selected ufo cases

Famous / Classic / Major Cases

Cases 49 - 70 out of 70 in this section

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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

The Levelland Sightings (Texas)

November, 2, 1957 - Levelland, Texas, United States

This case is perhaps the most important concentration of vehicle interference events in the United States. On the evening of November 2, 1957, Patrolman A. J. Fowler, officer on duty at Levelland, Texas, received the first of several strangely similar phone calls. The first was from Pedro Saucedo, who, with companion Joe Salaz, had been driving four miles west of Levelland when a torpedo-shaped, brilliantly illuminated object rapidly approached the car... as the object passed close over the car, the truck headlights went out, and the engine died. Officer Fowler reported that a total of 15 phone calls were made to the police station in direct reference to the UFO. View full report

Source: Dr. J. Allen Hynek, ID: 228

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Vehicle Interference

The RB-47 UFO Encounter

July, 17, 1957 - Gulf Coast Area, United States

An Air Force RB-47, equipped with electronic countermeasures (ECM) gear and manned by six officers, was followed by an unidentified object for a distance of well over 700 mi. and for a time period of 1.5 hr., as it flew from Mississippi, through Louisiana and Texas and into Oklahoma. The object was, at various times, seen visually by the cockpit crew as an intensely luminous light, followed by ground-radar and detected on ECM monitoring gear aboard the RB-47. View full report

Source: Loy Lawhon ID: 665

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Military, Radar

The Ubatuba, Brazil Fragments

1957 - Ubatuba, Sao Paulo, Brazil

On September 14, 1957, Ibrahim Sued, a columnist for the Rio de Janeiro newspaper O Globo, printed a letter which he had received, concerning a UFO incident. Accompanying the letter were three small pieces of white metal. The writer of the letter described an event in which a "flying disk" exploded over the beach at Ubatuba, in Sao Paulo Province. One of the samples was analyzed and the results showed a 99.99% pure magnesium. View full report

Source: Billy Booth, About.com ID: 829

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Artifact, Crash/Retrieval

U.S. Senator Richard Russell Sees disc-shaped UFO in USSR

October, 13, 1955 - Russian Federation

U.S. Senator Richard B. Russell, Jr. (D-GA), then chairman of the Armed Services Committee, was on a Soviet train when he spotted a disc-shaped craft taking off near the tracks. He hurriedly called his military aide and interpreter to the window and they saw the UFO, plus another one that appeared a minute later. View full report

Source: UFOs at Close Sight (Patrick Gross) ID: 9

Case Type: MajorCase Features: 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 'Sea Fury' Incident

August, 31, 1954 - Nowra, Australia

One of the most controversial radar visual reports of the fifties occurred on August 31st, 1954. The story leaked out in December, 1954, and made front page headlines. The official navy file on the event remained classified until the Directorate of Naval Intelligence released a copy upon my request in 1982. During his 1973 visit to Australia, Dr. Hynek was able to interview the pilot involved in this famous incident. View full report

Source: Bill Chalker ID: 66

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Radar, Pilot/Aircrew, Military

The Kinross Air Force Base Incident (jet disappears while chasing UFO)

November, 23, 1953 - Lake Superior, Michigan, United States

On the evening of 23 November 1953, an Air Force radar controller became alerted to an "unidentified target" over Lake Superior, and an F-89C Scorpion jet was scrambled from Kinross AFB. Radar controllers watched as the F-89 closed in on the UFO, and then sat stunned in amazement as the two blips merged on the screen, and the UFO left. The F-89 and it’s two man crew, pilot Felix Moncla and radar operator Robert Wilson, were never found, even after a thorough search of the area. View full report

Source: Loy Lawhon, About.com ID: 610

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Military, Radar, Witness Photo

Ellsworth Air Force Base UFO Incident

August, 5, 1953 - Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, United States

Shortly after dark on the night of twelfth [sic], the Air Defense Command radar station at Ellsworth AFB, just east of Rapid City, had received a call from the local Ground Observer Corps filter center. A lady spotter at Black Hawk, about 10 miles west of Ellsworth, had reported an extremely bright light low on the horizon, off to the northeast. View full report

Source: Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, Former Director of Project Blue Book ID: 41

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Radar, Pilot/Aircrew, Military

B-29 Radar Visual, Multiple Witness Observations

December, 6, 1952 - Gulf of Mexico, United States

When watching the radarscope, Coleman observed two UFOs which he tracked at a speed in excess of 5.000 miles per hour, quite impossible for planes of the day. View full report

Source: UFOs at Close Sight (Patrick Gross) ID: 16

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Military, Radar

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

The Nash-Fortenberry Sighting (aircraft encounter with formation of UFOs)

July, 14, 1952 - Virginia, United States

A Pan American World Airways DC-4 was on a routine flight from New York to Miami. The crew included Captain Koepke, First Officer William B. Nash and Second Officer William H. Fortenberry. Suddenly, they noticed six bright objects in echelon formation streaking toward them at tremendous speed. They had the fiery aspect of hot coals, but of much greater glow. View full report

Source: Tom Tulien, Sign Historical Group ID: 92

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Witness Photo, Multiple UFOs

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

Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh UFO Sighting (Astronomer Who Discovered Pluto)

August, 20, 1949 - Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States

Clyde Tombaugh was the American astronomer who discovered the planet Pluto. On August 20, 1949, he observed a UFO that appeared as a geometrically arranged group of six-to-eight rectangles of light, window-like in appearance and yellowish-green in color, which moved from northwest to southeast over Las Cruces, New Mexico. View full report

Source: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia ID: 355

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Scientist/Engineer, Astronomer, Famous Person, Witness Photo

The Gorman Dogfight

October, 1, 1948 - Fargo, North Dakota, United States

On the evening of October 1st, 1948, Lieutenant Gorman was returning from a cross-country flight with his squadron of North Dakota Air National Guard, when he saw an unidentified light source. He closed to within about l,000 yards to take a good look, later saying, “It was about six to eight inches in diameter, clear white, and completely round without fuzz at the edges." For 27 hair-raising minutes, Gorman pursued the light through a series of intricate maneuvers. View full report

Source: North Dakota Public Radio, Dec. 10. 2003 ID: 704

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew

The Chiles-Whitted Case

July, 24, 1948 - Montgomery, Alabama, United States

Another one of the famous airline sightings of earlier years is the Chiles-Whitted Eastern Airlines case. An Eastern DC-3, en route from Houston to Atlanta, was flying at an altitude of about 5,000 ft.. near Montgomery. ...The object was some kind of vehicle. They saw no wings or empennage, but both were struck by a pair of rows of windows or some apparent openings from which there came a bright glow "like burning magnesium." View full report

Source: Dr. James E. McDonald, U.S. House Hearings, 1968 ID: 116

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Witness Sketch, Portholes/Windows

The Thomas Mantell Incident (aircraft crashes after chasing UFO)

January, 7, 1948 - Godman Air Force Base, Kentucky, United States

Many stories have been written about the untimely death of Captain Thomas Mantell whose USAF P-51 Mustang aircraft crashed on the 7th. January 1948, shortly after having observed a UFO seen hovering in the air close to the US Army Air Force Base at Godman Field, Kentucky. The official Army Air Force verdict is that Mantell’s aircraft crashed after he blacked out owing to lack of oxygen while attempting to fly too high an altitude in what was later described as a high altitude weather balloon. View full report

Source: Tony Dodd, excerpt from 'Flight to destruction: The strange death of pilot Thomas Mantell' ID: 482

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Military, Pilot/Aircrew, Injury, Witness Photo

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

The 1947 Kenneth Arnold UFO Sighting

June, 24, 1947 - Near Mt. Rainier, Washington, United States

The modern phenomena of UFOs and “flying saucers” began in Washington state on June 24, 1947, when Kenneth Arnold spotted nine mysterious, high-speed objects “flying like a saucer would” along the crest of the Cascade Range near Mount Rainier. His report made international headlines and triggered hundreds of similar accounts of “flying saucers” locally and across the nation. View full report

Source: Loy Lawhon, About.com ID: 511

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Witness Sketch, Witness Photo, Multiple UFOs

The 'Alien Autopsy' Film (Socorro, NM 1947 UFO Crash)

1947 - Socorro, New Mexico, United States

In 1995 London based businessman Ray Santilli caused what has been arguably the biggest controversy in the entire history of UFO research when he launched his 'Alien Autopsy' film across the front pages of magazines and via the TV screen in over 20 different countries. View full report

Source: Michael Hesemann, Nexus Magazine, 1996 ID: 809

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Alien Photograph, Crash/Retrieval, Humanoid/Occupant, Physical Trace

The 1942 'Battle of Los Angeles'

February, 25, 1942 - Los Angeles, California, United States

Imagine a visiting spacecraft from another world, or dimension, hovering over a panicked and blacked-out LA in the middle of the night just weeks after Pearl Harbor at the height of WWII fear and paranoia. Imagine how this huge ship, assumed to be some unknown Japanese aircraft, was then attacked as it hung, nearly stationary, over Culver City and Santa Monica by dozens of Army anti-aircraft batteries in full view of hundreds of thousands of residents. Imagine all of that and you have an idea of what was the Battle of Los Angeles. View full report

Source: Jeff Rense, Rense.com ID: 509

Case Type: MajorCase Features: Photo, Mass Sighting

UFO Crash and Retrieval in Missouri, 1941

April, 1941 - Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States

One of the most mysterious stories of a crashed UFO with alien bodies preceded the well know Roswell events by some six years. Reverend William Huffman was summoned to pray over alien crash victims outside of Cape Girardeau, Missouri in the spring of 1941. He was shown three victims, not human as expected, but small alien bodies with large eyes, hardly a mouth or ears, and hairless. View full report