UFO and UAP cases of the 1940s

16 well-documented UFO/UAP encounters of the 1940s, 1942 to 1949: 8 explained, 5 disputed, 3 unresolved. Each case has its sources, timeline and the official or best explanation.

16 cases

• Battle of Los Angeles 25 February 1942 · Los Angeles, California EXPLAINED
• Foo fighters — 415th Night Fighter Squadron 23 November 1944 · Rhine valley near Strasbourg UNRESOLVED
• The Trinity crash story 16 August 1945 · The Padilla ranch near San Antonio, New Mexico, north-west of the Trinity test site DISPUTED
• Ängelholm landing report 18 May 1946 · Kronoskogen, Ängelholm, Sweden DISPUTED
• Ghost rockets — Lake Kölmjärv 19 July 1946 · Lake Kölmjärv, Norrbotten, Sweden UNRESOLVED
• Maury Island incident 21 June 1947 · Maury Island, Puget Sound, Washington EXPLAINED
• Kenneth Arnold — "flying saucers" over Mount Rainier 24 June 1947 · Mount Rainier, Washington DISPUTED
• Rhodes photographs — Phoenix 7 July 1947 · Phoenix, Arizona EXPLAINED
• Roswell debris recovery 8 July 1947 · Foster homestead near Corona, New Mexico EXPLAINED
• Mantell UFO incident 7 January 1948 · Godman Field, Fort Knox, Kentucky EXPLAINED
• Aztec “crashed saucer” — the story that ended in a fraud trial 25 March 1948 · Hart Canyon, about 12 miles north-east of Aztec, New Mexico (as the story told it) EXPLAINED
• Chiles–Whitted encounter 24 July 1948 · Near Montgomery, Alabama EXPLAINED
• Gorman dogfight 1 October 1948 · Fargo, North Dakota EXPLAINED
• The green fireballs of New Mexico 5 December 1948 · Over northern and central New Mexico, near Los Alamos, Sandia and White Sands DISPUTED
• Arrey, New Mexico — a theodolite track by a Skyhook balloon crew 24 April 1949 · About three miles north of Arrey, New Mexico, in the White Sands test area UNRESOLVED
• Clyde Tombaugh’s Las Cruces sighting 20 August 1949 · Las Cruces, New Mexico DISPUTED

By decade

• 1950s 48
• 1970s 38
• 2020s 33
• 1960s 31
• 1980s 25
• 2010s 24
• 1990s 21
• 2000s 12
• Before 1900 6
• 1910s 5
• 1900s 2