Prepare to be amazed as we explore the most perplexing UFO sightings that continue to baffle scientists and researchers. From unexplained aerial phenomena to mysterious encounters, we'll delve into the cases that defy conventional explanations and challenge our understanding of the universe.
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00:00This was a sighting on almost unprecedented scale.
00:05Humans have observed UFOs, now UAP, for thousands of years,
00:09with even ancient Roman historians referencing various mysterious and elusive flying vehicles.
00:14In the modern era, we've finally achieved the technology to properly investigate and verify most sightings.
00:20And the slightly mundane truth is that approximately 95% of them can be attributed to natural or human-led phenomena.
00:27But still, the other 5% remain unexplained.
00:31Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're taking a closer look at three UFOs that science still can't figure out.
00:38These photographs have never been debunked, so this is a very important case.
00:49The unidentified flying objects continued to close in.
00:55First, the disturbing tale of a flight flanked by unknown entities.
00:59Japan Airlines cargo flight 1628 was traveling from Paris to Tokyo on November 17, 1986.
01:06But while over Alaska, the pilot, Captain Kenji Tadauchi, made an unusual and unsettling observation.
01:13Cargo flight 1628, do you have any traffic?
01:23Soon, air traffic control picked up a high-speed object, tracking the 747.
01:29He reported seeing three peculiar objects that were apparently tailing him.
01:33The objects allegedly followed the plane for at least 400 miles and for roughly an hour of flight time.
01:39According to Tadauchi, the seeming formation was made up of two smaller somethings and one larger, resembling a mothership.
01:47Tadauchi phoned Anchorage in Alaska for support and was told to take evasive action.
01:52He did that, but the objects persisted, at times apparently flying even closer to the plane, which caused the cabin to become freakishly warm.
02:00Eventually, Tadauchi landed in Anchorage, the objects disappeared, and the pilot and crew were interviewed by the Federal Aviation Administration, or the FAA, to ascertain exactly what had happened.
02:11According to the FAA, the flight crew appeared professional and rational, they were vastly experienced, and weren't under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
02:20There were also two other planes close to the same area, but neither experienced the same or a similar sighting.
02:27Radar data was seemingly inconclusive, although at least one of the three unknown objects reportedly did appear on some screens.
02:34Officials wavered over whether the incident did or did not represent a true UFO.
02:39Although, at the same time, Tadauchi's account is said to have been inconsistent with the details.
02:44All of which means that while some explanations have been put forward, nothing has stuck.
02:50Some analysts believe that Tadauchi was simply observing the far-off planets Jupiter and Mars, and mistaking them for close-up vehicles.
02:57But overall, the vagueness is unsatisfying for many, and science is stumped for an airtight solution.
03:04Whatever happened at Japan Airlines 1628, it is now the most documented, and thus most famous, UFO incident in modern aviation history.
03:21I see this flying object, just going round and round and round, and going up and up and up.
03:26And I told my mom, I said, Mom, I just saw a flying saucer, I saw a UFO.
03:31For some, this could be the most credible UFO sighting in modern history.
03:36It was witnessed by four Iranian military personnel in two separate planes at separate times, plus at least four civilians on the ground.
03:44Close to Tehran, the capital of Iran, on September 19th, 1976, a glittering and suspicious bulk was spotted flying and floating in the sky.
03:53It was visually sighted and captured on radar.
03:56Initially, one F-4 Phantom was sent up to investigate, carrying two people, including the pilot.
04:02The pair was able to confirm the sighting close-hand as a bright and glowing object.
04:07However, upon flying closer still, their jet suffered equipment failure and lost communication, only regaining it after retreat.
04:15In response, Iran dispatched another plane to follow up, also carrying two people.
04:20Only for the same thing to happen, equipment malfunctions again and loss of comms again.
04:26What's more, with the second flight, after it locked onto the object and prepared to fire, its weapons system blanked and failed.
04:33As with almost all UFO cases, there have been various apparent explanations put forward.
04:38Again, some attribute the Tehran event to the various individuals involved misinterpreting a natural celestial body.
04:45They say that it could have been a planet that was sighted or the remnants of a meteor shower.
04:50They further claim that the pilots were likely tired at the time of their experience and that the series of equipment issues may have more simply been coincidental.
04:58However, over the years, the debate has rolled on and many just aren't buying it.
05:04And given alternative claims that the UFO seemingly interacted with and retaliated against the second plane in particular when its weapons malfunctioned,
05:12this object was perhaps not only unexplained but also dangerous.
05:17Important information about the Iranian UFO incident may be found in military files in Tehran.
05:23But since the ouster of the Shah, the military personnel in this report have been stripped of any privileges or access they were entitled to in imperial Iraq.
05:32Until further notice, the door to this case is closed.
05:36Ancient Sky Chariots
05:38As was said at the top of this video, UFOs date back to antiquity.
05:42They may feel like a newfangled phenomenon, but there are multiple and infamous reported sightings from centuries, even millennia ago, and including from ancient Rome.
05:52In 73 BCE, according to the Greek historian Plutarch who was writing around 150 years after the events he described,
06:00an army commanded by Rome's Lucullus was on the cusp of battle with Mithridates VI of Pontus.
06:05However, the battle was stalled by something spectacular from the sky.
06:09It's said that a large, fiery object bore down upon the battlefield and led both sides, at least temporarily, to stop fighting.
06:17Unsurprisingly, that large object has been explained away by many as a probable meteor.
06:22However, there are aspects to Plutarch's description that give serious cause for doubt.
06:27In general, he imbues the object with a metallic look, like burning silver, and this isn't what science would typically expect from a meteor strike.
06:35There's also the shape of the object, which is said to have been jug-like.
06:39Every meteor is certainly different, but perhaps a jug-like rock from space would be pretty exceptional.
06:45Of course, without photographic or video data, and relying solely on just one historical account, there are multiple unknowns.
06:53For some, it may be ball lightning that was really encountered all those years ago.
06:58But given that it apparently played a pivotal role in shaping and avoiding the war on that particular day,
07:04it's a UFO that some have also labeled as a chariot from the gods.
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07:23Bonus! The Phoenix Lights
07:26Because most of the sightings were reported by the residents of Phoenix, the incident is known as the Phoenix Lights.
07:34On the evening of March 13th, 1997, hundreds of people living in Arizona and Nevada reported a massive V-shaped formation of inexplicable lights moving silently through the darkening sky.
07:45This was an event that would become the stuff of UFO legend.
07:50The famously named Phoenix Lights were visible for hours over an area that covered hundreds of square miles.
07:56Witnesses reported what appeared to be a large singular craft or else multiple lights in a perfectly synchronized triangular formation.
08:03Some compared the mysterious mass to a carpenter's square, and certainly there is nor was no aircraft on Earth to match it.
08:11The claimed UFO moved so slowly that it looked more like a hovercraft than a plane, but it did eventually disappear over a nearby mountain range.
08:19Shortly afterwards, though, at about 10 p.m. the same night, another mass sighting unfolded.
08:24This time, stationary lights appeared over the Estrella Mountains southwest of Phoenix.
08:29They all hovered in the same spot, then softly disappeared and were captured on video.
08:34Although seemingly unrelated, both incidents, the lights in formation and the stationary orbs, shared a distinctly unnerving quality.
08:42However, the Phoenix Lights are a bonus for today's video because, really, science probably has explained them.
08:49Or rather, the U.S. military has.
08:51Officially speaking, the lights are said to have been the work of skilled human pilots flying A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter jets on a training exercise out of a nearby base.
09:00The stationary lights seen later are said to have been caused by military planes conducting a flare drop.
09:05Nevertheless, no other UFO story has as many witnesses as this one, with hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people having gone on record with what they saw that night.
09:15Therefore, the cloud of suspicion will perhaps never fully pass.
09:20Many people have seen it and I thought by now somebody would have an answer to this thing.
09:23Nobody has come up with anything logical.
09:25Science has offered up an explanation.
09:28But is it THE explanation?
09:30Is the case truly closed?
09:32What's your verdict?
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