The fascination with unidentified flying objects (UFOs) traces back to 1947 when pilot Kenneth Arnold reported encountering “flying saucers.” This initial encounter shaped public perception, leading many to envision UFOs as disc-shaped spacecraft.
However, recent findings challenge this prevailing notion. In fact, the most frequently observed type of UFO looks significantly different from the classic saucer image. A recently disclosed document, originating from the US Department of Defense, unveils the prevailing characteristics of the most commonly witnessed UFOs: They typically take on a spherical shape and exhibit a white or metallic silver appearance, often appearing translucent.
These spherical UFOs typically span from 1 meter (3.2 ft) to 4 meters (13 ft) in diameter. They tend to operate at higher altitudes, sometimes reaching several kilometers above the Earth’s surface, though still below the typical cruising altitude of commercial passenger aircraft.
These insights, shared by Pentagon experts, stem from numerous eyewitness reports spanning from 1996 to 2023. The document was made accessible through a newly established UFO-dedicated website, launched by the Office of All Areas Anomaly Resolution (AARO), an entity established by the US Department of Defense in 2022.
According to the document, approximately 28% of the observed UFOs were spotted at altitudes around 6 kilometers, while 10% operated at altitudes of around one and a half kilometers. The remainder were sighted at even lower altitudes.
Surprisingly, 47% of the UFOs documented exhibited a spherical shape, while the well-known Tic-Tac-shaped UFOs, characterized by their oval, white appearance, constituted merely 1% of sightings. Disc-shaped UFOs, the traditional archetype, were observed by a mere 2% of eyewitnesses, along with triangular, cylindrical, or square-shaped variants.
In the second-most common category, comprising 19% of sightings, were UFOs with an indeterminate shape, while 16% of observers reported witnessing luminous flying lights.
Moreover, the Pentagon has also released a global UFO sighting hot spot map. According to this map, spanning from 1996 to 2023, the United States, the Middle East (with a notable concentration over Iraq and Syria), and Japan were the regions with the highest incidence of UFO sightings.
In Japan, particularly, UFO sightings predominantly centered around locations connected to nuclear energy and nuclear weaponry, including Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Iinomachi community in Fukushima Prefecture. In fact, Iinomachi has earned the monikers “UFO City” and “Alien City” due to the frequency of these sightings.
“We’re encountering these metallic spheres all across the globe, and they exhibit intriguing flight patterns,” stated Sean Kirkpatrick, the director of AARO, in a press release.