selected ufo cases
Famous / Classic / Major Cases
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
