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1952 The Washington, D.C. Radar Sightings of July 1952 and the Press Conference That Followed In July 1952, unexplained radar targets appeared over Washington D.C., leading to scrambles of Air Force jets and an unprecedented Pentagon press conference. This event brought the UFO phenomenon directly to national attention. Read more → THE USAF INVESTIGATIONS Project Sign, Grudge and Blue Book: The USAF's Two-Decade UFO Inquiry For over two decades, the U.S. Air Force formally investigated unidentified aerial phenomena through Projects Sign, Grudge, and Blue Book. This extensive effort sought to understand what the public was reporting and assess any national security implications, leaving a complex legacy of documented cases. Read more → 1964 Lonnie Zamora at Socorro, April 1964: The Case Project Blue Book Left Unidentified In 1964, patrolman Lonnie Zamora reported encountering an unknown craft and figures in Socorro, New Mexico. The incident, backed by physical evidence, became one of Project Blue Book's most perplexing and officially 'Unidentified' cases. Read more → 1947 Roswell, July 1947: The Press Release, the Retraction, and Five Decades of Retelling A July 1947 press release from the Roswell Army Air Field reported the recovery of a 'flying disc,' only for it to be retracted swiftly as a weather balloon. This event, initially dismissed, would re-emerge decades later to become one of ufology's most enduring and debated narratives. Read more → 1947 Kenneth Arnold, Mount Rainier, and the Birth of the 'Flying Saucer' On June 24, 1947, pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine unusual objects near Mount Rainier. His description of their movement quickly captured the press's attention, coining a term that would define an era. Read more →
1952 The Washington, D.C. Radar Sightings of July 1952 and the Press Conference That Followed Read more → THE USAF INVESTIGATIONS Project Sign, Grudge and Blue Book: The USAF's Two-Decade UFO Inquiry Read more → 1964 Lonnie Zamora at Socorro, April 1964: The Case Project Blue Book Left Unidentified Read more → 1947 Roswell, July 1947: The Press Release, the Retraction, and Five Decades of Retelling Read more → 1947 Kenneth Arnold, Mount Rainier, and the Birth of the 'Flying Saucer' Read more →
UFO Timelines

What was seen,
what was said

The great moments of ufology, in order: the sightings, the cases and the investigations, told from the record, with every claim attributed and the open questions left open.

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The timeline

Moments on the record

  1. 1947JUNE 24

    Nine objects over Mount Rainier

    Private pilot Kenneth Arnold reports nine fast-moving objects near Mount Rainier, Washington. The newspaper coverage that follows gives the world the phrase “flying saucer”.

  2. 1947JULY

    Roswell

    Roswell Army Air Field announces it has recovered a “flying disc”; within a day the Army says it was a weather balloon. In the 1990s the Air Force tied the debris to Project Mogul, a classified balloon program. The story is still argued over.

  3. 1952TO 1969

    Project Blue Book

    The U.S. Air Force’s longest-running UFO study logs 12,618 reports before it closes in 1969; 701 are left “unidentified”.

  4. 1964APRIL 24

    Socorro

    New Mexico police officer Lonnie Zamora reports a landed, egg-shaped object and two small figures. Blue Book investigates and leaves the case unidentified.

  5. 1980DECEMBER

    Rendlesham Forest

    U.S. Air Force personnel near RAF Woodbridge in England report lights in the forest. Deputy base commander Lt. Col. Charles Halt’s memo to the Ministry of Defence becomes public in 1983.

  6. 2017TO 2021

    From UFO to UAP

    A December 2017 New York Times report reveals a Pentagon study program and Navy videos; in June 2021 a U.S. intelligence assessment reviews 144 reports of “unidentified aerial phenomena” and explains one.

  7. TodayOPEN FILE

    Still under review

    The Pentagon’s AARO office, set up in 2022, reported in 2024 that it found no evidence of extraterrestrial technology in the historical record. Witnesses, researchers and lawmakers continue to press their claims.

Browse by era

The eras

1947–1952

The Saucer Age

Pilots, newspapers and the first wave of sightings.

1952–1969

The Official Years

Blue Book, panels and the long Air Force study.

1970–1999

Contact & Controversy

Abduction accounts, civilian research and the cases that defined the field.

2000–Today

The UAP Era

Military videos, hearings and a new name for an old question.

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The podcast

Paper Trail

One UFO case at a time, followed down its paper trail. August and Nell work through what witnesses reported, what investigators found and what the files say, and how the story changed as newspapers, television and the internet retold it.

With August and Nell. New episodes every Thursday.

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