Beginning with Kenneth Arnold’s 1947 sighting that introduced the term “flying saucers,” this collection traces nearly 80 years of UFO reports worldwide. It examines iconic cases such as Roswell and Rendlesham, exploring claims of crashed spacecraft, alien encounters, and alleged government cover-ups. The book also investigates known hoaxes and considers whether UFOs could pose a threat to global security or human understanding. Drawing on decades of reports and investigations, it presents both skeptical and supportive perspectives on the phenomenon. Veteran ufologists Jenny Randles and Nigel Watson provide expert updates and analysis, helping readers navigate evidence, speculation, and enduring mysteries surrounding unidentified flying objects.
THE STRANGE PHENOMENA FortenTimes
INTRODUCTION • WATSON UFOLOGISTS, AUTHORS AND WRITERS OF THE FORTEAN TIMES ‘UFO FILES’ COLUMN
The UFO Files
Was It a Bird? Was it a Plane? • Three quarters of a century after pilot Kenneth Arnold’s seminal UFO sighting in the skies above Washington State, NIGEL WATSON wonders whether a top-secret test flight might have been responsible for the birth of the flying saucer age and lines up the unusual suspects…
FORTEAN TIMES UFO EXPERT JENNY RANDLES SHARES HER THOUGHTS ABOUT THE KENNETH ARNOLD UFO SIGHTING
Incident at Aztec • Did a UFO crash to Earth in the New Mexico desert in 1948? Did the US military recover alien corpses from the site and cover up the incident? NICK REDFERN opens the files on the FBI’s involvement in the case and finds that the Aztec UFO affair is anything but a closed book.
FORTEAN TIMES UFO EXPERT NIGEL WATSON ON THE MANY MYTHS OF THE AZTEC UFO INCIDENT
Scramble! UFO! • Military pilots’ UFO experiences have been in the news of late, with the US Government apparently taking them seriously. JENNY RANDLES goes back to the 1950s to try and discover why the Ministry of Defence tried to cover up the close encounters reported by British RAF pilots at the time.
Invasion 1967 • What would we do if aliens landed? Nearly 60 years ago, Britain found out, when a rash of flying saucer landings stunned the nation. Fittingly, Britain’s very own War of the Worlds would begin in Bromley, Kent, the birthplace of HG Wells… JOHN KEELING tells the forgotten story of that fateful day.
FORTEAN TIMES UFO EXPERT NIGEL WATSON ASKS JUST HOW READY WE WOULD BE TO FACE A REAL UFO LANDING
The Entertainer, the President, and the Aliens • Have you heard the one about 1950s sitcom star Jackie Gleason, US President Richard Nixon, and the dead aliens? It’s not a a joke, but the ‘true story’ of an encounter between a famous entertainer and the corpses of several extraterrestrials. BRIAN J ROBB tells all.
JACKIE GLEASON’S UFO HOUSE
FORTEAN TIMES UFO EXPERT JENNY RANDLES PONDERS THE STRANGE CROSSOVER BETWEEN CELEBRITIES AND UFOs
The Berwyn Mountain UFO Crash • Extraterrestrial spacecraft, alien bodies, military retrieval teams, earth tremors, meteorites and the Men In Black: it might sound like Roswell, but this incredible story took place in North Wales in 1974. ANDY ROBERTS attempts to establish what really happened in the Berwyn Mountains.
FORTEAN TIMES UFO EXPERT NIGEL WATSON SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON THE BERYWN MOUNTAIN UFO CASE
Death by UFO • Almost as soon as the UFO age began, the prospect of benign, hippy-like space brothers gave way to the depravity of alien thugs. NIGEL WATSON tries to understand this shift by reviewing some of the cases that have contributed to a belief that UFOs have a sinister purpose and a fatal nature.
HEAVY RAIN
FORTEAN TIMES UFO EXPERT JENNY RANDLES EXAMINES THE POSSIBLE ILL-EFFECTS OF UFO CLOSE ENCOUNTERS ON WITNESSES
Britain’s Roswell: The Rendlesham Forest Incident • Just after Christmas 1980, a quiet corner of...