Hostile or Just Hazardous? Examining UFO Encounters That Harm

For as long as people have looked up at the sky, they’ve wondered whether we’re alone. UFO sightings have fuelled that curiosity for decades, with reports ranging from distant lights to close encounters that leave lasting effects. Some of these cases suggest a level of interaction between unidentified objects and humans—encounters where the presence of a UFO results in physical harm. Whether it’s radiation-like burns, unexplained illness, or something more severe, the question is the same: Are these encounters intentional acts of aggression, or are humans simply caught in the crossfire of advanced technology we don’t understand?

In 1977, the small Brazilian island of Colares became the focus of one of the most alarming UFO waves in history. Residents reported strange lights in the sky—craft that emitted beams strong enough to leave burns, puncture marks, and symptoms like nausea and weakness. The phenomenon became known locally as “Chupa Chupa” (sucker-sucker), with numerous people seeking medical treatment. The situation escalated to the point that the Brazilian Air Force launched Operation Saucer, a classified investigation into the events. Declassified documents from the operation reveal efforts to document the encounters, including photographs and detailed witness statements, though no unusual phenomena were officially confirmed.

The scale of the injuries suggests hostility. If this was nothing more than an accidental interaction, why did it affect so many people? Yet, some researchers believe the UFOs weren’t attacking at all, but instead collecting biological data—possibly scanning or extracting something from their targets, with the physical effects being unintentional. Some reports even suggested the beams avoided certain individuals, which raises the question of whether this was a controlled effort rather than a random event. There are limited medical records directly linking the injuries to UFOs, but for those who experienced it, the intent hardly matters. Whether deliberate or not, the fear was very real.

Not all reports of harmful UFO encounters come from civilians. In May 1951, during the Korean War, Private First Class Francis P. Wall and his regiment saw a glowing orb hovering over a village near Chorwon, South Korea. When they fired at it, the object didn’t react, instead emitting a pulsating blue-green light. Almost immediately, the soldiers felt a burning, tingling sensation, as if something was penetrating their skin. Days later, many of them fell ill with symptoms resembling radiation poisoning, including high white blood cell counts and gastrointestinal distress.

This case is particularly strange because the UFO never actively attacked—it simply hovered, emitted light, and left. Could the soldiers have been exposed to an unknown energy field, possibly something linked to the craft’s propulsion or scanning technology? Researcher Richard F. Haines noted that their symptoms mirrored radiation exposure, a pattern seen in other UFO cases, including reports from Soviet and American military personnel during the Cold War.

Skeptics argue that the soldiers could have fallen ill from contaminated water or wartime stress, and with no official Project Blue Book record of the event, there’s no military documentation to back up their claims. But considering the number of reports involving similar symptoms, the idea that these illnesses were simply battlefield-related becomes harder to accept.

Some cases are even harder to explain. On December 29, 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Vickie’s grandson, Colby, were driving through East Texas when they encountered something completely unexpected. A diamond-shaped UFO hovered over the road, emitting intense heat. As they stopped to watch, military helicopters surrounded the object, seemingly escorting it. The trio quickly realized something was wrong—Betty, who had stepped out of the car for a better look, began feeling ill almost immediately.

In the following days, all three suffered from severe burns, nausea, and symptoms consistent with radiation exposure. Betty’s condition was the worst, requiring hospitalisation. Their attempts to sue the U.S. government, believing the military had been involved, were dismissed due to lack of evidence. To this day, the case remains unresolved.

Was the heat a byproduct of propulsion technology, or was this an intentional act? The presence of helicopters suggests military involvement, but what exactly they were dealing with remains a mystery. Philip J. Klass, a well-known skeptic, argued that the witnesses may have misidentified a military test aircraft, but the severity of their symptoms and the sheer number of helicopters reported raise doubts that this was just an everyday test flight.

Many encounters with UFOs leave witnesses shaken, but few can compare to abduction cases, where people claim to have been taken against their will. These reports often follow the same disturbing pattern—being immobilised, transported to an unfamiliar location, subjected to medical examinations or procedures, and then returned with fragmented memories. Unlike the Colares, Korean War, or Cash-Landrum cases, where harm could be seen as unintentional, abductions involve direct interference with human beings, making them harder to dismiss as accidental.

Some abductees recall terrifying experiences, while others describe encounters that were more clinical, or even peaceful. The inconsistency suggests that either different groups are responsible for these events, or that the motivations behind them vary. If some UFOs are simply passing through and humans are being affected by accident, then what does that say about cases where people are deliberately taken?

There’s a pattern across many of these cases—UFOs appear, emit energy in the form of light, beams, or heat, and humans suffer the consequences. The natural response is to see these encounters as hostile. But what if that isn’t the case?

Imagine a scientist studying animals in the wild. A researcher might use tracking devices, tranquillisers, or other tools that could unintentionally cause distress. The intent isn’t to harm, but the animals experiencing it don’t know that. If UFOs belong to a more advanced civilisation, their technology—whether it’s for scanning, propulsion, or something beyond our understanding—might simply be overwhelming to human biology.

The Colares beams may have been part of a biological data collection, not an attack. The glowing orb over Korea may have been observing the battlefield, its emissions affecting soldiers by accident. The Cash-Landrum craft may have exposed witnesses to something it wasn’t meant to. But abductions don’t fit this pattern. Being taken against your will, experimented on, and returned suggests something far more deliberate—and if some of these encounters are hostile, it raises a bigger question about what’s really going on.

Some UFO encounters seem to be nothing more than a byproduct of advanced technology interacting with an unprepared species. Others, particularly abductions, suggest something more sinister. The Colares incident’s scale, the Korean War’s military backdrop, and the Cash-Landrum case’s physical effects all point to encounters that caused real harm, but whether they were attacks or accidents is still up for debate.

If UFOs are piloted by an intelligence more advanced than ours, the question isn’t just whether they mean us harm, but what their true intentions are. Are we subjects of study, unintended casualties, or something else entirely? Until we have answers, we remain in the dark—watching, questioning, and waiting.