Confirmed UFO Sighting in Shiloh, Illinois

The confirmed UFO sighting associated with Shiloh, Illinois in 2000 is widely regarded as one of the most credible and consequential unidentified aerial phenomenon cases in modern American history, largely because it involved multiple trained law-enforcement witnesses who observed the event independently while

communicating with one another in real time. The incident occurred in the early morning hours of January 5, 2000, beginning shortly after 4:00 a.m., when a civilian motorist contacted emergency dispatch to report an unusual object in the sky over southern Illinois. What followed was an extended, multi-jurisdictional observation that unfolded across several towns in St. Clair County,

including Shiloh, Lebanon, Millstadt, Dupo, and nearby Highland, and lasted for more than an hour as the object moved deliberately across the region. Police officers responding to the calls described an enormous, silent craft unlike any conventional aircraft. Several officers, including those from the Shiloh Police Department, reported seeing a large triangular or arrowhead-shaped object with three intensely bright white lights positioned at its corners and, in some accounts, a red or amber light near its center. The object was consistently described as flying at an unusually low altitude,

often estimated between several hundred and fifteen hundred feet, yet producing no engine noise, rotor sound, or jet exhaust. Officers noted that it appeared to glide slowly, sometimes hovering or moving at walking speed, before suddenly accelerating and repositioning itself in the sky with ease, behavior that did not correspond to known civilian or military aviation capabilities. One of the most frequently cited witnesses was Officer Craig Stevens of the

Millstadt Police Department, who observed the object for an extended period and described it as massive, dark, and sharply defined against the night sky. Stevens attempted to photograph the object using a Polaroid camera from his patrol car, but the extreme cold and the limitations of the camera technology at the time resulted

in images that failed to capture clear detail. Nevertheless, dispatch logs and radio recordings documented officers tracking the object’s movement in real time, relaying its direction and altitude as it appeared to travel along a triangular path between communities, an aspect of the case that later contributed to the nickname “the St. Clair Triangle.” The proximity of Scott Air Force Base added another layer of intrigue to the incident.

Dispatchers contacted the base during the sighting to inquire whether any military aircraft were operating in the area, and base officials reportedly stated that no flights or exercises were underway that could account for the object. Radar confirmation was never publicly produced,

and no official explanation was issued that satisfied either the witnesses or later investigators. The absence of a conventional explanation, combined with the consistency of the officers’ descriptions, led the National Institute for Discovery Science, founded by astronaut Edgar Mitchell, to conduct a formal investigation that included detailed interviews and analysis of police reports and recordings.

Over time, the Shiloh sighting entered popular culture and regional folklore, becoming one of the most frequently cited examples of a “black triangle” UFO in the United States. The incident inspired Sufjan Stevens’ song “Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois,” which helped introduce the case to a broader audience outside UFO research circles. In Shiloh itself, a small roadside monument commemorates the event, boldly referring to it as a confirmed UFO sighting, reflecting the confidence many locals place in the firsthand

testimony of their police officers. Despite decades of speculation involving experimental aircraft, atmospheric phenomena, or misidentified conventional planes, the event remains officially unresolved. The Shiloh UFO sighting endures not because of dramatic photographic evidence, but because of the calm, corroborated, and contemporaneously recorded observations of those trained to observe and report unusual activity, leaving it firmly embedded in the canon of credible UFO cases.