unidentified flying objects
Unexplained aerial phenomena
Unidentified flying objects are things seen in the sky that observers cannot identify—the formal term behind the abbreviation UFO.
The phrase emerged from military and government attempts to catalog aerial phenomena without presupposing their nature.
In popular culture, unidentified flying objects typically implies alien spacecraft, though most sightings turn out to be aircraft, satellites, weather balloons, or atmospheric phenomena: The Air Force investigated reports of unidentified flying objects over the base.
- alien abductionClaimed capture by extraterrestrials
- little green menCartoonish alien stereotype
- government cover-upState concealment of wrongdoing
- technosignaturesIndicators of extraterrestrial technology
- skyVisible overhead expanse
aircraft · extraterrestrial intelligence · extraterrestrial life · Area 51 · astrobiology · SETI · close encounters · ancient astronauts · Roswell incident · UFO sightings · crop circles · night sky · hover · alien spacecraft · outer space · reverse engineering · saucer · radar
unidentified flying objectsmilitary jets
Armed jet-powered aircraft
helicopters · weather balloons · drones · satellites · blimps
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