The most famous UFO sightings in the world

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The lights of Lubbock, Texas​

Between August and September 1951, several unusual light formations were spotted in the skies above Lubbock, in Texas. Witnesses described seeing about 20 to 30 lights arranged in a 'V' pattern. The incident is one of the first in the United States reported as a UFO sighting.

 

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The lights of Lubbock, Texas​

The same year the United States Air Force investigated the incident and concluded that the lights had been caused by a plover, a small wading bird. However, this bizarre explanation was later recounted by the USAF and no other reason was given.

 

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The Tehran incident, Iran​

On September 19, 1976 Iranian military forces detected an unidentified flying object in the skies above the capital, Tehran.

 

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The Tehran incident, Iran​

As two Iranian air force jets approached the mystery object the pilots lost radio communications with the ground. As they prepared to open fire on the UFO, their weapons systems also failed. It was only after leaving the vicinity of the strange craft that they resumed full control of their aircraft.

 

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The sighting by Jimmy Carter​

In 1973, before he held office as the President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, governor of the state of Georgia, reported seeing an unidentified flying object.

 

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The sighting by Jimmy Carter​

The case only became public after Carter was in the White House. By the late 1970s, when he was no longer president, the US press used the sighting by Carter to open up a debate about UFO sightings.

 

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The São Paulo sightings, Brazil​

In 1986, 20 UFOs appeared on Brazilian military forces radars. An air force jet was scrambled to intercept them but the objects eventually disappeared from screens.

 

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The São Paulo sightings, Brazil​

Several conspiracy theories subsequently surfaced regarding the sightings, but the general consensus is that the 'objects' were in fact pieces of debris from the decommissioned Salyut-7 Soviet space station, disintegrating as it fell out of orbit and into the Earth's atmosphere.

 

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The 'Roswell Incident'​

The 'Roswell Incident' continues to catch the imagination of the public and media around the world. In 1947, two men out hunting claimed to have seen US Army personnel recover an alien spacecraft from the desert near Roswell.

 

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The 'Roswell Incident'​

The United States military denied any such incident occurred, and continues to do so today. The explanation offered by the authorities is that the army was engaged on a secret mission to recover a surveillance device.

 

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The case of Kenneth Arnold, Washington​

In 1947, an American businessman named Kenneth Arnold claimed to have seen several disc-shaped objects flying over Mount Rainier, in Washington state.

 

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The case of Kenneth Arnold, Washington​

The objects reported by Arnold were renamed 'flying saucers,' a description he subsequently popularized when recalling the incident.

 

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The lights of Rendlesham Forest, England​

The Rendlesham Forest incident is the name given to a series of sightings that occurred in 1980 after a supposed landing of an unidentified flying object in Rendlesham Forest.

 

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The lights of Rendlesham Forest, England​

The UK Ministry of Defense never considered the event a threat to national security. As such, the incident was never officially investigated.

 

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The Levelland case, Texas​

In Levelland in 1967, the engines of several vehicles stopped working after drivers encountered a bright, egg-shaped object in the sky. The cars restarted after the mystery object disappeared.

 

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The Levelland case, Texas​

A subsequent police investigation concluded that the engines were disabled as a result of an electrical storm. However, this explanation continues to be refuted by those who believe in UFOs and alien life-forms.