selected ufo cases
Cases by Decade: 1980s
Disk-shaped UFO seen by group of teenagers in Messel, Germany
March, 13, 1982 - Messel, Germany
Several 15-17 year olds were at a discotheque in the town of Messel, when they saw outside a steel blue luminous disk with a dome on top which appeared over the woods about 600 meters from where they where standing. It slowly approached the witnesses at very low altitude, a distance of about 100 meters. Its diameter was about 10 meters wide. After a few seconds the disc started to move in spiral curves down to the ground; it stopped for a moment before it flew away at a steep upward angle. View full report
Source: Illobrand von Ludwiger / MUFON-CES, (1998) ID: 651
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Group Sighting, Children, Light Beam
Large object with windows cruises by house
1982 - National Park Road, Canungra, Australia
"I saw this huge object slowly crusing towards us then past us at eye level. It was very close, about 200 meters away... The part that I could see was like the brim of hat with a row of glowing windows on top of it... It cruised past at the equivalent pace of a car going 15 to 20 kph. It's length was longer than a semi-trailer." View full report
Source: AUFORN (Australian UFO Research Network), Australia ID: 621
Case Type: RawReport Features: Witness Sketch, Portholes/Windows
The Vancouver Island Photograph
October, 8, 1981 - Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
Hannah Mc Roberts is with her husband and their daughter on the East coast of the Vancouver Island. They take a picture of a mountain. Several days afterwards, when photographa are developed, they notice on one of the photograph that there is a discoidal object in the sky. View full report
Source: Gordon Creighton / Richard Haines ID: 241
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Photo
Bell-shaped object with flashing lights seen by 10 people in Queens, New York
September, 5, 1981 - Queens, New York, New York, United States
At least ten people in Corona, Queens, said they saw a bell-shaped UFO with flashing multi-colored lights making a beeping noise on Sept. 5, 1981, at 10:00 p.m. Reportedly, as the UFO hovered over a tenement block, a triangular-shaped ray of green light shot out from the bottom of the object and shone on the face of a teen-aged girl observing the object from the window of her friend's house. View full report
Source: News World (New York, NY), Sept. 19, 1981 ID: 941
Case Type: PressReport Features: Group Sighting, Light Beam, Body Lights, Children, Witness Sketch, Sound
Saucer-shaped object observed entering water in Hamilton, Ontario
August, 1981 - Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
In late August of 1981, three men and two women were driving near Hamilton, Ontario when they observed a red-orange, domed saucer shaped object. The UFO moved towards Hamilton Harbour, slowed down, and gently entered the water. The group remained in the area for seven hours, wondering if the object would resurface. Finally, two objects were seen to partially emerge and remain in that position through the point that the group finally left. View full report
Source: Carl Feindt, WaterUFO.net ID: 774
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Water-Related, E-M Effects
Cigar-shaped object seen landing on the water in South Carolina
July, 15, 1981 - Newberry, South Carolina, United States
Carl E. Moore, 14-years-old, was fishing with friends near Newberry, South Carolina, when he saw a 30-foot long cigar-shaped UFO land on the water. It was flying very slowly over the water, and then settled on the surface of the water causing steam to rise around it. After about 3 minutes it rose slightly and hovered about one foot above the surface. Suddenly, it shot skyward, rising vertically until it was out of sight View full report
Source: Waterufo.net / MUFON Journal, Dec. 1982 ID: 776
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Water-Related
Multi-colored flying object paces family in Temuka, New Zealand
July, 12, 1981 - Temuka, New Zealand
Mr. and Mrs. Thew were returning to Temuka (New Zealand) from Pleasant Point with their three daughters when a multi-coloured flying object paced them along the Waitohi Road in the early hours of the morning of July 12, 1981, approaching to within 120 yards of their car and changing colours as it went. It was estimated to be around 32ft in diameter, with a height of 15ft, and with windows around the object. View full report
Source: Timaru Herald (Timaru, New Zealand), 7/31/81 ID: 937
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Vehicle Encounter, Body Lights, Silent
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
Cigar-shaped object with portholes seen by 7 witnesses over Northern Texas
May, 13, 1981 - Denison, Texas, United States
At least seven persons spotted an unidentified flying object over Texomaland last Wednesday morning. Jim Shelton, mechanic at Jim Graham International, described the sighting and drew a sketch. "It was a flying object with lit portholes. Fire was streaming in sparks from the rear, and it had green and yellow pulsating lights," he said. "It was real. I saw it, and if they lock me up, I still saw it. It was long, a cigar-like shape." View full report
Source: Irene Flaherty, Denison Herald (Denison, TX), May 17, 1981 ID: 948
Case Type: PressReport Features: Portholes/Windows, Silent, Witness Sketch
Low-flying cigar-shaped object sighted over Los Angeles in 1981
April, 19, 1981 - Los Angeles, California, United States
A large, low-flying cigar-shaped object with white lights shining from a row of "windows" and bearing green-blue and white "running lights" was sighted by a West Los Angeles resident on the night of April 19, 1981 at about 11:30 p.m. Taff estimated the object, which made no sound, was about 65 feet in length and about 15 feet high. View full report
Source: News World (New York, NY), Dec. 12, 1981 / APRO Bulletin, 1981 ID: 943
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Witness Sketch, Silent, Portholes/Windows, Body Lights
Fishing crews observe large conical object hovering over water
March, 25, 1981 - Ayamonte (Huelva), Spain
The fishing boat Moguer 5 left port at Ayamonte (Huelva) Spain and proceeded out to sea. Six other boats comprised the rest of a small fishing fleet. The Moguer 5 was 400 meters from the shore when a conical-shaped object was seen 100 meters farther out to sea, hovering over the water's surface. The witnesses watched the cone for 20 minutes while it rotated just above the sea's surface for 20 minutes at which time it rose vertically and disappeared into the sky. View full report
Source: APRO Bulletin (vol. 29, no. 11) ID: 766
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Water-Related, Group Sighting
Large low-flying object with square windows seen by couple in car over Bethesda, MD
March, 15, 1981 - Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Martin Buxbaum was driving with his wife and noticed an unusual object silhouetted against the dark blue evening sky. The object had the wingspan of a 717 but was flying low, he says. It was accented by a row of square windows in the front and two "cherry red" exhaust lights to the rear. But most mysterious of all, the object made no sound at all View full report
Source: Mike M. Ahlers, Montgomery Journal (Chevy Chase, MD), March 25, 1981 ID: 949
Case Type: PressReport Features: Portholes/Windows, Silent, Witness Sketch
Metallic object flew silently overhead at 20-40 mph at 200-400 feet
March, 1981 - Montaulk, New York, United States
I stopped the car and shut the engine. Looking up I saw a metalic object pass slowly overhead at perhaps 200-400 feet. There were no wings or rotors, no visible engines, and absolutely no sound. View full report
Source: UFO Evidence ID: 68
Case Type: RawReport
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
Carlos Diaz Photo and Contact Case (Mexico)
January, 1981 - Ajusco National Forest , Mexico
"The source of light revealed itself to be a large, orange, oval-shaped UFO, slowly hovering about 30 metres from his car... The whole car began to shake violently. Diaz got out of the vehicle and took two more photographs before the craft sped up vertically into the sky..." This encounter marked the beginning of what was to develop into a fascinating and long-running contactee case. View full report
Source: The X Factor, Issue 89 ID: 1091
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Contact, Photo, Vehicle Interference
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
Young boy struck by beam of light from UFO
December, 5, 1980 - Foxboro, Massachusetts, United States
13 year-old boy declaring he had been struck by a beam of light from a UFO that seemed to appear above him from nowhere and to hover so closely that he could estimate its size to be "bigger than a house." View full report
Source: Joseph Nyman, Mass. MUFON Chief Investigator, Mass. MUFON and Edwin 'Ed' Fogg, Jr. ID: 3
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Physiological Effects, Children
Police constable Alan Godfrey's abduction in West Yorkshire, England
November, 28, 1980 - Todmorden, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Police officer Alan Godfrey was on routine patrol when he encountered a metallic disc with a dome and a row of windows. Suddenly, there was a burst of light, and he found himself 100 yards farther down the road, and the UFO was gone. Under hypnosis later, Godfrey recalled being struck by a beam of light which floated him into the craft, and meeting a human-like being named Joseph, whose clothing was very Biblical in nature. Aboard the craft, he was physically examined and asked questions. View full report
Source: Jenny Randles ID: 722
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Abduction, Missing Time, Police, E-M Effects, Portholes/Windows, Witness Sketch, Witness Photo
Rosedale Victoria: A Close Encounter
September, 30, 1980 - Rosedale, Australia
A very spectacular event is reported to have occurred in the early hours of September 30, 1980, on a property known as "White-Acres," some 8km from Rosedale, Victoria, Australia. Investigations were conducted by a number of people and, in view of the apparent magnitude of the event, Bill Chalker, Gary Little and Keith Basterfield co-investigated the case. View full report
Source: Keith Basterfield & Bill Chalker / UFO Research Australia ID: 63
Case Type: StandardCase
UFO sighted in Easley (SC)
September, 9, 1980 - Easley, South Carolina, United States
There was something ' strange, and beautiful, and incredibly big floating just above the tree tops in front of Larry Joe Garrett's house on Fruit Mountain Road last Thursday morning. "That's the Goodyear blimp!" was my first thought. Then I realized it wasn't a blimp." View full report
Source: Easley Progress (South Carolina), Sept. 17, 1980 ID: 299
Case Type: PressReport Features: Rotary/Spin Motion
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
Vedder River UFO
August, 1980 - Vedder River, British Columbia, Canada
Cynthia and her family were driving home from a camping trip... A large, round, dark object moving to the right hand side of the car suddenly interrupted their pleasant drive. It appeared to be a disc, with a “shiny, metallic surface…" View full report
Source: Richard Tortorella and Martin Jasek - September 2002 (Credit: UFO*BC) ID: 349
Case Type: StandardCase
