The term foo fighters was used by Allied aircraft pilots during World War II to describe various unidentified flying objects or mysterious aerial phenomena seen in the skies over both the European and Pacific theaters of operations.

Though foo fighters initially described a type of UFO reported and named by the U.S. 415th Night Fighter Squadron, the term was also commonly used to mean any UFO sighting from that period. Formally reported from November 1944 onwards, foo fighters were presumed by witnesses to be secret weapons employed by the enemy.

The Robertson Panel explored possible explanations, for instance that they were electrostatic phenomena similar to St. Elmo's fire, electromagnetic phenomena, or simply reflections of light from ice crystals.

The mystery airship or phantom airship was a phenomenon that thousands of people across the United States claimed to have observed from late 1896 through mid 1897. Typical airship reports involved nighttime sightings of unidentified flying lights, but more detailed accounts reported actual airborne craft similar to an airship or dirigible. Mystery airship reports are seen as a cultural predecessor to modern claims of extraterrestrial-piloted UFO's or flying saucers.

Reports of the alleged airship crewmen and pilots usually described them as humanoid, although sometimes the crew claimed to be from Mars.[3] It was widely believed at the time that the mystery airships were the product of some inventor or genius who was not ready to make knowledge of his creation public.

On June 24, 1947, private pilot Kenneth Arnold claimed that he saw a string of nine, shiny unidentified flying objects flying past Mount Rainier at speeds that he estimated to be at least 1,200 miles per hour (1,900 km/h).

This was the first post-World War II sighting in the United States that garnered nationwide news coverage and is credited with being the first of the modern era of UFO sightings, including numerous reported sightings over the next two to three weeks. Arnold's description of the objects also led to the press quickly coining the terms flying saucer and flying disc as popular descriptive terms for UFOs.

The hundreds of mysterious New Jersey drone sightings are sparking mounting demands for a more forceful federal response, calls that come as even more sightings are being reported in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

“What is happening is outrageous. Thousands of drones and unmanned aerial systems flying above us, and our government is not telling us who’s operating them and for what purpose,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said a press conference in Staten Island on Friday.

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The statements come as dozens of on-camera sightings have been captured in New Jersey and as concerns for safety and privacy continue to grow. Overnight, 79 sightings were reported across New Jersey alone, a senior official briefed on the drone sightings told NBC News.

The sightings — which occur up to 180 times per night, according to several New Jersey officials — have remained consistent for nearly a month.

No other object has been misidentified as a flying saucer more often than the planet Venus.