Sky and Atmospheric

Recurring light and electrical phenomena, recorded over decades and in some cases still under study.

29 records

Records in this category

Record	Case	Date	Status
AR-0015	Hessdalen Lights Recurring luminous phenomena in a Norwegian valley, under active scientific study.	Documented since 1981	Partially explained
AR-0016	Ball Lightning Luminous spheres during storms. Laboratory analogues exist; the mechanism is still debated.	Long documented	Partially explained
AR-0017	Marfa Lights Distant flickering lights in West Texas. Many are attributed to headlights and atmospheric refraction.	1883 to present	Partially explained
AR-0018	Min Min Lights An Australian light phenomenon, largely explained by mirage-like refraction of distant sources.	1838 to present	Later explained
AR-0019	Naga Fireballs Glowing orbs rising from the Mekong. Methane and hoax remain the competing accounts.	Documented from the 20th century	Unsolved
AR-0057	Sprites and Blue Jets Observers, and later pilots, reported lightning going upward and were disbelieved. In 1989 a camera caught it.	Reported 1886, confirmed 1989	Later explained
AR-0058	St Elmo's Fire Blue fire on the masts of ships. It is corona discharge, and sailors read it as an omen for two thousand years.	Recorded for centuries	Later explained
AR-0059	Brown Mountain Lights Lights on a North Carolina ridge. Most are distant lights; a small residue has never been assigned.	Reported since 1913	Partially explained
AR-0060	Foo Fighters Allied aircrew reported glowing objects pacing their aircraft. Documented in official wartime files.	1944 to 1945	Partially explained
AR-0061	The Great Airship Mystery America saw airships before airships existed. Most sightings trace to newspaper hoaxes and Venus.	1896 to 1897	Debunked
AR-0062	The Phoenix Lights Two separate events on one night. One was flares. The other is still argued over.	13 March 1997	Partially explained
AR-0063	The Lubbock Lights An arc of lights over Texas, investigated by the US Air Force. Usually put down to birds, which the investigator himself rejected.	August 1951	Partially explained
AR-0064	Ghost Rockets Two thousand rocket-like objects over Scandinavia. Most were meteors. A residue was not, and no rocket debris was ever found.	1946	Partially explained
AR-0065	Earthquake Lights Light seen before and during earthquakes. Dismissed as folklore until it was photographed.	Recorded for centuries	Partially explained
AR-0102	The Roswell Incident An Army air field announced a captured 'flying disc' in July 1947 and withdrew it the same day. The debris was a classified Mogul balloon train.	1947	Later explained
AR-0109	The Rendlesham Forest Incident US airmen chased lights into a Suffolk forest in December 1980. A meteor, a lighthouse and rabbit diggings explain most of the record.	1980	Partially explained
AR-0116	The USS Nimitz Encounter Two Navy fighter crews reported a white, wingless object off California in 2004. The only public recording is a video taken later by another crew.	2004	Unsolved
AR-0123	The Battle of Los Angeles Anti-aircraft guns fired some 1,400 rounds over Los Angeles in February 1942. The first target was a balloon carrying a red flare.	1942	Later explained
AR-0130	Kenneth Arnold's Sighting In 1947 a pilot timed nine bright objects between two Washington peaks. The press called them flying saucers; he said he meant how they moved.	24 June 1947	Unsolved
AR-0137	The Mantell Incident A Guard pilot died chasing an object over Kentucky in 1948. He blacked out without oxygen; the object was probably a secret balloon.	7 January 1948	Later explained
AR-0144	The Washington, D.C. UFO Flap Radar tracked unknown targets over the White House and the Capitol in July 1952. Later studies judged them most likely temperature-inversion echoes.	July 1952	Partially explained
AR-0151	The Kecksburg Incident A fireball was seen over the Great Lakes on 9 December 1965 and a Pennsylvania village said it had landed there. The meteor ended over 300 km away.	1965	Partially explained
AR-0158	The Westall UFO Pupils and teachers at a Melbourne school reported a silvery object circled by light aircraft in April 1966. No proposed cause has been confirmed.	1966	Unsolved
AR-0165	The Socorro Landing A New Mexico police officer reported an egg-shaped craft and two small figures in 1964. Blue Book never identified it; the hoax claim names no one.	1964	Unsolved
AR-0172	The Tehran UFO Incident Two Iranian F-4s chased a bright light over Tehran in September 1976 and reported equipment failures. Jupiter and faulty wiring are proposed.	1976	Unsolved
AR-0183	The Nuremberg Celestial Phenomenon A Reformation broadsheet read as a dogfight. Its author said God alone knew.	1561	Later explained
AR-0184	The Belgian UFO Wave Six radar locks, no visual contact, and a styrofoam triangle hung on wires.	1989 to 1990	Later explained
AR-0185	Green Fireballs More than a year of cameras aimed at the New Mexico sky, and not one usable frame.	1948 to 1951	Partially explained
AR-0186	The Alien Autopsy Film A sculptor, a flat in Camden, and offal from Smithfield market.	1995 to 2018	Debunked