Are UFOs Real? Our Fave Sightings, Accounts & More

Whether you’re an avid conspiracist or a lifelong believer in intelligent life beyond Earth, these famous (and true!) UFO stories will make a believer out of anybody. Check out some of our favorite UFO lures and their famous origins.

It all started in the summer of 1947 when something strange happened in Roswell, New Mexico. During the height of a highly publicized “flying saucer craze” sweeping the nation at the time, something crashed onto a ranch outside of Roswell, causing a shockwave of speculation that still ripples through the world to this day.

The official story goes that this object was a weather balloon put into the sky by the United States Air Forces from a nearby base… but many conspiracy theories began to emerge suggesting that something otherworldly had landed in Roswell that fateful day. As the years have passed, theories relating to UFOs have become more and more exciting, and many wonder if aliens could be part of the truth about the Roswell incident.

Now, over 70 years after the Roswell incident, people around the world are still captivated by stories of flying saucers, little green men, and unexplained lights in the sky. Have you ever looked to the stars and sworn you’ve seen something unexplainable? Are you a believer? Check out some of our favorite stories of UFO sightings and other anomalies below!

Kenneth Arnold and the Origin of the Flying Saucer

Remember the “flying saucer craze” that swept the nation in the summer of 1947 that we mentioned earlier? Well, we have civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold to thank for that. On June 24, 1947, just over a week before the uncovering of the Roswell incident, Arnold was flying over Mount Rainer in Washington when he saw something… odd. Flying in a V-formation was a series of nine unidentified flying objects. According to Arnold, these shiny objects flew at speeds close to 1,200 miles per hour… that’s almost twice the speed of sound! While Arnold would later describe these objects as moving like a saucer skipping across water, he was quoted as saying they were saucer-shaped. Newspapers printed headlines detailing sightings of “flying saucers,” and the rest is history! Many discount Arnold’s story as a mirage, a trick of the light… What do you think?

USS Nimitz and the “Tic Tac” UFO

One of the most famous UFO sightings that has come to light in recent history is the USS Nimitz’s encounter with something unexplainable. In 2004 a Navy fighter jet took off from the USS Nimitz and encountered a strange object while flying over the Pacific Ocean off the San Diego, California coast. This object was said to have been the shape of a Tic Tac and was recorded flying at speeds seemingly unimaginable… especially considering the object did not have any discernible wings or engine for that matter. Witnesses to the event describe an object flying in maneuvers and at speeds that would be a feat impossible for human technology to accomplish. Almost twenty years after the incident, an official explanation has never been released to explain this phenomenon. The supposed “Tic Tac” UFO has become one of the most notable examples of proof that we may have been hosts to tourists from the stars.

The Rendlesham Forest Incident — “Britain’s Roswell”

Just across the pond, the United Kingdom has its own infamous UFO story, similar to the Roswell incident. In the wee hours of the morning on the day after Christmas in 1980, a member of a security patrol at an air force base near Rendlesham Forest reported seeing strange lights emitting from within the trees. Upon further investigation, the security patrol members, assuming they would find a downed aircraft, made an even more shocking discovery. According to their telling of the event, the patrol encountered a bright, glowing object emanating multicolored lights into the night sky. The group also reported that the animals on a nearby farm were disturbed and frantic, going into a “frenzy” during and after the incident. After the sun had risen, the group returned to the site of the incident to investigate further. There, they found mysterious triangular patterns in the ground and scorch marks on nearby trees. Many believe this incident in Rendlesham Forest to be a hoax — nevertheless, a hiking trail in Rendlesham Forest was later dubbed the “UFO Trail.”

Now that you’ve got some backstory on a few of our favorite UFO stories, what do you think? Have we made a believer out of you? Check out our favorite alien costumes at Spirit Halloween for more intergalactic vibes!