unidentified flying object

English

An unidentified flying object photographed in Belgium in 1990.

Etymology

The phrase is usually attributed to Edward J. Ruppelt who coined it as a replacement of the terms flying saucer and flying disk.

Noun

unidentified flying object (plural unidentified flying objects)

  1. Anything not readily explainable appearing to move through or be suspended in the air, primarily used to refer to objects that seem to be at least of small familiar aircraft size. Abbreviated UFO.
    The lights seen over the city last night, originally termed unidentified flying objects, turned out to be spotlights from a car dealership reflecting on low clouds.
  2. (colloquial) An alien spacecraft. More commonly called a UFO.

Synonyms

Translations

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