We have had far more responses to our web site than we ever thought possible, and with that, a ton of witnesses have come forward with many varied interesting stories. We at the UFO Reporter want to take the opportunity to thank all of you for sharing what has been, for many of you, very personal experiences with us and letting us post your stories on the Web for the world to read. Below are the five kinds of encounters one can experience in relation to the UFO phenomenon. The bottom of this page offers definitions for each type of encounter.
Definitions:
Encounters of this kind involve witneses simply viewing a UFO at any distance, whether it be 10 feet away or several hundred feet in the air. What most UFO witnesses report the world over, first kind encounters are also the most documented because they are rarely experienced by only one individual. Usually there are many witnesses involved.
Evidence left in the wake of a UFO encounter is a broad category, and can include any hard evidence that is believed (though not necessarily proven) to be the direct result of a UFO or its occupants. Note that UFO does not necessarily mean extraterrestrial, simply an unknown that in many cases is terrestrial in origin. Examples include burned soil or plant life, impressions in the ground, arguably crop circles, implants, scars on alleged abductees, frightened animals or dying or dead plants.
Involves human-extraterrestrial interaction on many levels but not abductions. Common encounters of this kind occur when witnesses stumble on to aliens while they are outside their ships, or are appoached by aliens who converse with them. This is most common with regard to the Nordic types of aliens, especially in reports stemming from various 1950s and 1960s UFO flaps and are still relatively common in several areas of the American Southwest and South America. Note this may also include the mysterious Men In Black, depending on what theories you susbscribe to.
Recently added, this involves any encounter wherein extraterrestrials forceably take witnesses against their will for any purpose. Purposes usually involve breeding experiments, but have included education and even torture depending on the aliens involved. Repressed memories, missing time and health problems are some of the effects associated with this kind of encounter.
Also new, this type of encounter involves witnesses who claim to have contacted extraterrestrials for purposes of speaking to them or willingly interacting with them. This does not include repeated abductions, but was probably the type of encounter the Halle-Bopp cult in San Diego was looking for.