The history of UFOs and UAP
Every sourced event from 1945 to today, one dot each. Hover a dot to see the event, or click to read it.
Select any year above to see what happened that year.
Guided stories
Each story is a short read: its events in order, each with a note on why it matters and a link to the full event and its sources.
Best place to startThe HighlightsThe defining events from the first sightings to today, one at a time. The best place to start.Photo: Kenneth Arnold, Public domain
Close encountersThe best-known close-encounter and contact accounts, from the Hills in 1961 to Chris Bledsoe, with what was claimed and how it was received.Photo: WestallSC, CC BY-SA 4.0
Military encountersPilots, radar operators and base personnel on the record, from Mantell in 1948 to the 2023 shootdowns.Photo: Kentucky National Guard, Public domain
Road to the hearingsHow UAP went from a closed Air Force file to open congressional hearings, step by sourced step, 1969 to 2024.Photo: United States Air Force Archive, CC BY-SA 4.0
Skinwalker Ranch sagaA guided path through Skinwalker Ranch history, from the Sherman family's reports to Bigelow's NIDS, the AAWSAP contract and the History series.Photo: Paul from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
The four eras
- 1946-1969
Flying saucers and the Air Force files
A pilot's 1947 report starts a national wave of sightings. The U.S. Air Force investigates thousands of cases through Projects Sign, Grudge and Blue Book, explains most of them, and closes the effort in 1969 after a university study concludes further research is unlikely to add to science.
Show these 310 events on the timeline - 1970-2003
Quiet officials, loud culture
Official U.S. interest fades while public interest grows: films, books and famous cases such as Rendlesham and the Phoenix Lights. Freedom of Information requests pry loose old files, and other governments, including France and the UK, run or release their own studies.
Show these 350 events on the timeline - 2004-2017
Navy encounters and a hidden program
Navy aviators report objects they cannot identify, including the 2004 Nimitz case. A Pentagon-funded study runs out of public view, and in 2017 The New York Times reveals it, along with Navy video.
Show these 210 events on the timeline - 2018-today
Official acknowledgment and hearings
The Pentagon releases the Navy videos, sets up a task force and then a permanent office (AARO), intelligence officials report to Congress, and Congress holds open hearings with sworn testimony. Officials say most reports turn out to be ordinary objects, that some remain unidentified, and that they have found no verified evidence of extraterrestrial technology.
Show these 359 events on the timeline