Identification studies of UFOs

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UFOs and ufology
Notable sightings and hoaxes
Kenneth Arnold sighting 1947 wave Roswell Mantell crash Chiles-Whitted Gorman dogfight McMinnville photos Mariana film 1952 flap Sightings in outer space Flatwoods monster Barney and Betty Hill Travis Walton Rendlesham Forest Belgian wave Alien autopsy hoax Phoenix Lights Pentagon UFO videos
Government investigations
Operação Prato - Brazil Project Magnet - Canada GEIPAN - France Institute 22 - Soviet Union Flying Saucer Working Party - UK Project Condign - UK History of government investigations - US All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office - US NASA's UAP independent study team - US Condon Committee - US Project Blue Book - US
Conspiracy theories
Area 51 Bob Lazar Majestic 12 Men in black Serpo
Religions
Aetherius Society Church of the SubGenius Heaven's Gate Nation of Islam Raëlism Scientology Unarius Academy of Science
Lists of organizations, sightings, studies, etc.
UFO organizations Reported UFO sightings Sightings by country Investigations of UFOs by governments Identification studies of UFOs Ufologists Alleged extraterrestrial beings
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Identifying unidentified flying objects (UFOs) is a difficult task due to the normally poor quality of the evidence provided by those who report sighting the unknown object.^[1] Observations and subsequent reporting are often made by those untrained in astronomy, atmospheric phenomena, aeronautics, physics, and perception.^[2] Nevertheless, most officially investigated UFO sightings, such as from the U.S. Air Force's Project Blue Book, have been identified as being due to honest misidentifications of natural phenomena, aircraft, or other prosaic explanations. In early U.S. Air Force attempts to explain UFO sightings, unexplained sightings routinely numbered over one in five reports. However, in early 1953, right after the CIA's Robertson Panel, percentages of unexplained sightings dropped precipitously, usually being only a few percent in any given year. When Project Blue Book closed down in 1970, only 6% of all cases were classified as being truly unidentified.

UFOs that can be explained are sometimes termed identified flying objects (IFOs).