UFO and UAP cases of the 2020s

33 well-documented UFO/UAP encounters of the 2020s, 2020 to 2026: 12 unresolved, 9 identified, 8 explained, 2 unassessed, 2 disputed. Each case has its sources, timeline and the official or best explanation.

33 cases

• Sendai’s white balloon 17 June 2020 · Over Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan IDENTIFIED
• American Airlines 2292 — “cruise-missile type of thing” 21 February 2021 · Northeastern New Mexico, at about 36,000 ft UNRESOLVED
• Lights over Seattle and Portland — a Falcon 9 stage re-entering 25 March 2021 · Over western Oregon and Washington; debris in Grant County, Washington IDENTIFIED
• Three objects on a Western U.S. military range 1 June 2021 · Military range, Western United States (withheld) EXPLAINED
• Maldonado — the UFO videos that were a festival campaign 12 August 2021 · Parque del Jagüel, Punta del Este, Maldonado EXPLAINED
• AC-130J “cold orbs” over the Gulf of Oman 8 September 2021 · Gulf of Oman (exact location withheld) UNRESOLVED
• FBI files — orbs over one place in the north-eastern U.S. 1 November 2021 · A sparsely populated place in the north-eastern United States (withheld) UNASSESSED
• The Navy’s night-vision image shown to Congress — drones 1 January 2022 · Naval exercise areas off the U.S. East Coast (exact place and date withheld) IDENTIFIED
• The blue spiral over New Zealand — a Falcon 9 upper stage 19 June 2022 · Across New Zealand, photographed from Queenstown, Stewart Island and Motueka IDENTIFIED
• MQ-9 "Middle East orb" 12 July 2022 · Middle East (exact location withheld) UNRESOLVED
• Long March 5B core stage burns up over Sarawak 31 July 2022 · Over Sarawak, Malaysia, toward the Sulu Sea IDENTIFIED
• Porto Alegre — airline pilots report blinking lights 5 November 2022 · Approach to Salgado Filho airport, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul DISPUTED
• MQ-9 records object with "wake" — South Asia 15 January 2023 · South Asia (exact location withheld) EXPLAINED
• AARO’s “Eglin UAP” — a lighting balloon 26 January 2023 · Eglin Air Force Base training range, over the Gulf off north-west Florida EXPLAINED
• Chinese surveillance balloon 28 January 2023 · Aleutians → Montana → Carolina coast IDENTIFIED
• The balloon over Colombia — China’s second airship 3 February 2023 · Northern Colombian airspace; also reported over Costa Rica and on towards Venezuela IDENTIFIED
• February 2023 shoot-downs (Alaska, Yukon, Lake Huron) 10 February 2023 · Deadhorse AK · Yukon · Lake Huron UNRESOLVED
• Las Vegas backyard “landing” 30 April 2023 · North-west Las Vegas valley, Nevada DISPUTED
• Espora naval air base — the “battle” that the Navy denied 5 September 2023 · Base Aeronaval Comandante Espora, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires province EXPLAINED
• The “Nazca mummies” shown to Mexico’s Congress 12 September 2023 · Chamber of Deputies, San Lázaro, Mexico City (the figures came from the Nazca area of Peru) IDENTIFIED
• Colorado Springs law-enforcement videos 1 October 2023 · Colorado Springs, Colorado UNRESOLVED
• Imphal airport UFO — Rafales scrambled 19 November 2023 · Bir Tikendrajit International Airport, Imphal, Manipur UNRESOLVED
• Langley Air Force Base drone incursions 6 December 2023 · Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Hampton, Virginia UNRESOLVED
• The Miami mall “alien” 1 January 2024 · Bayside Marketplace, downtown Miami, Florida EXPLAINED
• Tyndall "Tic Tac" — USCG C-144 24 April 2024 · Southeastern U.S., near Tyndall AFB, Florida UNASSESSED
• The “plume” over Buenos Aires — a Chinese rocket identified 8 May 2024 · Castelar, Buenos Aires province; also seen from Entre Ríos, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia and Paraguay IDENTIFIED
• The teardrop with a pole — United Arab Emirates 1 June 2024 · United Arab Emirates (exact location withheld) UNRESOLVED
• The “misshapen ball of white light” over Syria 1 October 2024 · Syria (exact location withheld) UNRESOLVED
• The Yemen orb and the Hellfire — shown to Congress 30 October 2024 · Off the coast of Yemen (exact location not released) UNRESOLVED
• New Jersey drone sightings 18 November 2024 · Morris County, New Jersey, and the Northeast EXPLAINED
• Drones over the U.S. air bases in England 20 November 2024 · RAF Lakenheath, Mildenhall, Feltwell and Fairford, England UNRESOLVED
• The drones that closed Europe’s airports 22 September 2025 · Copenhagen Airport first; then Oslo, Aalborg, Billund, Munich, Brussels and Liège UNRESOLVED
• Campo Largo — an influencer’s lights traced to a campsite 31 May 2026 · Rural Campo Largo, Paraná EXPLAINED

By decade

• 1950s 48
• 1970s 38
• 1960s 31
• 1980s 25
• 2010s 24
• 1990s 21
• 1940s 16
• 2000s 12
• Before 1900 6
• 1910s 5
• 1900s 2