00:00This was a sighting on almost unprecedented scale.
00:05Humans have observed UFOs, now UAP, for thousands of years,
00:09with even ancient Roman historians referencing various mysterious and elusive flying vehicles.
00:14In the modern era, we've finally achieved the technology to properly investigate and verify most sightings.
00:20And the slightly mundane truth is that approximately 95% of them can be attributed to natural or human-led phenomena.
00:27But still, the other 5% remain unexplained.
00:31Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're taking a closer look at three UFOs that science still can't figure out.
00:38These photographs have never been debunked, so this is a very important case.
00:49The unidentified flying objects continued to close in.
00:55First, the disturbing tale of a flight flanked by unknown entities.
00:59Japan Airlines cargo flight 1628 was traveling from Paris to Tokyo on November 17, 1986.
01:06But while over Alaska, the pilot, Captain Kenji Tadauchi, made an unusual and unsettling observation.
01:13Cargo flight 1628, do you have any traffic?
01:23Soon, air traffic control picked up a high-speed object, tracking the 747.
01:29He reported seeing three peculiar objects that were apparently tailing him.
01:33The objects allegedly followed the plane for at least 400 miles and for roughly an hour of flight time.
01:39According to Tadauchi, the seeming formation was made up of two smaller somethings and one larger, resembling a mothership.
01:47Tadauchi phoned Anchorage in Alaska for support and was told to take evasive action.
01:52He did that, but the objects persisted, at times apparently flying even closer to the plane, which caused the cabin to become freakishly warm.
02:00Eventually, Tadauchi landed in Anchorage, the objects disappeared, and the pilot and crew were interviewed by the Federal Aviation Administration, or the FAA, to ascertain exactly what had happened.
02:11According to the FAA, the flight crew appeared professional and rational, they were vastly experienced, and weren't under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
02:20There were also two other planes close to the same area, but neither experienced the same or a similar sighting.
02:27Radar data was seemingly inconclusive, although at least one of the three unknown objects reportedly did appear on some screens.
02:34Officials wavered over whether the incident did or did not represent a true UFO.
02:39Although, at the same time, Tadauchi's account is said to have been inconsistent with the details.
02:44All of which means that while some explanations have been put forward, nothing has stuck.
02:50Some analysts believe that Tadauchi was simply observing the far-off planets Jupiter and Mars, and mistaking them for close-up vehicles.
02:57But overall, the vagueness is unsatisfying for many, and science is stumped for an airtight solution.
03:04Whatever happened at Japan Airlines 1628, it is now the most documented, and thus most famous, UFO incident in modern aviation history.
03:21I see this flying object, just going round and round and round, and going up and up and up.
03:26And I told my mom, I said, Mom, I just saw a flying saucer, I saw a UFO.
03:31For some, this could be the most credible UFO sighting in modern history.
03:36It was witnessed by four Iranian military personnel in two separate planes at separate times, plus at least four civilians on the ground.
03:44Close to Tehran, the capital of Iran, on September 19th, 1976, a glittering and suspicious bulk was spotted flying and floating in the sky.
03:53It was visually sighted and captured on radar.
03:56Initially, one F-4 Phantom was sent up to investigate, carrying two people, including the pilot.
04:02The pair was able to confirm the sighting close-hand as a bright and glowing object.
04:07However, upon flying closer still, their jet suffered equipment failure and lost communication, only regaining it after retreat.
04:15In response, Iran dispatched another plane to follow up, also carrying two people.
04:20Only for the same thing to happen, equipment malfunctions again and loss of comms again.
04:26What's more, with the second flight, after it locked onto the object and prepared to fire, its weapons system blanked and failed.
04:33As with almost all UFO cases, there have been various apparent explanations put forward.
04:38Again, some attribute the Tehran event to the various individuals involved misinterpreting a natural celestial body.
04:45They say that it could have been a planet that was sighted or the remnants of a meteor shower.
04:50They further claim that the pilots were likely tired at the time of their experience and that the series of equipment issues may have more simply been coincidental.
04:58However, over the years, the debate has rolled on and many just aren't buying it.
05:04And given alternative claims that the UFO seemingly interacted with and retaliated against the second plane in particular when its weapons malfunctioned,
05:12this object was perhaps not only unexplained but also dangerous.
05:17Important information about the Iranian UFO incident may be found in military files in Tehran.
05:23But since the ouster of the Shah, the military personnel in this report have been stripped of any privileges or access they were entitled to in imperial Iraq.
05:32Until further notice, the door to this case is closed.
05:36Ancient Sky Chariots
05:38As was said at the top of this video, UFOs date back to antiquity.
05:42They may feel like a newfangled phenomenon, but there are multiple and infamous reported sightings from centuries, even millennia ago, and including from ancient Rome.
05:52In 73 BCE, according to the Greek historian Plutarch who was writing around 150 years after the events he described,
06:00an army commanded by Rome's Lucullus was on the cusp of battle with Mithridates VI of Pontus.
06:05However, the battle was stalled by something spectacular from the sky.
06:09It's said that a large, fiery object bore down upon the battlefield and led both sides, at least temporarily, to stop fighting.
06:17Unsurprisingly, that large object has been explained away by many as a probable meteor.
06:22However, there are aspects to Plutarch's description that give serious cause for doubt.
06:27In general, he imbues the object with a metallic look, like burning silver, and this isn't what science would typically expect from a meteor strike.
06:35There's also the shape of the object, which is said to have been jug-like.
06:39Every meteor is certainly different, but perhaps a jug-like rock from space would be pretty exceptional.
06:45Of course, without photographic or video data, and relying solely on just one historical account, there are multiple unknowns.
06:53For some, it may be ball lightning that was really encountered all those years ago.
06:58But given that it apparently played a pivotal role in shaping and avoiding the war on that particular day,
07:04it's a UFO that some have also labeled as a chariot from the gods.
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07:23Bonus! The Phoenix Lights
07:26Because most of the sightings were reported by the residents of Phoenix, the incident is known as the Phoenix Lights.
07:34On the evening of March 13th, 1997, hundreds of people living in Arizona and Nevada reported a massive V-shaped formation of inexplicable lights moving silently through the darkening sky.
07:45This was an event that would become the stuff of UFO legend.
07:50The famously named Phoenix Lights were visible for hours over an area that covered hundreds of square miles.
07:56Witnesses reported what appeared to be a large singular craft or else multiple lights in a perfectly synchronized triangular formation.
08:03Some compared the mysterious mass to a carpenter's square, and certainly there is nor was no aircraft on Earth to match it.
08:11The claimed UFO moved so slowly that it looked more like a hovercraft than a plane, but it did eventually disappear over a nearby mountain range.
08:19Shortly afterwards, though, at about 10 p.m. the same night, another mass sighting unfolded.
08:24This time, stationary lights appeared over the Estrella Mountains southwest of Phoenix.
08:29They all hovered in the same spot, then softly disappeared and were captured on video.
08:34Although seemingly unrelated, both incidents, the lights in formation and the stationary orbs, shared a distinctly unnerving quality.
08:42However, the Phoenix Lights are a bonus for today's video because, really, science probably has explained them.
08:49Or rather, the U.S. military has.
08:51Officially speaking, the lights are said to have been the work of skilled human pilots flying A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter jets on a training exercise out of a nearby base.
09:00The stationary lights seen later are said to have been caused by military planes conducting a flare drop.
09:05Nevertheless, no other UFO story has as many witnesses as this one, with hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people having gone on record with what they saw that night.
09:15Therefore, the cloud of suspicion will perhaps never fully pass.
09:20Many people have seen it and I thought by now somebody would have an answer to this thing.
09:23Nobody has come up with anything logical.
09:25Science has offered up an explanation.
09:28But is it THE explanation?
09:30Is the case truly closed?
09:32What's your verdict?
09:46Did you enjoy this video?
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