Whether you are a believer or not, it is a fact that Unidentified Objects or Anomalous Aerial Phenomena, are seen and have been seen since ancient times in the earth’s atmosphere. When it comes to sightings of UFO’s, pilots and other aviation professionals are partial to using less stigma-inducing words like “balloon, unknown traffic, unidentified object, traffic, or unknown aircraft” when they are interviewed after having seen something odd during a flight. The most mysterious and thought provoking UFO sightings, are those not only witnessed by several people, but also confirmed by radar. These accounts can never fully be explained and they continue to be real for all the witnesses involved.

From 12 to 29 July 1952, a series of sightings took place in Washington. One of the most publicized events took place on the 19th. On that evening, an air traffic controller at Washington National Airport detected seven unidentified objects on his radar screen. His superior immediately verified that the instrumentation wasn’t faulty. Moments later a controller at another facility also confirmed the objects, but he also saw “a bright orange light”, while yet another controller confirmed an orange disc hovering above the airport. At that point the radarscope lit up with even more objects and the controllers phoned Andrews Air Force Base. Tracked by the air force as well as the other radar centers fighter jets was scrambled. Some fighters reported that they saw “white glows” or lights (one even engaged them) while others reported nothing unusual. The Air Force’s “false radar readings caused by a temperature inversion” excuse failed to impress as the objects were also seen by hundreds of eyewitnesses and as such, speculation continues to this day.

In March 2004, the crew of a military surveillance plane busy with a routine anti-drug trafficking surveillance flight caught sight of three unidentified objects on their radar. As they couldn’t see anything with the naked eye in the area where the objects were supposed to be, they turned on their infra-red camera to track them. For the next 30 minutes, they recorded 11 unidentified objects moving through the sky at a very high pace. One of the objects also seemed to divide or separate into two different objects. After chasing them, there were a few tense moments when the radar confirmed the objects had surrounded them. In a completely uncharacteristic move, the Mexican government released all the details of the event and they provided the crew, footage and the Head of the Mexican Air Force for examination and questioning by the world’s media.

In 1952, Flight Sergeant Roland Hughes was returning to his base from a training mission when a “gleaming silver, metallic disc” started following him. The Sergeant later described the disc to be shiny, highly reflective and about the size of a Lancaster bomber. The disc descended towards him and even traveled alongside him before it sped off at an incredible speed. The object was caught by the RAF radars; the controllers confirmed that the object traveled at speeds impossible for any of the aircraft of the time. Six days later, Hughes was sent to West Germany to give his official account of what happened to senior RAF officers and the aviation Minister. The minister was so convinced, that he briefed civil servants on the matter. After the sighting, Hughes was nicknamed “Saucer Sam” and his colleagues decorated his jet with a painted flying saucer. According to his family, Hughes never spoke about the incident unless he was asked to do so.

In an incident that is awash with conspiracy theories; NORAD and the Air National Guard picked up an unknown object that entered Washington’s restricted flying zone on 26 July 2002. As the object’s track caused concern, F-16’s were scrambled to intercept the object but the pilots claimed that they saw nothing when they arrived on the scene—the object also disappeared from radar. At the same time in Maryland several witnesses saw a fast-moving bright blue light in the sky; the witnesses also said they saw jets pursuing it at high speed. According to NORAD, that was all that transpired and they view the matter as closed. But, according to the witnesses more than 2 jets were in the air which indicated that the scramble was unique; one dipped its wings on approach as if to communicate with the unknown object and they also claim that the jets trailed the unknown object but the object flew too fast for the jets to keep up. The event featured on FOX news as well as the Washington Post.

On the evening of May 25, 1995 America West Flight 564 was flying at an altitude of about 39,000 ft close to Bovina, Texas. While observing lightning outside the plane, the attendant noticed a peculiar set of flickering lights a little bit below the 757. The First Officer was alerted to the phenomena, he immediately saw the lights which he described as eight bright blue strobes. As the rest of the flight crew watched the flashing lights, they could discern the object as being cigar-shaped. The pilots estimated it to be between 300 and 400 ft long. The object could not be seen on the FAA’s radar. The following day the controllers checked with NORAD and discovered that they tracked an unknown object the previous evening that appeared to be stationary, but would accelerate and stop time and time again at high speeds. These quick sprints were estimated between 1,000 and 1,400 mph. The object was also seen by a US Air Force pilot manning an EF 111A. To date, the incident remains unsolved.

A series of sightings occurred in 1978 above the Kaikoura Mountain Ranges of New Zealand. On the 21st of December, a flight crew observed strange lights around their aircraft which appeared to be tracking them, the objects were picked up by air traffic control in Wellington and Christchurch as well as the aircraft’s on-board radar. On the 30th, a television crew from Australia filmed the mysterious objects on their way to Christchurch; once again the objects were tracked by radar in both Christchurch and Wellington. They also encountered a massive lighted orb which tracked them for almost 15 minutes. The orb was filmed, watched and tracked by radar. After the sightings, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, police and Carter Observatory joined forces in the investigation of the matter—its results were lodged in Wellington’s national Archives. The Ministry of Defense claimed the lights were unburned meteors, squid boat lights or the planet Venus.

Mysteriously, and creepily, two months earlier Frederick Valentich was flying a light aircraft off the coast of Australia when he reported seeing lights of a similar nature and ultimately—via radio—said: “It is hovering and it’s not an aircraft . . . ” After seventeen seconds of a metallic scraping sound the radio went dead. Valentich and his aircraft vanished into thin air. A time lapse camera was running 20 minutes earlier on a nearby beach to photograph the sunset. When the film was developed it captured a large object rapidly exiting the sea and moving into the sky at a rapid pace.

On the 17th of November 1986 the entire crew of a Japanese cargo plane noticed two unidentified objects to their left in the air above Alaska. The two objects followed the cargo plane so closely that the crew at one stage even felt the warmth of the objects’ light on their faces. The first two objects dropped away when a third, larger unidentified object arrived; at which point in time the pilots requested a change of course. The FAA noticed the objects on their radar and gave the crew a directive to evade the unidentified crafts, but even after making many distinct turns and dropping over 4,000 feet the object continued to trail the cargo plane for 400 miles. On the 19th of November the crew was interviewed by the FAA who concluded that the crew was rational, normal and professional. During the same year, the pilot was grounded and moved to a desk job after he confirmed the crew saw UFO’s during a press interview. The unidentified object was also seen by a US Air Force jet on January 30th, 1987.

On January 8, 2008, dozens of residents in Stephenville saw a massive object in the sky above their town. Some said it was a big as a football field, while others said it was nearly a mile long, very similar to the mass sighting in Phoenix during 1997. Several witnesses claimed that the object moved extremely fast. Some of the witnesses (of which one is a private pilot) believed that military aircraft chased the object and that it turned around and traveled back to the direction where it originally appeared from as they spotted F-16’s in pursuit. The story was covered by CNN’s Larry King in the days after the event. After almost two weeks, after denying any aircraft were operational in the area, The US Air Force did an 180? and now claimed they were conducting training flights in the area that involved 10 fighter jets. That might have been the end of the rumors had it not been for the very detailed radar report obtained from the FAA which clearly showed a very large object in the sky tailed by the jets at the exact time witnesses claimed they were seeing the unidentified object.

On the evening of the 30th and 31st of March 1990, the Control Reporting Center (CRC) at Glons radar-confirmed triangular objects in the sky above Belgium after having received various reports of unusual lights as bright as stars that changed color. After receiving a second radar confirmation, two F-16 jets were scrambled to intercept. For more than an hour the F-16’s tried to intercept; on three occasions they even obtained radar lock but every time the objects would change their position or accelerate so fast that the locks were broken. During the first radar-lock, the object accelerated from 150 m p/h to more than 1 100 m p/h while changing altitude from 9,000 ft to 5,000 ft and back up to 11,000 ft in less than 2 seconds. These changes in altitude at the speeds reported would have been fatal to any human pilot. During the whole time, more than 13,000 people witnessed the unfolding drama from the ground. After a little more than an hour, the objects disappeared from the various radar screens and the F-16’s returned to base.

In August 1956, radar at Bentwaters and Lakenheath Air Force Base picked up targets that displayed erratic behavior. Individual and groupings of objects moved across the skies above. Some performed amazing aerobatic feats – displaying capabilities beyond that of any known aircraft. The radar images were corroborated by sightings from the ground and the air, even by a pilot in a C-47 who saw an object passing directly underneath his plane. As Lakenheath informed the RAF Station at Wimbledon fighters were sent up. As amazed personnel watched their radar screens, one pilot tried to engage an object and somehow got outmaneuvered—with the object ending up behind it. The pilot attempted to shake the unidentified object by every means possible but it stayed on his tail. The event is unique as it was witnessed by military personnel and corroborated by several military radar stations. The conclusion of the Condon Committee (who usually concluded that UFO’s were mere natural phenomena) stating that “the probability that at least one genuine UFO was involved appears to be fairly high” have added fuel to the fire through the decades, making it one of the most compelling incidents in our history.

Hestie lives in Pretoria, South Africa.

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Every year, there are numerous men and women found deceased whose identities are a complete mystery. They are simply known as “John Doe” or “Jane Doe” until their real identities can be discovered. But unfortunately, sometimes this just never happens. Even though these people may have friends or family somewhere who are looking them, no one ever comes forward to claim the body. Years or decades go by without anyone finding out who they are. One of the most famous examples of this is the unidentified “Boy in the Box” found in Philadelphia in 1957. Here are some other examples of John or Jane Does being found under mysterious circumstances. Even though people have worked tirelessly to find out who they are, their identities remain unknown.

On February 19, 1971, in Sumter County, Florida, the decomposed body of a young woman was discovered beneath a bridge in Lake Panasoffkee. She was believed to be in her early twenties and had been strangled to death with a man’s belt which was still wrapped around her throat. She had no identification and since no one ever came forward to claim her body, she was nicknamed “Little Miss Panasoffkee” and laid to rest in the area.

Years later, her body was exhumed in an attempt to identify her. One of the most curious discoveries they made was that a form of surgery called the “Watson-Jones” technique had been performed on her ankle. She had extensive dental work and a recent study of the lead isotopes in her teeth has led to the theory that she may have been a resident of Lavrion, a fishing port near Athens, Greece. It is also believed that she had given birth to a child at one point. In spite of these very distinct clues, her real identity has yet to be uncovered.

Another Sumter County, this one in South Carolina, has its own mystery about unidentified murder victims. On August 9, 1976, the bodies of a young man and woman, both believed to between 18 and 22 years old, were found on a secluded dirty road. They had both been shot to death, and a local resident claimed they heard the sounds of gunshots and a vehicle speeding off shortly before the victims were found. Neither the male nor the female had any identification or money on them.

Even though they had no money, the victims both wore fairly expensive-looking jewelry and had extensive dental work. Months later, a witness came forward who believed he had crossed paths with the couple at a campground. He said the male claimed his name was “Jock” and that he was traveling through the U.S. because he had been disowned by his father, who was a prominent doctor in Canada. Not much is known about the female, but authorities have speculated that the couple may have actually been brother and sister. In spite of these leads, no one has ever come forward to claim the victims’ bodies, and the identity of their killer is also unknown.

One of the most brutal homicides of all time took place in Carbon County, Pennsylvania on December 20, 1976. Three suitcases were found under a bridge along the Lehigh River and they each contained the remains of an unidentified woman, who was believed to be between 16 and 22 years old. She had been strangled, shot in the neck, and dismembered. One of the suitcases contained her arms and legs, and her eyes, nose and breasts had also been removed. It’s estimated that the killer made a failed attempt to toss the suitcases into the river, causing two of them to break open on impact.

As if the crime wasn’t vicious enough, the woman was also pregnant, as a full-term female fetus was also found amongst the remains. A potentially significant clue was some letters and numbers written in ink on the victim’s left hand (possibly a license plate number), but authorities were never able to figure out their meaning. Over thirty-five years later, the victim is buried in a grave under the name “Beth Doe”, but no one has ever been able to determine her identity or find out who killed her in such a cruel fashion.

On September 14, 2001, a man appearing to be in his twenties checked into a motel in Grays Harbor, Washington. He registered under the name “Lyle Stevik” and listed an address from Meridan, Idaho. He only paid for one evening, but told the staff he was likely planning to stay a few extra days. On September 17, his body was found in his room, hanging from a coat rack with a leather belt. It is estimated that he had committed suicide the day before. He left money on the nightstand alongside a note that said “For the Room”.

Upon further investigation, it was discovered that “Lyle Stevik” is the name of a character from the Joyce Carol Oates novel, “You Must Remember This”, so there’s a good chance this man had registered under an alias. The Idaho address he wrote down actually belonged to a Best Western motel. The man carried no identification or luggage and the only possessions left behind were a toothbrush and toothpaste. The only other clue was a discarded piece of paper in the room’s waste basket which read “SUICIDE”. All attempts to uncover anything about this man’s background have proved unsuccessful.

On the morning of November 9, 1979, a passing motorist discovered the body of a young woman in a cornfield near Caledonia, New York. She looked to be between 13 and 19 years old and was killed by two gunshot wounds to the head. Authorities estimate that the murder weapon was a .38-caliber handgun. She was likely killed the night before, but unfortunately, heavy rains had washed away potential forensic evidence. Her pockets had been turned inside out, indicating that the killer had possibly removed her identification.

A waitress reported seeing the woman at a diner in Lima, New York the night before, and numerous truckers claimed they had seen her hitchhiking and attempting to catch rides. In 2006, three microscopic pollen grains found inside her clothing were analyzed and it was determined they could have only come from Florida, Arizona or Southern California, indicating that the girl had travelled a great distance before her death. But even though authorities have followed up on over 10,000 leads, she has yet to be identified and remains buried under the name “Jane Doe” in Dansville, New York.

In Brazoria County, Texas on September 10, 1990, a motorist who pulled off the highway to relieve himself in a trash-dumping area was shocked to discover a skull inside an old tire. The skeletal remains of a female, believed to be between the ages of 15 and 25, were then found on a pile of debris. Cause of death is unknown, but it is estimated she died one to five years before being discovered. She was initially thought to be Hispanic, but later analysis has determined that she was probably white and descended from at least one black parent or grandparent.

Even though no clothing was found, the victim had six rings on her fingers and a bracelet. The most distinctive piece of jewelry was a silver-colored 1975 class ring from Robert E. Lee High School in Houston. The blue stone in the ring is what led to her being nicknamed “Princess Blue”. Given that the victim was too young to have graduated high school in 1975, investigators were baffled about why she would have this ring and have tried to find out if anyone from that graduating class might have lost or given their ring away. Thus far, they have had no luck solving this mystery.

On June 26, 1995, a man named Michael Eric Hager was killed when his van crashed in Greensville County, Virginia. A passenger was also killed in the accident, but Hager’s family did not know him, so he had presumably been picked up while hitchhiking. The unidentified man was between 16 and 21 years old and wore a tie-died concert T-shirt advertising the Grateful Dead’s 30th Anniversary Tour. He had no identification, but he did have a ticket stub from the Grateful Dead concert at RFK Stadium the night before. The ticket was traced to a Pennsylvania man who had scalped it at the concert, but could not recall who he sold it to.

One significant clue was a note found in the man’s pocket which read: “To Jason, Sorry we had to go. See you around. Caroline O. and Caroline T.”. The note also contained a phone number with a 914 prefix, but no area code. Neither of these Carolines have ever been identified and the phone number has not helped uncover the hitchhiker’s identity. This note led to the man being nicknamed “Jason Doe”, but since no one has ever come forward to claim his body, his real name remains a mystery.

One of the largest homicide investigations in New York City history was launched on July 23, 1991 when a cooler was found in a park bordering the Henry Hudson Parkway. It contained the decomposed body of a young girl, estimated to be between the ages of 3 and 5. She was wrapped in a black garbage bag and buried under cans of Coca-Cola. The girl had been asphyxiated and likely been dead for days, and evidence was later discovered that the girl was sexually abused. With no clue to her identity, she was nicknamed “Baby Hope”.

Authorities sent out a public plea for information and later received a call from a woman using the name “Judy Brown”. She claimed that while driving on the Parkway nine days before Baby Hope was found, she saw a well-dressed Hispanic couple carrying a cooler, but this woman never came forward to provide further information. While Baby Hope remains unidentified over 20 years later, detectives initially thought they solved the case when they found pornographic Polaroids of a girl resembling Baby Hope in the same area three months later. They later discovered the person in the photos was actually a 12-year old girl living in New Jersey. In an eerie coincidence, her name was also Hope!

On April 1, 1990, a young woman stepped onto Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, California, and was instantly killed after being struck by two vehicles. She carried no identification, but wore one very unique item: a ring made of human hair. When the media published a sketch of the woman, many residents came forward to claim they had interacted with her. She had told some people that her name was Andrea and that she was 25 or 26, though she looked young enough to be between 16 and 18 years old.

One resident claimed that “Andrea” was a homeless transient and that he let her spend the night with his family. This is where he witnessed the woman cut off a chunk of her hair and wrap it around her finger as a ring. Other residents who spoke with her gave conflicting stories about her being from Virginia and New York. One person said the woman mentioned she was adopted and was searching for her birth family, and also claimed her parents were pretty well-known. In spite of investigators following up on numerous leads, the woman still remains unidentified over 20 years later.

On July 9, 1991, a blonde woman was found beaten and shot to death in her room at the Whitehall Motel in El Dorado, Arkansas. Her ID said her name was Cheryl Ann Wick, but investigators soon discovered she had stolen this identity from another Cheryl Ann Wick in Minneapolis who was alive and well and did not know the victim. The blonde had been murdered by her boyfriend, James Roy McAlphin, who served 12 years in prison for the crime, but could not shed any light on her real identity.

The woman was known to have resided in Dallas, Houston, Shreveport, and Little Rock before she arrived in El Dorado, and also told friends she was originally from Florida. In addition to “Cheryl Ann Wick”, she also went under the aliases “Kelly Lee Carr”, “Shannon Wiley”, and “Mercedes”. She had worked as a prostitute and topless dancer, had been arrested on numerous occasions for prostitution and writing bad cheques, and was possibly wanted for bank robbery in Virginia. She also had a bible in her possession, which included names from a family she had lived with for awhile. In spite of all these leads, no one has ever been able to uncover her true identity.

Robin Warder is a budding Canadian screenwriter who has used his encyclopedic movie knowledge to publish numerous articles at Cracked.com. I am also the co-owner of a pop culture website called The Back Row.

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There are few bigger moments in a young person’s life than leaving home to attend college. It can be an emotional and nerve-wracking experience for their parents since it’s easy to assume the worst when your child goes out on their own for the first time. Unfortunately, sometimes the worst actually does happen. Here are [...]

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In 1971, a hijacker known as “D.B. Cooper” committed one of the most famous crimes in history when he hijacked a commercial aircraft, collected a 200 thousand dollar ransom, and parachuted out of the plane with the money. For over 40 years, this has remained one of the world’s most famous and enduring unsolved mysteries, [...]

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The universe is filled with mysteries we can’t explain. From mysterious creatures to unexplained paranormal phenomena, there’s no limit to the mysteries of our world. This is a list compiled of the lesser-known, but just as mysterious, phenomena that are stumping people to this day. 10 Mayakka Skunk Ape The skunk ape is a hominid [...]

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When parents send their children off to school, they not only need faith that the institution will provide them with a good education, but that they’ll keep them safe. After all, they are entrusting these schools to watch over their child for several hours per day. Unfortunately, however, sometimes parents will send their child off [...]

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We all have that friend. You know the one. He believes in cities on the dark side of the moon, angels, and insane conspiracy theories. Occasionally, he’ll come across a picture of the “supernatural” he found on a website and self-righteously point to it as proof that the universe runs on crazy. Well, next time [...]

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For every notorious serial killer who is caught and punished for their crimes, there are many others who get away with it and remain unidentified. In some serial killer cases, there is a promising suspect, but not enough evidence to charge them with the crimes. In other cases, the killer may have died or been [...]

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Before we begin, it’s important to note that we aren’t taking any stance on the truthfulness of these stories. Some are more fantastic than others, but some have confirmed details. However, some of the details being accurate doesn’t necessarily prove there was an alien encounter. It’s clear that most of these people believe the stories [...]

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On December 20, 1968, one of the most infamous serial killers of all time took his first known victims after a teenage couple, David Arthur Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, were shot and killed in Benicia, California. Over the next several months, the assailant became known as the “Zodiac Killer” and would attack two more [...]

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Man has long been fascinated with flying, and thanks to modern technology, that dream has become a reality. Still, the privilege doesn’t come without a price. Both man and machine are fallible, and even minor mistakes can have deadly consequences. While we try to learn from each catastrophe and better our equipment, there are some [...]

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We here at Listverse enjoy discussing conspiracy theories on a somewhat regular basis. Especially, especially if it really seems like it could be true. But we’ve barely even scratched the surface, because the world of show-business has some of the weirdest conspiracies of all. 10 Orson Welles Prank Broadcast Was Psychological Warfare The infamous Halloween [...]

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Thousands of people go missing every year, and the most frustrating cases are those where the investigators have virtually nothing to work with—situations where no one saw anything, and no obvious explanation presents itself. It’s almost as if these people literally vanished into thin air. 10 Maura Murray On February 9, 2004, 21-year-old University of [...]

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Sometimes a person doesn’t want others to know who they are—maybe they do something illegal, maybe they play a character and don’t want to break that illusion for others, or maybe they just like messing with people. For whatever reason, there are people out there who have not only adopted alternate identities, but have gone […]

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One of the most infamous crimes of all time took place in 1932 when Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of the renowned aviator, was kidnapped for ransom. Even after a ransom was paid, the infant wasn’t returned, and his body was found near the Lindbergh home two months later. Even though a suspect […]

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Everyone wants to find a hidden treasure. Just imagine walking around in the woods and stumbling across a treasure chest of money. Pirates hid them all the time, sunken ships hold endless amounts of wealth under the sea, and some people are giving away their life savings just for the fun of it. Treasures are […]

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As a species, we are inexorably drawn towards the unknown. The same desire that nurtures the myth of the sasquatch has been the driving force behind all scientific discovery and invention. By that logic, there’s no better use for your time then meditating on the unsolved mysteries left in the world. Mysteries like . . .  10 Michael […]

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In almost every country, popular athletes are held in high regard, and their physical achievements are greatly celebrated. Often times, professional athletes are unfairly stereotyped as infallible and impervious to fear or danger. Thus, when an athlete disappears, it makes the situation all the more intriguing. 10 Lorenzen Wright After a successful college career at […]

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When a notorious serial killer is caught and imprisoned or executed, one cannot help but wonder if all of their crimes were uncovered. Serial killers are manipulative sociopaths, and when put in a position where they have nothing left to lose, they will often enjoy playing games with the authorities. Some will outright refuse to […]

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Some say alien life forms have visited Earth throughout history. However, such claims are difficult to prove. Most UFO sightings and abductions are easy to dismiss as hoaxes or simple misunderstandings. But what about the times when the little green men actually leave something behind? Or the artifacts people from ancient times have constructed to […]

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