UFO Sightings

Alleged UFO sighting, 1952 (The Boston Globe, via Newspapers.com™)

This page contains a selection of newspaper articles and photos about UFO sightings over the decades. 

Unidentified flying objects (UFOs), also called unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), began receiving widespread attention in the summer of 1947. The first well-publicized account was Kenneth Arnold’s alleged sighting of a group of flying saucers in Washington on June 24, 1947. Reports claiming that debris from a flying disc had been recovered in Roswell, New Mexico, made headlines a couple weeks later. 

Accounts of UFO sightings–and the U.S. government’s responses to them–have been appearing in newspapers ever since.

Learn more about UFO Sightings through historical newspapers from our archives. Explore newspaper articles, headlines, images, and other primary sources below.

Articles and Clippings about UFO Sightings

"Aerial Mystery" "Flying Saucers Puzzle Pilot" 26 Jun 1947, Thu The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com"'Flying Discs' Oft Seen, but Not Explained" 28 Jun 1947, Sat The Ogden Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) Newspapers.com"U.S. Planes Start Saucer Hunt, Army Takes Reports Seriously" 07 Jul 1947, Mon News-Press (Fort Myers, Florida) Newspapers.com"More Flying Saucers Reported in Canada" 07 Jul 1947, Mon The Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) Newspapers.com"'Disc-Like Forms' Seen in Sky During the Last 150 Years" 08 Jul 1947, Tue The Ottawa Journal (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) Newspapers.com"Army Reveals It Has Flying Disc Found On Ranch In New Mexico" 08 Jul 1947, Tue The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, California) Newspapers.com"'Weather Balloon,' Says AAF of New Mexico's Saucer" 09 Jul 1947, Wed The Times-News (Twin Falls, Idaho) Newspapers.com"What Louisvillians Saw" 09 Jul 1947, Wed The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee) Newspapers.com"Flying Disks Photoed in Michigan" 10 Jul 1947, Thu Medford Mail Tribune (Medford, Oregon) Newspapers.com"'Flying Saucer' Seen In France" 23 Jul 1947, Wed Derby Evening Telegraph (Derby, Derbyshire, England) Newspapers.com"'Flying Discs' Over Italy" "Florence Reports" 24 Mar 1948, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com"Flying Saucer in Kent" 25 Mar 1948, Thu Daily Herald (London, London, England) Newspapers.com"'Flying Discs' Seen Off Danish Coast" 23 Nov 1948, Tue The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) Newspapers.com"Flying Saucers Probe Dropped By Air Force" "Statement Reveals 375 Reports Checked" 28 Dec 1949, Wed The Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com"Mexico Sees Flying Saucers - or Something" "Chilean Navy Reports 7-Inch Flying Saucer" 12 Mar 1950, Sun The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.com"Colored Flying Saucer Seen By Police Officer" 04 Apr 1950, Tue The Record American (Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com"Air Force Study of Flying Saucers Represents About Face Since 1950" 01 Aug 1952, Fri Star-Gazette (Elmira, New York) Newspapers.com"Korea, Japan Report Sighting Flying Disks" "Both Visual and Radar Observations Recorded Last Month" 02 Aug 1952, Sat The York Dispatch (York, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com"'Flying Saucers' Spotted Over Ashley Valley" 15 Oct 1953, Thu Vernal Express (Vernal, Utah) Newspapers.com"Air Force Checking Streams Of Reports on Mystery Objects" 07 Nov 1957, Thu Evansville Courier and Press (Evansville, Indiana) Newspapers.com"Sane & Sober, Some Still See Saucers" "Seasoned Fliers Tell Their Side" 16 Jul 1959, Thu Daily News (New York, New York) Newspapers.com"Air Force Is Dubious, But It Still Tracks Down All 'Flying Saucers'" 07 Aug 1963, Wed The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, California) Newspapers.com"Puzzle Of UFOs Spreads To The Dayton Area" "Michiganders Report More Flying Objects" 28 Mar 1966, Mon The Journal Herald (Dayton, Ohio) Newspapers.com"'Flying saucer man' here checks out every report" "'Flying discs' sighted from Oahu" 28 Sep 1966, Wed Honolulu Star-Bulletin (Honolulu, Hawaii) Newspapers.com"UFO-Plane Collisions Reported" 25 Oct 1966, Tue News-Journal (Mansfield, Ohio) Newspapers.com"Skeptical Wichitan Sees Flying Saucer" 12 Jul 1974, Fri Times Record News (Wichita Falls, Texas) Newspapers.com"UFO: The Hynek Report" "Policy to 'debunk' witnesses' reports" 09 Mar 1978, Thu The Montreal Star (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Newspapers.com"Strange lights in sky bring more claims of UFO sightings" 16 Aug 1978, Wed Leicester Mercury (Leicester, Leicestershire, England) Newspapers.com"UFO! The untold story from the official files" 08 Dec 1979, Sat The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia) Newspapers.com"UFOs: The controversy continues" 30 Apr 1983, Sat Olathe News (Olathe, Kansas) Newspapers.com"Arizona has history of sightings" "Discs, bright lights, abduction claimed" 24 Jun 1987, Wed Tucson Citizen (Tucson, Arizona) Newspapers.com"Up in the sky, there were the UFOs" 24 Jun 1987, Wed The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) Newspapers.com