selected ufo cases
Pilot / Aircrew Cases
Multiple pilots witness large object near Guernsey, United Kingdom
April, 23, 2007 - Guernsey, United Kingdom
Two experienced airline pilots on separate flights saw something up to a mile wide off the coast of Alderney on Monday afternoon. ‘It was a very sharp, thin yellow object with a green area. It was 2,000ft up and stationary,’ one of the pilots said. "At first, I thought it was the size of a 737. But it must have been much bigger because of how far away it was. It could have been as much as a mile wide." View full report
Source: The Guernsey Press & Star - St Saviour, Jersey, - April 26, 2007 ID: 1148
Case Type: PressReport Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Witness Photo, Radar, Multiple UFOs, Witness Sketch
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
Airline Pilot Photographs Three Bright Large Objects
February, 26, 2004 - Pisco, Peru
"While flying abeam Pisco, Peru, we noticed 3 very bright large objects. They were not moving much. They passed by us at a distance of 20-30 miles at approximately 20,000 ft. We were at 31,000 ft. There were 4 crewmembers on our B767-300ER. All noticed it. There also was a Mexicana Airliner overhead that noticed the objects as well. We called the local airt traffic controllers in Lima, and they did not see them on radar. View full report
Source: UFOEvidence.org ID: 471
Case Type: RawReport Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Photo, Multiple UFOs
Disk-Shaped Object Photographed by Military Pilot in Hungary
September, 29, 2001 - Budapest, Hungary
"A military pilot recorded a spectacular video of a silver disk object on September 29, 2001. The craft was flying to his left side and then moved very fast past him in the clouds as can be seen in the video." View full report
Source: Kal Korff / Rense.com ID: 404
Case Type: PressReport Features: Photo, Military, Pilot/Aircrew
Chinese Air Force pilot chases 'mushroom-shaped' UFO
October, 19, 1998 - Changzhou, China
The [Chinese] air force had a prolonged up-close encounter with a UFO last month that one fighter pilot described as "just like ones in foreign movies," a government-controlled newspaper reported Thursday. At least 140 people on the ground also saw the object. They described an object with a mushroom-shaped dome on top and a flat bottom covered with bright, continually rotating lights. View full report
Source: AFP (Agence France Presse) - November, 1998 ID: 1074
Case Type: PressReport Features: Group Sighting, Pilot/Aircrew, Military, Radar, Body Lights
Pilot encounters giant pyramid-shaped UFO over Pelotas, Brazil
October, 5, 1996 - Pelotas, Brazil
Brazilian pilot Haroldo Westendorf, 39, was flying over Pelotas when he encountered an enormous pyramid or cone shaped UFO, with 8-10 sides; it was 100 meters in diameter and 70 meters high. Westendorf was able to fly around the base of the object three times, at one point coming as close as 40 meters. Then, out of an opening at the top of the craft, a smaller classic disc-shaped UFO emerged and flew off at tremendous speed. Three air traffic controllers and others on the ground also witnessed the event. View full report
Source: CNI News, Dec. 20, 1997 ID: 699
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Multiple UFOs
Wingless object near Norwegian airplane
July, 11, 1995 - Steinkjer, Norway
At 16.25 hours on July 11, 1995, a Dash-8 passenger plane from the Wideroe company was on route from Fornebu (Oslo) to Bronnoysund when something very strange happened over Steinkjer about 70 kilmetres north of Trondheim. The co-pilot caught sight of a flying object that moved to the right of the plane. View full report
Source: UFO Sweden ID: 54
Case Type: PressReport Features: Pilot/Aircrew
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
Civil Aviation Authority Report on Near Miss With UFO
January, 6, 1995 - Pennines, near Manchester, United Kingdom
What follows is the full report of the CAA's conclusions relating to a near miss between a Boeing 737 and an unknown object on 6th January 1995, while on its final approach to Manchester Airport. View full report
Source: Mike Wootten - BUFORA ID: 31
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew
Air France Flight 3532 sighting of brown-red disk-shaped object
January, 28, 1994 - Paris, France
While flying over the Paris region, the crew noticed a large brown-red disk hovering on the horizon and constantly changing shape. From the pilot: "This object seemed to us then absolutely abnormal by its size which seemed immense, its dark red color and of the fuzzy edges. I had the impression to observe a gigantic lens in evolution. It did not resemble anything we had seen in our flying careers. " View full report
Source: UFOCOM (Credit: Ufologie.net - Patrick Gross) ID: 1062
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Witness Photo
Two police officers have dogfight with UFO during helicopter patrol
February, 27, 1993 - Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States
Two Jefferson County air unit police officers — described by their lieutenant as "solid guys" — swear they had a two-minute dogfight with a UFO during a routine helicopter patrol Friday night. Two officers on the ground said they, too, spotted the object. The UFO — a glowing pear-shaped object about the size of a basketball — literally flew circles around the helicopter, even though the fliers say they were moving at speeds approaching 100 mph. View full report
Source: Gardiner Harris, Louisville Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), Mar. 4, 1993 ID: 764
Case Type: PressReport Features: Police, Pilot/Aircrew, Interaction/Reaction, Witness Photo
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
Jet Chase Over Brazil
May, 19, 1986 - Brazil
As many as twenty UFOs were seen and tracked by ground radar and at least six airplanes. Unidentified radar returns were tracked by airports in São Paulo and the Integrated Air Defense & Air Traffic Control Center (CINDACTA) in Brasilia. Two F-5E and three Mirage jet fighters were scrambled from Santa Cruz AFB in Sao Paulo State, and Anápolis AFB in Goias State. View full report
Source: Don Berliner, UFO Briefing Document ID: 51
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Radar, Pilot/Aircrew, Military, Multiple UFOs
TWA airline pilot sees round metallic object with portholes
July, 4, 1981 - South central Lake Michigan, United States
On a clear day in 1981, Captain Schultz was piloting TWA flight 842 from San Francisco to John F. Kennedy Airport over Lake Michigan. In his written report, he described seeing a "large, round, silver metal object" with six jet black "portholes" equally spaced around the circumference, which "descended into the atmosphere from above." View full report
Source: Richard Haines, 2000 (Credit: CFI / NARCAP) ID: 656
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Portholes/Windows
Star-shaped objects observed for several nights over Ingolstadt, Germany
September, 6, 1979 - Ingolstadt, Germany
Star-shaped objects were observed for several nights in September 1979 over the city of Ingolstadt. Since that time members of MUFON-CES, the German UFO research organization, have interviewed several flight controllers, a dozen police officers and numerous other witnesses. They have also analyzed photographs and radar recordings that where made on film. View full report
Source: Illobrand von Ludwiger / MUFON-CES, (1998) ID: 653
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Group Sighting, Police, Pilot/Aircrew
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
Pilot sighting of glowing orange sphere in Tranquillity, California
July, 28, 1978 - Tranquillity, California, United States
From the witness: "That sighting of 28 July made a very deep and lasting impression. I can still see the glowing orange, flattened sphere as vividly in my mind as it appeared on that early morning many years ago. I have no doubt that the device (or whatever it was) was real - there is absolutely no way that it could have been a product of my imagination." View full report
Source: Brian Vike, HBCCUFO Research (hbccufo.org) ID: 1056
Case Type: RawReport Features: Pilot/Aircrew
Veteran Pilot Encounters UFO With Portholes
January, 1, 1978 - Santa Monica, California, United States
A dome-shaped UFO with portholes was seen in broad daylight by veteran pilot Floyd P. Hallstrom of Oxnard, California. Hallstrom had been flying for 37 years, 17½ as a Navy combat air crewman and personal crew chief to admirals, including the Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet. View full report
Source: FUFOR, MUFON UFO Journal, January 1978 ID: 37
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Portholes/Windows
Retired Chilean General in air encounter with large 'banana-shaped' UFO
1978 - Antofagasta, Chile
Retired General Hernan Gabrielli Rojas had squared off against a gigantic UFO while engaging in a training flight in the skies of northern Chile. According to the military man, the object was the size of 10 or 15 aircraft carriers, and its presence was picked up by the radars aboard two F-5 jet fighters as well as the Cerro Moreno airport in Antofagasta. View full report
Source: Inexplicata, Scott Corrales, editor / Ovnivisión (Chile) / Revista TOC / Terra Chile ID: 997
Case Type: PressReport Features: Military, Pilot/Aircrew, Witness Photo, Radar
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
UFOs 'escort' Mexican aircraft
May, 2, 1974 - En route from Guerrero state to Mexico City, Mexico
Carlos Antonio de los Santos Montiel was flying en route from Guerrero state to Mexico city in his Piper Aztec 24, he became aware of three objects positioned extremely close around the plane. He heard a noise from below, as if one of the objects had collided with his plane. He then noticed that the aircraft controls and landing gear were frozen. View full report
Source: APRO Bulletin, Vol. 24 No. 2 (Aug 1975) ID: 311
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Radar, Pilot/Aircrew, Vehicle Interference, Multiple UFOs, Witness Photo
Coyne Helicopter Incident
October, 18, 1973 - Mansfield, Ohio, United States
The Coyne case (or "Army helicopter incident") stands out as, perhaps the most credible (in the "high strangeness" category) of the 1973 wave. An Army Reserve helicopter crew of four men encountered a gray, metallic-looking, cigar-shaped object, with unusual lights and maneuvers, as they were airborne between Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio. View full report
Source: Jennie Zeidman, CUFOS ID: 104
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Military
Domed Disc Near Airliner, Confirmed By Radar
February, 14, 1973 - McAlester, Oklahoma, United States
A domed disc near cargo airliner, confirmed by the airplane's airborne radar. The object was disc-shaped with a transparent dome on top, and a silvery, highly polished surface. The object reacted to the sweep of the plane's radar. Pilots from the airliner saw two or three shadowy entities moving around inside the object. View full report
Source: Richard Hall / UFO Casebook ID: 15
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Radar, Humanoid/Occupant
