Most accounts of UFO sightings can be explained by and attributed to normal earthly phenomena. Those that cannot be solved, however, have police investigators, government officials and researchers puzzled, even decades later in some cases. In each episode of `Close Encounters', two stories of alien phenomena around the world are investigated, re-created and reviewed by researchers. In the telling of each one, the programme reveals to viewers facts about thousands of reported occurrences.
Two cousins encounter a "mothership" three times the size of a football stadium in 1996. In 1967, guards at an air force base in Montana spot a UFO and all hell breaks loose. (S1, ep 1)
Two cousins encounter a "mothership" three times the size of a football stadium in 1996. In 1967, guards at an air force base in Montana spot a UFO and all hell breaks loose. (S1, ep 1)
Dozens of witnesses report seeing a fiery object falling through the Pennsylvania sky in 1965. In 1997, Phoenix residents claim to spot boomerang-shaped UFOs above their homes. (S1, ep 2)
Dozens of witnesses report seeing a fiery object falling through the Pennsylvania sky in 1965. In 1997, Phoenix residents claim to spot boomerang-shaped UFOs above their homes. (S1, ep 2)
On a country Texas road in 1980, a diamond-shaped UFO melts a vehicle below. In 1967, a man in Manitoba encounters a flying disc and reports hearing voices inside. (S1, ep 3)
A Japanese airline crew in 1986 encounter two UFOs en route from Paris to Tokyo. In 1979, a man in Minnesota skids off the road after a mysterious beam of light engulfs his car. (S1, ep 4)
In 1966, a class of Melbourne students spot a UFO and are told never to speak of the incident. A man's car dies in 2009 after he spots a cigar-shaped object in the New York sky. (S1, ep 5)
A teenager sees a mushroom-shaped object appear in the field while feeding his sheep in 1971. In 2000, police officers in Illinois chase a triangular UFO the size of a house. (S1, ep 6)
In 1980, soldiers encounter a luminous craft and dancing red lights in Suffolk. Witnesses report a metallic UFO hovering over water and crashing in Nova Scotia in 1967. (S1, ep 7)
A silent football-shaped object causes grave concern when it's spotted in Maine in 1975. In 1946, a UFO crashes and causes a deafening explosion as it crashes in northern Sweden. (S1, ep 8)
An Australian banana farmer spots a saucer-shaped UFO rising out of a swamp in 1966. That same year in Victoria, a man veers off the road while distracted by lights in the sky. (S1, ep 9)
A policeman hears a loud roar and sees an oval-shaped UFO in New Mexico in 1964. In 1994, a postal worker in Frankfurt spots an aura of light and a luminous object in the sky. (S1, ep 10)
In 1980, an Australian rancher witnesses a hovering UFO that shoots out a black tube-like object. A French biologist is left stunned when he spots a saucer-shaped craft in 1982. (S1, ep 11)
Teens on a Christian retreat spot an object land on a hill, emitting solid beams of light in 1972. In 1989, two Belgian police officers chase a triangular craft across fields. (S1, ep 12)
In 1974, a Saskatchewan farmer reports seeing objects hovering in a field before they vanish into the ether. Connecticut citizens witness strange lights and a giant UFO in 1984. (S1, ep 13)