33 Mysterious UFO Facts To Make You Believe That Aliens Are Real

UFO is an acronym for Unidentified Flying Object.

Most people have a childhood memory of UFO sightings or mysterious things flying in the distant sky and misconceived them as flying saucers which are considered to be aliens' vehicles from another world.

Does life in the universe exist only on our planet, Earth; or is there any other mysterious world apart from Earth waiting to expose its many fascinating secrets? Though investigations are being conducted to find if another world exists, a few lucky people did get a chance to sight such mysterious things; coined as flying saucers.

Let us explore fascinating facts about UFOs that will make you suspect the existence of life in some other part of the universe, and perhaps even an explanation of other life.

History Behind UFO

It started on June 24, 1947, when an enthusiastic private pilot, Kenneth Arnold reported a string of nine unusual flying objects near Mount Rainier in Washington. He described those nine disc-shaped shiny objects as 'saucers skipping across the water.' This is the beginning of the story.

Ancient paintings such as The Baptism of Christ, available at Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, reveal that a disc-shaped object emitted light during a religious ceremony. This painting indicates that the universe has many mysteries to be revealed.

Kenneth claimed that the flying objects bolted from Mount Rainier to Mount Adams with an average estimated speed of 1,200 miles (1,932 kph)

The news spread like wildfire when he shared his experience with his friends, who made him the center of information on UFO sightings for the entire world.

UFO is an acronym for Unidentified Flying Object.

The term flying saucer or flying disc is coined for this flying object. The term was first mentioned in headlines in the newspaper, just after two weeks of Kenneth's claiming, where it mentioned that the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) sighted a flying saucer.

But this news faded quickly when the Roswell Army Air Field and the government announced that it was just debris of weather balloon experiments flying in the air. However, the reports were not true.

To determine and investigate UFOs, the United States Air Force initiated Project Blue Book in March 1952. The headquarter of Project Blue Book is at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Project Sign(1947) and Project Grudge(1948) are similar projects initiated by the US air force to study UFOs.

The main goals of Project Blue Book are scientifically analyzing the UFO-related statistics and analyzing if UFOs are a threat to national security.

In this research, a Condon Committee (1966 to 1968) was set up by the United air force to study, collect the evidence and reports, research, and analyze the UFO-related information.

The interesting part is that though there are many incidents claiming about UFO sightings, none of the scientists could prove the presence of aliens or UFO till date.

Reported UFO Sightings

When the US government and US air force started Project Blue Book, several reports about UFO sightings from different parts of the states came into light . Most of the reports were claimed by the aircraft pilots, who narrated about mysterious flying objects that did not look similar to normal aircraft.

In history, the Roman historian Titus Livius, had mentioned about the Phantom ghost ships flying in the sky, which made everyone believe in the presence of UFOs.

More than 12000 UFO encounters are mentioned in Project Blue Book.

'Modern UFO Era' began when Kenneth Arnold shared his experience of sighting the UFO.

In 1947, the Rosewell incident took place, where the US Air Force announced the capture of a flying saucer and later stated it as a weather balloon. But the case came into the limelight when the army officer Jesse Marcel stated that the story of a weather balloon was drummed up.

Investigations reveal that in 1948, several green fireballs were sighted on the US military bases.

In the same year, an aircraft pilot Thomas Mantell died in an aircraft crash. The US air force had sent this young pilot to investigate the UFO at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

In 1950, a farmer from McMinnville, Oregon, took a photograph of a UFO, which is the first evidence made to believe that UFOs are real.

In 1950, a baseball team manager from Great falls got a chance to click the flying UFOs, and several investigations were carried out on this incident by the US Air Force.

In 1967, the Canadian government approved UFOs when the Shag Harbor witnessed the crash of illuminating objects into the water.

In 1969, during military training events at Pori in Finland, air-traffic controllers observed seven disc-shaped objects flying in the air.

In 1972, South African Military took attention over the sightings of UFOs near Fort Beaufort, Eastern Cape.

In 1976 another incident took place at Tehran, the capital city of Iran, where two Iranian Air Forces lost communication and instrumentation when they tried to approach a UFO.

Investigations Of UFOs By Government And Scientists

The study about UFOs is termed Ufology. Though some scientists claim Ufology is pseudoscience, many scientists and private and government organizations spend millions of dollars on the study of UFOs.

Some researchers claim that the study of UFOs has not achieved great results. While Peter Sturrock, a professor at Stanford University, claimed that some physical evidence proves the need for explanation, which can be achieved by only scientific study.

The US government's prepared UFO report to congress clearly states the lack of robust data about determining the UFOs.

The US military has renamed the UFOs as UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena)

This nine-page report covered the 144 UFO sightings between 2004 and 2021.

Out of 144 sightings, only one UFO is confidently considered to explain its existence, and the occurrence of remaining 143 is still unexplained.

UFO Studies And Organizations

Several studies are going around the world about the existence of these flying objects. By the 1940s, reports of UFOs became a topic of hot discussion, and curiosity among the people increased if the aliens and UFOs existed. Most Hollywood movies started using UFO themes in their storyline.

The USA carried out comprehensive research about UFOs and set the following organizations and studies. Roswell UFO incident(1947), Project Grudge, Project Blue Book(1952 to 1969), Project Sign, Project Silver Bug, and more.

In the UK, the two organizations named Flying Saucer Working Party Project Condign was set up for the study of UFOs.

The Soviet Union established Institute 22 to investigate UFOs in the Soviet Union.

Canada, Brazil and France also set up independent organizations to study unidentified flying objects.

FAQs

What does UFO stand for?

UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object.

In which city is the International UFO Museum and Research Center?

International UFO Museum and Research Center is located in Roswell, New Mexico, USA.

When did the first UFO sighting happen?

First and modern UFO sighting happened when an American aviator, Kenneth Arnold, reported sighting a shiny string of nine UFOs moving with an estimated speed of 1,200 miles (1,932 km) per hour.

Which US president filed a report claiming he spotted a UFO?

The United States president, Jimmy Carter claimed about the UFO sighting.

Which state has the most UFO sightings per capita?

Washington in the USA, reported the most UFO sightings per capita, followed by Montana and Vermont.

Why did the Flying Saucer have UFO printed on it?

It is because of the many people who sighted a UFO sketched and narrated it as the shape of a Flying Saucer.