UFOs or "unidentified flying objects" are fascinating to people because of the mystery around these objects and the curiosity they inspire.  

The United States Congress was curious too.  Requested by the Senate, a report was published last June by a government office called the Office of the Director for National Intelligence about UAPs - unidentified aerial phenomena - the term the government is now using instead of UFOs.

UAPs are things we see in the air and sky that are not immediately identifiable. This term is being used because it covers the broadest range of airborne objects that we should be thinking about when trying to identify.

This month, we're taking a closer look at what the aviation world considers a UAP, and learn how and why they are studied. We'll also explore how the possibility of UAPs have inspired us to be creative and think about the unknown.

Ready to explore UAPs and UFOs? Check out the activities below.

Jump to a Section:      Draw a UFO      Mistaken Identity      UFO Sights and Sounds      Identifying UFOs

  

Three pieces of paper with drawings of UFOs on them.

Family Art Activity (5 Minutes)

Draw a UFO

Materials Needed

  • A piece of paper for each family member
  • A pencil
  • Whatever art supplies you want to color with-crayons, markers, colored pencils

Step 1: Write the following phrase on the top of each paper, "I think a UFO looks like this."

Step 2: Draw your response to the phrase. Try not to peek at each other's drawing. Draw what you think a UFO looks like.

Step 3: Once everyone is done drawing and/or coloring in their UFO, put all of the drawings next to each other so everyone can look at them.  

Step 4: Compare the drawings to each other - do the UFOs look similar? Do they have the same shapes? Are the designs and features on the UFOs different? 

Step 5: Talk to each other about why they drew it that way. Was the UFO from their imagination or did they see it in a movie, or hear the description in a book?

What we imagine for UFOs to look like can be influenced my the movies or TV show we watch, or the books we read!

Mistaken Identity

Unusual-looking aircraft is often reported as an unidentified aerial phenomena because it has a different shape or flight pattern that people aren't used to seeing. Check out these aircraft that look different from the aircraft shapes you may be used to seeing.

If you saw these flying in the sky, would you think they were UAPs?

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  • A sepia tone print of a hot air balloon floating over a crowd, with buildings in the background. The writing on the image is in French and reads "Globe Aerostatique, De Mr.s Chares et Robert au moment de leur depart du Jardin des Tuileries le 1st [sic] 1783."
  • A print of villagers in three corner hats surrounding a downed hot air balloon with pitchforks and rifles.
  • A yellow aircraft shaped like a disk with two propellers emerging from one side, and two wings emerging from the other.
  • A yellow aircraft that is two wings linked together creating a triangular shape.
Cicular, double-tiered, with many projecting spires coming out around the circumference and tubes of different sizes, along with rods, some curved, projecting from top.

Craft Activity

UFO Sights and Sounds

Building off of imagination and creativity, what people think UFOs look like are influenced by the movies and TV shows we watch, or the books and comics we read.  This vision of what UFOs look like in popular culture has changed over time, and so have sounds!

When it comes to what UFOs may sound like, science fiction film and television composers usually use unconventional sounds that do not fit with what the human ear is used to hearing. They utilize instruments like the Theremin, an electronic instrument that is played by a person placing their hand at different levels within a field. It produces an eerie, warbling sound.

In this activity, create a UFO shaker to create the visual and sound effects of your very own UFO!

This is the model of the alien Mother Ship used in the filming of the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (Columbia Pictures, 1977). 

Materials:

  • Paper plates (two)
  • Duct tape
  • Crayons or markers
  • Stickers
  • Funnel (optional)
  • Rice, beans, or beads (or experiment with paper clips or screws)
  • Small measuring cup

A. Make a UFO Shaker

Two plates facing each other taped together with duct tape.

1. Put two plates right sides facing each other

2. Use duct tape to tape around the edges of the paper plates, leaving a small opening at the top of the plates. 

A funnel is inserted in an opening of two plates taped together with duct tape.

3. Place the funnel in the opening in the plates

4. Measure 1/4 cup of rice, beans, or pony beads (this will be put inside the plates)

Two plates facing each other taped together with duct tape.

5. Pour the measured amount into the funnel

6. Tape the opening closed with duct tape

7. Decorate however you want to!

B. Experiment with the UFO, what sounds can you make with it?

What does the UFO sound like when:

  • it is tapped with your fingers?
  • you hit it with the palm of your hand?
  • it moves side to side?
  • it moves up and down?
  • it drops to the ground?
Two plates facing each other taped together with duct tape. The outside of the plate is decorated with stars and purple coloring.

C. Try this out!

Create a 10 second video of a UFO landing in your home. Use your UFO for visuals and sound effects. 

A whirlpool like white image in a blue sky.

Activity

Identifying UFOs

Last June, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence established categories for possible explanations of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs).  This activity shows possible steps one could take to analyze data from a UFO sighting, using these categories as a guide.  

For this activity,  your family is roleplaying as a group of new employees at a government agency tasked to keep the airspace safe.  Your job is to go through a UFO report and answer the question - unidentifiable or identifiable flying object? 

This is your training session for your job.

Step 1: Study the UFO sighting report

Date and time: Sunday, April 17, 2022, 11:04 am Eastern Time

Who observed it: A middle school Astronomy club in Washington, DC

How it was observed:  The club was meeting outside of school to watch a live stream of the early morning sky via a video camera, run by the Asahi Space Club in Japan. While watching the live stream, they saw a UFO or UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena) traveling above the Mauna Kea Observatories. It took 17 seconds for it to move across the sky.

Location of sighting: Near Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii, USA

Watch Video Footage of the Sighting

An observatory is in the foreground of this image, set against a blue sky. In the sky you can see a white whirlpool in the upper left side.
A flow chart for identifying UAP. The first question reads "Is it moving," if no it could be astronomical phenomena, check Stellarium for what was in the night sky on the date and time of the sighting. If yes, the next question is does it move in one direction. If no, it could be a drone. If yes, the next question is how long did you observe it moving along its pat. If less than 5 seconds, it could be a meteor. If more than five seconds, it could be a number of things. Questions continue.

Step 2: Use the flowchart questions to narrow down what the object could potentially be. 

Hint: Click on the image to make it bigger. 

Step 3: Take a look at images and compare them with the mystery sighting. 

Hint: Click on an image to make it bigger.

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  • A sheet that shows examples of balloons. Hot air balloons are oval in shape and have multicolored designs. Rubber balloons are also oval in shape and bright in color, but smaller. Mylar balloons are circular and shiny. Scientific balloons are almost triangular in space and larger. Internet balloons look like giant jellyfish. They are no longer in flight as of early 2021.
  • A sheet with different examples of aircraft including: A drone, which looks like a flying spider with propellers on its four legs. At night drones look like a combination of lights. Airships are oval in shape laying on the long side. Unusual shaped aircraft are also pictured here. The two pictured are flying triangles.
  • A sheet that shows examples of aircraft, including flares shot from an airplane and jet trails.
  • A sheet that shows natural phenomena. Four images are of oddly shaped oblong clouds, one image is of lightning that appears in an oval.
  • A sheet that shows astronomical phenomena--objects that occur in our night sky. This includes a line of stars for the Milky Way, a cluster of stars for the Milky Way, bright spots for planets in the night sky, the moon behind clouds, and a dash in the night sky for a meteor.
  • Two examples of spacecraft are shown on this sheet. One is a satellite, which is a series of bright dots progressing across the night sky. The other is an example of the International Space Station as seen from the ground. It is a light dot in the night's sky.
  • Four images of rocket launches. Two show a bright dot with a streak behind it. One shows a swirling cloud. The final image shows a bright dot and two clouds like dashes trailing it horizontally.

A rocket launching. You can see a stand that was holding it lean away to the left, and the fire of the launch below.

SpaceX Falcon 9 launch. Courtesy of SpaceX

The whirlpool in the sky caused a bit of a frenzy on social media as many people witnessed and reported seeing the mysterious swirl moving across the sky on Sunday April 17, 2022. 

However, people who are informed about what is happening in the space industry recognized the mystery swirl.  The private space company SpaceX had launched a Falcon 9 rocket  from Vanderberg Space Force Base in southern California a few hours before the swirl was visible, to deliver a satellite into orbit around the Earth.  The swirl was created when the part of the rocket that can't be used again falls back into the atmosphere, venting fuel as it falls.

Activity Wrap Up

A graphic of a folder, piece of paper, and magnifying glass.

Great job practicing your investigative skills!

Aviation officials and the US government are interested in unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) because they could pose potential problems and interference with shared airspace and with national security.  

UAPs oftentimes become Identified Aerial Phenomena - you just have to look for evidence of what it could be and ask the right questions. Some things remain unidentified until more information could be gathered.

A parent and child look up at a model of a spacesuit, while a young man in a red polo gestures and points.

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