Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Updated 15.1.2014 Besides being a title for a Steven Spielberg movie, close encounters of the third kind are the real-life encounters where witnesses observe an alien being, either inside or outside the craft. The term in ufology is CE3. Here are some of the most famous and most researched accounts, in chronological order. Links to various sites and videos - some of the latter may be foreign speaking, but included for an overall view. Abductions not included, but treated separately here.

1950-0424 Italy As 42-year-old worker Bruno Facchini goes to investigate the flashing outside his house in Abbiate Guazzone in Varese, he realizes that what he first thought was a military plane in trouble is in fact an alien craft! Seized with panic, he starts running, but turning back, he sees one of the crew point at him a sort of "photographic apparatus" that he was wearing round his neck, and  he is shot with a beam of light. Hurt but perfectly conscious, Facchini can hear the hum that he had heard right at the start became louder and a moment later the craft rises and vanishes at a fantastic speed into the darkness of the night. - UFO Casebook - UFO EVIDENCE -
1954-1101-0630 Italy  40-year old Rosa Lotti witnesses a landed UFO with two 3-feet tall, and friendly, occupants outside the craft in Cennina. They did snatch some flowers and a stocking from her hands though. Her encounter with the aliens were corroborated by two witnesses - UFO Evidence -

1970-0107-1645 Finland Two skiers see a longish object in the sky at Imjärvi in Heinola, southeast Finland - seen by two other witnesses from two different locations. A bit later the men saw a smaller object -  a round disc - and then a small creature in a lightgreen uniform beside the disc. The humanoid had a black box which radiated light, regularly changing in intensity. Both men suffered aftereffects for months, and one of them claims that he has since become a UFO contactee.  - FUFORA -  UFO Evidence - Wiki(Fin) -

1976-1112-0145 Spain Talavera Air Force Base, Badajoz County. Three Spanish soldiers claim to have met a three meter tall being with phosphor clothes. José Trejo, one of the soldiers, was paralyzed temporarily and fell down. The other soldiers came and shot towards the being with their machine guns. They saw a bright flash, and the being disappeared. Afterwards José Trejo experienced some loss of sight and memory; later he had parapsychological experiences. - FUFORA - Project Paranormal - Wiki -
1977-092x-2300 United Kingdom 62-year old housewife Ethel May Field witnesses a dome-shaped UFO in Parkstone, Dorset, and observes also two humanoids inside it. She protects her eyes from the bright light, and has (therefore?) later trouble with the skin on her palms. - UFO Evidence -
1996-0120 Brazil The Varginha UFO/EBE incident. A series of events involving the alleged sighting and capture by the military of extraterrestrial beings in Varginha, Brazil, preceded by a UFO sighting. One of the EBEs was poorly and easily captured by the search party. Three protrusions atop of it's head, glowing red eyes, long arms, short legs, big feet, and it smelled like ammoniac. There were reports of as many as seven being captured that day. A few weeks after the events Marco Eli Cherese, a 23 year old military policeman involved in the investigation, died. Later the government denied any claims of being involved in the capture of EBEs. - UFO Casebook - Wiki -

2003-0811-0435 Poland Lech Chacinski was driving down the road near Szczecinek when he saw three figures in uniforms similar to that of an astronaut. But they were no astronauts. Chacinski stopped the car, and had the weirdest telepathic communication with the beings who said they were from the "Eight Galaxy." They had come to deliver a message to the inhabitants of Earth: 'we should care about our planet; our water and air. If we neglect our environment, they will cause our destruction'. This area of the encounter is also one where crop circles often appear. - UFO Casebook - UFO EVIDENCE -YouTube(7m10s/Polish) -