What is the difference between Flying saucer and Black triangle?

The flying saucer was the classic UFO shape of the 1940s to 60s. Since the 1980s, more and more people have reported something else: huge, silent black triangles with lights at the corners. Shape: a saucer is a metallic disc, sometimes with a dome. A black triangle is a dark shape you often see only by the stars it blocks out, with three or more bright lights at the corners. Movement: saucers are often described as very fast, darting or hovering. Triangles are usually described as slow and silent.

Creatures / Compare

Flying saucer Black triangle

Flying saucer vs Black triangle: what's the difference?

The flying saucer was the classic UFO shape of the 1940s to 60s. Since the 1980s, more and more people have reported something else: huge, silent black triangles with lights at the corners.

Side by side

Flying saucerBlack triangle

Also calledDisc, Flying disc, Saucer-shaped UFOFlying triangle, Triangular UFO

WhereWorldwideWorldwide; famous waves over Belgium and Arizona

First reportedKenneth Arnold's sighting near Mount Rainier, June 24, 1947Reports grew through the 1980s

SizeReported from 10 ft to hundreds of feet acrossUp to hundreds of feet across

HabitatThe skyThe sky

SignsMetallic disc, sometimes with a dome; Silent, very fast or hovering; Lights around the rimThree or more bright lights in a triangle; Dark body blocking out stars; Slow and silent

Famous cases62

Witness stories22

The big differences

Shape: a saucer is a metallic disc, sometimes with a dome. A black triangle is a dark shape you often see only by the stars it blocks out, with three or more bright lights at the corners.
Movement: saucers are often described as very fast, darting or hovering. Triangles are usually described as slow and silent.
When: saucers took off after Kenneth Arnold's sighting near Mount Rainier on June 24, 1947. Triangle reports grew through the 1980s, with famous waves over Belgium in 1989 to 1990 and Arizona in 1997.
Size: both are reported at every size, but triangles are often said to be hundreds of feet across.

Could they be the same thing?

They are different shapes, though both appear in the same official files. Explanations differ too: many saucer reports were later matched to balloons and aircraft. Many triangle reports are now thought to be military aircraft, blimps, flares or formations of lights.

Which one did you see?

Probably Flying saucer if…

Round, metallic, sometimes shiny in daylight
Fast, darting or hovering
Classic 1950s look

Probably Black triangle if…

Dark, flat, three lights in a triangle
Slow, low and silent
Mostly reported since the 1980s

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