What UFOs turn out to be

Birds, insects and natural phenomena mistaken for UFOs

A flock of migrating birds lit from below by city lights forms a silent glowing "V". By day, insects, seeds or spider silk caught in the sunlight shine like small fast objects.

These mix-ups are common in videos, where the lack of reference points makes distance impossible to judge: an insect two metres away can look like a distant craft.

SkyUnknown lists 52 UFO sightings explained as an animal or natural object (bird, insect, pollen…), from 1983 to 2025, drawn from official records: GEIPAN (CNES). The busiest year was 2017, with 7 cases.

Most frequently named places: Toulouse (2) and Perpignan (2).