Cases and themes
Reports from airline, military and private pilots, air traffic controllers and aviation agencies. 136 events, newest first.
Media18 Nov 2020
A Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter crew counting bighorn sheep spotted a 10 to 12 foot stainless-steel monolith in a remote southeastern Utah canyon. Officials said it was likely an unauthorized art installation and, as one trooper put it, not from another world.
Photo: Patrick A. Mackie; cropped by Chainwit, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sightings14 Oct 2020
A China Airlines crew told controllers they saw what looked like a person in a jetpack at about 6,000 feet, seven miles northwest of LAX, the second such report in two months. The FAA notified police and the FBI said it was investigating; no explanation was made public.
Photo: Alfred Twu, CC0
Military28 Apr 2020
Asked about the Pentagon release of Navy UFO videos, Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono said no SDF pilot had met a UFO and that he did not really believe in them, but that encounter procedures would be set and Japan would seek the US analysis.
Photo: Prime Minister's Official Residence, CC BY 4.0
Military19 Dec 2019
Chad Underwood, the Navy F/A-18 pilot who recorded the 2004 FLIR1 'Tic Tac' video off southern California, gave his first public interview to New York Magazine. He described locking the object on radar and infrared after a warning from David Fravor and said it did not behave like known aircraft.
Photo: United States Navy, Public domain
SightingsDec 2019
From mid-December 2019 residents and deputies in rural Colorado and Nebraska reported nightly drones flying in patterns. The Air Force and FAA said they were not theirs, a federal and state task force found no operators, and Colorado officials later attributed some reports to planes and stars.
Photo: Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0
Government19 Jun 2019
Senate Intelligence vice chairman Mark Warner and two other senators received a classified Pentagon briefing on Navy pilot encounters with unidentified aircraft. His office said unexplained interference with naval pilots was a safety concern; the Navy confirmed the briefing but gave no details.
Photo: U.S. Senator Mark Warner, Public domain
Government15 Jun 2019
President Trump told ABC News's George Stephanopoulos he did not particularly believe in UFOs. Asked whether he thought he would know of any case of extraterrestrial life, he said 'our great pilots would know.'
Photo: Shealeah Craighead, Public domain
Media31 May 2019
History premiered a six-part series following Luis Elizondo, Tom DeLonge's To The Stars Academy and former Pentagon official Chris Mellon. It featured Navy pilot David Fravor describing his 2004 encounter and other accounts tied to the Navy cases.
Photo: Max Moszkowicz, CC BY 3.0
Media26 May 2019
The New York Times published on-record accounts from Navy F/A-18 pilots, including Lt. Ryan Graves and Lt. Danny Accoin, of objects seen almost daily off the East Coast in 2014-2015, including a near collision. The Navy said it was updating its guidance for reporting such sightings.
Photo: U.S. House Committee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, Public domain
Military23 Apr 2019
The Navy told Politico it was drafting a formal process for pilots and other personnel to report unidentified aircraft entering military ranges. It cited a rise in unauthorized or unidentified aircraft and did not suggest the objects were alien.
Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James R. Evans, Public domain
Sightings22 Jan 2019
The FAA briefly halted arrivals at Newark Liberty International after two incoming flights reported a drone at about 3,500 feet over nearby Teterboro Airport. Operations resumed within the hour and the FAA passed the reports to law enforcement.
Photo: Fan Railer, Public domain
Sightings9 Nov 2018
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic crews told Shannon air traffic control they saw very bright, fast-moving lights off Ireland's southwest coast. Controllers saw nothing on radar. The Irish Aviation Authority opened a confidential occurrence review; one pilot suggested a meteor.
Photo: Rex and Fido, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sightings24 Feb 2018
A Phoenix Air Learjet pilot and the crew of American Airlines Flight 1095 told Albuquerque Center they saw an object pass high above them over southern Arizona. The FAA released the radio recordings but did not identify the object, saying it had no comment beyond the audio.
Photo: Jerry Gunner from Lincoln, UK, CC BY 2.0
Military21 Sep 2017
A U.S. Army UH-60M Black Hawk on a UN General Assembly security patrol struck a DJI Phantom 4 near Staten Island, taking minor damage. The NTSB found the drone pilot flew beyond visual line of sight; the FAA called it the first confirmed drone collision with an aircraft.
Photo: The National Guard Spc. Andrew Valenza/New York National Guard, Public domain
Media28 May 2017
In a CBS 60 Minutes profile of his space company by Lara Logan, Las Vegas businessman Robert Bigelow said he was convinced of an existing alien presence on Earth. CBS reported the FAA had confirmed it once referred UFO reports to a firm Bigelow owned.
Photo: Bill Ingalls, Public domain
Sightings17 Apr 2016
The pilot of a British Airways A320 arriving from Geneva reported that an object, believed to be a drone, struck the front of the aircraft on approach to Heathrow. The plane landed safely and Metropolitan Police aviation officers opened an investigation.
Photo: Jeremy Segrott from Cardiff, Wales, UK, CC BY 2.0
Sightings18 Mar 2016
A Lufthansa A380 crew approaching Los Angeles International at about 5,000 feet reported a drone passing roughly 200 feet above the jet, 14 miles out. The FAA notified Los Angeles police, whose air unit did not find the drone; the plane landed safely.
Photo: Glenn Beltz from Goleta, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0
Sightings19 Feb 2016
An Air France A320 from Barcelona descending toward Charles de Gaulle met a drone the captain estimated passed about five meters from the left wing; the co-pilot flew a manual avoidance. France's BEA classed it as a serious incident and opened an investigation.
Photo: Benoit Prieur, CC0
Sightings2016
UK Airprox Board figures show near-miss reports involving drones, balloons, model aircraft and unidentified small objects rose from 40 in 2015 to 94 in 2016, then a record. The board notes pilots often see such objects only fleetingly, so many are logged simply as unknown objects.
Government13 Aug 2015
The FAA said pilot reports of drones near manned aircraft had risen to more than 650 so far in 2015, up from 238 in all of 2014. Monthly pilot reports in mid-2015 ran several times higher than a year earlier.
Photo: Runner1928, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sightings20 Jul 2015
The crew of a Lufthansa Embraer 195 from Munich reported a black object, possibly a drone, passing within about 100 meters of the jet at 760 meters on approach to Warsaw. The plane landed safely; police questioned a local drone owner but brought no charges.
Photo: PerpetualTraveler, CC BY-SA 4.0
MilitaryJan 2015
Navy F/A-18 crews training off the U.S. East Coast recorded the infrared videos later known as Gimbal and GoFast. Pilots in the squadron, including Ryan Graves, have said they saw unidentified objects repeatedly in 2014 and 2015.
Photo: United States Navy, Public domain
Military11 Nov 2014
A Chilean Navy helicopter crew on coastal patrol west of Santiago filmed an object with an infrared camera for about 10 minutes. Chile's CEFAA studied the footage for two years and called it unidentified; skeptics later argued it was an airliner leaving contrails.
Sightings22 Jul 2014
An A320 crew on short final to Heathrow reported a small black object pass about 20 feet over the wing at 700 feet. The UK Airprox Board judged it a suspected radio-controlled model helicopter and rated the risk Category A, its highest; the operator was never traced.
Photo: Thomas Nugent, CC BY-SA 2.0
Sightings22 Mar 2014
A US Airways regional jet descending toward Tallahassee at about 2,300 feet reported nearly hitting a small drone; the pilot thought it had struck the plane. FAA official Jim Williams disclosed the case in May 2014. The drone's type and operator were not identified.
Photo: The Bushranger, CC BY-SA 4.0
