Some stories, whether you believe them or not, become part of folklore. And amongst certain communities, these UFO sightings (some of which include alien sightings and abductions), have become more than a story. They’ve become cultural.
These are the UFO sighting and interactions that have become modern-day folklore:
7. Incident with Robert Matthews, 1966
In 1966, airman Robert Matthews got off a bus in Cape Cod in Massachusetts to report to work. The bus driver who dropped him off told him to call the US Army base from a payphone and inform them he was waiting for their truck to pick him up:
While waiting, he saw some strange lights in the sky. After five minutes, he decided again to call the base to enquire about his pickup truck. However, the person who answered the phone informed him that the truck had already arrived to pick him up after his first phone call.
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Matthews was told the driver didn’t see him at the bus stop and that an hour had passed between the two phone calls. Today, this strange phenomenon is referred to as ‘missing time,’ and is commonly linked with alien abductions.
6. The Melbourne 350, 1966
On April 6, 1966, one of the strangest UFO sightings took place in Melbourne, Australia:
Over 300 students and teachers of the Westall High School in Melbourne caught sight of five planes trying to corner and capture a UFO.
The attempt to capture the UFO went on for quite some time before the UFO zipped away and disappeared out of sight.
It was later reported that the principal of the school and some strange men in black suits informed the students and teachers to never speak about the incident.
5. O’Hare International Airport UFO, 2006
On November 7, 2006, and the most recent UFO sightings on this list, involves United Flight 446. As the plane was about to leave from the O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, a dozen United Airlines employees reported seeing an odd metallic craft hovering at the departure gate:
The employees all said that the craft hung in the air for several minutes and then disappeared at breakneck speed into the clouds.
The strangest part was that the UFO never registered on the airport’s radar. The Federal Aviation Administration refused to investigate the incident and chalked it to a strange weather phenomenon.
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4. Rendlesham Forest UFO Incident, 1980
Frequently referred to as Britain’s own Roswell, the Rendlesham Forest incident is one of the most famous UFO incidents – and widely considered to be one of the few real UFO sightings:
This is because the people involved in this December 1980 incident were U.S. military personnel, each of whom is considered to be a highly credible witness.
The US military personnel reported seeing an alien craft zoom through the forest, and when they went to investigate, they found strange hieroglyphics written all over the aircraft:
However, many believe that this was a prank played by the British military on the U.S. soldiers. There is no actual evidence to corroborate this incident.
3. UFO over a Zimbabwe School, 1994
When it comes to aliens and UFOs, the event in September 1994, near a school in Ruwa, Zimbabwe, is head-scratching:
The school children who saw these UFOs were terrified when they were asked to explain the events. They described strange beings with big heads, no mouth, two holes in place of a nose, and long black hair:
The children also said that these creatures were dressed in dark suits and communicated with each other telepathically.
One little girl thought that the world was about to end. But later clarified that she felt the beings communicated to them telepathically that the world is going to end, but they did not speak anything, only communicated with their eyes, and the thoughts popped into the children’s minds.
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2. The Lizard Man and Barbara Lamb
Barbara Lamb, a psychotherapist, known to observe crop circles, one day claimed that a reptilian figure suddenly appeared in her home:
She described the alien spotted as being tall, having piercing yellow eyes, and that the lizard man appeared to be friendly and welcoming.
Though Lamb was generally not fond of lizards and snakes, since the reptile man appeared to be welcoming, Lamb reached out to touch his hand. She reported that the lizard man then vanished, just as suddenly as he had appeared.
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1. Barney and Betty Hill, 1961
This is the most famous UFO and alien abduction case in history:
Betty and Barney Hill were driving in New Hampshire at night when a bright light started following them. The next memory they had was of reaching home in the morning, with their clothes ripped and dirty:
Their watches had stopped working, and they had a complete loss of memory for the last two hours.
During later sessions with a psychiatrist, they recalled being abducted, probed, and violated by aliens. This is one of the alien reports investigated by the U.S. Air Forces Project Blue Book.