Experimental Flying Saucer
Though it’s a flying saucer, it’s not what most Americans thought of during the 1960s and the UFO craze. It’s a disc-shaped aircraft the US Air Force created, and it was sighted all around Area 51, which could explain why people believed aliens were coming, as people to this day associate the area with alien activity, whether warranted or not.
The Roswell Incident
There was a UFO that crashed in 1947 near Roswell, New Mexico. Many conspiracy theories came about that it was extraterrestrial in nature. In 1994, the US Air Force released a report that said the UFO was a top secret nuclear test surveillance balloon used during Project Mogul. However, conspiracy theories about it still run rampant today.