List of UFO cases
From the 1561 celestial phenomenon depicted in the Nuremberg broadsheet of Hans Glaser through the modern radar-gun-camera era, reported incidents involving unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) have accumulated into a substantial historical record; notable UFO cases investigated by governments, military organizations, and independent researchers are compiled below in chronological order.
| Date | Case | Location | Type | Key witnesses / investigators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1561-04-14 | 1561 celestial phenomenon over Nuremberg | Nuremberg, Germany | Mass sighting; aerial objects depicted in woodcut | Citizens of Nuremberg; documented by Hans Glaser |
| 1566-08-07 | 1566 celestial phenomenon over Basel | Basel, Switzerland | Mass sighting; black spheres in the sky | Citizens of Basel; documented by Samuel Coccius |
| 1897 | Mystery airship wave | United States (multiple states) | Wave of airship sightings | Multiple civilian witnesses |
| 1942-02-25 | Battle of Los Angeles | Los Angeles, California, USA | Anti-aircraft engagement against unknown aerial objects | US Army, civilian witnesses |
| 1946 | Ghost rockets | Scandinavia (primarily Sweden) | Wave of rocket-shaped object sightings | Swedish military; civilians |
| 1947-06-24 | Kenneth Arnold sighting | Mount Rainier, Washington, USA | First widely publicized modern UFO sighting; nine disc-shaped objects | Kenneth Arnold |
| 1947-07-08 | Roswell incident | Roswell, New Mexico, USA | Crash retrieval; debris field and alleged bodies | Jesse Marcel, Mack Brazel, Walter Haut |
| 1948-01-07 | Mantell UFO incident | Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA | Fighter pilot death while pursuing UFO | Captain Thomas Mantell |
| 1950-08-15 | Mariana UFO incident | Great Falls, Montana, USA | Film footage of two bright objects | Nick Mariana |
| 1952-07 | 1952 Washington, D.C., UFO incident | Washington, D.C., USA | Radar-visual sightings over US capital; fighter jets scrambled | USAF radar operators; multiple pilots |
| 1957-11-02 | Levelland UFO case | Levelland, Texas, USA | Multiple vehicle electromagnetic interference events | Multiple independent civilian witnesses |
| 1961-09-19 | Betty and Barney Hill abduction | Lincoln, New Hampshire, USA | Abduction; missing time | Betty and Barney Hill |
| 1964-04-24 | Lonnie Zamora incident | Socorro, New Mexico, USA | Close encounter; egg-shaped craft and occupants | Police officer Lonnie Zamora |
| 1965-12-09 | Kecksburg UFO incident | Kecksburg, Pennsylvania, USA | Crash retrieval; acorn-shaped object | Multiple civilian witnesses; military recovery team |
| 1966-04 | Westall UFO encounter | Westall, Melbourne, Australia | Mass sighting by school students and staff | Over 200 students and teachers |
| 1967-10-04 | Shag Harbour incident | Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada | USO; object entered water; military recovery attempt | Multiple civilian and RCMP witnesses; Canadian military divers |
| 1973 | 1973 UFO wave | United States (multiple states) | Nationwide wave of sightings and encounters | Multiple civilian and military witnesses |
| 1975 | Travis Walton abduction | Snowflake, Arizona, USA | Abduction; five-day disappearance | Travis Walton, six co-workers |
| 1976-09-19 | Tehran UFO incident | Tehran, Iran | Military engagement; jet fighter systems disabled | Iranian Air Force pilots; confirmed by DIA report |
| 1978-10-21 | Valentich disappearance | Bass Strait, Australia | Pilot disappearance during UFO encounter | Frederick Valentich (missing) |
| 1980-12-26 | Rendlesham Forest incident | RAF Woodbridge, Suffolk, England | Multi-night close encounters at US/UK air base | Col. Charles Halt, SSgt. Jim Penniston, A1C John Burroughs |
| 1986-11-17 | Japan Air Lines flight 1628 incident | Alaska, USA | Commercial pilot radar-visual encounter with giant craft | Captain Kenju Terauchi |
| 1989–1990 | Belgian UFO wave | Belgium | Mass sightings of triangular craft; F-16 radar lock | Belgian Air Force; thousands of civilian witnesses |
| 1994-09-16 | Ariel School encounter | Ruwa, Zimbabwe | Mass sighting and close encounter by schoolchildren | 62 schoolchildren; investigated by John Mack |
| 1996-01-20 | Varginha UFO incident | Varginha, Minas Gerais, Brazil | Crash retrieval; creature sightings; military involvement | Multiple civilian witnesses; Brazilian military; investigated by James Fox |
| 1997-03-13 | Phoenix Lights | Phoenix, Arizona, USA | Mass sighting; V-shaped formation over city | Thousands of civilian witnesses including Governor Fife Symington |
| 1997-11-07 | 1997 UFO sighting over Long Island | Long Island, New York, USA | Mass sighting of bright objects | Multiple civilian witnesses |
| 2004-11-14 | USS Nimitz encounter (Tic Tac) | Pacific Ocean, off Baja California | Carrier group radar-visual encounter; transmedium object | Cmdr. David Fravor, Lt. Cmdr. Alex Dietrich, Kevin Day, Chad Underwood |
| 2006 | O'Hare International Airport UFO sighting | Chicago, Illinois, USA | Disc-shaped object hovering over terminal; punched hole in cloud layer | United Airlines employees; witnesses on tarmac |
| 2007–2017 | Aguadilla USO/UAP | Aguadilla, Puerto Rico | Infrared video of transmedium object entering water | US Customs and Border Protection crew |
| 2008-01-08 | Stephenville UFO sightings | Stephenville, Texas, USA | Mass sighting; large silent craft; radar confirmation | Multiple civilian witnesses; radar data confirmed by MUFON |
| 2014–2015 | Roosevelt encounters (Gimbal/GoFast) | Eastern seaboard, USA | Multiple pilot encounters; FLIR footage | Lt. Ryan Graves and squadron pilots |
| 2019-07 | USS Russell pyramid UAP | Pacific Ocean, off San Diego | Pyramid-shaped objects filmed over destroyer | USS Russell crew; confirmed by Department of Defense |
| 2023 | Kirksville, Missouri UFO incident | Kirksville, Missouri, USA | Multiple witness sighting; investigated by MUFON | Civilian witnesses |
See also
- List of UFO sightings involving military personnel
- List of anonymous alleged UFO witnesses
- UFO crash retrieval
- UFO disclosure