Top 10 UFO Incidents That Have Still YET to be Explained

This sighting, also called the “Kenneth Arnold UFO Sighting”, is the one that gave us the phrase “flying saucer”. Kenneth Arnold, a pilot, was flying near Mount Rainier in Washington state in 1947 when he encountered a series of unusual, flashing lights. He then spotted multiple flying objects shimmering as if they were made out of mirrors. He followed the objects for a while until they eventually flew away from him, much faster than his plane. When papers reported on it, the name “flying saucer” was coined to describe what he saw, and the military eventually investigated. But with no evidence other than Arnold’s own testimony, we might never know what the objects were.

People stopped their cars to get a better look at a V-shaped UFO that was spotted over the New Jersey Turnpike in 2001. These lights were supposed to be gold and appeared at night, and were even seen by local cops AND filmed. They were compared extensively to the similar V-shaped UFO formation seen in Arizona in 1997, the so-called “Phoenix Lights”, and again some people thought military flares were responsible. Decades on, and we still don’t know what they were. Maybe another military exercise WAS to blame, but when similar formations of lights in the sky keep appearing, perhaps something more is going on.

The most famous alien abduction case of all time, the abduction of Barney and Betty Hill established many of the hallmark characteristics of the alien abduction myth. The Hills were during through New Hampshire in 1961 when they saw a flying saucer following them. Eventually, the saucer landed, and they approached to investigate, seeing “humanoid figures” within. They then returned home with missing time and missing memories. Betty started to regain her memories through dreams and came to believe that she and her husband had been abducted by aliens and experimented on, though the aliens were friendly. She said they came from Zeta Reticuli. To this day it’s not clear what actually happened to the Hills that night.

This alien encounter is often taken to be a bit of local color down in Texas, but it’s still not clear where the strange story came from or what happened. In 1897, newspapers reported that a UFO had crashed near a farm and had been carrying an alien astronaut. The alien died in the crash and was, allegedly, buried in the town’s cemetery. It’s plausible that the entire story was fabricated and to great effect, since it remains a popular, if absurd, legend in the area. But they do say that there’s a kernel of truth in every story, and maybe a spaceman DID crash down in the Old West.

This UFO sighting was experienced by countless people, all watching a friendly soccer game in Florence, Italy, in 1954. As the story goes, the match had to be stopped partway through because a large number of UFOs appeared in the sky. Thousands of people were witnesses, and they variously described an object that looked like an “egg” or “cigar”, but it was brilliant white and left a strange residue behind when it departed. Scientists believe the entire object was a unique weather phenomenon involving spiderwebs getting pulled into the atmosphere, which would also explain the residue, but it was over too quickly to be studied in detail.

Now onto Australia, this famous sighting happened in 1966 and also boasts a great many witnesses. In Melbourne, a group of schoolchildren and their teacher all saw a flying saucer fly over the top of their school one morning, supposedly being chased by airplanes. The Royal Australian Air Force had no records of any such event – at least, none any it’s ever made public – but to be seen by so many people, it’s definitely worth further study. Some have blamed a weather balloon for the sighting, as they often do, but even sixty years on and nobody really knows what happened or what the UFO was.

Part UFO encounter and part cryptid, the Flatwoods Monster is today a staple of West Virginia folklore. Supposedly, in 1952, a bright object flew across the sky and crashed down to Earth. Some people went to investigate and eventually came across an alien figure, perhaps 10 feet tall, that “glided” across the ground and created a foul smell that left them unwell. Usually, people blame a large barn owl for the sighting thanks to the detailed description, but no owl is 10 feet tall. Owls also don’t leave burn marks on the ground or crash to Earth on comets.

Another incident that toes the line between a fantastical monster and an extra-terrestrial, and which also took place in West Virginia, were the sightings of Mothman in 1966 and 1967. Alien or not, this mysterious creature WAS an unidentified flying object in the truest sense, spotted by numerous people. The sightings culminated with the 1967 Silver Bridge collapse in which 46 people lost their lives. Some blame Mothman for this, or believe he was providing a warning, but it’s still not clear what those actual sightings were. Maybe it was a large bird of some kind – a crane is usually mentioned – or maybe he was something not-of-this-world.

Again, we have UFO sightings that pre-date the Second World War, which is unusual. This bizarre craze of sightings happened in the 1890s, as members of the public began to see “mystery airships” in the sky. This was still a few years before the first successful airplane, where the only ways to fly were in airships or balloons, so it makes sense that people would see a UFO and determine it must be some kind of airship. The panic then re-emerged fifteen years later, just before World War I. Some believe the whole thing was made up to sell newspapers, while others point to it as proof that aliens have been on Earth for centuries.

In 1952, America was under attack. The capital city, Washington D.C., was besieged by unexplained aircraft, visible to both the naked eye and to radar equipment. Even the most experienced airmen and aviation workers saw bright lights and strange objects, including one described as a “ball of fire”. It was so alarming that the CIA investigated, setting up the Robertson Panel under the President’s orders because they thought the event represented a threat to national security. It remains such a unique encounter because it lasted for multiple days and had so many witnesses, and it might be the UFO encounter the US government has taken most seriously of all.