Mantis aliens
Insect-like aliens said to have a triangular, mantis-like head with large eyes and a long, thin body. They began to appear in alien abduction accounts around the 1990s, often described as beings that supervise the Greys.
UFOs
Records of sightings and incidents involving Unidentified Flying Objects.
Entries: 28
Nordic aliens
A type of alien said to be tall, blond and blue-eyed, resembling the people of Northern Europe. Spread by 1950s "contactees" who claimed to have met aliens, they were portrayed as peace-preaching "space brothers," in sharp contrast to the small Greys.
The "Alien Mummies" of the Mexican Congress
Small mummies presented as "non-human bodies" at a UFO hearing of the Mexican Congress in September 2023. They were claimed to have been found near Nazca, Peru, but scientists pointed out one after another that they appear to be fakes assembled from human and animal bones.
Wow! Signal
A strong radio signal from space received by an American radio telescope in 1977. It was so striking that "Wow!" was written on the printout. It drew attention as a possible signal from extraterrestrial intelligence, but it has never been received again.
Betty and Barney Hill Abduction
The 1961 incident in which an American couple, the Hills, said they were taken aboard a UFO during a night drive and examined by aliens. Their memories were said to have resurfaced under regression hypnosis, and it became the prototype of "alien abduction."
Ummo Affair
An affair in 1960s Spain in which huge numbers of letters arrived from supposed aliens from the planet "Ummo," along with reports of UFO landings and photos. Photos of a UFO bearing the same symbol as the letters caused a sensation, but in 1993 a Spanish man confessed it was a hoax.
Phoenix Lights
The incident on the night of March 13, 1997, in which thousands of people around Phoenix, Arizona, saw lights in a V formation and a huge object. Lights later in the night were explained as military flares, but the earlier sightings are still debated.
Cigar-Shaped UFOs
UFOs shaped like long, slender cigars, often told of as "motherships" carrying small disc-shaped UFOs. In 2017, the cigar-shaped interstellar object Oumuamua was discovered, causing a stir.
Mantell UFO Incident
The incident on January 7, 1948, in which Air Force fighter pilot Captain Thomas Mantell crashed and died while chasing a UFO over Kentucky. It was rumored that he was "shot down by a UFO," but he is thought to have blacked out from lack of oxygen after climbing too high.
Washington UFO Flap of 1952
The July 1952 incident in which unidentified lights repeatedly appeared over Washington, D.C., the U.S. capital, and showed up on airport radar. Fighters were scrambled, and the Air Force held a major press conference explaining it as a weather phenomenon.
Kera UFO Incident
The 1972 incident in which junior high school students in the Kera district of Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture, said they captured a small UFO. The silver, hat-shaped object reportedly vanished and reappeared each time they took it home. It is counted among Japan's three great UFO incidents.
Nikoro UFO Incident
The incident in April 1974 in Nikoro, Kitami, Hokkaido, in which a farmer said he encountered a small alien and an orange glowing disc and was taken inside the disc. He testified that he was taken again and again afterward, and it is sometimes counted among Japan's three great UFO incidents.
Alien Abduction
Accounts of being taken aboard a UFO by aliens and examined. They spread from the 1961 Hill case. "Missing time," a gap in memory, is said to be a feature, but psychology explains such accounts through sleep paralysis and memories created under hypnosis.
Cattle Mutilation
A phenomenon in which livestock such as cattle are found with parts such as the eyes, tongue or organs cut away and apparently drained of blood. It was frequent in 1970s America and attributed to aliens, but investigations explain it as animals and insects feeding after death.
Crop Circles
A phenomenon in which crops such as wheat are flattened into circles or complex geometric patterns. Many were found in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s and were said to be UFO landing marks, but in 1991 two men came forward saying they had made them with planks and rope.
Anunnaki
A group of gods in the Sumerian mythology of ancient Mesopotamia. In the 1970s the writer Zecharia Sitchin claimed they were "aliens from the planet Nibiru who created humanity," and the idea spread in the world of UFOs and conspiracy theories, but historians reject it.
Open Contact
The theory that the day is near when the existence of aliens (extraterrestrial life) will be officially revealed and open interaction with humanity will begin. It spread through repeated discussion on the Japanese TV program Yarisugi Toshi Densetsu. It comes up together with U.S. congressional UAP hearings, but the existence of aliens has not been officially confirmed.
Grey Alien
An alien about one meter tall with gray skin, a large head and black almond-shaped eyes. The most typical image of an alien, it spread through abduction accounts such as the Hill case of the 1960s.
Reptilians
Reptilian aliens said to disguise themselves as humans and secretly rule society. Known from a conspiracy theory that spread from the 1990s, it has no basis and has been criticized for overlapping with discriminatory conspiracy theories.
Kofu UFO Incident
An incident in 1975 in which two elementary school boys in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, said an alien emerged from a UFO that landed in a vineyard and tapped one of them on the shoulder. It is known as Japan's best-known close encounter with aliens.