Once-Classified UFO Files Temporarily Available To Everyone(01 of10)
Open Image ModalIn January, something both amazing and frustrating at the same time happened in the field of UFO studies. Approximately 130,000 pages of files from the 22-year Air Force UFO study -- Project Blue Book -- were finally made available to the public for free online. Ever since Project Blue Book ended in 1969, anyone wanting to research those files prior to 2015, had to pour through microfilm files at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Writer and producer John Greenewald, creator of The Black Vault -- a huge online compilation of government documents -- converted Blue Book files from jpeg images into searchable PDF files. It was every UFO researcher\'s dream come true. But it didn\'t last long. Shortly after the files became available, they were removed from The Black Vault by a company called Fold3, which posts military files, claiming to have a copyright on the old Air Force files. Easy come, easy go with the UFO files, it seems. But there\'s still hope that those files will once again see the light of day.\nThis image is a re-enactment of one of the most credible Project Blue Book cases, from 1964, in which Police Officer Lonnie Zamora witnessed an egg-shaped craft along with two beings in Socorro, New Mexico. (credit:RareTV/YouTube)
Purple UFO Interrupts Peru TV Show(02 of10)
Open Image ModalIn February, a television production crew in Lima, Peru, videotaped a purple-colored disc-shaped UFO hovering in the sky near a construction site. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the object for up to two hours. Initial possible explanations included a drone or a kite. (credit:Eduardo Chavez Guerra/YouTube)
San Diego Mystery Aerial Lights(03 of10)
Open Image ModalAt the end of April, San Diego\'s NBC News affiliate captured an unusual colorful grouping of lights over San Ysidro, near the U.S.-Mexico border. The red, blue and green lights were flashing and changing colors. When HuffPost contacted the TV station, a reporter said she was instructed by station management not to give out any information about the incident.\n (credit:NBC 7 San Diego)
Disc-Shaped Object Hovers Over Chile For 1 Hour(04 of10)
Open Image ModalIn April, a new update was released about a couple of photos from 2013 showing a disc-shaped object over a copper mine in northern Chile. Witnesses said they watched the object for over an hour as it moved around and hovered. Investigators for CEFAA -- Chile\'s official government UFO study group -- examined the photos, and ruled out experimental aircraft, planes, weather balloons or drones. The study concluded \"It is an object or phenomenon of great interest, and it can be qualified as a UFO.\" (credit:CEFAA)
Loch Ness UFO Causes Monster Controversy(05 of10)
Open Image ModalIt took several updates to this story to try and figure out what exactly it was that a family, vacationing at Scotland\'s Loch Ness captured in a photograph above the 22-mile-long lake in April. Their camera seemed to catch a pair of objects (see image with close-up insert) moving in the sky over the lake. The controversy heated up when Metabunk.org stepped in, claiming that the family had merely photographed a dual reflection of a room lamp. To this day, both parties believe they are correct: the family insists it was no lamp reflection and Metabunk maintains it was. (credit:Caters News)
Christmas Tree-Type Lights Over Tucson(06 of10)
Open Image ModalOn July 4, Tom Sanger videotaped a colorful display of changing lights over the Sabino Canyon, northeast of Tucson, Arizona. \nIn late August, an updated report by OpenMinds.TV suggested these lights were caused by \"human activity\" at a mountain lookout point, i.e. the headlights of oncoming vehicles. (credit:Tom Sanger)
Similar UFOs Appear Over U.S., Japan Cities(07 of10)
Open Image ModalTwo separate cases of unusual-looking lights over different continents within a few days of each other prompted speculation from alien life to Chinese lanterns.\nThe image shows objects over Osaka, Japan (at left around the end of July) and Milwaukee, Wisconsin (on July 25). The Milwaukee objects were later identified as an Army parachute team, performing during the city\'s annual German Fest.\nStill no official word on those Osaka lights. (credit:Left: TVE24HD Right: IPRA Strong / YouTube)
London Police Investigate Reported UFO Crash(08 of10)
Open Image ModalIt wasn\'t exactly of the same legendary caliber as the 1947 Roswell, New Mexico, incident, but it was unique in its own way.\nOn Oct. 17, police in Kingston, London, sent an emergency response team to a location to check on an unknown object that was on fire. When officials arrived on the scene, they thought, at first, they were looking at a crashed UFO! The orange-blue hemispherical object was partially smashed with pieces of it strewn all around.\nTurns out, online detectives helped determine the UFO was, in fact, a pizza oven that may have fallen off a truck.\nThat\'s some pizza delivery service. (credit:Kingston Police, UK)
Mystery Revealed In Space Station Astronaut UFO Photo(09 of10)
Open Image ModalWhen International Space Station astronaut Scott Kelly snapped a photo of south India on Nov. 15, Internet UFO hunters speculated about the bright, tube-like object at the upper right of the image.\nIt was just the latest in a long series of objects photographed by space station astronauts that fuel Internet chatter about UFOs. In this case, however, a simple adjustment of brightness and contrast of the original image clearly reveals that the UFO in question is a UHF antenna attached to the space station. (credit:NASA / Scott Kelly)
Scary Explanation For Blazing Siberia UFO Sighting(10 of10)
Open Image ModalMany people saw and videotaped a spectacular bright object over several cities in Siberia on the night of Nov. 17. Initial speculation included things like UFO, alien wormhole, and a secret Russian military rocket launch. Former NBC News space consultant James Oberg -- an expert on all American and Russian space activity -- confirmed that the bizarre spectacle was part of a Russian missile test program.\nWhile not an ET invasion, it doesn\'t lessen worries over increased tensions between Russia and members of NATO. (credit:PE Omsk/YouTube)