Case file · Non-fiction & research literature
Hynek's close-encounter classification
The scheme from 'The UFO Experience' that sorted reports into distant sightings and close encounters of the first, second and third kinds.
1972 CE · 42.05, -87.68 · status: account
The account
Close encounters of the first kind are sightings at close range, the second kind leave physical effects, and the third kind include reported occupants; later writers added fourth (abduction) and further kinds. The terms became part of everyday language through Spielberg's 1977 film, on which Hynek advised.
The sceptical view
A taxonomy organises reports but says nothing about their cause; the closer and stranger categories also rest most heavily on single-witness testimony.