When Were The First Recorded UFO Sightings And Was There Ever Any Evidence?

Fact is stranger than fiction! Mother Nature is a puzzle hard to solve, and she won't yield to lazy wimps. She demands knowledge, and guess what, the subjects you need the most are the ones that get trashed the worst, good old math and science.

That stuff is really difficult, it is understandable why people would make up stories and just flat lie about it. You know what, that mind set and way of life is for cave boys, we can do better than that. UFO photos and stories?? Pure crap. Period.

The potential existence of life forms on other planets and the possibility that these celestial visitors might just pay us all a visit here on Earth has fascinated people across the world for generations and led to numerous works of science fiction. While many scientists have pointed to evidence which suggests the existence of basic life forms on other planets—such as traces of water—it has not been possible to prove personal testimonies and recordings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). The problem for ufologists is that while they may have circumstantial evidence for the existence of UFOs and aliens, they would need what is known as “direct evidence” to bolster their case. Despite dozens of alleged UFO sightings during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries—many of which have been well-publicized—ufologists have had to rely only on circumstantial evidence, which has always been rejected by the scientific community.

UFOs in the late 19^th century
[Source: "How Stuff Works"]

The first highly publicized UFO sighting occurred in 1897, in a tiny Texan community called Aurora. What makes this UFO sighting unique is that it occurred before the invention of the first airplane, by Orville and Wilber Wright, more commonly known as the “Wright Brothers.” The invention of airplanes clearly sparked the Western world’s interest in flight. The April 1897 Aurora sighting made the news when a local resident wrote in to the Dallas Morning News about what he saw. According to S.E. Haydon’s personal testimony, an object that looked like a flying “cigar” was visible in the sky above Aurora and it eventually crashed in the area. The Dallas Morning News reported about claims this “flying machine”—the term used before the introduction of the “UFO” acronym—was flown by an alien, who did not survive the crash. The most sensational claim was that unidentified local residents gave the dead alien pilot a traditional Christian burial, at a Graveyard situated close to the site of the crash.

This very early UFO story has clearly fascinated locals and UFO enthusiasts. Today, visitors to Aurora can even visit the cemetery and see a special commemorative marker placed there by state officials. The Aurora incident—just like so many other UFO sightings—is shrouded in mystery. Ufologists cannot prove that a UFO actually crashed in the area, but those who are skeptical are unable to disprove a negative. One possible answer to the mystery is that Haydon—who claimed to have witnessed the spectacle—was simply hoaxing, as records indicate that he had a unique sense of humour. Others who have studied the incident and believe that it is a fabrication, claim that Haydon may have had grander motives and wanted to whip up a storm of publicity for a small town faced with economic problems and demographic decline.

Despite a list of factors which may have motivated Haydon to fabricate the Aurora alien sighting, UFO Hunters—a television series airing on the History Channel—noted in a 2008 episode that the Aurora Cemetery did not allow researchers to exhume the grave where the deceased alien was supposedly buried. The television show’s researchers do, however, believe that there is one unmarked grave in the part of the cemetery that was used for burials during the 1890s.

UFOs in the Early Twentieth Century
[Source: Wikipedia: Hungarian Version]

The Aurora incident has a prominent place in the history record of UFO sightings, as it was the first widely publicized account of a purported visit by aliens. Much lesser known UFO sightings were reported in other countries during the following decades, including incidents along Russia’s Podkamennaya Tunguska river in 1908, as well as reports dating back to 1926, in Nepal. In 1942, a reported UFO sighting in China, often called the Hopeh Incident, became especially important to ufologists, as a witness took a photo of what looked like a disc floating above a street in this Chinese town. The photograph, however, cannot be seen as irrefutable evidence of UFOs, as the object is very blurry, leading some to argue that it may have been nothing more than a bird flying over head.

One of the more bizarre reported UFO sightings occurred over Sweden, where more than 2000 unidentified flying objects lit up the sky in 1946. Many scientists claimed that these were simply meteors and that eyewitnesses may have seen a meteor shower. But those who tend to believe in the existence of UFOs point to one major flaw in this theory: Most of the 2000 objects were seen during a time of year when meteor showers are uncommon and roughly 10 percent of these were picked up by radar devices. What makes this so mysterious is that meteors are usually not picked up by radars. Swedish and some American military sources suggested that these objected were probably rockets, and similar UFOs were reported over the skies of Greek Macedonia. One US Air Force document, however, actually asserted that these objects witnessed across parts of Europe incorporated technology far more advanced than what was available to any country. Military sources were able to determine this, thanks to the Swedes recovered debris from the crashed rockets. This document serves as a major boost to ufologists, even if its suggestion is still only a hypothesis.

The Roswell Affair
[Source: UFO Digest]

The most controversial of all UFO sightings and the one which attracted the most attention in world history was a bizarre and partly inexplicable event which took place in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. Roswell was more sensational than any other UFO sighting due to the claim that the US Air Force actually captured an alien spaceship. Ufologists have long believed that the US Air Force uncovered the remains of a crashed spaceship, including the bodies of extra-terrestrials. Interestingly, the first account appeared on July 8, 1947, when officials at Roswell’s airfield confirmed the discovery of a flying saucer, which had crashed. As speculation and rumours spread, US army officials confirmed that what they had recovered was simply a weather balloon.

For three decades, nobody seemed interested in the Roswell incident, but everything changed in 1978, when Major Jesse Marcel—who had been an eyewitness—told a ufologist during an interview that American officials were engaged in a major cover-up. This interview immediately re-ignited the Roswell controversy. Tabloid newspapers—such as the National Enquirer—latched on to the story, as a growing number of witnesses came out of the woodwork, each supporting the theory of a cover-up. In 1989, a local mortician called Glenn Dennis even claimed that an autopsy had been conducted on the body of one of the dead aliens recovered at the Roswell crash site and that he had been told precise details by a nurse who participated in the study of the extra-terrestrial. The autopsies were supposedly carried out on the grounds of the Roswell army base, but when researchers in the 1990s tried to corroborate the mortician’s claims, they failed to track down the nurse who could have served as a key eyewitness.

Fire In The Sky
[Source: Travis-Walton.com]

The sensational story surrounding Roswell was complemented by another popular account of human contact with aliens. The only difference was that in this case, a human being was allegedly abducted by extraterrestrials, taken up into a UFO hovering over the United States, and used in an experiment. In 1975, eighteen year old Travis Walton, a young logger based in rural Arizona, was allegedly abducted by aliens one evening. What makes this story stand out from other UFO accounts is that Walton’s experience was supported by several eyewitnesses, who testified as to what occurred. On November 5, 1975, at 6pm, Walton was driving in a pick-up truck with several of his mates when they all saw a massive flying saucer with lights hovering over a field, next the country road. Walton reportedly jumped out of the car and ran towards the field, where he was sucked up in to the UFO. Walton’s motionless body was then dropped back onto the ground and upon seeing this, his friends thought that he was dead and quickly drove away in fear. They returned to the site shortly after, but Walton was gone.

The most interesting twist in the story is that Walton did not show up for several days and Arizona police decided to have all of the logger’s friends take a polygraph test to see if they may have harmed or even killed the missing man. Surprisingly, the officer who administered the test determined that all of the men were telling the truth—they had actually seen something which resembled a flying saucer.

Walton mysteriously turned up on November 10, 1975, five days after his alleged abduction by aliens. Walton was found cold, sick and frail at a gas station. Walton took a polygraph test as well, which he ultimately failed. The test, however, was inconclusive, since the administrator reportedly behaved unprofessionally. But Walton’s story became a national sensation, leading to a book and to a Hollywood film, entitled Fire in the Sky.

Walton’s alien abduction experience inspired dozens of other people to claim they were taken into UFOs as well in the years to come, and the events at Roswell became a cult symbol for ufologists. But the problem with both of these accounts—as well as all other UFO sightings—is that they are based on circumstantial or anecdotal evidence, rather than direct proof. Even if we do have some evidence for the existence of UFOs, this is heavily based on personal testimony, which can be contested. To this day, irrefutable evidence pointing to UFOs simply does not exist.

There are ancient sightings and experiences recorded.
It is not easy to get undeniable physical evidence. The aliens do not want their craft to be found, so there are safeguards against that occurring. Safeguards are never 100%, so it is possible that one or more craft have been found. Now enters the governments. This craft is ours and is top secret and no one saw this craft or they are simply crazy and delusional. Not much hope for any significant physical proof of aliens or their craft under these conditions. Aliens would have to try and land in Central Park, while getting pounded by military missile fire, and hang around until society persuaded the military to stand away from the craft, so reporters and a staff of independent scientists, not owned by the Govt, could examine the craft and aliens on board, and then publish their findings for the public without Govt censorship. Not Very Likely To Happen Any Time Soon!
www.netscientia.com/chinese_hindu.html

This question is still not answered!
I searched for the same information.

Apparently there were sightings as far back as the time of Alexander the Great - in 329BC.

Some claim Ezekiel recorded a sighting in the Bible - "A rushing windy great thundercloud like flying craft flew out of the north.  The vehicle had the appearance of brilliant glowing fire all around it and the center of the illumination the vehicle was polished metal".

I wish there was more info because it bothers me that sightings suddenly only started to become common since the invention of photography and other modern media.

Why would the aliens patiently wait for us to fists invent cameras? It doesn't make sense to me.

Cool alien I seen ufos

oh history channel they have a show called aliens hunters well I donno but they may have it there some evedince in mexico theres a lot of aliens well on deserts or this place called somethin with the letter m and it has a number like 24564 or like that on history ob monster quest it may have it!