Archive overview

Patterns in 447 public records.

This is a descriptive view of the catalog, not a measure of which reports are true. Counts reflect what agencies released, how they described it, and which records survived review.

Time

Records by incident decade

Dates inferred from catalog metadata
1940s12
1950s30
1960s33
1970s15
1980s2
1990s7
2000s12
2010s58
2020s240

Custody

By agency

Department of War257
FBI104
NASA40
CIA23
Department of State9
Department of Energy5
Local Law Enforcement5
Executive Office of the President1
Intelligence Community Agency1
Office of the Director of National Intelligence1

Media

By format

PDF267
VIDEO134
IMAGE30
AUDIO16

Publication

By release

Release 1158
2026-05-08
Release 264
2026-05-22
Release 372
2026-06-12
Release 440
2026-07-10
Release 541
2026-08-07
Release 672
2026-09-18

Language

Recurring subjects

Title and summary matches
Radar / sensor144
Spaceflight32
Pilot / aircrew27
Orb / sphere23
Triangle13
Nuclear sites11

Read with care

Catalog frequency is not event frequency.

A large cluster can mean more observations, a longer investigation, a bulk archival transfer, or simply more surviving paperwork. Use these charts to find questions—not to manufacture certainty.

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