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© PNG Merlin ArchiveWhether a close encounter of the third kind actually happened here 64 years ago is still a matter of great debate in Roswell, New Mexico
Have alien space ships visited Earth? Some people insist they've had strange encounters with extraterrestrials. Here are five of the more famous reports of UFO encounters, as reported recently by the MSN news website.

Roswell, New Mexico, 1947: Debris was recovered from a site, in New Mexico, allegedly extraterrestrial, including, some people believed, alien corpses. Officials described the fragments as the remains of a weather balloon. Both the CIA and FBI quickly quashed the rumours, some say too quickly.

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© UnknownAn unidentified object photographed over Niagara Falls in 2007
Tombaugh's telescope, 1949: Clyde W Tombaugh recorded seeing six or eight rectangular lights in the sky above Las Cruces, New Mexico, and on another occasion several green fireballs. Tombaugh was a leading astronomer whose achievements included the discovery of the dwarf planet Pluto.

Carson Sink, 1952: Two senior U.S. military pilots in a B-25 Mitchell bomber reported they had spotted three aircraft of a type unknown to them. These aircraft were flying at least three times faster than their own plane, the pilots reported. The sighting is still officially classified as unexplained.

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© HO, Vancouver SunA flying object is seen on Vancouver Island in this October 8, 1981 photo
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1961: Barney and Betty Hill from Portsmouth claimed they had been kidnapped by aliens. The couple said they had been pursued by a flying saucer while travelling in their Chevrolet Bel-Air. It was the first alleged personal encounter with aliens. The couple said they were subjected to a physical examination, and observed a 3-D 'star map' inside the ship.

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© UnknownMysterious burn marks on the highway outside Area 51 seen in a 1999 photo are signs of a saucer landing, say UFO enthusiasts, but could be the result of a car-engine fire or even a fire set deliberately. Area 51 is tucked away in the Nevada Desert. A cornerstone of American paranoia and strange encounters of the alien kind
Rendlesham Forest, 1980: Britain's most famous alleged UFO event involved the sighting in December 1980 of several unexplained lights near two RAF bases inland of the Suffolk coast. The report gained credence because the witnesses were servicemen on duty. Theories were put forward that the men were seeing the Orfordness lighthouse, but some people still believe an alien craft landed in the area.