Claimed sighting
The 1896 mystery airship wave
From November 1896, hundreds of people in Sacramento, San Francisco and Oakland reported a light or an airship overhead at night, and newspapers spread the reports.
Something SeenObscurity 2 of 7
Claimed sighting
The 1913 meteor procession
Fireballs crossed the sky as a procession on 9 February 1913, seen from Canada, the north-eastern United States, Bermuda and ships heading toward Brazil.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 7 of 7
Documented
The 1924 Mars radio silence
In August 1924, when Mars passed close to Earth, the US Navy ordered the country's radio stations quiet for a five-minute pause every hour from 21 to 24 August, so listeners could pick up any signal from Mars.
Something ToldObscurity 7 of 7
Claimed sighting
The 1952 Washington, D.C. UFO flap
In July 1952 radar operators and pilots around Washington, D.C. reported unknown lights and blips over the capital. The Air Force answered with a news conference that CNN calls its biggest and longest since World War II.
Something SeenObscurity 3 of 7
Hoax, proven
The Aurora, Texas airship crash
An 1897 Dallas Morning News story by S. E. Haydon told of an airship crashing at Aurora, Texas, and its pilot being buried in the town cemetery. The Texas State Historical Association calls the story fiction.
Something ToldObscurity 3 of 7
Disputed
The Battle of Los Angeles
An anti-aircraft barrage over Los Angeles on the night of February 24 to 25, 1942, fired at a rumored Japanese air raid. Five civilians died during the night.
Something SeenObscurity 2 of 7
Folklore
The Bernardo de Gálvez portrait
A painting of Bernardo de Gálvez, a Spanish general, that hangs in Galveston's Hotel Galvez in Texas. Local folklore says photographs of it fail unless you ask his permission first.
Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 5 of 7
Disputed
The Big Lake Park fireball
On 17 December 1977 three people in Council Bluffs, Iowa, saw a reddish fireball fall into Big Lake Park, where firefighters found molten metal.
Something Left BehindObscurity 7 of 7
Documented
The Brown v. Spofford mesmerism trial
In Salem, Massachusetts, in May 1878, a court heard a complaint that Spofford was using mesmerism to harm Lucretia Brown. Mary Baker Eddy and 21 followers came to testify.
Something Left BehindObscurity 7 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Carl Higdon encounter
Carl Higdon, an oil well driller, said he met a being named Ausso while elk hunting in Wyoming on 25 October 1974, and was taken to another planet.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 3 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Coyne helicopter incident
On 18 October 1973 the crew of an Army helicopter near Mansfield, Ohio, reported a red light converging on them. Philip Klass later said the object was a fireball from the Orionid meteor shower.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 6 of 7
Disputed
The Demon House of Gary, Indiana
A rental house on Carolina Street in Gary, Indiana, where tenant Latoya Ammons said demons had possessed her and her three children. The Indianapolis Star reported its demolition in 2016.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 4 of 7
Folklore
The Devil Baby of Hull-House
A rumour of a hoofed, tailed, talking Devil Baby that brought crowds of women to Hull-House in Chicago, recorded by Jane Addams in her 1916 book The Long Road of Woman's Memory.
Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 4 of 7
Folklore
The Devil's Rocking Chair
A rocking chair tied to a claimed possession case told in The Devil in Connecticut, a book, bought by Zak Bagans in 2019 and shown at his Haunted Museum in Las Vegas. A Glatzel brother has called the possession story phony.
Something Left BehindObscurity 3 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Falcon Lake incident
On 20 May 1967 Stefan Michalak, an amateur geologist, said he saw two glowing craft while prospecting around Falcon Lake, Manitoba. One, he said, set down on rocky ground.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 2 of 7
Disputed
The Great Amherst Mystery
Knocks, thunder-like bangs and flying bedclothes centred on Esther Cox, 18, and her family's house. Walter Hubbell's account dates the start to late August 1878.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 1 of 7
Hoax, proven
The Great Moon Hoax of 1835
From 25 August 1835, the New York newspaper The Sun ran six articles describing life and civilisation on the Moon, wrongly credited to the astronomer John Herschel.
Something ToldObscurity 2 of 7