1. UFOs AND ALIENS
Lights in the sky
Unsolved mysteries
Alien abductions

3. UFOS
AND ALIENS
Sarah Fleming
Editorial consultants: Cliff Moon,
Lorraine Petersen and Frances Ridley
Rising-Stars

4. nasen
NASEN House, 4/5 Amber Business Village, Amber Close,
Amington, Tamworth, Staffordshire B77 4RP
Rising Stars UK Ltd.
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www.risingstars-uk.com
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are correct at time of going to press.
Text © Rising Stars UK Ltd.
The right of Sarah Fleming to be identified as the author of
this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the
Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.
Published 2007
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored
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Rising Stars UK Ltd.
Cover design: Button plc
Cover images: Alamy
Text design and typesetting: Andy Wilson
Publisher: Gill Budgell
Project management and editorial: Lesley Densham
Editing: Deborah Kespert
Editorial consultants: Cliff Moon, Lorraine Petersen
and Frances Ridley
Illustrations: Patrick Boyer: pages 20–21, 30–31, 38–41
Oxford Illustrators and Designers: pages 5, 14, 15, 17, 18,
25, 26, 28
Paul McCaffrey: pages 4, 7, 18, 19, 22–23, 43
Photos: AKG-Images: pages 10 (Columbia Pictures/Album/
AKG), 13 (top – 20th Century Fox/Vollmer, Jurge;
bottom – Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox/ALB)
Alamy: pages 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 16, 24, 27, 43
Darryl Barker Productions: page 32
Corbis: pages 26, 33, 37
Fortean Picture Library: pages 6 (Stephen C. Pratt/Fortean
Picture Library), 9 (Werner Burger/Fortean Picture Library),
36 (Andy Radford/Fortean Picture Library)
Getty Images: pages 12, 26, 28, 29, 36, 42
Kobal: pages 10, 13, 35
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British
Library.
ISBN: 978-1-84680-190-7
Printed by Craft Print International Limited, Singapore

5. Contents
What is a UFO?
4
What do UFOs look like?
6
What else could be UFOs?
8
Little green men
10
Other aliens
12
UFO history
14
Taken by aliens
18
Kidnapped! – Part one
20
Rendlesham
22
Little Rissington
24
Roswell
26
Area 51
28
Kidnapped! – Part two
30
Black triangles
32
Close encounters
34
Real or fake?
36
Kidnapped! – Part three
38
Kidnapped! – Part four
40
Is anything out there?
42
Quiz
44
Glossary of terms
45
More resources
46
Answers
47
Index
48

6. What is a UFO?
A UFO is something you see flying in the sky.
You don’t know what it is.
What could it be?
A bird?
An aeroplane?
What’s
that?
4
A balloon?
A spaceship?

7. Often, UFOs turn out to be something you can explain.
Some clouds can look like UFOs.
But do some
UFOs come from
outer space?
Do some UFOs
have aliens in them?
N ea r or fa r?
It ’s ha rd to te ll how
fa r away
an obje ct is in th e sk
y. It co ul d be
a bi g obje ct fa r away
. O r it co ul d
be a sm al l obje ct th
at ’s ne arer.
5

8. What do UFOs
look like?
UFOs come in many shapes.
These are the shapes most people see.
Round flying saucers
Long, thin spaceships
Schoolboy Stephen Pratt
photographed this fly-past
of UFOs from his home in
Conisbrough, South Yorkshire,
UK, on 28th March, 1966.
6

9. At night, UFOs can just be strange lights.
Where might these lights come from?
A bright planet
A searchlight?
or a star?
An aeroplane?
7
A spaceship?

10. What else could
be UFOs?
If UFOs aren’t alien spaceships, what are they?
As well as birds and aeroplanes,
UFOs could be ...
The Northern Lights
This is a strange, bright
glow that sometimes
appears in the sky.
8

11. Ball lightning
This kind of lightning
hangs in the air for
a few seconds.
Shooting stars
These are small, fiery
balls of rock that burn
up as they fall to Earth.
UFO s tudy
ment d id
Th e U K govern
dy a b o u t
a fo u r- ye a r st u
c id e d U FO s
U FO s. Th ey d e
Th e st u dy
d id N OT e x is t.
rep o rt a b o u t
sa id th a t eve ry
ex p la in e d
U FO s c o u ld b e
in o th e r way s.
9
There is not enough
proof to say that
UFOs exist.
But some people still
believe that UFOs
are real.

12. Little green men
People have written about ‘little green men’
and ‘grey’ aliens for more than one hundred
years. They have appeared in films and on TV.
‘Mars Attacks!’ alien
A ‘grey’ from
‘Close Encounters
of the Third Kind’
10

13. Before people went into space, they thought
aliens might live on Mars. They believed
aliens would look a lot like people.
An alien from ‘Star Trek’
e people?
on TV look lik
Why do aliens
th is way.
3 It ’s ch e a p e r
.
d o th e m a ke -u p
3 It ’s e a si e r to
te r wa n te d
It ’s h ow th e w ri
3
k.
th e a li e n to lo o
11

14. Other aliens
Aliens don’t need to look like humans.
They don’t even need heads or arms. They could
be big or tiny. They could be bad or good.
This is the alien from
‘Alien’, the movie.
12

15. Predator from
the film
‘Alien V Predator’
Baddie gremlins
from the film
‘Gremlins 2’
Chewbacca with
Han Solo from
‘Star Wars’
13

16. UFO history
The name UFO was first made up in 1952
but people have always seen strange
things in the sky.
Here are some possible UFO sightings.
Ancient Greece, 329 BC
Did Alexander the Great see
UFOs? He reported ‘flashing shields’
diving at his army.
14

17. America, 1492 AD
Did Christopher Columbus see UFOs
on his way to America? He reported
lights flashing in the sky. But they may
have been a storm, in the distance.
15

18. Pilots on both sides in World War II
reported seeing UFOs. They said
they looked like ‘balls of fire’
following the aeroplanes.
Pilots called them
‘foo fighters’.
World War II, 1939–45
W ha t were fo o fig ht ers?
No on e kn ows wh at foo fig hte
rs
we re bu t he re are so me ide as
.
1 fie ry ba lls of lig htn ing
1 se cre t en emy ae ro pla ne s
1 ali en sp ac es hip s
16

19. New York, 1974
Beatles’ pop star, John Lennon, saw a UFO
above his flat. He said it was so close he
could have thrown something at it.
Album art
On the cover of his album ‘Walls
and Bridges’, John Lennon wrote:
t
ug us t 19 7 4 a
n t he 2 3 rd A
O
L
sa w a U F O . J
9 o’ cl oc k, I
17

20. Taken by aliens
Some people say they have been
kidnapped by aliens.
They are taken
into UFOs.
Aliens do
tests on them.
Some people
get skin burns.
Sorry dear,
I think I’m a bit
late.
When they get
back to their
real life, they
find a long time
has gone by.
Late! You’ve
been missing for
five days!
They feel dizzy.
18

21. 28 th Sep tem ber, 19 61
UFO Kidnap!
Betty and Barney Hill say
they were kidnapped by
aliens last week.
They say a UFO came out
of the sky and chased their
car. It hovered above them.
Then they found themselves
in a spaceship.
The Hills cannot remember
exactly what happened in the
spaceship but they were
ver y frightened. They woke
up back in their car
19
Our artist shows the Hil ls
about to be beamed into
the UFO.

22. Kidnapped!
(Part one)
It was following me! Faster!
I pedalled as hard as I could, but the UFO
was catching up. It was getting closer, lower,
following me across the park.
‘Zzzzwhoom!’
I looked back. A beam of light shot out from
the UFO. My bike swayed and I crashed in
a heap on the grass.
The UFO kept coming. My legs were trapped
under the bike. I couldn’t run.
20

23. It had been just another normal Saturday.
I was on my way to Ben’s house, cycling
across the park.
I saw a flashing light in the sky first, but it
got bigger and bigger. It became a round
metal disc – a flying saucer.
Somehow I knew it was after me, and I
started to ride for my life.
And here I was, trapped by my bike, with
the light beam coming across the grass …
Continued on page 30
21

24. Rendlesham
White light coming
down into the forest
A UFO was reported from an American
airbase in the UK. The airmen spotted it
two nights in a row.
Here are some of the things they saw and
heard, and what they could have been.
A UFO
A light on the move.
The airmen chased it
Marks where the
‘spaceship’ landed
22

25. Case study
Date: 26th December, 1980
Strong lights
A flashing light
UK
Something screaming
Rendlesham Forest
Suffolk
23

26. Little Rissington
Two RAF pilots reported seeing UFOs
in Gloucesershire in the UK. They had just flown
out of the clouds.
Suddenly, they saw
three white discs flying
right in front of them.
Trained observers
Pe op le be lieve
d
repo rt s from traine
observers, su ch as
an d
th e po lic e, military
are
pi lo ts. Th es e pe op le
ly
trai ne d to repo rt on
w ha t th ey se e.
24

27. Case study
Date: October, 1952
At the same time, three
‘blips’ were seen on radar
screens on the ground.
4,267 metres
UFOs
aeroplane
radar station
radar
When the pilots landed, they wrote
about seeing the UFOs in their
log books.
25

28. Roswell
In 1947, something crash-landed on a farm in
the United States. Military men came to see it.
United
States
New Mexico
At first, the military
said they had found
Roswell
parts of a UFO!
Later, they said
it was a secret
weather balloon.
26

29. Case study
Date: 2nd July, 1947
Ro s w e l l
aliens?
id t h a t
d o c to r s a
A
to c u t
as made
he w
a li e n s
en dead
op
c ra s h .
f ro m t h e
In 1995, someone ‘found’ a film of
the Roswell alien being cut open on a table.
But the film was a hoax. Bits of dead sheep
were used as the alien’s insides.
27

30. Area 51
In the United States, there’s a secret
airbase called Area 51. You can’t get in
– it’s ‘off limits’ to everyone.
The United States
Air Force tests new
Nevada
aeroplanes here.
Area 51
Some people think that aliens land
at Area 51 to talk to the United States
military and the government.
28
United
States

31. This spy plane was tested at
Area 51. Some people think aliens
helped to design it.
29

32. Kidnapped!
(Part two)
I was in a white room, a big empty dome.
It hummed, and smelt of electricity.
I was inside the UFO. I wasn’t afraid.
Somehow I knew I would be OK.
A door slid open and an alien came out.
It was small and grey, with big black eyes.
It didn’t say anything, but I knew what to
do. I followed it back through the door.
30

33. In the next room, there was a big bench.
I knew the alien wanted me to lie on it,
so I did.
The alien leant over me, and stared into my
eyes. It was reading my mind.
I could suddenly remember everything about
my life: being born, lying in a pram, a toy
I’d had when I was two, learning to ride
my bike …
Continued on page 38
31

34. Black triangles
Black triangle UFOs are as big as
a football field and can fly slower
and faster than any known plane.
Black triangles
have been spotted
all over the world.
ns , B el gi um
M arch 30 , 19 90 : A
bl ack
2, 70 0 pe op le sa w a
ir Fo rc e
tr ia ng le U FO. Th e A
fo llow it .
se nt F- 16 pl an es to
on radar,
Th ey tracke d th e U FO
bu t it go t away.
32

35. os cow , Rus si a
M arch 12 , 19 90 : M
t on th ei r
Pe op le sp en t th e ni gh
ou ps of
ro of to ps to wat ch gr
k tr ia ng le s
U FO s, in cl ud in g bl ac
an d fly in g sa uc ers.
Ja n u a r y 5 ,
2000: Il lino
is, USA
Five p o li c e m
e n , in d if fe re
nt
p la c e s, rep o
r te d a bla ck
t r ia n g le U FO
. Th e p o li c e m
en
a ll p a ss e d li
e d e t e c to r
tests.
This silent spy plane looks like
a black triangle UFO.
33

36. Close encounters
Researchers classify UFO reports.
One system classifies reports like this:
What was
seen
How far
away?
Type of
report
Code
Lights in the
night sky
More than
152 metres
Nocturnal
Lights
NL
Strange objects
in the distant
daytime sky
More than
152 metres
Daylight
discs
DD
Objects by eye
and on radar
More than
152 metres
Radar/
Visual cases
RV
This is a DD
report.
34

37. Steven Spielberg called this movie
‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’.
What was
seen
How far
away?
Type of
report
Code
Strange objects
in the sky
Closer than
152 metres
Close
CE1
Encounter 1
Proof that a UFO Closer than
was there
152 metres
e.g. landing
marks
Close
Encounter 2
CE2
Aliens
Close
Encounter 3
CE3
Closer than
152 metres
35

38. Real or fake?
Here are some photos of UFOs.
Do you think they’re real or fake?
1
Is this a real UFO
above the trees or
a fake?
2
What about this?
Is it real or a fake?
36

39. 37
Answers
This photo was made on a computer by pasting an image of a UFO
2
The photo was faked using a model UFO.
1
onto a photo.
3
No one knows if this is a real UFO or not. Some people say that
‘swamp gas’ made this UFO.
the photo?
scratch on
Is there a
a computer.
be faked on
It’s too old to
taken in 1966.
This photo was
3

40. Kidnapped!
(Part three)
The alien took some little round things
from under the bench.
It laid them on my head, my feet, my body
and my hands.
The room hummed louder and the round
things fizzed on my skin.
The humming stopped and the alien took off
the round things. It put them on the bench.
It was time to go.
38

41. I wanted something to take with me, to
prove I’d been there.
I got up from the bench and put out my
hand to pick up one of the round things.
Arghh! It was freezing cold! My hand jerked
back and I saw a mark on my palm.
The alien was watching me. If it could have
smiled, I think it would have.
I followed it back through the door and
everything just faded away…
Continued on the next page
39

42. Kidnapped!
(Part three)
“Rob! Rob! Are you OK?”
I opened my eyes. Ben was bending over
me. I was lying against a tree in the park.
My bike lay beside me.
“What happened?” he said.
“Wha …?”
“Where have you been? Are you OK?
You’ve been gone for hours.”
He continued, “I called your house when you
didn’t come. Your mum said you’d left four
hours ago! She wanted to call the police,
but I said I’d check in the park first.”
40

43. Four hours! It seemed like I’d only been in
the UFO for ten minutes.
I looked at my hand. There was a red, round
scar in the palm.
“Ouch!” said Ben “Was that your bike?
Did you crash?”
I knew where I’d got that scar. But should
I tell Ben? Would he believe me?
41

44. Is anything
out there?
Do aliens exist? Are we alone?
There may be hundreds
of millions of planets in
the universe. Is there
life on any of
these planets?
42

45. If there is life,
maybe it will send
a radio signal.
People are listening
for signals from
space. If we heard
a signal, we would
know there was life.
And maybe it would
come and see us ...
It ’s a fact!
per cent
Fif t y - s eve n
s b e li eve
o f A m e r ica n
v is it u s
t h a t UFOs
space.
fro m o u te r
43

46. Quiz
1 In the daytime, what could you mistake for a UFO?
2 What are the two shapes of UFO most people see?
3 At night, what could you mistake for a UFO?
4 For how many years have people written about
‘little green men’?
5 Can you name two famous people from history
who have seen UFOs?
6 What were ‘foo fighters’ in World War II?
7 What is a CE3 report?
8 Can you name two types of trained observer?
9 What kind of ‘aliens’ crashed at Roswell?
10 What is the name of the secret airbase where
the United States Air Force tests new aeroplanes?
44

47. Glossary of terms
airbase
A military airport.
alien
A living thing from another world.
classify
To put things in classes or groups.
disc
A round, flat object.
encounter
To meet someone unexpectedly.
exist
To have life, or be real.
government
The group of people in charge of a country.
hoax
A trick.
lie detector test
A scientific test which can tell if someone
is lying or not.
log book
A book in which you write information about
voyages.
military
Something to do with the armed forces – that’s
the army, navy or air force.
proof
A fact that shows that something is true.
radar
A system that uses radio waves to show
the position of objects.
RAF
Stands for Royal Air Force. It is the UK’s
military force that uses aircraft.
radio signal
A series of radio waves that gives information.
trained observer
A person trained to watch things carefully.
UFO
Stands for Unidentified Flying Object.
universe
Everything that exists, including all of
space and the stars and planets.
weather balloon
A balloon which carries instruments to send
back information on the weather.
45

48. More resources
Books
UFOs and Aliens,
The Unexplained series
Colin Wilson
Published by Dorling Kindersley (ISBN: 075135984X)
An overview of the subject.
UFOs: Alien abductions and close encounters,
Graphic Mysteries series
Gary Jeffrey
Book House (ISBN: 1905087810)
This book tells the story of three UFO cases, including
Roswell, in cartoon form.
Websites
http://www.ufoevidence.org
This site has lots of reported UFO cases.
http://skepdic.com
This site does not believe in UFOs or aliens. It shows the other
side of the argument.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO
This online encyclopedia gives factual information about many
things, including UFOs and aliens.
46

49. Answers
1 Birds, balloons, clouds, spaceships, aeroplanes
2 Flying saucers and long, thin UFOs
3 Planets, shooting stars, lightning, other strange
lights in the sky, searchlights shining on clouds
4 More than one hundred years
5 Alexander the Great, Christopher Columbus
or John Lennon
6 Foo fighters was the name pilots gave to UFOs
which followed their aeroplanes.
7 A CE3 report is a report about a Close
Encounter 3.
8 People in the police, the military, or pilots
9 greys
10 Area 51
47

50. Index
aeroplane
4, 7, 8, 16, 28
airbase
22, 28
airmen
Alexander the Great
little green men
alien
10–11
log book
25
22
Mars
11
14
military
5, 8, 10–13, 16, 18–19,
Northern Lights
27, 28–29, 30–31, 35,
photo
38–40, 42
Ancient Greece
Area 51
ball lightning
balloon
bird
black triangle
cloud
Columbus, Christopher
24, 26, 28
29, 32–37
pilot
24–25
14
planet
7, 42
28–29
police
24
9
proof
9
4, 26
radar
25, 32, 34, 35
4, 8
radio signal
RAF
32–33
5, 24
43
24
Rendlesham
Roswell
15
22–23
26–27
disc
24, 26
searchlight
fake
36–37
shooting star
flying saucer
foo fighter
government
8
6, 33
space
7
9, 22
11, 43
16
spaceship
4, 6–8, 16, 19
9, 28
spy plane
16, 29, 33
grey alien
10
star
7
Hill, Betty and Barney
19
UFO
4–9, 14–19, 22, 24, 25,
hoax
27
kidnap
Lennon, John
lighthouse
lightning
26, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 43
18–19
universe
weather balloon
22–23
9, 16
48
26
World War II
17
42
16

51. UFOs AND ALIENS
By Sarah Fleming
An RAF pilot reports
flying saucers…
Two Americans are
kidnapped by aliens…
Is it all a hoax?
Or is there something
out there?
ISBN 978-1-84680-190-7
www.risingstars-uk.com
9
781846 801907