Every case file, by section

What governments investigated and concluded: Blue Book, the Condon Report, ODNI, AARO and NASA.

• UFO-001
  Project Blue Book: what the Air Force investigated, 1952–1969

  For seventeen years the U.S. Air Force collected and classified UFO reports. Its final tally was 12,618 sightings, and 701 of them stayed unidentified.

  Unexplained

  1952–1969 · Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio

  Nora Albright · Oct 19, 2026

• UFO-002
  The 2021 ODNI UAP report, read line by line

  Nine pages, 144 reports and one confident explanation. What the Office of the Director of National Intelligence actually said in June 2021, and what it carefully did not.

  Open

  2004–2021 · U.S. military airspace

  Nora Albright · Oct 12, 2026

• UFO-003
  What AARO is and what its reports have concluded so far

  The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office was set up in 2022 to collect and resolve UAP reports. Here is what it does, who it hears from, and what its historical review found.

  Open

  2022–present · Department of Defense

  Nora Albright · Oct 5, 2026

• UFO-004
  NASA's 2023 UAP study: what the panel recommended

  NASA asked an independent panel how science should approach UAP. Its September 2023 report said the main problem is poor data, and laid out how to fix it.

  Open

  2022–2023 · NASA independent study

  Nora Albright · Sep 28, 2026

• UFO-008
  The Condon Report and why the Air Force closed Blue Book

  In 1969 a University of Colorado study concluded that further UFO research was unlikely to advance science. The Air Force used it to close Blue Book. The study's own pages are more complicated.

  Unexplained

  1966–1969 · University of Colorado

  Nora Albright · Aug 31, 2026

The sightings everyone has heard of, retold from the primary documents.

• UFO-005
  Roswell, 1947: what the documents say happened

  A rancher found debris, an Army airfield announced a captured flying disc, and a day later the story became a weather balloon. Here is the paper trail, from 1947 to the Air Force reports of the 1990s.

  Explained

  July 1947 · Roswell, New Mexico

  Nora Albright · Sep 21, 2026

• UFO-006
  The Phoenix Lights, 1997: two events, one night

  On March 13, 1997, thousands of people across Arizona looked up. They were not all seeing the same thing. Separating the evening's two events is the key to the case.

  Open

  March 13, 1997 · Arizona

  Nora Albright · Sep 14, 2026

• UFO-007
  The 2004 Nimitz "Tic Tac" encounter: the public record

  Two Navy aircrews, a cruiser's radar and an infrared recording. What is documented about the November 2004 encounter off Southern California, and what is still argued over.

  Unexplained

  November 2004 · Pacific Ocean off Southern California

  Nora Albright · Sep 7, 2026

Satellites, planets, drones, balloons: how to rule out the ordinary before calling anything strange.

• UFO-009
  Is that a UFO or a Starlink train? How to tell

  A perfectly straight line of lights gliding silently across the sky looks like nothing you have seen before. It is very often a fresh batch of satellites. Here is how to check in two minutes.

  Explained

  Since 2019 · Worldwide, around dusk and dawn

  Sam Ortiz · Aug 24, 2026

• UFO-010
  Venus, Jupiter and the bright "lights" people report most

  A brilliant light low in the west that doesn't seem to move, or seems to follow your car. Planets and bright stars have fooled pilots, police and astronomers. Here's how to rule them out.

  Explained

  Any clear evening or pre-dawn sky

  Sam Ortiz · Aug 17, 2026

• UFO-011
  Drones, balloons and lanterns: ruling out the usual suspects

  Hovering lights, slow drifting orbs and objects that seem to go against the wind. Before calling it unexplained, test the three most common things people send up into the sky.

  Explained

  Anywhere people fly things · day or night

  Nora Albright · Aug 10, 2026

How to record, photograph and report what you saw so it is useful to someone.

• UFO-012
  How to photograph something strange in the sky

  Most UFO photos are a blurry dot. You can do better with the phone in your pocket, and the details you save around the picture matter as much as the picture itself.

  Guide

  Whenever it happens · wherever you are

  Sam Ortiz · Aug 3, 2026

Meteors, rare atmospheric lights and the gear for a night outside.

• UFO-014
  Reading the night sky: satellites, meteors and flares

  Some lights cross the sky in minutes, some in a second, some hang and fade. Learn the speed and shape of each and most of the night sky becomes readable.

  Guide

  Any clear night

  Sam Ortiz · Jul 20, 2026

• UFO-015
  Ball lightning and other rare atmospheric lights

  Glowing spheres in thunderstorms, red flashes above the clouds, steady lights in a Norwegian valley. Some rare natural lights are well understood. Others are still a puzzle for physicists.

  Unexplained

  Centuries of reports · worldwide, often during storms

  Nora Albright · Jul 13, 2026

• UFO-016
  A skywatcher's starter kit for under $100

  You don't need a telescope to identify most of what you see at night. A pair of binoculars, a red light, a notebook and some free tools will take you a long way.

  Guide

  Your backyard · any clear night

  Sam Ortiz · Jul 6, 2026