selected ufo cases
Military Cases
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
Large disc with light beam follows car near Nowra, Australia
January, 1973 - Nowra, Australia
Elizabeth C was driving along the South Coast of NSW with four other people, when the group encountered a UFO which began to travel alongside the car. The object was large, disc-shaped, and there appeared to be a distinct 'searchlight' beam effect that rotated around its bottom. At least one of the witnesses was certain that figures could be seen in the windows of the object. After following the car for 24 km, the object seemed to suddenly relocate and headed out to sea. View full report
Source: Bill Chalker, (1996) ID: 625
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Military, Portholes/Windows
The Isla De Lobos Case in Uruguay
October, 28, 1972 - Isla de Lobos, Uruguay
This is a single witness sighting, and yet it has become the best case coming from Uruguay due to the in-depth investigation done by the members of C.I.O.V.I. research group. The witness, Corporal Juan Fuentes saw a landed craft with three occupants at close range for time of about one minute. He attempted to shoot at the occupants but was stopped from doing so. The occupants entered the craft, and the craft rose up and flew away at high speed. View full report
Source: Dr. Willy Smith (UNICAT Project)/ C.I.O.V.I. ID: 887
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Landing, Military
US aircraft carrier 'stopped' by large, glowing UFO; electromagnetic effects
1971 - Caribbean / Bermuda Triangle,
From the witness: "We heard someone yelling 'There is something hovering over the ship!'... As we looked up, we saw a large, glowing sphere.... It made no sound that I could hear. The light coming from it wasn't too bright, about half of what the sun would be. It sort of pulsated a little and was yellow to orange... Virtually all electronic components stopped functioning during the 20 minutes or so that [the UFO] hovered over the ship. " View full report
Source: Jim Kopf (credit: Rense.com) ID: 1075
Case Type: RawReport Features: E-M Effects, Silent, Military, Group Sighting, Water-Related
Military sighting of ball of opaque light started out small, grew to 5 times moon size
1970 - Ft. Gordon, Georgia, United States
Our company had fallen out for morning formation. we were waiting for the 1st seargent to join us when someone in our ranks started saying "what is that?" What I saw was an object that first appeared to be a full moon only larger by half than I had ever seen it. As I continued watching it, it steadily grew in size untill it was at least 5 times larger than I have ever seen the moon be. View full report
Source: UFO Evidence ID: 74
Case Type: RawReport Features: Military
Chilean Navy ship encounters large UFO; tracked on radar
October, 24, 1969 - Chile
The incident involved a Chilean Naval destroyer and was witnessed by crew members and the commander of the vessel. Up to six UFOs, including one large object, were observed. The objects were verified on radar and observed visually. As the main object moved over the ship, the vessel's power went out." View full report
Source: Bill Chalker ID: 1016
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Military, Water-Related, Radar, Multiple UFOs, Humming, E-M Effects, Body Lights, Group Sighting
Navy ship HMAS Hobart hit during Vietnam UFO encounter?
June, 15, 1968 - DMZ, Viet Nam
On Friday, 15 June 1968, Allied forward spotters along the eastern part of the Demilitarised Zone, a 9.6km wide strip separating North and South Vietnam, reported seeing about 30 strange slow-moving 'lights' in the night sky. View full report
Source: AUFORN Special Report, Issue 34, April 2003 ID: 60
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Military, Physical Trace
Russia UFO crash and recovery, 1968
March, 1968 - Berezovsky , Russian Federation
The details of a Russian UFO crash on or about 1969 are sketchy and somewhat suspect. This case comes from the so-called "Secret KGB Files," which were reportedly smuggled out of the former Soviet Union. Reportedly, $10,000 was paid for the information. The details of these secret files were first offered to the general public on 9-13-98 as part of a TNT special titled "The Secret UFO Files of the KGB." The show featured extraordinary film and still photographs of the UFO recovery, and also a portion of autopsy film on part of an alien body. View full report
Source: UFOCasebook.com (editor, B. J. Booth) ID: 1138
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Military, Crash/Retrieval, Alien Photograph, Photo, Humanoid/Occupant
The Malmstrom Air Force Base UFO/Missile Incident (Nuclear missiles shutdown during UFO encounter)
March, 16, 1967 - Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, United States
From the witness Robert Salas: "I received a call from my security guard who was quite frightened as he reported that an unidentifiable flying object was hovering immediately above the front gate. The object was illuminated by a red glow.... many of our missiles became disabled... a similar incident had occurred at another site and they had all of their missiles disabled while UFOs were observed directly over the launch sites." View full report
Source: Robert Salas, (MUFON) ID: 1017
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Military, Silent, Nuclear Facility, Witness Photo
Canadian Navy seaman witnesses object on beach
November, 30, 1965 - Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, Canada
Seaman Ian Kinsey, of Her Majesty's Coastal Service, was on his 2-4 a.m. watch at the Cornwallis station. When he looked out towards the shoreline, he saw a sharply oval, yellow object resting on the beach. The UFO was "lit up," but not glaring. Five minutes later a sliding door on the object's side opened and a smaller, cigarette-shaped UFO entered the larger object through the door. A similar sighting took place a few hours before in Springhill, about 125 miles from Cornwallis. View full report
Source: NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon), 'Strange Effects from UFOs', by Donald Keyhoe and Gordon Lore ID: 581
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Military, Landing, Humming, Portholes/Windows
Cosford RAF UFO Landing
December, 10, 1963 - Cosford RAF, United Kingdom
At around 11.30pm on the evening of December 10, 1963, a dome-shaped UFO touched down on the Royal Air Force base facility at Cosford, near Wolverhampton, bathed the surrounding area in a beam of green light, and was seen at close quarters by at least two RAF apprentices. At least, that has been the accepted story for the last three decades. View full report
Source: 'Cosford: An Enduring Mystery,' Nick Redfern ID: 57
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Military, Landing
Strategic Air Command officers watch UFO with satellite objects
September, 8, 1958 - Offutt AFB, Omaha, Nebraska, United States
At SAC headquarters in 1958, a group of officers, airmen and missile engineers observed an elongated UFO with satellite objects for about 20 minutes. According to the report filed by Major Paul A. Duich, USAF (Ret.), "all except a few of the airmen were seasoned, veteran flyers or highly trained missile engineers. We concluded that what was seen by all was no conventional vehicle, nor was it an atmospheric phenomenon." View full report
Source: NICAP / Richard Hall (1964) from NICAP case file ID: 641
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Military, Group Sighting, Witness Sketch
Strategic Air Command Officers Watch UFO With Satellite Objects
September, 8, 1958 - Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebraska, United States
At SAC headquarters in 1958, a group of officers, airmen and missile engineers observed an elongated UFO with satellite objects for about 20 minutes. The case was reported to NICAP by Major Paul A. Duich, USAF (Ret.). Until recently, Major Duich was an Air Force Master Navigator, accumulating 4000 flying hours and 300 combat hours. View full report
Source: Richard Hall, The UFO Evidence, 1964 ID: 1098
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Military, Multiple UFOs, Group Sighting
Enormous UFO seen by soldier during Algerian War
March, 1958 - Bouhamama, Algeria
Legionnaire N.G., was on sentry duty at a Foreign Legion camp at Bouahmama during the Algerian War, when he saw an enormous, roundish object descending. It stopped when it was about 35-40 metres above the ground, and began to hover there, motionless and silent. He estimated it to be as much as 350 metres wide. The witness feels that something most unusual happened to him psychologically. View full report
Source: Joel Mesnard, FSR Vol. 19. No. 3 ID: 594
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Military, Physiological Effects
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
Object tracked on multiple radar flying at 5,000+ MPH
January, 1958 - Fairbanks, Alaska, United States
"I was on duty as a radar ATC operator and observed on my radar an object flying at 5,000mph+ and making impossible 90 degree turns. I coordinated and confirmed sighting with at least 3 other radar sites." View full report
Source: UFOEvidence.org ID: 334
Case Type: RawReport Features: Radar, Military
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
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
Canadian military pilots see and photograph UFO
August, 27, 1956 - McCleod, Alberta, Canada
The witnesses were two Royal Canadian Air Force pilots who were flying in a formation of four F86 Sabre jet aircraft. One of the pilots saw a "bright light which was sharply defined and disk-shaped," that resembled "a shiny silver dollar sitting horizontal." The first pilot to notice the object took a photograph. View full report
Source: STUDIOVNI ID: 255
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Photo, Military, Pilot/Aircrew
Navy Sees 'Flying Saucers' on Radar Screen
December, 16, 1954 - Goulburn, Australia
Navy pilot has reported seeing two "flying saucers" flash past him while he was flying over Goulburn, N.S.W. Radar officers at Nowra Fleet Air station picked up the objects on their screen. View full report
Source: Daily Telegraph December 16th 1954 ID: 22
Case Type: PressReport Features: Radar, Pilot/Aircrew, Military
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
