Case files: UFOs and UAP

UFOs and UAP: what people saw, and what the evidence says.

Flying saucers in 1947, a balloon at Roswell, 12,618 Air Force files, lights in a Suffolk forest, the Navy videos and the Pentagon’s own UAP office. We lay out each claim fairly, then check it against the records. Then we teach you to spot Venus at a hundred paces. Every fact is linked to its source.

What did you see? Take the quiz

Some everyday things that get reported as UFOs (our own drawing).Drawing: our own, simplified and not to scale

12,618sightings reported to Project Blue Book, 1947 to 1969 US National Archives

701of them still “unidentified” US National Archives

757UAP reports to the Pentagon’s office, May 2023 to June 2024 US Defense Dept, 2024 report

“No.”its answer when asked if it has found alien technology AARO FAQ

The short version

To the military, a UFO means something in the sky that can be seen but not recognised. It does not mean something from another world. The National Archives

AARO, the US government’s UAP office, says many cases are labelled “unidentified” simply because the sensors didn’t collect enough information to say what they were. AARO FAQ

Every official investigation, at every level of secrecy, concluded that most sightings were ordinary objects and misidentifications. US Defense Dept statement

NASA’s independent study team (2023) said there is, to date, no conclusive evidence in the peer-reviewed scientific literature that UAP come from beyond Earth. NASA UAP study

Unidentified doesn’t mean alien. It means somebody couldn’t say what it was, often because there wasn’t enough information. Where sources disagree, we say so.

Case file UFO-001 Open, but not how you think

Status of the mystery

He said only a very small percentage of reports are potentially anomalous. US Defense Dept, 2024 report

More than 900 reports lacked enough scientific data to analyse, and are kept in case new information turns up. US Defense Dept, 2024 report

Open a case file

UFO or UAP?What the letters really mean. 1947: flying saucersNine shiny things and a newspaper’s mistake. RoswellWhat was found, and what it really was. Project Blue BookThe Air Force’s 12,618 files. Rendlesham ForestBritain’s best-known case. The Navy videosThree clips, one careful calculation. The UAP reportsWhat the Pentagon and NASA found. What it probably wasVenus, satellites, balloons and clouds. Be a good sky-watcherHow to turn a UFO into an IFO.

We draw our own pictures and don’t use other people’s photographs.

Try the games

A 12-question quiz, a myth-or-fact challenge, and a “What did you see?” explainer that matches your sighting to the most likely everyday cause.

Play now What did you see?

Closer to home

One 2004 report from Douglas, Isle of Man, described a silver disc with solar panels. It turned out to be a twin-propeller ATR 42 Euromanx aeroplane. MoD UFO reports 2004

More from Britain’s files, including two Manx reports, on the UK files page. Our sister site covers the Bermuda Triangle, from the same reported-then-checked point of view.