kids encyclopedia robot

Unidentified flying object facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
PurportedUFO2
A UFO in New Jersey, USA
UFO landing strip in Cachi, Argentina
UFO landing strip in Cachi, Argentina

A UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) is any object flying in the sky which cannot be identified by the person who sees it. Sometimes the object is investigated. If people can still not figure out what the object is after an investigation, it is called a UFO. If they figure out what the object is, it can no longer be called a UFO because it has been identified.

Ufojakob
UFO, Jakobsdal, Linköping, Sweden

Even though UFOs can be anything, people often use the word UFO when they are talking about alien spacecraft. Flying saucer is another word that is often used to describe an unidentified flying object.

Identified flying objects (IFOs)

Studies estimate that 50-90% of all reported UFO sightings are identified later. Usually 10-20% are never identified. Studies also show that very few UFO sightings are hoaxes (people trying to trick other people). Most UFOs are actually natural or man-made objects that looked strange.

80-90% of IFOs are identified as one of three different things:

  1. astronomical causes (for example: planets, stars, or meteors)
  2. aircraft
  3. balloons (including weather balloons)

10-20% of IFOs are other causes (such as birds, clouds, mirages, searchlights, etc.)

  • Allan Hendry, The UFO Handbook: A Guide to Investigating, Evaluating, and Reporting UFO Sightings, 1979, Doubleday & Co., ISBN: 0-385-14348-6

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Ovni para niños

kids search engine
Unidentified flying object Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.