selected ufo cases
Featured / Selected Cases
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
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
Rex Heflin UFO Photographs
August, 3, 1965 - Santa Ana, California, United States
Rex Heflin, an Orange County highway inspector, was at work in a county vehicle at 12:37 P.M when he saw a hat-shaped (disc with dome) object hovering above the road. He grabbed his Polaroid camera and took three photographs of the metallic-appearing object and a fourth of a black "smoke ring" left behind by the object. View full report
Source: STUDIOVNI ID: 253
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Photo
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
Valensole, France Landing (Maurice Masse Case)
July, 1, 1965 - Valensole, Basses Alpes, France
Farmer Maurice Masse was inspecting his field of lavender when he heard a whistling sound, then noticed an egg-shaped object with six thin legs and a central pedestal standing nearby. A classic close encounter case from France. At the same time, he also saw two "small boys," humanoid-looking beings less than four feet tall, dressed in grayish-green one-piece coveralls. View full report
Source: Michael Lindemann / Center For Extraordinary Explorations ID: 140
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Physical Trace, Physiological Effects, Humanoid/Occupant, Landing, Witness Photo
Cumberland Spaceman / Solway Firth Photograph
May, 23, 1964 - Burgh Marsh / Solway Firth, United Kingdom
"As an amateur photographer on a day-trip with my family, I took the photograph on Burgh Marsh on May 23, 1964. I took three pictures of my daughter Elizabeth in a similar pose - and was shocked when the middle picture came back from Kodak displaying what looks like a spaceman in the background." View full report
Source: Daily Mail, London / England - December 13, 2002 ID: 385
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Alien Photograph, Humanoid/Occupant, 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
Paul Villa Photo and Contact Case
June, 16, 1963 - Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Apolinar (Paul) Villa, a mechanic of Albuquerque, New Mexico, had a unique privilege having prearranged meetings with Space People for the specific purpose of taking pictures of their craft. They told him they came from the galaxy of Coma Berenices, many light years distance. View full report
Source: Gabriel Green, UFO International, 1965 ID: 985
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Contact, Contactee, Photo, Witness Photo
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
Trindade Island Photographs
January, 16, 1958 - Trindade Island, Brazil
Trindade, a small rocky island in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean 600 miles off the coast of Bahia, Brazil, was the site of one of the most impressive photographic cases in UFO history. View full report
Source: STUDIOVNI / Jerome Clark (CUFOS) ID: 254
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Photo, Water-Related, Military
Astronaut Gordon Cooper Witnesses UFO Landing at Edwards AFB
1957 - Edwards AFB, California, United States
"I had a camera crew filming the installation when they spotted a saucer. They filmed it as it flew overhead, then hovered, extended three legs as landing gear, and slowly came down to land on a dry lake bed! It was a classic saucer, shiny silver and smooth, about 30 feet across. It was pretty clear it was an alien craft." View full report
Source: John Cooke ID: 357
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Military, Famous Person, Witness Photo
The Kelly-Hopkinsville 'Goblins' Encounter
August, 21, 1955 - Kelly, Kentucky, United States
Billy Ray Taylor went out to fetch some water from the Sutton family well, when he saw a large shining object land in a gully about a city block away. A short time later, Carl "Lucky" Sutton and Billy Ray went out to investigate and saw a small 3-to-4 foot creature walking towards them with its hands up, as if surrendering. They later described the creature, one of several encountered that night, as having large eyes, a long thin mouth, large ears, thin short legs, and hands ending in claws. View full report
Source: Loy Lawhon, About.com ID: 524
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Witness Photo
The 1954 Cennina Landing and Encounter with Humanoids
November, 1, 1954 - Cennina, Italy
Rosa Lotti was walking into Cennina, when she perceived a big vertical spindle, "like 2 cones joined at their bases." From behind this craft emerged two little men 3 ft tall, who approached her with friendly expressions, the older one laughing. They were speaking a language that sounded like Chinese, 'liu, lai, loi." Approaching Lotti, they snatched from her the carnations and one of her stockings. Lotti ran away. A deep hole in the ground was later found at the site. View full report
Source: Sergio Conti, excerpt from FSR (Sept/Oct 1972) ID: 703
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Landing, Physical Trace
The Flatwoods Monster
September, 12, 1952 - Flatwoods, West Virginia, United States
Just before dark on September 12, 1952, at Flatwoods, WV, some young school boys saw a fiery UFO streak across the sky and apparently land on a nearby hilltop. Rushing to the site, and gathering a few others along the way, they saw a pulsating red light, encountered a nauseating mist, and turned a flashlight on a pair of shining eyes, revealing a huge creature. As it hissed and glided at them, the group panicked and fled. The next day investigators discovered skid marks and an oil-like substance that presumably came from the UFO. View full report
Source: Subversive Element ID: 535
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Children, Animal Reaction, Physical Trace, Landing, Group Sighting, Witness Photo
Lac Chauvet UFO Photos
July, 18, 1952 - Lac Chauvet, France
Andre Fregnale, an engineer and photographer, walked around France's Lake Chauvet taking pictures of a UFO that came out of the Northwest sky. The photographs have been scrutinized by many experts and all have found them to be real shots of a real UFO. View full report
Source: STUDIOVNI ID: 256
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Photo
UFO with occupants encountered by former mayor in Hasselbach, Germany
July, 9, 1952 - Hasselbach, Germany
Oscar Linke, former Wehrmacht major, and his daughter Gabrielle, 11, had to leave their motorcycle when they had a flat tire. Inside the woods the girl noticed two men in silvery suits examining the ground in a clearing near a pink disk-shaped object, 13-15 meters in diameter, showing a double row of openings around the rim and a black turret on top. One of the men had a flashing box. Both men went inside, and the disk vibrated, rose along the turretlike cylinder, then spun faster and rose out of sight. View full report
Source: Kathimerini newspaper (Athens, Greece), 1952, found in declassfied CIA files ID: 715
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Landing, Portholes/Windows, Humming, Physical Trace
McMinnville, Oregon UFO Photographs
May, 11, 1950 - McMinnville, Oregon, United States
Two of the most notorious UFO photos of all time were taken on a farm near Mcminnville by a farmer named Paul A. Trent. Beyond many such cases, these two photos have withstood the test of time--through generations of researchers. View full report
Source: STUDIOVNI ID: 258
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Photo
Man encounters humanoids at Varese, Italy (the Bruno Facchini case)
April, 24, 1950 - Varese, Italy
Bruno Facchini heard and saw sparks coming from a dark, hovering object, near which a man dressed in tight-fitting clothes and wearing a helmet seemed to be making repairs. Three other men were seen near the craft. The full realization of what he was witnessing sent Bruno into a full run away from the frightening encounter, at which point one of the beings projected a "light" from a tube and the witness fell to the ground. When the work was finished, a trap through which light had been shining was closed and the craft took off. View full report
Source: Ezio Bernardini, excerpt from FSR 1987 No. 4 ID: 746
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Physiological Effects, Physical Trace, Artifact, Witness Photo
Aztec, New Mexico UFO Crash Recovery of 1948
1948 - Aztec, New Mexico, United States
It was the columnist Frank Scully who first alerted the world to sensational stories of recovered flying saucers and little men in his best-selling book Behind the Flying Saucers published in 1950. Scully claimed that up to that time there had been four such recoveries, one of which was alleged to have taken place around Aztec, New Mexico, when sixteen humanoid bodies were recovered together with their undamaged craft. View full report
Source: (Credit: aztecufo.com) ID: 879
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Crash/Retrieval, Humanoid/Occupant
The Villa Santina Case (two humanoids encountered by Italian artist)
August, 14, 1947 - Villa Santina, Italy
Italian artist R. L. Johannis was out painting when he noticed a 30 ft. disc-shaped object landing nearby. Next, Signor Johannis saw two child-sized beings standing alongside the object. The artist hailed the creatures. It is possible that this was interpreted as a hostile gesture, for one of the beings touched the centre of its belt and projected a thin vapour which caused the artist to fall dazed onto his back. The creatures approached, picked up the artist's easel, then returned to the craft. The object then rose, hovered, and disappeared. View full report
Source: Charles Bowen (ed.), The Humanoids, Flying Saucer Review Special Issue (1966) ID: 751
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Landing, Witness Sketch
Roswell UFO Incident (Crash and Recovery)
July, 3, 1947 - Roswell, New Mexico, United States
In early July 1947 an incident occurred in the desert just outside of Roswell, NM. Many people have heard of the Roswell UFO crash, but very few people know the details of the incident. The following account of the 1947 UFO incident was taken from public records, from information provided by the International UFO Museum and from the press release for UFO Encounter 1997. View full report
Source: Roswell Online ID: 1134
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Crash/Retrieval, Humanoid/Occupant, Military, Witness Sketch, Witness Photo
