Lexicon · Concept

UFO wave

A UFO wave is the term for a short period when an unusually high number of UFO reports come in from a given area. Opinions on the causes differ: according to skeptics, the number of reports is often driven up by public attention and media coverage.

In UFO research, a UFO wave (in English wave, or in its smaller, local form flap) denotes a period when a country or region sees far more reports of unusual aerial phenomena than usual, mostly with a peak lasting a few weeks or months. The term is descriptive: in itself, it does not claim that the reports are of extraterrestrial origin.

Well-known examples

The literature often refers to the 1896–1897 American "airship" reports, which occurred well before airplanes became widespread, as well as the 1946 Scandinavian "ghost rocket" wave. In the United States, there was a prominent wave in 1947, when the term "flying saucer" spread, and also in 1952 (including the Washington radar sightings), in 1957, between 1965 and 1967, and in 1973. In Europe, the 1954 French wave and the 1989–1990 Belgian wave are the best known. A recent example is the late-2024 New Jersey drone sighting wave.

Explanations

Opinions on the causes of waves differ:

  • According to skeptical researchers, the jump in the number of reports is primarily a consequence of attention and media coverage. After a conspicuous case, more people watch the sky, and more people report phenomena they had not even noticed before, such as a star, a planet, an airplane, a satellite or a meteor. Psychological and social factors, such as the spread of mass beliefs, are also mentioned.
  • According to some UFO researchers, waves may also involve genuine, unexplained phenomena, and the spikes in numbers warrant serious investigation.
  • Official findings have typically emphasized that the vast majority of reports can be traced back to ordinary phenomena, and that there is insufficient data for the remaining cases.

The term is also used in statistical analyses, because waves can distort the overall picture of report databases.

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