INCIDENT INDEX · PUBLIC ARCHIVE LAYER

UFO Cases

Case files rebuilt from primary government records. Each source-checked case lists the documents it is based on.

We do not illustrate cases with generated images. Where official photos or video exist, the case file links to them at the original archive.

Famous cases, from the record

Full explainers on the best-known UFO cases, each built from government documents, sworn testimony and contemporary reporting, with every source listed.

1947 · ✓ SOURCE-CHECKED
Kenneth Arnold (1947): The Sighting That Started the "Flying Saucer" Era

Kenneth Arnold's June 1947 sighting of nine objects near Mount Rainier, as described in the CIA's 1997 history of its UFO work and AARO's 2024 historical report, and how it gave the world the term "flying saucer."

1947 · ✓ SOURCE-CHECKED
What Really Happened at Roswell in 1947? What the Official Records Say

The Roswell incident in the government's own records: the 1947 FBI teletype, the GAO's 1995 records search, the Air Force's 1994 Project Mogul finding and its 1997 'Case Closed' report on the alien-body stories.

1952 · ✓ SOURCE-CHECKED
The 1952 Washington, D.C. UFO Sightings: What the CIA and Air Force Said

The July 1952 Washington UFO flap in the official record: radar blips over the capital, jets scrambled, a White House inquiry, the Air Force's temperature-inversion explanation, and the CIA study it triggered.

1965 · ✓ SOURCE-CHECKED
The Kecksburg UFO (1965): What the Records and the NASA Lawsuit Revealed

The December 9, 1965 Kecksburg, Pennsylvania fireball in the record: Project Blue Book's meteor finding, the reports of an acorn-shaped object, and the FOIA lawsuit that forced NASA to search its files.

1980 · ✓ SOURCE-CHECKED
Rendlesham Forest UFO (1980): What the Halt Memo and MoD Files Say

Britain's best-known UFO case in the official record: Lt Col Charles Halt's January 1981 memo, the Ministry of Defence file DEFE 24/1948 released by The National Archives in 2009, and the MoD's conclusion that the incident was of "no defence significance."

1989 · ✓ SOURCE-CHECKED
Bob Lazar, Area 51 and S-4: What the Official Record Shows

Bob Lazar's 1989 claims about alien craft at a site he called S-4 near Area 51, set against the official record: the CIA's declassified Area 51 history, AARO's 2024 finding on reverse-engineering claims, and what science later learned about element 115.

1990 · ✓ SOURCE-CHECKED
The Belgian UFO Wave (1989–1990): What the Official Files Say

The Belgian UFO wave in the official record: the Belgian Air Force's F-16 scramble of March 1990, General Wilfried de Brouwer's statement in the UK Ministry of Defence files, and the famous triangle photo that its maker later admitted was faked.

1997 · ✓ SOURCE-CHECKED
The Phoenix Lights (1997): What Officials Said About the Lights

The Phoenix Lights of March 13, 1997 in the record: two separate sightings, the Maryland Air National Guard's explanation of the flares dropped over the Barry M. Goldwater Range, and what Arizona's governor said in 1997 and again in 2007.

2004 · ✓ SOURCE-CHECKED
The Nimitz "Tic Tac" UFO (2004): What the Pilot Told Congress

The 2004 USS Nimitz "Tic Tac" encounter in the official record: Cmdr. David Fravor's sworn testimony to Congress in July 2023, and the Pentagon's April 2020 release of the FLIR1 video, which it still classes as unidentified.

2023 · ✓ SOURCE-CHECKED
David Grusch's UFO Testimony: What He Said and What the Pentagon Said

What former intelligence officer David Grusch told Congress under oath on July 26, 2023 about a "multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program," and how the Pentagon and AARO responded.

Case files

⌕

Showing source-checked case files. More cases are being rebuilt from primary records and will appear here once checked.

DoD? Unknown
1956
DOD-016 · 1956-08-13

RAF Lakenheath–Bentwaters Radar-Visual Case (August 13–14, 1956)

◎RAF Lakenheath / RAF Bentwaters, Suffolk, England

On the night of August 13–14, 1956, USAF radar operators at two bases in Suffolk, England tracked unidentified targets for several hours, and an RAF Venom night fighter was vectored to intercept. The University of Colorado's Condon Report (1968), which studied it as Case 2, concluded that "the probability that at least one genuine UFO was involved appears to be fairly high."

HOVERINGRAPID ACCELERATION
✓ SOURCE-CHECKED
READ CASE FILE →
DoD◉ Orb / Sphere
1952
DoD-B18-004 · 1952-07-02

Tremonton, Utah Film (July 2, 1952) — Navy Photographer Delbert Newhouse

◎Tremonton, Box Elder County, Utah

On July 2, 1952, U.S. Navy Warrant Officer Delbert C. Newhouse filmed 12 to 14 bright objects near Tremonton, Utah. Project Blue Book's file shows the Air Force first weighed birds, balloons and a mirage, then became more confident the objects were seabirds reflecting sunlight. The file was published in PURSUE Release 06 on September 18, 2026.

FORMATION
✓ SOURCE-CHECKED
READ CASE FILE →
HOW WE BUILD CASE FILES

Each source-checked case is written from the original records — Project Blue Book files, official reports and PURSUE releases — and lists them at the end. Cases still being re-checked are hidden by default.

OPEN NARA RG 615 →VIEW SOURCE GUIDE
FILE DROP ALERTS

Don't miss the next release.

We'll email you when the government releases new Epstein files or Pentagon UFO files — with a link to our sourced explainer.