selected ufo cases
Witness Sketches
City Youth Tells Of A Strange Ship
May, 1967 - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
"The bespectacled 14-year-old was just going to his home at 5311 106th St., when he said he noticed the “space ship” and began the vigil which has probably resulted in the most detailed report of any UFO in the Edmonton area." View full report
Source: The Edmonton Journal, May 8, 1967 (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) (Credit: UFO*BC) ID: 348
Case Type: PressReport Features: Physical Trace, Children, Witness Photo, Witness Sketch
Burn marks and holes found after UFO seen close to ground
September, 13, 1966 - Gwinner, North Dakota, United States
Young Randy E. Rotenberger was waiting for the school bus outside his home when he saw "some flashing lights," then an object. "It looked like two bowls put together," the witness told an AP reporter. He saw three "pegs" on the bottom and antennae projecting from the top. Later, "some burnt marks" and tapered holes were found at the scene, each about a foot in diameter and five inches deep. View full report
Source: NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon), 'Strange Effects from UFOs', by Donald Keyhoe and Gordon Lore ID: 578
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Physical Trace, Witness Sketch, Landing, Children
Portage County, Ohio UFO Chase
April, 17, 1966 - Portage County, Ohio, United States
One of the most dramatic encounters by police officers with an apparently structured, low-level UFO. Officers chased the object for eighty-five miles, as it seemed to play a cat-and-mouse game with them. This case was the basis for the UFO "chase" in the film 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind.' View full report
Source: Richard Hall, NICAP website ID: 79
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Police, Witness Sketch, Humming
Over 200 students witness saucer-shape object, physical traces left behind (Westall Incident)
April, 6, 1966 - Westall, Australia
More than 200 students and staff from two schools watched as the object landed in a nearby paddock, lifted off and vanished. It was a low-flying, silver/grey shining object, either of classical flying saucer shape or close to it, "a cup turned upside down on a saucer". The UFO appears to have left a circle of scorched grass. View full report
Source: The Age (Australia), October 2, 2005 ID: 591
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Physical Trace, Group Sighting, Children, Witness Photo, Landing, Witness Sketch
Sheriffs Watch High-Performance Discs (The Michigan Sightings / 'Swamp Gas' Case)
March, 14, 1966 - Dexter-Hillsdale, Michigan, United States
Washtenaw County sheriffs and police in neighboring jurisdictions reported disc-shaped objects moving at fantastic speeds and making sharp turns, diving and climbing, and hovering. At one point, four UFOs in straight-line formation were observed. Selfridge AFB confirmed tracking UFOs over Lake Erie at 4:56 a.m. Their stories were backed up by more than 100 witnesses View full report
Source: FUFOR (Fund for UFO Research) ID: 778
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Police, Radar, Witness Sketch, Group Sighting, Mass Sighting
Huge disk like object with dome top, gray metallic, with rainbow lights
1966 - Lunenburg County, Virginia, United States
I observed a huge UFO in 1966. It was gray-silver metallic...disk shape with dome top. Had windows (portholes as I call them). I could see the turning of the bottom of it going in one direction as the top rotated the other direction. It had rainbow colored lights. View full report
Source: UFO Evidence ID: 69
Case Type: RawReport Features: Witness Sketch, Portholes/Windows
Landed saucer-shaped craft with ladder and 'turret' in Anchorage, 1966
1966 - Anchorage, Alaska, United States
"I was standing in the middle of our street and there was a craft on stilts or legs with a ladder down from the center. It had just snowed, and I remember windows on the upper round part... The main body was like an upside down saucer with a cylindrical 'turret' on the top. The 'turret' was approximately 3 feet across and 2 to 3 feet high and appeared to rotate." View full report
Source: UFOEvidence.org ID: 892
Case Type: RawReport Features: Landing, Portholes/Windows, Children, Witness Sketch
UFO on Australian Beach (Vaucluse Beach)
July, 19, 1965 - Vaucluse Beach, Australia
Disc-shaped object glowed as it sat on a beach. As witness approached the object, the object lifted off from the ground, quickly climbed in the air, and disappeared. Investigation revealed landing traces and effects on the nearby plant life. View full report
Source: UFO Casebook ID: 27
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Physical Trace, Animal Reaction, Landing, Witness Sketch
Sid Padrick Contact Case
January, 30, 1965 - Watsonville, California, United States
Sid Padrick described seeing a disc-shaped craft, “like two real thick saucers inverted,” some 50 feet in diameter and 30 feet from the ground. Padrick claimed that he then began to cautiously walk toward the craft. A door appeared and Padrick walked inside, and soon was conversing with a very human appearing gentleman wearing some sort of flying suit. View full report
Source: Brent Raynes ID: 963
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Witness Sketch, Contact, Humanoid/Occupant
Huge disc shaped object with bright light around edge
January, 1965 - Dorrington, Brisbane, Australia
"The object had come below the cloud cover and we couldn't believe what we were looking at. This huge disc shaped object with very bright light around it's circumference. It was travelling very slow (about 20 miles an hour), then the noise started.It was a screaming high pitched sound which had my wife in agony, hands over her ears and crying with pain." View full report
Source: Brian Vike, HBCCUFO Research (www.hbccufo.org) ID: 449
Case Type: RawReport Features: Witness Sketch
County councillor reveals sighting of dome-shaped UFO in Cornwall, UK
1965 - Karslake, Cornwall, United Kingdom
Joan Vincent, County and Restormel Borough Councillor, revealed that she and her husband Roy had observed a mystery craft late at night during 1965 in a then rural area. The matter remained "virtually a family secret" over the years because the couple feared that they would be ridiculed if they told their story. The UFO was "a large, dome-shaped object that looked as if it were made of glass," estimated to be 50-70 feet across and 30-40 feet high. View full report
Source: Ian Shepherd, Cornish Guardian (Bodmin, England), Nov. 26, 1998 ID: 729
Case Type: PressReport Features: Portholes/Windows, Witness Sketch, Witness Photo
Socorro / Zamora UFO Incident
April, 24, 1964 - Socorro, New Mexico, United States
The experience of Lonnie Zamora on April 24, 1964 stands as one of the most profound ufo events in the modern history of the phenomena. Lonnie Zamora saw a highly unusual device of unknown origin, what can only be described as a "craft" of some kind, and he reported seeing what he believes were occupants. View full report
Source: Chris Lambright ID: 90
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Physical Trace, Landing, Police, Witness Photo, Witness Sketch
Large, metallic saucer-shaped craft at Mattagami River, Ontario
November, 23, 1963 - Mattagami River, Ontario, Canada
From the witness: "We just sat there in silence watching it, as it was watching us... It was huge, with the diameter being... about 30 yards... It appeared to be constructed of dull aluminum and was shaped like a saucer with the exception that the top and bottom halves did not join in a sharp edge. All the way around the center it looked like dark windows, 6 feet tall. As Robert and I watched, the craft tilted with the closest side to us down and the rear of the saucer up. It appeared that whoever was inside was trying to get a better look at us. " View full report
Source: Brian Vike, HBCC UFO Research (hbccufo.org) ID: 1029
Case Type: RawReport Features: Witness Sketch, Portholes/Windows
Oval object rolling end over end
April, 1963 - Statesville, North Carolina, United States
"I recall looking up.. to see a strange oval shaped object rolling end over end passing directly overhead. I recall the object giving off different colors in a pulsing, vibratory sort of way... I would estimate it's altitude to be less than 300 feet off the ground... I do not recall hearing any sound whatever from the object but my brother and sister say it was somewhat like a humming sound." View full report
Source: UFOEvidence.org ID: 473
Case Type: RawReport Features: Witness Sketch, Humming
The Willow Grove Close Encounter
February, 15, 1963 - Near Moe, Australia
Charles Brew, with his 20 year-old son Trevor, was at work in the milking shed on their farm, 'Willow Grove', when he saw a strange object appear and descend very slowly towards the milk shed, to a height of about 30 metres. The object was metallic grey, measured 8 meters in diameter, and had a transparent dome with a 2-meter mast or aerial. After hovering for a few seconds the object began climbed away into the clouds. View full report
Source: Bill Chalker (1996) ID: 623
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Animal Reaction, Witness Sketch, Physiological Effects
Disc-shaped UFO hovers, then evades pursuit by pilot
October, 2, 1961 - Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
A grayish disc-shaped object which hovered, wobbling on its axis, then evaded pursuit, was sighted October 2, 1961 at Salt Lake City, Utah airport. Private pilot Waldo J. Harris, a real estate broker, investigated the object in his light aircraft as 8-10 ground personnel at the airport watched. The object was disc shaped, 50 feet in diameter, and 8-10 feet thick. View full report
Source: NICAP / Richard Hall (1964) from NICAP case report ID: 638
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Witness Sketch, Pilot/Aircrew, Group Sighting
Betty and Barney Hill Abduction Case
September, 19, 1961 - Exeter, New Hampshire, United States
The first abduction case to be brought to the publics attention was back in 1961. Betty and Barney Hill reported seeing a UFO and experienced a period of missing time while on a long car journey. Under hypnosis they both seperatly described how they were abducted by aliens and shown around the spacecraft before under going medical examinations. Betty also spoke of the origin of the aliens which were of the zeta reticuli system but at that time it wasn't discovered until 1969. View full report
Source: Loy Lawhon, About.com ID: 315
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Abduction, Polygraph Test, Witness Photo, Witness Sketch, Portholes/Windows, Missing Time
Eagle River Close Encounter (man given 'pancakes' by UFO occupants)
April, 18, 1961 - Eagle River, Wisconsin, United States
Mr. Paul Simonton, a chicken farmer in Eagle River, Wisconsin saw a disc-shaped craft land vertically on his farm. A hatch opened, and when he approached he saw three human-looking men inside. They asked him for some water. They appeared to be cooking pancakes on a griddle, and in exchange for the water they gave him four of the pancakes from griddle. The episode survived a rigorous assessment by the U.S. Air Force and is carried in their files as "unexplained." View full report
Source: Jay Rath ID: 708
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Landing, Artifact, Witness Photo, Witness Sketch, Communication
Saucer-shaped object with dome and two occupants inside
July, 13, 1959 - Blenheim, New Zealand
Mrs. Moreland saw a sharply- outlined saucer-shaped object with two extremely bright sources of green light on the underside. The object was approximately 20 to 30 feet wide and hovered at roof-top level, about 15 feet above the ground. Inside a transparent dome, she said, there were two men, "dressed in fairly close-fitting suits of shiny material." View full report
Source: NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon), ID: 559
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, 'Dyad Scout Craft', Humming, Witness Sketch
Father Gill / Papua New Guinea Sighting
June, 26, 1959 - Papua New Guinea
William B. Gill, an Anglican priest with a mission in Bosinai, Papas New Guinea, observed craft-like UFOs -- one with Humanoid figures on top -- on two consecutive evenings, June 26-27, 1959. About twenty-five natives, including teachers and medical technicians, also observed the phenomena. They "signaled" the humanoids and received an apparent response. This was one of sixty UFO sightings within a few weeks in the New Guinea area. View full report
Source: Bill Chalker, from 'The Oz Files' ID: 67
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Interaction/Reaction, Clergy, Portholes/Windows, Group Sighting, Witness Sketch
UFO descends, then speeds away, near Walworth, Wisconsin
January, 8, 1959 - Walworth, Wisconsin, United States
Gordon Higgins, a draftsman who has had two years USAF experience as control tower operator and flight controller, watched a UFO descend and then speed away horizontally. The object glowed bright white, before changing to orange as it sped away, leaving a trail of sparks. View full report
Source: NICAP / Richard Hall (1964) ID: 642
Case Type: SummaryReport Features: Witness Sketch
Enormous daytime UFO above Welsh town seen by only one witness
1959 - Milford Haven, United Kingdom
Mr. D. J. Harris, an area insurance agent, was walking down Charles Street in Milford Haven at about 11.00 a.m. when suddenly he heard a sort of whispering sound, and a metallic grey object appeared above the buildings. He describes it as enormous, about 150 feet in diameter. Given that there are usually so many people around the area, we are really forced to the conclusion that no-one saw this UFO except the witness and that, in fact, it was visible only to him. View full report
Source: F. W. Holiday, FSR Vol. 20 No. 2 ID: 598
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Witness Sketch
Two patrolmen see glowing red UFO in New Jersey
December, 20, 1958 - Dunellen, New Jersey, United States
Patrolmen LeRoy A. Arboreen and B. Talada were on night patrol when they saw an object coming from the west. "At first it looked like a red hot piece of coal about the size of a quarter held at arm's length. In a matter of seconds it was as large as a ruler held at arm's length... The body of the object was solid bright red and it gave off a pulsating red glow... The object hovered a few seconds, then made a left turn and again hovered for a few seconds, then went straight up like a shot." View full report
Source: NICAP / Richard Hall (1964) from NICAP case report ID: 639
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Police, Witness Sketch
Sighting by zoologist and UFO researcher Ivan T. Sanderson
October, 2, 1958 - Near Blairstown, New Jersey, United States
Shortly after 5:00 p.m., noted Zoologist Ivan T. Sanderson observed a disc- shaped UFO maneuvering over the Delaware Water Gap. The flat disc looped back and forth, appearing sometimes edge-on (as a very thin line), sometimes oval to circular. It vanished once, but quickly reappeared, and continued its rapid gyrations, finally speeding away to the west. View full report
Source: NICAP / Richard Hall (1964) ID: 643
Case Type: SummaryReport Features: Scientist/Engineer, Witness Sketch
