James Oberg

A space analyst and sceptic, James Oberg turns up in the debate after several famous cases. Petrozavodsk, 1977. He argued that witnesses had been watching the exhaust of the Kosmos 955 launch from behind, and later compared the display to a 2015 Falcon 9. Over Tehran in 1976, he favoured Jupiter as the main light. He dismissed reports like the 2006 O'Hare sighting as of zero evidential value. The 2009 Norwegian spiral, he wrote, was yet another failed test. Ten years later he noted that the ordinary explanation had been rejected in favour of more exciting theories.

Stories5

The 1976 Tehran UFO Incident (Dogfight over Tehran)

September 19, 1976 · Tehran (Shemiran, Mehrabad Airport and airspace north and south of the city)

UAP · Other · 46 sources

59Partially documented

Petrozavodsk Phenomenon (the Petrozavodsk Jellyfish)

September 20, 1977 · Petrozavodsk, Karelian ASSR, on the western shore of Lake Onega

UAP · Other · 57 sources · 1 photos

0Thinly documented

Linked the event to the Kosmos-955 launch from Plesetsk

The STS-48 "Zig-Zag UFO" video, Space Shuttle Discovery

September 15, 1991 · Earth orbit, Space Shuttle Discovery (reportedly over the Indian Ocean, near the day-night terminator)

UAP · Unknown · 31 sources

23Thinly documented

Former NASA Johnson Space Center engineer, the main sceptical analyst (ice and thruster explanation)

O'Hare International Airport UFO Sighting

November 7, 2006 · Gate C17, Concourse C, United Airlines Terminal 1, O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois

UAP · Disc / saucer · 59 sources

35Partially documented

The Norwegian Spiral Anomaly

December 9, 2009 · Northern Norway, seen from Trøndelag to Finnmark and in Northern Sweden

UAP · Other · 58 sources · 5 photos

53Partially documented

Space analyst and author of later essays on the event