Encounters with Aliens on this Day
1897 - Two policemen, Sumpter and McLenore, were riding northwest of Hot Springs, Arkansas when they saw a bright light in the sky. About seven km farther they saw the light again coming down to the ground. One km farther the horses refused to walk. Two men were seen carrying lights. The lawmen took their rifles, called the strangers, and were told that they crossed the country with a flying craft. The profile of the 20-meter long machine could be seen in the clearing. There was a woman with an parasol or umbrella nearby. It was raining, and the younger man was filling a large container with water. The elder man had a beard and suggested to the policemen that they fly with them "to a place where it does not rain." The same witness went back to the same spot 40 minutes later but found nothing there. (Source: Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia: A Century of Landings, p. 186, citing Flying Saucer Review, July-August 1966).
1949 - On this day, a decorated Soviet test pilot named Apraksin was flying over the Volga River in Russia, 40 kilometers north of the city of Saratov, when his aircraft's electrical system was knocked out of operation by a cone of light from a cucumber-shaped UFO after he attempted to approach it. He was blinded by the light, but managed to land the crippled aircraft despite his incapacitation in an abrupt emergency landing. He then lost consciousness and was confined to hospital to recuperate. (Sources: Felix Zigel, unpublished manuscript, pp. 124-126; Jacques Vallee, UFO Chronicles of the Soviet Union: A Cosmic Samizdat, p. 138, citing Felix Zigel; Geoffrey Falla, BUFORA Vehicle Interference Project Report, p. 4; Dominique Weinstein, Aircraft UFO Encounters, p. 11).
1949 - At 8:30 a.m. EDT witnesses Stump, Herman and Quinn in Sidney, Ohio saw a bright object about half a mile to the west moving south at high speed. It left no trail and made no sound. One of the witnesses said it was too bright to tell what shape it had, but the others said it had a flat, circular shape. It was in sight for two minutes. (Sources: Project Blue Book files; Jan Aldrich, Project 1947).
1949 - At 9:35 a.m. a witness named C. G. Green reported to the U.S. Air Force that two shiny disc-shaped objects circled each other and banked over a field in Livermore, California. One of the objects shot straight up with a gray trail. The sighting lasted five minutes. (Sources: Project Blue Book files counted in official statistics, case 379; Larry Hatch, U computer database, case 1397; Don Berliner, Project Bluebook Unknowns).
1949 - At Killeen Base, Camp Hood, Texas a UFO observation network set up two days earlier, employing Army artillery observers, tracked their first object. They sighted and triangulated on a brilliant light 4000 yards in the distance. It moved very slowly, dropping from an altitude of 1200 feet to 440 feet. It was the apparent size of a half dollar at arm's length. Its color was pinkish to green, and was in sight for 50 minutes. The main witness was Lt. Mardell E. Ward. (Source: Jan Aldrich, FOIA, http://www.nicap.org/hood490506dir.htm).
1950 - Crowds of observers in Rome, Italy watched two flashing saucer-shaped object one mile over the Piazza Colonna at 4:30 p.m. They were spinning and moved slowly. (Sources: Solas Boncompagni, UFO in Italia, Volume I, (Periodo 1907-1953), p. 126; Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1950: April-July, p. 42).
1950 - At 10:00 p.m. a squadron of discs flew in circles for 20 minutes above the city of Abington, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. There were many witnesses. (Sources: Riverside Daily Press, May 8, 1950; Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1950: April-July, p. 42).
1954 - At noon, three linemen working in Heppner, Oregon watched three - 36m domed discs cross the sky in a V-formation, traveling at 2200 kph. (Sources: Donald E. Keyhoe, Flying Saucer Conspiracy, p. 144; NICAP files, newspaper clipping dated July 1, 1954; APRO Bulletin, volume 3, number 1).
1960 - Shortly before 9:00 p.m. a rocket-shaped UFO crossed over the town of Vila Ezio, Sao Paulo State, Brazil moving at high speed. (Sources: UFO Nachtrichten, August 1961, citing Olavo T. Fontes: Coral & Jim Lorenzen, UFOs: The Whole Story, p. 221).
1965 - At 9:10 a.m. local time the crew of a US Navy ship heading west at 265° at 15 knots in the Philippine Sea sighted approaching aircraft at bearing 0°. At 9:14 a.m. the radar detected four targets at ranges up to 22 miles for the next 6 minutes flying at extremely high speed (3,500 mph) and performing various maneuvers. The craft were viewed through binoculars and appeared as 3 lighted objects. Next, the UFOs hovered directly over the ship for 3 minutes as confirmed visually and on radar by the Commanding Officer, bridge crew and others on deck. The objects departed to the SE at extremely high speed. (Source: J. Allen Hynek, The UFO Experience, p. 81, sighting Blue Book files).
1966 - At 2:05 a.m. EDT. in Collier County, southwest Florida, near Carnestown in the vicinity of Naples, a shaken motorist made a statement to Naples police about his car being approached from behind by a "large white light" that came within about 100-150 feet of his car, changing color to blue-green. He tried to flee, but the UFO zoomed past him making a "whooshing" noise, and circled around to the left and disappeared. (Sources: Miami Herald, May 7, 1966; NICAP notes, police statement in Donald E. Keyhoe Archives; Frank Edwards, Flying Saucers: Here and Now, p. 59)
1967 - A 24-year-old man named Campeadore was driving on the main highway 17 miles west of St. George, Utah at 12:43 a.m. when he heard a loud humming sound and stopped his car to investigate. He got out of his vehicle and saw a 40-foot wide, amber colored domed disc hovering only 20-30 feet over his head. He took out his pistol and fired a complete clip of bullets at the object. He reported that he heard the bullets ricochet off. He also suffered some physiological after effects as the result of his close encounter. (Sources: NICAP case files; NICAP UFO Investigator, June 1967, p. 6; Richard H. Hall, The UFO Evidence, Volume II: A Thirty-Year Report, p. 338; Richard F. Haines, CE-5: Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind, p. 120; APRO Bulletin, May-June 1967, p. 5).
1967 - On this morning a man in Black River Falls, Wisconsin had a 10 minute sighting of a disc flying in the sky. (Source: Sherman Larsen case files, report dated October 13, 1969).
1967 - A mechanical engineer and his daughter were driving between Durango and Mazatlan, Mexico around 11:00 a.m. when they sighted a disc-shaped object on the ground off to the side of the highway. The engineer took three photographs while the UFO took off. Two parts of the landing gear are shown in first photo, while the second showed no legs and presumably had been retracted. The third photo missed the object. (Sources: Jim and Coral Lorenzen, UFOs over the Americas, p. 65; Scott Corrales, Fate, May 2002, p. 19; Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia: A Century of Landings, case 839).
1967 - Raymond Schirrmann, his wife, and two children of Schirmeck, Bas-Rhine department, France first sighted seven or eight black, lenticular objects at 7:00 p.m. over a grove of trees at an estimated distance of two kilometers. They were aligned in a straight, diagonal line in the sky, and each was surrounded by a halo of smoke. At 9:00 p.m. a large lens-shaped object, 15-20 meters in diameter, was seen close to the ground near their chalet only 25 meters away. A coherent beam of light snaked away from the object, ending in midair. It detached, then retracted into the object. Following this some landing legs appeared. The event lasted three hours, and the UFOs were tracked by radar at a nearby military base. (Sources: Michel Figuet Jean-Louis Ruchon, OVNI: Le Premier Dossier Complet des Rencontres Rapprochees en France, p. 271; Richard F. Haines, Project Delta: A Study of Multiple UFO, p. 91, citing UNICAT; UNICAT database, case 403, citing Figuet & Ruchon; Phenomenes Spatiaux, December 1967).
1973 - At 10:32 p.m. six witnesses in Gladston, Queensland, Australia, including a woman named Korn, sighted a UFO traveling slowly at 30,000 feet that changed course to the south. It was flashing at irregular intervals. Suddenly it dropped a small light, which shot north. The main light made an abrupt turn, then zig-zagged to the east. (Source: Gladstone Observer, May 9, 1973).
1975 - A ground ring was discovered this day in a pasture in Doughboy, New South Wales, Australia. It was an almost perfect circle of dead grass, with an inside diameter of 3.3m and an outside diameter of 4.6m. The circle deteriorated, leaving behind bare earth. A cowpad in the circle was completely flattened. (Source: Bill Chalker, Australasian Ufologist, April 1993, p. 23, citing Daily Examiner, May 14, 1975).
1975 - Two large silver disc-shaped objects bracketed a USAF jet aircraft testing equipment for an hour flying from Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. The witness experienced a lapse of time. (Source: Leonard H. Stringfield, Situation Red: The UFO Siege, p. 174).
1975 - On this evening in Cameron, West Virginia a man, his daughter, and his daughter's friend where at the local high school basketball court. A green-blue blob (BOL) approached, passing 25 feet above the school. They got in his car to leave, but when the UFO hovered near the car the car's ignition system cut out. (Source: Cameron (WV) News, May 13, 1975).
1975 - Several separate observers driving between Sedona and Oak Creek, Arizona observed a dome shaped, glowing cloud maneuvering between 7:10 p.m. and 9:10 p.m. There were also nocturnal lights and searchlights reported. (Source: Raymond Jordan, APRO Bulletin, May-June 1976, p. 5).
1977 - At 2:30 a.m. a man in Challans, Vendee department, France had a close encounter by a railway bridge with a two-meter sphere surrounded by a blue halo. It followed the witness as he walked home. (Source: Lumieres dans la Nuit, May 1978).
1977 - In Encinitas, California a large domed disc-shaped object descended into canyon. A school teacher and fifteen students witnessed the descent, and said that they could see figures inside the craft. It was seen again one hour later. (Source: Larry Hatch, U computer database, case 12693).
1978 - At 5:40 a.m. a group of several witnesses, including police, observed 25-30 luminous UFOs make a turn over the city of Catamarca, Argentina. They shot off to the west at great speed. It was seen by several members of the guard from the province's police headquarters. On the same day a strange flying object fell to earth in a mountainous zone near Baritu in northern part of Salta province. A widespread aerial and ground search was conducted, in an area "practically inaccessible" due to the terrain. (Sources: Jane Thomas, UFO Newsclipping Service, June 1978, p. 14, citing Cronica, May 12, 1978; FSR, November 1978, p. 23).
1979 - While driving on the southwestern part of Bribie Island, Queensland, Australia at 12:30 a.m. four witnesses had a close encounter with orange lights when their car's electrical system failed. The car looked a different color in the light. (Source: Larry Hatch, U computer database, case # 13695, citing Australian Centre for UFO Studies).
1984 - A 13-year-old boy working at a kennel in Williston, Florida heard a humming noise, and noticed that the dogs were attempting to hide in their pens and whining. As he went out to investigate the area turned red with illumination, and a bright red disc-shaped object hovered only 20 feet over his head. He felt heat coming from the object. When he returned to the dog pens, the dogs barked at him and would not let him inside. (Sources: Robert Gribble, International UFO Reporter, May 1984, p. 16; MUFON UFO Journal, May 1984, p. 11).
1989 - Five girls observed two multicolored lights in Ferndale, Washington at 10:00 p.m. One approached at tree top level, just 15 feet from the ground. It was oblong and wide, and may have landed. (Source: Paul Ferrughelli, Computer Catalog of UFO Reports, 1988-94, case 261, citing Bob Gribble).
1992 - A cone-shaped UFO that had orange and pale blue lights was seen hovering in Cooma, New South Wales, Australia. It was not a helicopter according to the witness. (Source: Timothy Good, Alien Update, p. 266).
1993 - A video of a silver domed disc-shaped object, with 6 seconds of footage, was filmed by a 42-year-old woman near Highway 150 in Cherryville, North Carolina at 6:30 p.m. (Source: UFO News Clipping Service, November 1993).
1995 - At 3:30 a.m. a couple traveling in a car in Dammartin en Geole, Seine-Marne, France saw the passage of a hexagon shaped UFO with white, red and blue lights at the angles. It made no noise, and traveled at a slow speed and low altitude. (Source: GEIPAN, case # 202).
1996 - Near Mata do Buraquinho, Minas Gerais State, Brazil
at 9:00 p.m. Marcelo Barbosa and his wife Vaudeline were fixing windows
in their house when they saw some bright multicolored lights--white,
yellow, and blue--coming from some woods about 50 meters away. Sr.
Barbosa decided to go out to investigate, and he saw a large white
cloud descend slowly into the woods. From within the cloud a luminous,
disc-shaped object emerged. It was about 8 meters in diameter, and had
a revolving light on top that resembled that on a police car. It also
had two or three bright lit windows. Inside one of these he was able to
see several figures moving around. The object descended and landed
briefly, becoming dark, and then bright again. Before it landed both
witnesses saw an L-shaped ramp that had come out from the bottom of the
object. At the object became bright again, it quickly took off a high
speed. (Source: Albert S. Rosales, 1996 Humanoid Sighting Reports
Database, case # 3813, citing Paraiba UFO).
1999 - At 4:45 a.m. a man in Elizabeth, South Australia
sighted a bright light the size of a large strawberry at arm's length,
moving from side to side and up-and-down. It then
disappeared. It was seen in the northwestern sky at 30
degrees elevation. (Source: Robert Frola, Australasian Ufologist, January 2001, p. 46).
2000 - A triangle shaped object was seen hovering 100 feet above the ground in Kamloops, British Columbia at 9:18 p.m. It suddenly lit up in a white light, and then disappeared. (Source: Geoff Dittman, Canadian UFO Survey 2000, citing NUFORC).
2001 - At 7:30 p.m. several shiny orange dots were seen above the mountains in the sunset in Sussex, New Jersey; some were spots, but some were disk shaped. All sank below the horizon or just vanished. (Source: George A. Filer & David E. Twichell, Filer's Files: Worldwide Reports of UFO Sightings, p. 1; Peter Davenport, National UFO Reporting Center, May 2001 webpage, report uploaded August 5, 2001).
2001 - At 11:15 p.m. a security guard and a friend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina sighted a dark, unlit triangle craft escorted by four helicopters. Seen by security officer and friend for 5 minutes. (Source: George A. Filer & David E. Twichell, Filer's Files: Worldwide Reports of UFO Sightings, p. 73).
2002 - A saucer that glowed like the moon and was the apparent size of the moon cruised over the town of Kirkwood, St. Louis County, Missouri at about 25 miles per hour from East to West. (Source: Peter Davenport, National UFO Reporting Center, May 2002 webpage, report uploaded May 14, 2002).
2005 - A black daylight disc was photographed, high in the sky, in Donacona, Quebec, Canada at 3:06 p.m. According to the local OVNI UFO group, the photo appears to be genuine. (Source: Geoff Dittman, 2005 Canadian UFO Survey, case # 32).
2007 - At 12:35 p.m. a slightly conical black UFO hovered over Kalamazoo, Michigan for roughly 2 minutes. The witness ran to get his parents, who watched the object leave. That afternoon, at 4:45 p.m., another group of witnesses in Flint, Michigan reported seeing a "disguised" UFO that made several stops in mid air. After a few minutes it accelerated at an extreme speed into the southern sky and shot almost straight up as it went out of sight. (Source: Peter Davenport, National UFO Reporting Center, May 2007 webpage, reports uploaded June 12, 2007).
Written by Donald A. Johnson, Ph.D. (Revised 4 May 2014).
Compiled from the UFOCAT computer database.
Themes: animal reactions, car buzzing, communication, cone-shaped UFOs, disc-shaped UFOs, domed discs, human-looking occupants, humming sounds, inside occupants, landing gear, multi-year reports from France, physiological effects, radar visual confirmation, sensation of heat, triangle UFOs, UFO hovering low overhead, vehicle EM ignition interference, whooshing sound, zigzag maneuvers.