Explained UFO and UAP cases

58 well-documented explained UFO/UAP encounters (mundane explanation widely accepted or officially assessed), 1561 to 2026: 58 explained. Each case has its sources, timeline and the official or best explanation.

58 cases

• Celestial phenomenon over Nuremberg 14 April 1561 · Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire (Germany) EXPLAINED
• Celestial phenomenon over Basel 7 August 1566 · Basel, Swiss Confederacy (Switzerland) EXPLAINED
• Utsuro-bune — the "hollow ship" of Hitachi 22 February 1803 · Haratono-hama, Hitachi Province (Ibaraki), Japan EXPLAINED
• Bonilla observation — objects crossing the Sun 12 August 1883 · Zacatecas Astronomical Observatory, Mexico EXPLAINED
• Mystery airship wave 17 November 1896 · California to the Midwest and Texas, United States EXPLAINED
• Aurora, Texas airship "crash" 17 April 1897 · Aurora, Wise County, Texas EXPLAINED
• Tunguska explosion 30 June 1908 · Podkamennaya Tunguska River basin, Central Siberia EXPLAINED
• Great Meteor Procession 9 February 1913 · Toronto, Ontario, on a path from Saskatchewan to Bermuda EXPLAINED
• Brown Mountain lights 13 September 1913 · Brown Mountain, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina EXPLAINED
• Battle of Los Angeles 25 February 1942 · Los Angeles, California EXPLAINED
• Maury Island incident 21 June 1947 · Maury Island, Puget Sound, Washington EXPLAINED
• 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
• Farnborough test pilot’s disc — the Flying Saucer Working Party 14 August 1950 · Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, Hampshire EXPLAINED
• Fort Monmouth radar and T-33 sighting 10 September 1951 · Fort Monmouth and the Jersey Shore, New Jersey EXPLAINED
• Flatwoods "monster" 12 September 1952 · Flatwoods, Braxton County, West Virginia EXPLAINED
• Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter 21 August 1955 · Sutton farm, Kelly, Kentucky EXPLAINED
• Marfa lights 1 July 1957 · Mitchell Flat, east of Marfa, Texas EXPLAINED
• White Sands military police patrols 3 November 1957 · White Sands Proving Ground (up-range), New Mexico EXPLAINED
• Kirtland Air Force Base tower sighting 4 November 1957 · Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico EXPLAINED
• Coast Guard cutter Sebago — radar contacts in the Gulf of Mexico 5 November 1957 · USCGC Sebago, about 200 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi, Gulf of Mexico EXPLAINED
• Red Bluff — California Highway Patrol sighting 13 August 1960 · Red Bluff area, Tehama County, California EXPLAINED
• The Solway Firth “spaceman” photograph 23 May 1964 · Burgh Marsh, near Burgh by Sands, Cumberland EXPLAINED
• Big Sur — Atlas "Buzzing Bee" film 15 September 1964 · Anderson Peak, Big Sur, and Vandenberg AFB, California EXPLAINED
• Michigan "swamp gas" sightings 20 March 1966 · Dexter and Hillsdale, Michigan EXPLAINED
• Paulding Light 1 July 1966 · Robbins Pond Road, near Paulding, Michigan EXPLAINED
• Malmstrom AFB Echo Flight shutdown 16 March 1967 · Echo Flight, Malmstrom AFB missile field, Montana EXPLAINED
• Devon "flying cross" police chase 24 October 1967 · A3072, Holsworthy to Hatherleigh, Devon EXPLAINED
• Berwyn Mountains "crash" 23 January 1974 · Cadair Berwyn, North Wales EXPLAINED
• The Betz mystery sphere 27 March 1974 · Fort George Island, Jacksonville, Florida EXPLAINED
• Gujan-Mestras — the light that put out the street lamps 19 June 1978 · Gujan-Mestras, Arcachon basin, Gironde EXPLAINED
• Cergy-Pontoise “abduction” (hoax) 26 November 1979 · Cergy-Pontoise, Val-d’Oise, France EXPLAINED
• Brest-Guipavas airport — the fireball by the runway 22 November 1981 · Brest-Guipavas airport, Finistère EXPLAINED
• Hudson Valley "Westchester boomerang" 24 July 1984 · Brewster, Putnam County, New York EXPLAINED
• Gulf Breeze photographs 11 November 1987 · Gulf Breeze, Florida EXPLAINED
• Varginha "ET" 20 January 1996 · Varginha, Minas Gerais EXPLAINED
• The Wash incident 5 October 1996 · The Wash, Lincolnshire coast EXPLAINED
• Phoenix Lights 13 March 1997 · Henderson, NV → Phoenix → Tucson, Arizona EXPLAINED
• Mexican Air Force FLIR — Campeche 5 March 2004 · Southern Campeche, Mexico EXPLAINED
• The Haiti UFO videos 15 August 2007 · Said to be Haiti, and in a second video the Dominican Republic EXPLAINED
• Morristown lights (admitted hoax) 5 January 2009 · Morris County, New Jersey EXPLAINED
• Montevideo — the photo from the national team’s homecoming 13 July 2010 · Palacio Legislativo and Avenida del Libertador, Montevideo EXPLAINED
• The light over the Dome of the Rock (hoax) 28 January 2011 · Dome of the Rock, Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif), Old City of Jerusalem EXPLAINED
• Ladakh lights — the “Chinese drones” that were planets 1 August 2012 · Thakung post, near Pangong Tso, eastern Ladakh, India EXPLAINED
• Chelyabinsk meteor — and the “UFO that shot it down” 15 February 2013 · Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia; the air burst south of Chelyabinsk EXPLAINED
• Aguadilla thermal video (DHS) 25 April 2013 · Rafael Hernández Airport, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico EXPLAINED
• 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
• 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
• Espora naval air base — the “battle” that the Navy denied 5 September 2023 · Base Aeronaval Comandante Espora, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires province EXPLAINED
• The Miami mall “alien” 1 January 2024 · Bayside Marketplace, downtown Miami, Florida EXPLAINED
• New Jersey drone sightings 18 November 2024 · Morris County, New Jersey, and the Northeast EXPLAINED
• Campo Largo — an influencer’s lights traced to a campsite 31 May 2026 · Rural Campo Largo, Paraná EXPLAINED

By status

• Disputed 92
• Unresolved 84
• Identified 24
• Unassessed 3