash. It became a UFO classic.

Space Shuttle Discovery, in orbit
FG-072 · 1997On the record

The CIA's Own UFO History

A CIA historian says spy planes explain many 1950s–60s sightings.

CIA, Langley, Virginia
FG-077 · March 5, 2004Explained

The Mexican Air Force Infrared Video

A drug-surveillance plane films eleven glowing objects on infrared. They didn't move.

Over Campeche, Mexico
FG-079 · 2000–2013On the record

Britain's UFO Files & Project Condign

A secret UK intelligence study and decades of Ministry of Defence files go public.

United Kingdom
FG-083 · 1997 – present (video: November 11, 2014)Explained

Chile's CEFAA and the Navy Helicopter Video

Chile's official UFO committee releases a Navy video it calls unexplained. Online analysts found the airliner.

Chile
FG-084 · January 2015Disputed

Gimbal & GoFast

Two Navy infrared videos that changed the conversation, and the analysts who picked them apart.

Off the U.S. East Coast
FG-086 · July 2019Probably explained

The 2019 'Pyramids' & Omaha Sphere

Leaked Navy footage of triangle-shaped lights and a sphere that seemed to enter the sea.

Off Southern California
FG-093 · 2022–2023On the record

NASA's UAP Study

A panel of scientists asks how to study UAP properly. The answer: better data.

NASA Headquarters
FG-097 · 2023 – presentOn the record

AARO's Annual Reports

Year by year: more reports, mostly balloons, drones and birds, and a handful of puzzles.

The Pentagon