UFO

American  

[yoo-ef-oh, yoo-foh] / ˈjuˈɛfˈoʊ, ˈju foʊ /

abbreviation

• UFO's,
  plural
• UFOs
  plural

1. unidentified flying object: any unexplained moving object observed in the sky, especially one assumed by some observers to be of extraterrestrial origin.

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UFO British  

/ ˈjuːfəʊ /

abbreviation

1. unidentified flying object

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UFO ¹ Cultural  

1. The abbreviation for u nidentified f lying o bject. Sometimes referred to colloquially as “flying saucers.” Most UFO sightings have prosaic explanations; there is no hard evidence that extraterrestrial beings are visiting Earth.

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UFO ² Cultural  

1. An abbreviation for “U nidentified F lying O bject.” Often described as “flying saucers,” some UFOs are believed to come from other planets or galaxies and thus support the idea that human beings are not the only form of intelligent life in the universe. Few scientists agree.

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Usage

See UAP.

Etymology

Origin of UFO

First recorded 1950–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

UFO

And it came together pretty quickly,” Shepherd said of the lineup, which includes Floating Points, Four Tet, Ben UFO, Avalon Emerson, Theo Parrish and more.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

A woman I met during a UFO tour said she had signed up for a “healing chamber” experience from a vendor that also offered telekinetic spoon-bending lessons.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

Submitted to the US Air Force shortly afterwards, the footage later became one of the visual cases reviewed by Project Blue Book, the Air Force's UFO investigation programme, which ran from 1952 to 1969.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Drawing on Martin Heidegger’s phenomenology, he defines a UFO sighting as the sort of sense impression that happens “when the heavens break down and stop working.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

If their UFO keys fall off the console—boom!—instant arm.

From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson