The concept of aliens is not new, albeit it is controversial. The same can be said for unidentified flying objects or UFOs, which has spawned a lot of theories and stories – including crashes that are even reported by several news outfits and of course, picked up by the so-called ufologists – that hoarded throngs of followers all throughout the years.

There is a multitude of UFO crashes “documented,” with the Roswell, New Mexico sighting in 1947 probably the most covered and investigated in the history following a supposed discovery of the event by a local rancher. It became a closed case, but after decades, it piqued the interest of several researchers.

Claims that the wreckages were of a weather balloon were debunked, following a series of interviews from different persons of interest, concluding all these were all a cover-up. This event was later dubbed as the “Cosmic Watergate,” and became the holy grail for UFO conspiracy theorists. Although this out-of-this-world revelation shocked everyone, there are some less prominent reports of UFO crashes that remain unsolved and forgotten.

Height 611 UFO Crash

In Russia, a red sphere hovering the sky was allegedly seen by witnesses on Jan. 29, 1986. According to them, the suspicious thing was about the size of the moon disc and was quietly flying parallel on the ground when it hit Height 611, a hill on Dalnegorsk, Primorsky Krai. Some witnesses even reported hearing an explosion after the said crash.

Witnesses also added that a flash as bright as a forest fire that lasted for around an hour was also seen after the collision. Locals went up the hill the following day to check on the said crash site, but only found destroyed vegetation and burnt tree stump. No debris was found, except for metallic sediments that were submitted to the Far Eastern Committee for Anomalous Phenomena.

Authorities found metallic droplets, that include metallic gold threads and a shield of quartz crystal, on the area with design and properties that rendered too complex. A part of the charred tree stump, presumably the side nearest to the crash, was also melted, the reports added. This case remained unsolved, with some theorizing that the heat that consumed the crash site was not due to an explosion but because of alleged repairs done on the UFO that led to its escape.

Red Explosion in Las Vegas

Another red explosion due to an alleged UFO crash happened in Las Vegas on April 18, 1962. Before the smash, the US military radar had tracked the movement of the mysterious flying object, which flew over New York and Kansas, Colorado, and Arizona. According to reports, the unexplainable thing first went down in Eureka, Utah, leading to a temporary blackout, then took off right away. When it reached and crashed in Nevada, the flight’s radar lost the strange aircraft.

Many ufologists believe that the unnamed craft rammed inside the territory of Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. During the alleged crash, many reports about a mysterious red light in the sky were received by the authorities. A loud noise that sounded like an explosion was also included in the reports.

According to the military officials, the event was caused by meteors and also denied that they tracked the suspected UFO, and explained that the reports were due to individual sightings.

The “Crash That Never Was”

On the evening of March 24, 1997, authorities began receiving reports of an unidentified craft flying low over Howden Moor. Later that night, people started calling authorities saying they saw flashes of light and smoke from the countryside, while others heard explosive noises. An alleged UFO crashed on the border between South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, England, and this aerial disturbance prompted the officials to launch search operations on foot and on air.

Many suspected that the disturbance was just a light helicopter that crashed on the forest near the countryside — but not a body or any debris was found even after more than a day of searching. This heightened the speculation that the authorities were hiding something out of this world, especially when officials put out a no-fly zone on the area, causing delays in several commercial flights.

Even after dozens of reports from the public and a local-wide search, officials rejected the idea that a crash had indeed transpired. Rumors specifically started when volunteer searchers began telling stories of seeing metal debris on the crash site. Volunteers also said that there was military on site and they were loading a body bag on a helicopter. When asked what was in those bags, they simply answered that those were equipment.

The Howden Moor case was called the “crash that never was” by local news, with all the inconsistencies between reports and official’s activities.