"At Lanupium, a remarkable spectacle of a fleet of ships was seen in the air."

compiled by Joel Arys:

800 AD: Peru Aerial landing strips are built in the Peruvian Andes.

329 BC: Alexander the Great, via his historians: told of 2 strange objects in the sky that dived repeatedly at his army as they were attempting a river crossing. (Jaxartes River). The action so panicked his elephants, horses, and men they had to abandon the river crossing until the following day. They were described as great silver shields, spitting fire around the rims. Contributed by Thon 170 BC: From Conrad Wolfhart, Lycothenes (Medieval reporter/writer)

1,500 BC: Pharaoh Thutmose III In Egypt, the Pharaoh Thutmose III seessilent, foul-smelling circles of fire and flying discs in the sky.

99 BC: From Prodigia of Julius Obsequens, Rome "When C. Murius and L. Valerius were consuls in Tarquinia towards sunset, a round object, like a globe, a round or circular shield, took its path in the sky from westto east."

90 BC: From Prodigia of Julius Obsequens, Rome "At Aernarie, while

Livius Troso was promulgating the laws at the beginning of the italiian war, at sunrise, there came a terrific noise in the sky, and a globe of fire appeared burning in the north. In the territory of Spoletum, a globe of fire, of golden color, fell to the earth gyrating. It then seemed to increase in size, rose from the earth and ascended into the sky, where it obscured the sun with its brilliance. It revolved toward the eastern quadrant of the sky."

85 BC: From Pliny, Natural History: Book II, ch 34 "In the consulship of Lucius Valerius and Caius Marius, a burning shield scattering sparks ran across the sky." Contributed by Thon

42 BC: From Prodigia of Julius Obsequens, Rome "Something like a sort of weapon, or missile, rose with a great noise from the earth and soared into the sky"

70 AD, May 21: From Josephus "Jewish War" Book CXI "On the 21st of May a demonic phantom of incredible size...for before sunset there appeared in the air over the whole country chariots and armed troops coursing through the clouds and surrounding the cities." Contributed by Thon

80 AD: From Conrad Wolfhart, Lycothenes (Medieval reporter/writer) "When the Roman emperor, Agricola was in Scotland, wondrous flames were seen in the skies over Caledon Wood, all one winter night. Everywhere the air burned, and on many nights, when the weather was serene, a ship was seen in the air moving fast."

98 AD: From Conrad Wolfhart, Lycothenes (Medieval reporter/writer) "At sunset, a burning shield passed over the sky at Rome. It came sparkling from the west and passed over to the east."

398 AD: Byzantine Empire "A thing like a burning globe, presenting a sword, shown brilliantly in the sky over the city. It seemed almost to touch the earth from the zenith. Such a thing was never recorded to have been seen before by man."

776 AD: From an old chronicle by W. R. Drake "Those watching outside in that place, of whom many still live to this very day, saw they beheld the likeness of two large shields, reddish in color in motion above the church, and when the pagans who were outside saw this sign, they were at once thrown into confusion and terrified with fear and began to flee from the castle."

810 AD: Charlemagne: St. Gregory of Tours, a historian, wrote of Charlemagne: "Alcuin, the secretary and biographer of Charlemagne, and author of the Vita karoli, states in the thirty second chapter of his work that in 810 when he was on his way from Aachen, he saw a large sphere descend like lightning from the sky. It traveled from east toi west and was so bright it made the monarch's horse rear up so that Charlemagne fell and injured himself severely."

1235: General Yoritsume was at military camp with his unit on September

24, 1235, when a most extraordinary phenomenon was sighted. Through the

night and into the early morning lights in the sky were seen swinging,

circling, and looping. General Yoritsume had some astronomers working

for him investigate this phenomenon. They came up with perhaps the first

explanation offered for UFOs, 'The whole thing is completely natural,

General, it is only the wind making the stars sway'. Compiled by Danny

Brown
1239 AD: England: From Matthew of Paris: "On July 24, 1239 at dusk, but

not when the stars came out, while the air was clear, serene and

shining, a great star appeared. It was like a torch, rising from the

south, and flying on both sides of it, there was emitted in the height

of the sky a very great light. It turned quickly towards the north in

the aery region, not quickly, nor, indeed, with speed, but exactly as it

wished to ascend to a place high in the air."
1254 AD: January 1, From Matthew of Paris: At midnight in the clear and

serene sky with the stars shining and the moon eight days old, there

suddenly appeared in the sky a kind of large ship, elegantly shaped, and

well-equipped of marvelous color. Certain monks of St. Albans saw it for

a long time, as if it were painted, and a ship made of planks, but

finally it began to disappear."
1290: Byland, North Yorkshire: From William of Newburghs Chronicle

"While the abbot and monks were in the refectorium, a flat round,

shining, silvery object (discus) flew over the abbey and caused the

utmost terror."
1332: Uxbridge: Nov. 4; From Robert of Reading "In the first hours of

the night, there was seen in the skies over Uxbridge England, a pillar

of fire the size of a small boat, pallid, and livid in color. It rose

from the south, crossed the sky with a slow and grave motion, and went

north. Out of the front of the pillar, a fervent red flame burst forth

with great beams of light. Its speed increased and it flew through the

air."
1492 AD, October 11, 10:00 PM: From "The Life and Voyages of Christopher

Columbus." Christopher Columbus and Pedro Gutierrez while on the deck of

the Santa Maira, observed, "a light glimmering at a great distance." It

vanished and reappeared several times during the night, moving up and

down, "in sudden and passing gleams." It was sighted 4 hours before land

was sighted, and taken by Columbus as a sign they would soon come to

land. Contributed by Thon
1528: At the Siege of Utrecht in Holland " A cruel and strange sight was

seen in the sky, which terrified the townspeople and made the enemy

think he would get the city. It was the form of a Burgundian cross right

over the city, high in the sky, yellow in color, and fearful to behold."
1554: March 10: France: "There appeared between 6 and 8 PM, about the

moon, a burning fire, emitting a great noise, what seemed to be the

point of a lance, turning form side to side, from east to west, casting

out flames on all sides."
1643: March 11: England, from the diarist, John Evelyn "I must not

forget what amazed us exceedingly the night before, namely, a shining

cloud in the air in a shape resembling a sword, the point reaching to

the north. It was as bright as the moon, the rest of the sky being very

serene. It began about 11 at night and vanished not till about one,

being seen by all the south of England."
1742: December 16: From an account by a Fellow of the Royal Society:

England "I was crossing St James park when a light rose from behind the

trees and houses, from the south and west, which at first I thought was

a rocket of large size. But when it rose 20 degrees, it moved parallel

to the horizon, but waved like this (the speaker drew an undulating

line) and went on in the direction of north-by-east. It seemed very

near. Its motion was very slow. I had it for about half a mile in view.

A light flame was turned backwards by the resistance the air made to it.

>From one of burning charcoal. That end was a frame like bars of iron,

and quite opaque in my sight. At one point on the longitudinal frame, or

cylinder, it issued a train in the shape of a tail of light more bright

at one point on the rod or cylinder; so that it was transparent for more

than half of its length. The head of this strange object seemed about a

half a degree in diameter and the tail near three degrees in length."
1700s: United States Indians In the US, there is an 18th century Indian

legend about luminous humanoid beings who paralyzed people with a small

tube. In variations of these tales, Indian women were even said to have

married a couple of these "star people".
FRANCE 1790 During the summer, Police Inspector Liabeuf witnessed and

investigated a large red globe as it flew over farmland. The globe

landed and a man came out and spoke in a language none understood. The

globe then exploded and the man disappeared. The event was witnessed by

many and is well documented. Compiled by Danny Brown
1870: from the log/account of a ship's captain, F. W. Banner: "The

sailors saw a remarkable object or cloud in the sky. It was a cloud of

circular form, with an included semi-circle divided into four parts, the

central dividing shaft beginning at the center of the circle and

extending far outward, and then curving backward. The thing traveled

from a point 20 degrees above the horizon to a point about 80 degrees

above. Then it settled down to the northeast, having appeared from the

south, southeast. It came up obliquely against the wind, and finally

settled down in the wind's eye. For half an hour this form was visible,

then it finally did disappear"
1878: Flying saucers The term saucer was used by a Texan farmer to

describe an object seen over his farm. The ter was popularized in 1948

when Kenneth Arnold saw a formation of objects over the Cascade

Mountains of Washington State and described them as moving like a saucer

would if you skipped it across water. This image inspired a local

reporter to coin the term 'flying saucer'. compiled by Joel Arys
Persian Gulf 1880 Members of the crew of the British India Company's

steamship 'Patna' witnessed two large luminous wheels each estimated to

be 500 to 600 meters in diameter. The wheels were spinning, one on each

side of the ship, and the spokes touching the ship. The sighting lasted

20 minutes and was witnessed by Captain Avern, third officer Manning,

and Lee Fort Brace. Compiled by Danny Brown
MEXICO 1883 This sighting is the first photographed UFO sightings. At

the Zacatecas Observatory, Jose A. Y. Bonilla sighted several hundred

discs and like objects crossing the sun. Similar sightings occurred the

following day. Compiled by Danny Brown
CHINA 1893 North China Sea In February of 1893, the ship, H.M.S.

Carolina was sailing in the North China Sea, when a report from an

officer of unusual light activity in the sky came to the attention of

Captain J.N. Norcross. The officer told Captain Norcross that the lights

appeared sometimes in a huge mass, others spread out in unusual

patterns. He said that they resembled Chinese lanterns set between the

masts of a ship. The next night these strange lights reappeared but with

a reddish glow and emanating small amounts of smoke. Compiled by Danny

Brown
1897: Sworn Statement from an Alexander Hamilton, at his farm in LeRoy

Kansas: "Last night about 10:30 we were awakened by a noise among the

cattle. I arose, thinking that perhaps my bulldog was performing his

pranks, but upon going to the door saw to my utter astonishment that an

airship was slowly descending upon my cow lot, about 40 rods from the

house" Hamilton also described it as a cigar shaped portion, about 300

feet long with a carriage underneath. The carriage was of some

transparent material. It was brightly lighted within. It contained six

on the strangest beings he had ever seen.
1908 - Siberia A mysterious fireball exploded over Tunguska in Siberia,

creating shock waves felt miles away and setting 1,200 acres on fire. In

1927, Russian scientists first visit the sight of the blast. They find

no meteorite fragments, but discover unusually high levels of radio

activity in the Tunguska soil. Speculation centers on the theory that a

crippled alien spacecraft's nuclear reactor exploded on impact. This

incident is thought to be the first modern crash by alien spacecraft.

compiled by Joel Arys
1915 - Hill 60 During World War I, a regiment of the British Army, the

1st 4th Norfolk, disappeared in an attempt to take Hill 60 at Suvla Bay

near Gallipoli. In front of 22 witnesses, the regiment --- over 800 men

--- marched into a strange formation of lenticular clouds hovering over

Hill 60 and was never seen again. Posted as missing, the regiment was

thought to have been captured. After the war, Britain demanded the

return of the regiment, but the Turks denied any knowledge of the

regiment's existence. No trace of the regiment has ever been found.

compiled by Joel Arys
JAPAN 1940's While flying over Japan, Wing Commander D.J. Blakeslee

sighted an object he described as having red, green and white lights.

The craft moved rapidly to escape detection. Blakeslee was guided by

ground radar. He was reported to be stable and reliable. The Air Force

officially ruled the sighting to be Jupiter, although it was tracked by

radar. Compiled by Danny Brown Return To Index at
Solomon Islands 1942 Sergeant Stephen Brickner of the US Marine Corps

witnessed an extraordinary UFO formation. He estimated the number to

around 150 craft all arranged in a rectangle. The formation was 15 craft

long and 10 deep. Formation sightings have been reported before but the

rectangle shape is unique. Compiled by Danny Brown
USA 1942 Los Angeles, California In February of 1942, UFO's were

reported flying near Los Angeles, California. Paul T. Collins was one of

the main reporting witnesses who had seen these UFO's. He described them

as lights moving in a strange manner. There were also reports from other

witnesses stating that they had seen extremely large UFO's around the

same times as Mr. Collins. Compiled by Danny Brown
ITALY 1947 In August of 1947 an Italian artist by the name of Rapuzzi

Johannis was taking a leisurely walk in the mountains between Italy and

Yugoslavia. He saw just in front of him a red glowing saucer. This

saucer was about thirty feet wide and it was accompanied by two small

dwarf-like creatures. These creatures had very large heads with green

faces, sort of resembling that of a fish. They also had a circle around

each eye. Apparently one of the creatures had hit Johannis with an

electrical ray which left him very weak and almost paralyzed. After this

incident the creatures ignored the Johannis and left. Compiled by Danny

Brown
USA 1947 Lake Mead, NEVADA On June 28th, while cruising at 6,000 feet,

US Air force pilot Lieutenant Armstrong witnessed six discs flying in

formation. Compiled by Danny Brown
USA 1947 Mount Rainier, WA On June 24, Kenneth Arnold was on an aerial

search for a crashed C-46 marine transport plane when he saw 9 objects

flying in formation. He estimated their speed at 1,300 to 1,700 miles

per hour, distance at 23 miles and length of formation to be 5 miles.

Also in the air at the time was a DC-4 which Arnold used as a point of

reference to estimate the size of individual discs. He estimated the

size as two thirds the size of the DC-4. This sighting was not

corroborated by radar or witnesses but did attract media attention and

public interest. Compiled by Danny Brown
USA 1947 White Sands, New Mexico On June 29, 1947, C. J. Zohn stationed

at White Sands proving grounds in New Mexico watched a huge, silver,

circular disc at a height of 10,000 feet above the installation. This

sighting was just days after Kenneth Arnold's sighting which publicized

the UFO phenomenon. Compiled by Danny Brown
1952 - Veronica, Argentina Hundreds of residents of Veronica, Argentina

witnessed six discs circling above the town, the disappearing into the

night sky. This sighting was written hours of a similar report from

Captain Paul Carpenter near Denver. Carpenter reported the craft was

traveling at 3,000 miles per hour, making it possible for the saucer to

have appeared in both locations. compiled by Joel Arys
This material has been reprinted in part from UFO HISTORY, where even

more historical information on UFOs can be found. Their main webpage,

NIGHTWATCH is located here.