# UFO

How the unidentified lights people report in the sky turn out to be planets, balloons, airliners or clouds, and how to tell them apart\. Tap each glowing light to identify it\.

By bb ww

Topic: Space

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/3hxdGdU08thZ)

## Transcript

### 1. A light over the desert

Something glows above a quiet desert\. Nobody watching can say what it is, so it is a UFO: an Unidentified Flying Object\. The name only means it has not been identified yet\.

Today scientists often say UAP: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena\.

### 2. Why a saucer?

In June 1947, pilot Kenneth Arnold saw nine bright objects racing past Mount Rainier\. He said they moved like a saucer skipped across water\. Newspapers wrote "flying saucer", and the shape stuck\.

Arnold was describing how they moved, not their shape\.

### 3. Thousands of reports

From 1947 to 1969 the US Air Force studied UFO reports, ending with Project Blue Book\. It collected 12,618 reports\. Most turned out to be planets, aircraft, balloons or clouds\.

Only 701 stayed unidentified: about 1 report in 18\.

### 4. Clouds shaped like saucers

Wind flowing over a mountain rises and falls in waves\. Where air cools at a wave's crest, a smooth lens\-shaped cloud forms\. It seems to hover in place because air keeps flowing through it\.

These are lenticular clouds, from the Latin for lens\.

### 5. The brightest UFO

After the Moon, the planet Venus is the brightest natural light in the night sky\. Low near the horizon it can seem to flicker, change colour and hang perfectly still\. It is one of the most common causes of UFO reports\.

### 6. Your turn: identify them

Tap each glowing light in the sky to identify it\. A planet, a weather balloon, an airliner, a cloud\.\.\. and one may stay a mystery\.

Drag the empty sky to look around\.

### 7. Keep looking up

In 2023 a NASA study team found no evidence that these sightings come from beyond Earth\. It said many reports lack clear data\. Careful notes and better cameras help turn unknowns into knowns\.

If you see something odd, note the time, direction and how it moves\.