Encounter Atlas
The Flatwoods monsterAfter a light fell from the sky, a group in Flatwoods said a towering, hooded figure with a glowing face hissed and glided toward them.DisputedUFO files / Close encounters
Close encounters with beings
19 of the best-documented cases where people said they saw the occupants, not just the lights: goblins at a Kentucky farmhouse, a 'monster' at Flatwoods, small beings in a French lavender field. 7 countries, 1952 to 1996.
The 1950s
The Flatwoods monsterAfter a light fell from the sky, a group in Flatwoods said a towering, hooded figure with a glowing face hissed and glided toward them.Disputed
The Kelly–Hopkinsville encounterA Kentucky farm family said small glowing-eyed creatures besieged their house for hours and shrugged off gunfire.Disputed
The Antônio Vilas-Boas abductionA young Brazilian farmer said helmeted beings dragged him from his tractor into an egg-shaped craft one night in 1957.Disputed
The Boianai sightings (Father Gill)An Anglican priest and dozens of mission villagers in Papua watched figures on a hovering craft, which seemed to wave back.DisputedThe 1960s
The Eagle River pancakesA Wisconsin plumber said three small men in a silver saucer asked for water and gave him pancakes in return.DisputedThe Betty and Barney Hill abductionA couple driving through New Hampshire saw a craft with figures at its windows and later recalled being taken aboard.Disputed
The Socorro landing (Lonnie Zamora)A Socorro police sergeant said he saw two small figures in white beside a shiny egg-shaped object that roared off in a flame.UnexplainedThe Cisco Grove encounterA bow hunter stranded in the Sierra said silver-suited beings and a robot kept him trapped up a pine tree all night.DisputedThe Valensole encounterA Provence lavender farmer said two small beings by an egg-shaped craft froze him in place with a tube-like device.Unexplained
The Kecksburg incidentA fireball seen over six states was said to have come down in woods near Kecksburg, Pennsylvania; no beings were reported.DisputedThe Westall sightingStudents and teachers at a Melbourne school watched a silvery object descend near the school; no beings were reported.DisputedThe 1970s
The Loveland frogmenLoveland's frog-faced humanoids began as a 1955 roadside tale; a 1972 police sighting was later blamed on an iguana.DisputedThe Pascagoula abductionTwo men fishing on the Pascagoula River said creatures with pincers floated them into a craft and examined them.DisputedThe Travis Walton abductionA logging crew said a glowing craft struck Travis Walton with a beam; he reappeared five days later describing alien captors.DisputedThe Allagash abductionsFour canoeists in the Maine woods saw a glowing sphere; years later, under hypnosis, they described being taken aboard.Disputed
The Dover Demon sightingsOver two nights, three teenagers in Dover, Massachusetts, said they saw a spindly, big-headed creature with glowing eyes.DisputedThe 1980s
The 1990s
The Ariel School encounterDozens of pupils at a Zimbabwe school said a silver craft landed by the playground and small black-clad beings approached.DisputedThe Varginha incidentThree young women in Varginha said they saw a crouching creature with red eyes, sparking rumours of a captured alien.Disputed