NARRATOR: Mysterious orbs of light
reported all over the world.
Enormous cylindrical objects hovering high above the Earth.
And massive triangular craft that appear out of thin air.
Throughout history,
people have witnessed objects of all shapes and sizes
up in the sky.
Now, we're going to take a look back
at the top ten examples
of what ancient astronaut theorists suggest
are, in fact, alien craft--
craft that just may hold the proof
that Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials.
♪
People love to tell me about
their favorite UFO sightings,
and some of them are pretty astonishing.
But you may be surprised to hear
that many of the flying craft that we're seeing today
may have also been seen thousands of years ago.
This countdown takes a look at the various types of objects
that have been witnessed in the sky again and again.
At number ten on our list of the top ten alien craft--
the Flying V.
NARRATOR: Kent, New York.
New Year's Eve, 1982.
A group of partygoers spots
a gigantic V-shaped craft overhead
with red, white, and green lights.
The colors suddenly vanish,
and then the object illuminates the ground
with a blinding white light.
Over the next few months,
Hudson Valley authorities are bombarded with similar reports.
PHILIP IMBROGNO: Usually, UFOs just appear
to a small number of people, and they disappear.
In this case, people were stopped on the highways.
People were running out of their houses
watching this enormous object pass over,
the size of a football field.
DAVID CHILDRESS: It's estimated that as many as 5,000 people
called in and made reports of this giant V.
And the witnesses said that this flying triangle
was completely silent.
And that it was flying very slowly, if at all,
and was often just hovering
right in place and then would slowly turn,
and then ultimately fly off in another direction.
So that these were not some
hoaxers with their airplanes
flying in formation,
but something completely different.
NARRATOR: The sightings of large V-shaped craft in Upstate New York
made headlines in The New York Times.
Then, in 1997,
an identical craft was spotted in Phoenix, Arizona.
RICHARD DOLAN: It was a triangular-ish shaped object
seen very reliably by
quite a large number of witnesses, including
the governor of the state at the time, Fife Symington,
who was a qualified pilot and in the Air Force Reserve as well.
As a pilot and a former Air Force officer,
I can definitively say that this craft did not resemble
any man-made object that I'd ever seen.
NARRATOR: While the V-shaped craft flying over the Hudson Valley
and Phoenix are the most well-documented
mass UFO sightings in history, they are far from the first.
More than 400 years ago, in 1561,
the citizens of the Bavarian city of Nuremberg
reported a commotion in the sky
that was unlike anything
they had ever experienced before.
People went outside and they saw
what they described as a celestial battle.
The witnesses observed seeing hundreds
of these strange-shaped objects.
What were these strange shapes that they were describing?
NARRATOR: The aerial scene, illustrated in a woodcut,
is described in the accompanying text
as "a very frightful spectacle."
A large, black, V-shaped object appeared in the sky
and seemed to launch projectiles
as onlookers below watched in amazement.
This was actually witnessed by thousands of people.
Had it been a meteor shower or something like this,
then the reports would have been,
"Okay, this happened before because we've seen this before,"
but that was new.
HENRY: The witnesses wouldn't have had a conception of
some kind of a mechanical spacecraft.
But that seems to be exactly what they were describing.
And this has to be one of the greatest mass sightings
of a UFO phenomena in all of recorded history.
To me, there is no doubt
that the people of Nuremberg witnessed an alien craft--
they just didn't have the language
to accurately describe what they saw.
But that should come as no surprise,
because even today, strange objects are seen
in our skies that defy explanation.
Like the number nine entry on our countdown--
Orbs of Light.
♪
U.S. Navy pilots with the 415th Night Fighter Squadron
report seeing "eight to ten
"bright orange lights off the left wing
flying through the air at high speed."
Neither the radar operator in the air
nor ground control
could identify anything in the area
that fit their description.
The strange orbs of light are observed by hundreds of both
Axis and Ally pilots all over Europe and Asia
throughout the war and become known as "foo fighters."
AMY SHIRA TEITEL: Foo fighters were first seen
in the Second World War
by pilots flying not actually that high off the ground,
between 800 or 10,000 feet.
Usually pilots were flying at night
and they reported seeing lights in formation on the horizon.
They would be moving together or flashing,
kind of tracking them for a bit,
and then it would disappear as soon as it came.
BILL BIRNES: They were called "foo fighters"
after French feu, meaning "fire,"
'cause they were flaming balls.
In 1945,
a B-29 bomber, over the South Pacific,
saw a foo fighter off its wing.
B-29s were very heavily armed.
It trained its machine guns on the device,
fired on it,
and the foo fighter blew up into a million pieces.
That story was covered in TIME magazine.
Whatever they were...
they disappeared and have now gone into legend.
NARRATOR: While reports of encounters with foo fighters ended
after World War II,
mysterious orbs of light have been reported
hovering around military testing sites,
nuclear plants,
and even crop circles.
But what they are remains a mystery.
Foo fighters exhibited
performance characteristics
beyond any other aircraft
in the skies at the time.
There were pilots that, uh, reported foo fighters
traveling at unimaginable speeds.
That were capable of maneuvering
in the air in ways that no other aircraft could do.
MICHIO KAKU: These are hypersonic devices.
They can also zigzag,
and the amount of zigzagging is so great
that the gravitational forces inside these objects
as they jerk through space and time
would crush any living individual.
In my opinion, whatever these objects are,
they're guided either by remote control
or by an autonomous cybernetic system.
NARRATOR: Are the mysterious orbs of light encountered around the world
a type of extraterrestrial spacecraft?
Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,
and suggest further evidence
that alien craft are visiting our planet
can be found hidden
in the jungles of Mexico.
On January 5, 2000,
dozens of people in Illinois
witnessed a mysterious craft
that didn't show up on radar
and appeared to be cloaked in some type of camouflage.
Sneaking in at number eight on our list of alien craft--
Stealth UFOs.
NARRATOR: St. Clair County, Illinois.
January 5, 2000.
Just after 4:00 a.m.,
three large, triangular objects flying silently in the night sky
are seen by multiple witnesses,
including police officers.
I looked up in the sky and observed
this huge, arrow-shaped,
triangular-shaped object.
NARRATOR: The flying triangles are observed
for at least two hours
as they travel over multiple towns.
MICHAEL SCHRATT: This is known as the famous
Southern Illinois flying triangle.
We have about four different police officers.
What they describe seeing are three distinct,
arrowhead-shaped craft.
Officer Craig Stevens was
directly below one of these triangles.
And he said that
it was trying to cloak or camouflage itself
against the night sky,
and was projecting the star field above it
on the bottom surface,
allowing it to effectively blend in with its background.
NARRATOR: The ability of triangular-shaped objects to hide in plain sight
reminds many observers of modern stealth technology.
Developed by the U.S. military in the 1970s and '80s,
stealth technology can make aircraft
nearly invisible to radar,
sonar, and other detection methods.
MICHAEL DENNIN: To make something invisible to radar,
all you have to do is make sure
that the radar doesn't reflect back to the receiver.
This all comes down to mostly the shape of the planes.
You want it shaped in a way
so that the radar either scatters in random directions
or literally just bounces off in a completely opposite way.
NARRATOR: Could the cloaking effect that witnesses observed
in the Illinois flying triangle
be a type of stealth technology more advanced than our own?
Curiously, the U.S. stealth technology
was developed at Area 51--
the same secret military base
believed to contain the remains of a UFO that crashed
in Roswell, New Mexico.
The official Area 51, now admitted by the government,
is this facility where aircraft were developed and test flown--
The U-2 spy plane,
the SR-71 Blackbird,
and, of course, more recently stealth technology.
A lot of people say this is actually something
we've back-engineered from extraterrestrial technology.
NOORY: I think there's no question
that we have reverse-engineered or have looked at
the shapes of these craft
and have tried to create it for ourselves.
Look at some of the new stealth jets
that are coming out right now.
They're amazingly close to what we saw
20 years ago from UFO reports.
One of my favorite places to explore is Egypt.
On Ancient Aliens, we've investigated pyramids,
tombs and even evidence of advanced technology.
But the most important symbol in Ancient Egypt
is a pyramid-shaped object that was said to represent
a craft that descended from the sky.
At number seven on our list-- the Benben Stone.
♪
NARRATOR: Luxor, Egypt.
The Karnak Temple Complex is home to the tallest
standing obelisk in Egypt.
The 97-foot-tall monolith
is carved from a single piece of granite.
And crowning this remarkable obelisk
is a pyramid-shaped object called a Benben stone.
The Benben stone
or the pyramid-shaped structure
that is on the top of an obelisk or a pyramid...
...it is there to receive the messages
from the Sun god
and deliver it to its people.
NARRATOR: According to Egyptian mythology,
the Benben was a vehicle
which Atum, the god of all creation,
used to travel back and forth between the heavens and Earth.
TSOUKALOS: One of the origin stories says
that a Benben stone descended from the sky,
out of which the first creator gods emerged
and started Egyptian civilization.
It was a flying craft.
CHILDRESS: The Benben stone was not
just symbolizing a connection to the heavens--
it was actually memorializing
an extraterrestrial visitation.
NARRATOR: Could the first Egyptians have witnessed an alien craft
in the shape of a pyramid?
As far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned,
the argument for this notion became stronger
in July 2019,
when, just off the coast of San Diego,
Navy personnel aboard the USS Russell
recorded an incredible event.
The ship's photographic interpretation
and Examination Team
captured an 18-second night vision video
of several pyramid-shaped objects hovering in the sky.
RYAN SPRAGUE: The video showed
a pyramid-shaped object,
a literal, 3D, pyramid-shaped object,
floating above the USS Russell
off the West Coast.
And it wasn't just one pyramid.
There were apparently swarms of these things,
about 700 feet above this Navy destroyer,
completely silent, making no noise
and darting off at immeasurable speeds.
CHILDRESS: It's a fascinating idea that perhaps
extraterrestrials first arrived in Egypt
in these small, pyramid-shaped craft,
like we're seeing in this video.
TSOUKALOS: Clearly, what we see in this footage of today
is three-dimensional pyramid floating in the sky.
Providing the footage is real,
providing it is extraterrestrial,
then one could argue
that the same visitors that we've had back then
are showing themselves again.
What's fascinating to me
is that in many parts of the world,
we can find ancient illustrations of objects
that people allegedly saw in the sky
that look identical to modern spacecraft.
Coming in at number six on our countdown of
the top ten alien craft--
Rocket Ships.
♪
NARRATOR: Palenque, Mexico.
1952.
Archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier discovers
the pyramid tomb of King Pakal,
who ruled the ancient Mayan city from 615 to 683 AD.
Inside, he discovers one of the most remarkable
Mayan artifacts ever found:
a highly decorated sarcophagus.
HENRY: Pakal's sarcophagus lid is very rich in detail.
It shows what appears to be a world tree,
and a vision serpent, as the Mayans refer to it,
that snakes its way up this tree.
The glyphs that are attached to it say that
this tree is shimmering or shining.
It's reflective.
NARRATOR: Mainstream scholars believe
the sarcophagus lid portrays King Pakal
on a journey to Xibalba, the land of the dead.
But ancient astronaut theorists suggest
the carving depicts something very different.
ERICH VON DANIKEN: In the center of the frame,
King Pakal is sitting bending forward
almost like a, a racing motorcyclist.
He has something like a mask, an oxygen mask on his nose.
You clearly see his two hands.
He manipulates some control.
He's sitting on a chair,
and outside of the frame, you see something like a flame.
It looks like an exhaust.
It looks like some sort of space shuttle.
NARRATOR: The idea of King Pakal sitting at the controls
of a rocket ship might sound like science fiction.
But ancient astronaut theorists suggest that
nearly identical carvings can be found in India.
In Ajanta caves, there are many carvings
of Buddha inside stupas.
From the front, it appears as though Buddha is
standing inside an elaborately carved arch,
but the fact is
what we are seeing from the front
is a cross section of a stupa
inside of which Buddha is standing.
And what is a stupa?
It is nothing but some kind of a vehicle.
TSOUKALOS: A stupa, by definition,
is a vehicle with which to reach the realm of the gods.
That is the definition of a stupa.
Well, just change the wording: "a vehicle
with which to reach space."
These stupas can be seen--
for example, in the Ajanta Cave--
with smoke and fire at the bottom.
If we had one or ten or even 20 examples like that,
you could be like "All right, interesting."
But what if I told you there are millions of the same motif
in India about celestial beings
depicted in something that could be interpreted
as some type of a rocket vehicle.
There are countless examples of ancient artwork depicting
what many think could be aerial vehicles,
and in some cases, you can even find figures
wearing what looks like flying gear
right on their bodies.
At number five on our countdown--
Jet Packs.
♪
NARRATOR: La Venta, Mexico.
1939.
American archaeologists Matthew Stirling
and Philip Drucker
begin an excavation of an ancient pyramid mound.
Over the next two decades,
they unearth extraordinary statues,
carvings and mosaics from a previously unknown culture:
the Olmecs,
a civilization that emerged around 1400 BC.
The discovery is a major archeological find
and produced a sensational piece of evidence
for the ancient astronaut theory.
TSOUKALOS: At the Museum of Natural History in New York City,
there is an Olmec figurine,
and in my opinion, it is the smoking gun
of our ancestors having access to aviation technology...
...because if you look at this figurine,
you can tell that this guy is wearing some sort of a suit,
he has some type of controls with tubes on his chest,
and on the side you have six wings coming out of him.
So you have to wonder what is depicted here.
Now, if you look at a modern jet pack,
humans are ascending and descending
in a vertical position.
Now imagine if that was shown to our ancestors.
How would they react?
The technological frame of reference of our ancestors
was not the same as
our technological frame of reference today.
So of course they would have carved something like this
when they had never seen a vehicle
with which to go to space.
NARRATOR: Could it be that a figurine
made more than 2400 years ago is a depiction of someone
wearing the equivalent of a modern-day jet pack?
Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,
and suggest other figures have been found
that appear to be wearing some type of flying apparatus...
...like the 13-foot-tall statues at the Temple of Quetzalcoatl
in Tula de Allende, Mexico.
TSOUKALOS: There are figures on the main pyramid.
And they're some of the most magnificent statues
that we can find on planet Earth.
Because it's as if these guys are standing
inside some pressurized suits,
they have helmets on,
and they have these jet packs on their chest.
NARRATOR: On the opposite side of the globe,
at the Ellora Caves in India,
is a 1200-year-old carving of a demon king named
Ravana depicted in a scene from the ancient Hindu text
called the Ramayana.
In the scene, Ravana is being attacked by a bird
while ascending into the sky,
and according to the story, the curious object on his back
is a flying contraption called a pushpaka vimana.
DEEPAK SHIMKHADA: Ravana does appear in many Hindu texts
like epics, uh, Mahabharata, Ramayana,
and many other puranas, which is Hindu... Hindu texts.
We are told that, you know, he constructed
a pushpaka vimana, this flying machine.
MOHAN: This pushpaka vimana is made of gold.
It is like a jet pack
that you could put it on and you could start flying.
We have jet packs now,
but, interestingly,
almost all these machines were mentioned
5,000 years ago in Mahabharata.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that
the mysterious figures depicted wearing
what appear to be jet packs
are evidence our ancestors saw extraterrestrial spacecraft
in the distant past?
Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,
and suggest further evidence
can be found in ancient descriptions
of flying chariots.
Some of the best descriptions
of ancient UFOs can be found
in the Sanskrit texts of India.
The sensational stories are filled with accounts
of celestial beings and flying chariots.
But the craft described in these texts
look remarkably similar to some modern UFO reports.
At number four on our list-- Acorn-Shaped Craft.
NARRATOR: Kecksburg, Pennsylvania.
December 9, 1965.
Thousands of people watch
as a massive fireball streaks across the night sky
and crashes into a nearby forest.
♪
A large object was seen
to come down in a wooded area.
And witnesses actually claimed
that this strange object,
which was the size of a Volkswagen Beetle,
looked like what appeared to be a giant acorn.
The phones went off,
and all of the volunteer
fire departments all around,
"We have a plane crash in the woods of Kecksburg."
Well, there was a man named Jim Romanski,
and I had a real privilege to talk with him directly,
in March of 1998...
...because he was one of only about ten people
who stood around this object,
in that forest-- officially, as a volunteer fireman--
walking around and trying to understand,
"What are we looking at?"
And he said, "It was like an acorn.
"And at the top, it was copper-colored.
"And then in the bottom, it was a darker color.
"And there was a band, about four inches wide,
"and raised up-- not carved in--
were symbols that went around a portion of this craft."
COLLINS: Suddenly, the military entered the area,
cordoned it off,
and the whole thing was essentially hushed up.
NARRATOR: The official report from NASA
stated that the object was debris
from a Russian satellite,
even though witnesses claimed
it changed direction several times.
Today, a monument to the acorn-shaped craft
stands in the town of Kecksburg.
For ancient astronaut theorists,
this UFO event is particularly intriguing
because the object's unusual shape
bears a striking resemblance
to flying objects described in ancient Indian texts.
HENRY: The craft itself is
an acorn-shaped craft.
Immediately, that's reminiscent of
what the ancient Indian texts
described as the vimana,
which were acorn-shaped craft.
TSOUKALOS: In the Mahabharata and at many of the ancient Vedic texts,
they speak about the so-called "vimanas."
The vimanas were flying vehicles
with which to reach the celestial realm.
NARRATOR: In the ancient Sanskrit epics of India,
there are highly-detailed descriptions of the vimana,
which carried the gods
and other important figures through the sky.
The acorn-shaped craft were even incorporated
at the very top of many Hindu temples.
SHIMKHADA: In Hindu texts,
such as the Ramayana or the Mahabharata,
the vimana is primarily a flying ship
that God used to travel
back and forth between spaces
in heaven from one planet to another planet,
from one universe to another universe,
and also come to Earth.
HENRY: When we match up eyewitness accounts
of the acorn-shaped craft with the ancient vimanas,
we have to be open to seriously question if these are, in fact,
ancient craft that are now appearing in our modern world.
Some vimanas are portrayed as small objects
that could travel at incredible speeds.
But these weren't the only flying machines
in Hindu mythology.
The ancient Sanskrit texts also described ships in the sky
that were simply massive.
Number three on our list-- Floating Cities.
NARRATOR:s To the more than one billion Hindu faithful,
India's oldest Sanskrit texts, known as the Vedas,
are accounts given directly to humans by the gods.
These sensational stories describe divine beings
arriving from palaces up in the sky.
All these Vedic texts speak of a time
when three cities were orbiting Earth...
...and from these cities, smaller vehicles were used
in order to reach the realm of the Earth.
Even extraterrestrials, with their advanced technology,
would have to arrive with a larger mother ship.
And this is why we have these stories
of palaces up in the sky.
NARRATOR: Could it be that the people of ancient India
witnessed enormous mother ships
that they interpreted as floating cities or palaces?
Curiously, in modern times,
there have been reports-- and even recordings--
of what look like actual cities appearing high up in the sky.
One such event occurred in Foshan, China,
on October 7, 2015,
when the apparition of a cityscape
remained in the sky for several minutes--
long enough to be captured on video.
The video footage was broadcast on Chinese television
and subsequently disseminated on social media across the globe.
Numerous people reported seeing
what looked like skyscraper-type buildings
in the clouds high in the sky.
It was an amazing spectacle.
There's just no other way to describe it.
JASON MARTELL: Now, just a few days later, over 800 miles away,
we had another sighting of this exact same phenomenon.
So it stands to reason
there could in fact have been
some type of a large mother ship
or some craft in the sky.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that the floating city reported
in two locations in China was a massive alien mother ship?
And if so, could it be the same craft
described in ancient Hindu texts?
Ancient astronaut theorists say yes and suggest
further evidence that our planet is being visited by alien craft
can be found by examining striking images
captured not on Earth
but in outer space.
One of the most important factors
to consider when evaluating
a UFO sighting
is the credibility of the witness.
And perhaps there are no better experts
on objects in the sky
than the men and women of the space program.
Which is why our next example is so exciting,
because they have been seen not only on Earth
but deep in our solar system.
At number two on our list of the top ten alien craft--
Cigar-Shaped Objects.
NARRATOR: Mount Washington, New Hampshire, 1870.
During a meteorological expedition in the area,
photographers capture a strange black object on film
that appears to be floating among the clouds.
The very first photo
that we have of a UFO is of a,
a huge cylindrical craft
over Mount Washington in New Hampshire...
...taken in 1870, right at the very beginning of photography.
DOLAN: You see this cloud formation
up at Mount Washington
and you see this very obvious cigar-shaped object.
Is the photograph authentic? And turns out it is.
NARRATOR: Since the Mount Washington photograph,
cigar-shaped craft have been reportedly seen
all over the world.
Like in December of 1978,
when two Chilean pilots on a training mission
at an elevation of 35,000 feet detected
a massive cigar-shaped object on their radar.
They encountered, visually and on their airborne radar...
...an absolutely enormous object in the sky.
In fact, two separate
ground-based radars tracked this object.
As the pilots approached this object,
one of them described it as an elongated object
swathed in smoke.
As it got to a certain distance,
this thing, according to their report,
instantly accelerated to the west,
in the direction of the ocean,
and was just gone.
NARRATOR: Over 40 years later, another cigar-shaped craft
was reported almost 7,000 miles away in Hawaii.
On December 29, 2020,
people could see a huge, cigar-shaped craft
hovering off the coast and took photos of it,
and, eventually,
this craft then plunged into the ocean.
And the Navy went out there to also look for
possible wreckage of some craft
crashing into the ocean and found nothing.
NARRATOR: Could these strange, cigar-shaped objects
belong to visitors from another world?
Ancient astronaut theorists believe the answer can be found
by examining a curious radar image
taken more than 130 million miles from Earth.
On March 25, 1989,
a Soviet probe was approaching the Martian moon Phobos
when it beamed back an astonishing image to Earth.
As they got closer with Phobos
we see one last frame
that seems to have showed up...
...a very large, cigar-elongated shape,
as if it's possibly a large craft of some kind
hovering above the surface.
DOLAN: We really have to consider the possibility here
that the Soviets did encounter
genuine, non-human UFO
during that mission.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that the strange cigar-shaped object
photographed by the Soviet probe was
an extraterrestrial spacecraft?
Incredibly, another massive cigar-shaped object was spotted
traveling through our solar system in 2017.
Astronomers discovered that it came from a distant star,
and gave it the Hawaiian name "Oumuamua,"
which means "messenger from the distant past."
Oumuamua doesn't look like
a typical asteroid.
It's more the big cigar-shape that's seen often.
And there were a lot of astronomers and scientists
who studied Oumuamua and it looks like
it could possibly have been a probe
from some other civilization outside our solar system.
We're just moments away
from the final alien craft on our list.
And we've saved the best for last.
Can you guess what it is?
As we've seen, throughout history
there have been reports
of unidentified aerial vehicles
of all shapes and sizes.
But for most people, when they hear the word "UFO,"
the first thing they think of is the number one entry
on our top ten list of alien craft--
the Flying Saucer.
NARRATOR: Private pilot Kenneth Arnold
is on a solo flight near Mount Rainier.
As he approaches the mountain, he suddenly spots
a group of nine silver, disc-shaped objects.
As he was flying around the mountain,
he suddenly caught sight of
a squadron of strange-looking objects.
He could not figure out what they were.
They were flying at incredible speeds
and performing maneuvers that essentially would kill
any regular pilot in a normal aircraft.
CHILDRESS: He described them as skipping through the air
like a saucer, he said.
And this is really where
the term "a flying saucer"
arrives in English language,
is from Kenneth Arnold's description.
NARRATOR: Arnold's account became an international sensation
and his experience emboldened others to come forward
with their own unexplainable encounters.
In a few short months,
hundreds of flying saucers were reported across the country.
When you look at the year 1947,
the statistics are that there were at least 800 reports
to police, and airports,
of people saying that they were seeing something in the sky,
they didn't know what it was.
BIRNES: Ufologists may say
that the modern UFO era began in 1947.
But flying saucers
have been around
ever since the dawn of time.
For example,
in the ninth century, there were UFOs flying over England.
The Romans saw UFOs.
What's our actual first major UFO description?
The first one?
It's in the Bible.
NARRATOR: According to the Hebrew Bible,
a priest named Ezekiel received a mysterious visitor
from the heavens.
Ezekiel was by the River Khabur,
and he said a great whirlwind came toward him.
♪
He described it as a fire enfolding itself
and out of the fire
was the color of amber, which is the Hebrew word
which means "polished specter of metal,"
which implies that it's metallic.
And that it's spinning, and it lands in front of him.
And suddenly,
out of this whirlwind come four creatures.
TAYLOR: Ezekiel describes that
the outside of the wheel doesn't spin.
The inside of the wheel spins.
So he's telling us that's the engines.
None of this necessarily has to be magic.
This could all be technology.
NARRATOR: By far, the most famous report of a flying saucer
occurred on July 8, 1947,
when the U.S. Army itself announced that one crashed
outside Roswell, New Mexico.
BIRNES: July 8 and 9, the newspaper headlines,
"Army Captures Flying Disc Outside of Roswell."
How did the newspaper get that story?
Walter Haut.
He was the official public information officer
at the Roswell 509th,
who gave the story to the newspaper.
NARRATOR: Within days, the military walked back the story
and suggested the flying saucer had an earthly origin.
DOLAN: The initial story was that
the Army recovered
one of these flying disks.
Now, by the next day, a lot of other major newspapers
came out with the story that,
"Nope, all a mistake. Just a weather balloon, people."
NARRATOR: Did a flying saucer really crash
outside of Roswell, New Mexico?
Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,
and as evidence, they point to a sensational file
released by the FBI in 2011.
The document contains a 1950 briefing
given to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
about three flying saucers
that were recovered in New Mexico.
CHILDRESS: So, what's really happening at Roswell?
Was it an extraterrestrial craft?
It's a fantastic thought, but it's possible.
Well, that's the end of our top ten alien craft countdown.
And while it literally flew by,
we're left with a burning question:
Why has mankind witnessed
so many mysterious craft in the sky
for thousands of years?
Perhaps, as we continue to study these encounters,
the truth will finally be revealed.
We are not alone.
We have never been alone.
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