selected ufo cases
Famous / Classic / Major Cases
Dozens in Stephenville and Dublin, Texas report seeing large UFO
January, 8, 2008 - Stephenville, Texas, United States
Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it. Locals swear that it was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object's lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane. People in several towns who reported seeing it over several weeks have offered similar descriptions of the object View full report
Source: Associated Press, January 15, 2008 ID: 1156
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Group Sighting, Witness Photo, Silent, Police, Witness Sketch, Mass Sighting
Multiple witnesses observe disc-shaped object over Chicago O'Hare Airport
November, 7, 2006 - Chicago, Illinois, United States
At approximately 16:30 p.m. (Central) on Tuesday, November 07, 2006, Federal authorities at O'Hare Airport received a report that approximately a dozen witnesses were observing a small, round disc-shaped object, metallic in appearance, which hovered over Gate C17 at that airport. View full report
Source: NUFORC (National UFO Reporting Center), Peter Davenport, Director ID: 958
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Rotary/Spin Motion, Pilot/Aircrew, Group Sighting, E-M Effects
Mexican Air Force Pilots Film 11 UFOs
March, 2004 - Over Campeche state, Mexico
Mexican Air Force pilots filmed 11 unidentified flying objects in the skies over southern Campeche state in Mexico, a Mexican Defense Department spokesman confirmed. A videotape was made widely available to the news media. The lights were filmed using infrared equipment. They appeared to be flying at an altitude of about 3,500 meters (11,480 feet), and allegedly surrounded the Air Force jet. View full report
Source: Associated Press / Jaime Maussan ID: 263
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Radar, Military, Pilot/Aircrew, Photo, Multiple UFOs, Witness Photo
Illinois Triangle UFO Sighting (by multiple police officers)
January, 5, 2000 - Illinois, United States
This famous UFO case involved the sighting of a huge unidentified triangular-shaped UFO by police officers and others in the early morning hours of January 5, 2000, over the state of Illinois. The officers, from a number of small Illinois towns, were able to track the unknown object and maintain radio contact with each other during the event. Their in-depth testimonies have been fully documented by investigators. View full report
Source: David B. Marler, Illinois State Director, MUFON Journal No. 383 (March 2000) ID: 277
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Police, Polygraph Test, Portholes/Windows, Witness Sketch, Witness Photo
The Phoenix Lights
March, 13, 1997 - Phoenix, Arizona, United States
The Phoenix Lights UFO incident is a complex series of events that took place on March 13, 1997 over the states of Nevada, Arizona, and possibly New Mexico, and which would quickly become known as the "Phoenix Lights" sightings. It involved sightings by tens, or perhaps even hundreds, of thousands of witnesses on the ground, and it gave rise to a storm of controversy over what had caused the event. View full report
Source: Peter B. Davenport, Director, National UFO Reporting Center ID: 270
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Mass Sighting, Silent, Photo, Witness Sketch, Famous Person, Witness Photo
The Varginha Incident (Brazil)
January, 20, 1996 - Varginha, Brazil
In 1996 in Varginha, Brazil, during the course of several weeks at least two and perhaps as many as six alien creatures were captured or killed and turned over to American authorities, and a UFO may have crashed. Eyewitnesses described the creatures as humanoid and 3 to 4 feet tall. They had dark brown, hairless skin, big triangular heads with three short "horns" on top, and huge red eyes that were vertically oval. View full report
Source: Press release by A.J. Gevaerd, Editor of UFO Magazine (Brazil), June 12th, 1996 ID: 498
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Crash/Retrieval, Injury, Children, Witness Photo
America West Airlines Flight 564 UFO Case
May, 25, 1995 - Bovina, Texas, United States
A Boeing 757 piloted by Captain Eugene Tollefson and First Officer John J. Waller, was passing near Bovina, Texas. Captain Tollefson left his seat to look [at a line of regularly flashing lights]. As the lightning flashed behind the lights, it silhouetted something that to the observers appeared to be a large, dark, cigar shaped object between 300 and 500 feet in length. View full report
Source: Loy Lawhon, About.com ID: 225
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Radar
Kelly Cahill Abduction
August, 8, 1993 - Dandenong foothills, Australia
In August 1993, 27-year-old Kelly Cahill, her husband and three children were driving home after a visit to a friend's house. After midnight the Cahills first noticed the lights of a rounded craft with windows around it. It silently hovered above the road. Different colored lights were clearly visible on the bottom of the object. View full report
Source: Bill Chalker, International UFO Reporter, Sept/Oct 1994, Vol 19, No 5 ID: 187
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Missing Time, Abduction, Witness Photo, Portholes/Windows
Belgium Triangle UFO Sightings
October, 1989 - Belgium
From October 1989 throughout 1990, hundreds of reports of lighted objects, frequently described as enormous and triangular in shape were recorded in Belgium. Air Force supersonic F-16 jets chased these strange objects, which were simultaneously tracked by both airborne and ground radars. The Belgian Government cooperated fully with civilian UFO investigators, an action without precedent in the history of government involvement in this field. View full report
Source: Don Berliner ID: 1125
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Body Lights, Military, Mass Sighting, Witness Sketch, Radar, Police
Voronezh, Russia UFO Landing and Aliens
September, 27, 1989 - Voronezh, Russian Federation
The story of the Voronezh aliens recounts the adventures of several young children who claimed to have seen a three-eyed alien with a robot escort. The alien was said to be about nine foot tall. The craft, according to eye witness testimony, landed on the outskirts of the city. Shortly thereafter, the tall alien appeared, and upon seeing the young lad, shot a type of weapon at him, causing him to vanish before the eyes of the other people around him. View full report
Source: UFO Casebook / other sources ID: 120
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Physical Trace, Physiological Effects, Humanoid/Occupant, Landing, Children, Witness Sketch, Witness Photo
Gulf Breeze Sightings
November, 11, 1987 - Gulf Breeze, Florida, United States
"Ed Walters was working in his home office when he noticed a light moving outside, partially obscured by the pine tree in his yard. To get a better look Ed went out of the front door, and could see that the light was in fact a glowing bluish-gray craft like none he had seen before... Edwould go on to photograph it many time" View full report
Source: Ed Walters and Frances Walters, The Gulf Breeze Sightings ID: 325
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Photo, Humanoid/Occupant, Polygraph Test, Humming
Japan Air Lines Flight 1628 Over Alaska
November, 17, 1986 - Alaska, United States
In November, 1986, a Japanese crew of a jumbo freighter aircraft witnessed three unidentified objects while flying over Alaska, USA. This sighting gained international attention when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that it was going to officially investigate this sighting because the Air Route Traffic Control Center in Anchorage, Alaska, had reported that the UFO had been detected on radar. The UFOs in this case were tracked on both ground and airborne radar, witnessed by experienced airline pilots, and confirmed by a FAA Division Chief. View full report
Source: Loy Lawhon ID: 287
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Radar
Trans-en-Provence Physical Trace Case
January, 8, 1981 - Trans-en-Provence, France
On the afternoon of January 8, 1981, a strange craft landed on a farm near the village of Trans-en-Provence in the Var region in southeastern France. Physical traces left on the ground were collected by the Gendarmerie within 24 hours and later analyzed in several French government laboratories. Extensive evidence of anomalous activity was detected. View full report
Source: ISSO ID: 110
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Physical Trace, Landing, Witness Sketch
The Hudson Valley Boomerang Sightings
1981 - Hudson Valley, New York, United States
Between 1982 and 1995, more than seven thousand cases were investigated and documented by a team of investigators led by Philip J. Imbrogno, a high school science teacher and astronomer in Greenwich, Connecticut. The heaviest period was between the end of 1982 and 1986, when more than five thousand people reported seeing the object. View full report
Source: Bob Pratt ID: 1084
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Mass Sighting
The Cash-Landrum Case
December, 29, 1980 - Huffman, Texas, United States
A terrifying encounter with a flame belching UFO on a lonely road near Huffman, Texas, resulted in appalling injuries for the three innocent victims. According to Bob Pratt, "the case remains one of the most important in the history of ufology. It has never been resolved. Someone in the U.S. knows exactly what happened to Betty and Vickie and Colby but they have remained silent despite all the suffering - and ridicule - those three endured." View full report
Source: NICAP ID: 86
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Physiological Effects, Injury
The Rendlesham Forest Incident
December, 26, 1980 - Rendlesham Forest, United Kingdom
What is widely considered Britain’s most extraordinary encounter took place between 26 and 28 December 1980. It involved at least a dozen civilians from villages surrounding Rendlesham Forest, a large pine wood in south east Suffolk eight miles from the large town of Ipswich. However, it also gained a high profile because of its military witnesses, part of a huge USAF contingent at the twin bases of RAF Bentwaters and Woodbridge located beside the forest. View full report
Source: Jenny Randles ID: 279
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Physical Trace, Physiological Effects, Military, Nuclear Facility, Witness Photo, Witness Sketch
Kirtland Air Force Base 1980 UFO Landing
August, 9, 1980 - Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
On the morning of August 9, 1980, several security guards at the Manzano Weapons Storage Area, adjacent to Kirtland AFB, saw a bright light descend in (a) restricted area. A fourth guard observed a disk shaped light in the vicinity of a bunker used to store nuclear weapons. The incident resulted in a report being filed with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) at Kirtland. View full report
Source: Francis Ridge, NICAP ID: 218
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Military, Nuclear Facility
The Valentich Mystery
October, 21, 1978 - Bass Strait , Australia
It was the extraordinary disappearance of pilot Frederick Valentich (left) over Bass Strait on October 21st, 1978, that thrust the subject of UFOs into the news headlines around the world. The Valentich mystery has endured as an insoluble enigma. View full report
Source: Bill Chalker ID: 24
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Witness Photo
Fort Dix / McGuire AFB Case
January, 18, 1978 - Fort Dix/McGuire AFB, New Jersey, United States
The primary eyewitness in the case, Jeffrey Morse, alleged (i) that he had been working as a security policeman at McGuire AFB when he was notified about UFO activity over Fort Dix army base. (ii) Morse alleged that he heard that a non-human entity had been shot and he later saw the dead body of the entity lying on the ground on a disused runway at McGuire AFB. View full report
Source: NIDS, National Institute for Discovery Science ID: 317
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Military, Humanoid/Occupant, Witness Sketch
F-4 Jet Chase over Iran 1976
September, 18, 1976 - Tehran, Iran
One of the best documented UFO-aircraft incidents, when a UFO was observed flying over the restricted airspace of Tehran, Iran. Two U.S.-made F-4 Phantom II jet fighters of the Imperial Iranian Air Force were scrambled, but as the pilots closed in on the target, their communications and weapons systems were suddenly jammed. The incident was confirmed by high ranking officers of the Iranian Air Force and later documented by several agencies of the U.S. military. View full report
Source: Don Berliner, UFO Briefing Document: The Best Available Evidence ID: 200
Case Type: MajorCase Features: E-M Effects, Radar, Pilot/Aircrew, Military
The Allagash Abductions
August, 26, 1976 - Allagash Wilderness Waterway, Maine, United States
In August of 1976, four young art students in their early twenties left for a canoe and camping trip in Maine's Allagash Wilderness. On one night during the trip, they encountered a huge oval, glowing object rising above the trees nearby, and were soon engulfed in a beam of light from the craft. As discovered in hypnosis sessions years later, it was at this point that all four were abducted into the craft and subjected to physical examinations. View full report
Source: Raymond E. Fowler ID: 466
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Missing Time, Abduction, Witness Photo, Witness Sketch, Interaction/Reaction, Light Beam
The Kentucky Abductions
January, 6, 1976 - Stanford, Kentucky, United States
On January 6, 1976, three women were abducted near Stanford, Kentucky. As they were driving together to have dinner, a bright red object appeared in the sky, which Mona Stafford at first thought was an airplane on fire. As the object descended from the right side of the road to a point ahead of them, they could see that it was not an airplane, but a huge object bigger than "two houses." View full report
Source: Loy Lawhon, About.com ID: 181
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Physiological Effects, E-M Effects, Missing Time, Abduction, Polygraph Test, Witness Photo, Witness Sketch
Travis Walton Abduction Case
November, 5, 1975 - Sitgreave-Apache National Forest , Arizona, United States
In November 1975, a group of six tree-trimmers were driving home from work. The driver stopped the truck when he noticed that a flying saucer was hovering above some nearby trees. Travis Walton approached the craft. He was then knocked to the ground by a blue and white light. View full report
Source: Coral Lorenzen, APRO ID: 242
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Abduction, Polygraph Test, Witness Photo
The Billy Meier Case (Photos and Contact Case)
January, 28, 1975 - Switzerland
"Billy" Eduard Albert Meier (born February 3, 1937) is a citizen of Switzerland and contactee. He is also the source of over 1000 photographs of objects claimed to be UFOs. Billy claims regular contact with the Plejaren, a group of extraterrestrials, and presents much spiritual and philosophical information from these meetings. He describes the Plejaran as humans much like the humans of Earth. View full report
Source: Steelmark ID: 989
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Photo, Contact, Contactee, Physical Trace, Artifact, Sound, Witness Photo
