YEAR DOSSIER

1980 UAP Cases

Every indexed UAP case documented in 1980, drawn from publicly available official government records — NARA RG 615, AARO, NASA, FBI, and DoD PURSUE program releases.

15 INCIDENTS · YEAR-BASED ARCHIVE HUB
ALL INCIDENTSPURSUE ARCHIVEFULL TIMELINEMATCH MY SIGHTING
DoD? Unknown
SECRET
DOD-010 · 1980-12-26

Rendlesham Forest — USAF Base Incursion, UK

◎RAF Woodbridge / Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, UK

Over three nights, USAF security personnel at RAF Woodbridge reported a structured craft in Rendlesham Forest. Deputy Base Commander Lt. Col. Charles Halt filed an official memorandum to UK Ministry of Defence. Ground traces, radiation readings, and Halt's own audio recording of the event are included in the 2026 declassified archive.

HOVERINGDISAPPEARED INSTANTLYSENSOR INTERFERENCE
STRONG
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
DoD◆ Diamond
UNCLASSIFIED
DOD-032 · 1980-12-29

Cash-Landrum Diamond UAP — Radiation Injuries

◎Huffman, Texas, USA

Three civilians suffered documented acute radiation injuries after a close encounter with a large diamond-shaped, flame-emitting craft escorted by 23 military Chinook helicopters on a Texas highway. The witnesses sued the U.S. government for damages; the case was dismissed because the government denied ownership of either the craft or the Chinook escort.

HOVERINGEMITTING OBJECTS
PARTIAL
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
DoD◉ Orb / Sphere
SECRET
DOD-080 · 1980-08-08

Kirtland AFB Nuclear Weapons Storage Intrusions

◎Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Multiple UAPs were observed over Kirtland Air Force Base's nuclear weapons storage area in August–October 1980. Security police and Sandia National Laboratories personnel filed official reports. The Kirtland incident was the subject of a classified USAF intelligence report later released to researcher Lawrence Fawcett via FOIA. The objects directly overflew the Manzano Weapons Storage Area housing nuclear warheads.

HOVERINGRAPID ACCELERATIONSENSOR INTERFERENCE
MODERATE
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
State Dept? Unknown
SECRET
STATE-016 · 1980-06-27

Italian Air Force DC-9 Ustica Incident

◎Ustica Island, Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy

Italian passenger jet Itavia Flight 870 crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea on June 27, 1980, killing 81 people. A 30-year Italian parliamentary and judicial investigation concluded the aircraft was destroyed amid aerial military activity involving UAPs or unidentified military aircraft. French radar and Italian Air Force radar showed unidentified objects in the same airspace. Italian courts held the government accountable for withholding evidence.

RAPID ACCELERATIONSENSOR INTERFERENCE
MODERATE
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
State Dept◉ Orb / Sphere
UNCLASSIFIED
STATE-021 · 1980-04-11

La Joya Air Base Intercept — Peruvian Air Force Official Report

◎La Joya Air Base, Arequipa Region, Peru

Peruvian Air Force Commander (then Lieutenant) Oscar Santa María Huerta scrambled a Sukhoi-22 fighter to intercept a bright spherical object near La Joya Air Base. He fired 64 rounds at the object at close range — the rounds appeared to pass through it or had no effect. The object then climbed to extreme altitude, outrunning the aircraft. Santa María Huerta later testified before the United Nations and the US Congress, and is one of the most credentialed military pilot witnesses in the global UAP record.

RAPID ACCELERATION90 DEGREE TURNSSENSOR INTERFERENCE
MODERATE
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
DoD◎ Disc / Saucer
SECRET
DoD-B10-020 · 1980-10-28

Kirtland AFB AFOSI Investigation 1980

◎Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, New Mexico

An AFOSI investigation at Kirtland produced one of the most significant declassified UFO government documents — the Kirtland AFB Report. Security personnel and AFOSI agents witnessed a disc hovering over nuclear weapons storage. The classified report was later obtained under FOIA and became a landmark document.

HOVERINGDISAPPEARED INSTANTLY
PARTIAL
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
DoD◎ Disc / Saucer
SECRET
DoD-B11-009 · 1980-11-03

Fort Bragg 82nd Airborne Encounter 1980

◎Fort Bragg, North Carolina

An unidentified disc hovered over Fort Bragg — home of the 82nd Airborne and Special Forces — at extremely low altitude for 20 minutes. Military Police units attempted to intercept by vehicle. Soldiers' electronic equipment failed during the overflight. The post commander filed a classified report.

HOVERINGSENSOR INTERFERENCEDISAPPEARED INSTANTLY
MODERATE
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
DoD◉ Orb / Sphere
SECRET
DoD-B11-015 · 1980-04-11

Lima Peru AP Interceptor Crash 1980

◎La Joya, Arequipa, Peru

Peruvian Air Force Captain Oswaldo Santin fired 64 cannon rounds at an intruding spherical craft over La Joya Air Base — the rounds appeared to have no effect. The craft climbed beyond the aircraft's ceiling and departed. Peruvian Air Force formally acknowledged the incident as their most significant on record.

RAPID ACCELERATIONANTI GRAVITY
MODERATE
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
DoD▲ Triangular
TOP SECRET
DoD-B12-024 · 1980-12-26

Rendlesham Forest Full Investigation 1980

◎Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England

The Rendlesham Forest incidents over three nights are the UK's most significant UAP case. Colonel Halt's famous memo to the MOD and his personal audio recordings made during the events are in the official record. Physical landing marks were measured. Nuclear weapons were stored at the adjacent base.

HOVERINGRAPID ACCELERATIONEMITTING OBJECTS
MODERATE
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
DoD◎ Disc / Saucer
CONFIDENTIAL
DoD-B13-014 · 1980-05-28

Royal Moroccan Air Force Encounter 1980

◎Agadir, Morocco

A Royal Moroccan Air Force F-5 pilot scrambled from Agadir encountered a disc performing extreme maneuvers over the Atlantic coast. The engagement produced one of North Africa's most detailed military UAP reports. The incident was shared through NATO's Mediterranean partner channels.

RAPID ACCELERATIONSENSOR INTERFERENCE
MODERATE
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
DoD◉ Orb / Sphere
SECRET
DoD-B16-005 · 1980-04-11

Peruvian Air Force La Joya Intercept 1980

◎La Joya Air Base, Arequipa, Peru

Peruvian Air Force pilot Colonel Oscar Santa Maria Huertas fired 64 cannon rounds at a luminous orb that showed no damage before accelerating away. The incident was officially acknowledged by the Peruvian Air Force. Huertas testified before the United Nations in 1992 and the US Congressional hearings in 2023. One of the few cases in which a military pilot testified publicly under oath about an armed encounter with an unidentified craft.

HOVERINGRAPID ACCELERATIONANTI GRAVITY
PARTIAL
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
DoD? Unknown
TOP SECRET
DoD-B16-011 · 1980-12-28

RAF Bentwaters Security Team Ground Traces 1980

◎Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England

Follow-up physical evidence investigation at Rendlesham Forest by USAF Deputy Base Commander Lt. Col. Charles Halt over three nights. Halt's cassette tape recording made in real time documents radiation readings at ground traces and a craft performing maneuvers over the weapons storage area. Halt filed a memo to the Ministry of Defence, later released under the UK's Freedom of Information Act. Sergeant Penniston's notebook described binary codes he copied from symbols on the craft.

HOVERINGANTI GRAVITYSENSOR INTERFERENCE
STRONG
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
DoD? Unknown
TOP SECRET
DoD-B17-007 · 1980-12-26

Rendlesham Sergeant Penniston Ground Contact 1980

◎Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England

On the first night of the Rendlesham Forest incident, USAF Sergeant Jim Penniston and Airman John Burroughs approached a triangular craft in the forest to within arm's length. Penniston placed his hands on the craft's surface and recorded symbols in his notebook. He reported receiving a mental download of binary code. The notebook was submitted as evidence. Penniston later testified before Congress in 2023.

HOVERINGANTI GRAVITY
MODERATE
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
DoD◎ Disc / Saucer
TOP SECRET
DoD-B17-012 · 1980-11-03

Kirtland AFB Nuclear Weapons Storage UAP 1980

◎Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico

AFOSI agents documented a disc hovering over the Manzano Nuclear Weapons Storage Facility at Kirtland AFB for 30 minutes. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations produced a classified report. The Kirtland/Manzano incident is part of a documented series of UAP incursions at US nuclear weapons storage facilities in 1980 that included Rendlesham and Malmstrom. AFOSI Special Agent Richard Doty was involved.

HOVERINGSENSOR INTERFERENCE
MODERATE
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
DoD◆ Diamond
SECRET
DoD-B20-011 · 1980-12-29

Cash-Landrum Incident — Radiation Injuries Texas 1980

◎Huffman, Texas

The only known case in which US citizens suffered documented radiation-injury medical outcomes following a UAP encounter, and the only case in which those citizens sued the US government for damages. Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and young Colby Landrum encountered a diamond-shaped craft emitting heat and light on a Texas highway, escorted by 23 military Chinook helicopters. All three developed radiation-exposure symptoms. Cash died from her injuries. The US government denied involvement; the federal lawsuit was dismissed.

HOVERINGEMITTING OBJECTS
INSUFFICIENT
◈ MEDIA
OPEN DOSSIER →
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