Last updated on May 1, 2024

Florida UFO Sightings in 1988

This page aggregates and analyzes all UFO sighting reports made in Florida during 1988.

How many Florida UFO sightings were there in 1988?

  • There were 14 officially reported UFO sightings in Florida in 1988.
  • In 1988, Florida ranked #4 on the list of states with the most UFO sightings for that year.
  • Adjusted for population size, Florida ranks #16 in the list of states with the most reported UFO sightings in 1988, with an average of 0.14 reports per 100,000 residents.

Florida Cities with the most UFO Sightings in 1988

Rank City Number of Reports
1 Miami, FL 2 UFO Reports
2 Venice Beach, FL 1 UFO Reports
3 North Lauderdale, FL 1 UFO Reports
4 Brandon, FL 1 UFO Reports
5 Fort Lauderdale, FL 1 UFO Reports

Florida UFO Sightings Analysis

We analyzed all 14 UFO sighting reports in Florida from 1988 to identify possible patterns and gain insight into the phenomenon:

Florida UFO Sighting Reports in 1988

This is a sampling of 20 Florida UFO reports from 1988, presented as they were submitted other than paragraph breaks added for easier readability where necessary.

You can click the 'Report' link to view the original report along with any photos that may have been submitted to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC).

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Full Report Text:

turning into the street,we saw in front of us a huge yellow globe,it was about 200' ahead. decided to go around the block to get abetter look. the huge bright yellowish unit was 2 to 3 times the size of the house it was behind,it seemed to have a gasous emission toward the bottom of the globe,when i tried to see it from the side it was gone,it could not have taken me more than 10 to 15 seconds to go around the block.

this all took place about 10 years ago we had come to flordia to visit my kids who at that time lived in the weleby part of ft lauderdale, we had left the kids and went to a movie,this all happened when we were returning home that evening.

12/01/88 11:30 PM

UFO Shape: circle

Lasted: 1.5minutes

Report

Miami, FL

Full Report Text:

we decided to report this after watching some ufo tv program with a person having the same experience. my wife was at the balcony and call me to watch some lights in the night sky. the night was clear with many stars but not clouds (only a formation of clouds in the middle of the sky or our panoramic view of the sky).

there were at least 5 light moving in erratic way light trembling (not flashing but moving in zig zag many times and very fast). the light also left some kind of trail after their flight. there was not a beam light from the ground and not a plane or any other flying machines as we know.

the movements were so weird, so fast and so impossible for a airship. then the lights gone behind the small formation of clouds in the middle of the sky and never went out again (as if they stopped their flight behind that small formation of clouds). my wife and i stayed there in the balcony for perhaps 30 minutes but the lights never went out form behind that small formation of clouds.

many days after that my wife told me about a big light in the balcony but sh! e fall sleep normally, like if she was under some kind of pills. the following night i watched the big light and i fall sleep in the same way. i fill a peace and a feeling of normal status and i do not put interes in the big light.

that big light was not a plabe, not the moon, not even a man with a flashlight in the balcony (the most close description to that). it looks like a floating light in the air. ((NUFORC Note: Witness indicates that the date of the sighting is approximate.

PD)).

10/28/88 3:00 AM

UFO Shape: unknown

Lasted: 1 minute

Report

Miami, FL

Full Report Text:

They disappeared behind the only cloud in the sky. My wife and I in our balcony terrace. She was 22 and I was 31.

Around five in the morning. The sky was clear. No clouds except only one small dark cloud in the center of the sky.

Then appear 3 lights in our vision focus (I mean behind buildings). from west to east, with erratic movement. They were not airplanes.

No sound. Very fast pace and erratic up and down movements. Two of the lights were rounded and the third light was like a cigarette.

The three light were yellow. The rare thing was the three went behind the only cloud in the sky and then disappeared. I mean, the lights did not go out from that cloud.

We stand there for about 3o more minutes to see if the lights go out but the lights never go out from that cloud in the center of the sky. ((NUFORC Note: Witness elects to remain totally anonymous. Date may be approximate.

PD)).

10/25/88 5:00 AM

UFO Shape: light

Lasted: 1 minute

Report

Cape Canaveral, FL

Full Report Text:

Large undenible object. 100 feet off the ground. I was right underneth it.

The size and shape of a football field. It was about 10pm. I was camping of sorts on my balcony do to relitives visiting.

While I was looking at the moon I saw a very large object. I just saw the bottom at first as it passed over the apartment building I was living in. I didn't know what I was looking at.

The first thing I thought as I started to see more and more of the bottom of the craft, is that it was a blimp (having never seen a blimp). I noticed no sound because I could still hear crickets and palmento bugs cherping. The wasn't but maybe 100 feet off the top of the building.

Once I saw the entire bottom of the craft it was huge. A massive rectangle in shape, I would say the size of a football field. That is 50 yards in width and 100 yards in length.

It was close enough to see that the craft was made of what appeared to be metal. It had semetrical design that's to say I could see long flat "beams" (like I beams used in construction) they kind of criscrossed over the objects' undersurface meeting in a triangel pattern. In each triangle had it's own semitery a circular indentation and a receded light that was not very visible a sort of green in color.

As it passed completely overhead and I could see the end of the object I was looking for the balloon part of the blimp and it wasn't there, it wasn't until that moment that I realized it wasn't a blimp. The object was thin at Max. 4 feet in depth.

That was when I ran inside screaming there is a UFO outside! I was met with "ya right". By the time I got someone to come outside with me it had moved off so all me and my cousen could see the rear edge of the craft. She said "where is the UFO" I said "it's right there" (pointing at the object as it was moving away) And she said "no it's not" I replied "Do you see something right there?" she says "ya" I replied "That is a UFO" ((NUFORC Note: Date is approximate.

PD)).

07/26/88 10:00 PM

UFO Shape: rectangle

Lasted: 5 min.

Report

, FL

Full Report Text:

The object stayed in the same location and traveled vertically I was driving north on 441in the afternoon. I saw a giant capital M of light above a tree in a field. At times, I stopped and got out of my car to look and others times I would just look back to watch it.

It stayed in the same place for a few minutes, appeared to collapse into a point of light, stayed there a few minutes, and disappeared. I stood watching and then it reappeared above where it was as a point of light. It stayed there a few minutes and disappeared again.

It then reappeared at a higher elevation, stayed for a few minutes, and then disappeared again. It did that 3 times in total. The last time it stayed stationary for a few minutes, disappeared, and then reappeared once more at the original location where it had appeared as a capital M of light.

It stayed there a few minutes and then disappeared. At the time I was a student in Radiology. I was traveling to Gainesville.

No one else seemed to notice it. When I arrived at my destination, I was excited and told people, but they all dismissed me. The next day, I looked in the paper and listened to the news and nothing was ever mentioned.

It was in the afternoon and was a very sunny day. There is no way that no one else saw it. There was plenty of traffic on the same road going both ways.

I never hear anyone describe anything like what I witnessed.

07/15/88 2:00 PM

UFO Shape: changing

Lasted: 20-25 minutes

Report

Jacksonville, FL

Full Report Text:

I saw object but my family did not even though they were with me. I don't remember much since i was 8, but I cam outside and looked up. Flying over head was a triangular shaped white object heading from west to east.

it disapeared oversome trees. Even though I was not alone, only I saw it. ((NUFORC Note: Date may be approximate, although witness does not indicate that fact.

PD)).

07/04/88 9:00 PM

UFO Shape: triangle

Lasted: 4 seconds

Report

Pensacola, FL

Full Report Text:

UFO's that looked like stars moving quickly. My friend and I were looking through a telescope when he saw something he couldn't explain. He told me to look, and when I did, I saw two small lights.

They looked like stars but they were moving in a sideways figure-eight in opposite directions. One making the figure-eight in one direction and the other in the opposite direction. It was a small pattern and they were moving fast.

We went into the house and tried to get our parents to come a look, but they refused. When we came back, they were gone. ((NUFORC Note: Witness indicates that date of incident is approximate.

PD)).

06/10/88 10:00 PM

UFO Shape: light

Lasted: 1 minute

Report

Saint Augustine, FL

Full Report Text:

Hovering Sphere over the ocean My then girlfriend and I were sitting on the beach and talking. My girlfriend looked away out to the water and had a surprised look on her face. I turned to see what she was looking at and there was a sphere that seemed to be about 10 to 20 feet in diameter hovering silently about 10 feet above the water about 500 feet out from the shore.

You could see it's reflection in the water below. It had multi colored lights evenly distributed around its surface. Similar to what a globe would look like if you put a light at each intersection of a lat and long.

It was spinning, but not an any axis - more like a tumble in many different directions - the lights made it easy to see the tumbling effect. After hovering there for about a minute, it sped south down the coast toward Daytona and over the horizon. It was over the horizon and out of site within 10 seconds and moving at a high rate of speed.

But it was completely silent. ((NUFORC Note: Witness indicates that the date of the sighting is approximate. PD)).

06/01/88 9:00 PM

UFO Shape: sphere

Lasted: 2 minutes

Report

North East Orlando, FL

Full Report Text:

My dad and I were traveling on I - 4 heading towards Deltona (Where my parents live) when I heard a whistleing noise that was increasing. I looked out the passenger side of the car and saw a saucer shaped U.F.

O. flying past the car heading towards the ground. My dad, who was driving, said "look at that".

I turned to see hom looking out the top of the windshield of the car and I looked up. There was another U.F.

O. flying over the top of the car, heading towards the ground and over the highway. I remember him saying "There's no engine noise".

The U.F.O.

's were a bright, but not blinding, white light. The one that flew over the car, I could see the underside, which was dark. But I could see rounded shaped objects, about 3 or 4.

Perhaps lights enclosers? The U.F.O.

's then both flew towards the Highway meeting near the ground. Then they BOTH WENT STRAIGHT UP INTO THE DARK SKY, SIDE BY SIDE. They seperated once they got very high into the sky.

One went over to the left and the other went towards the right. There they sat still, real high in the sky. The one on the left, I was able to watch a while, was blinking on and off it's light.

The U.F.O.

's were saucer shaped, and they were of a white light. They whistled when they were traveling at a great speed. It sounded like the front window vent opened of a truck or like the window vents of the older cars of the sixty's.

The whistleing became louder as they went past us. The light coming off the U.F.

O.'s was bright, but NOT a blinding light. I was amazed, to say the least.

My dad to this day will NOT talk about it. The U.F.

O. that went over the car was round and dark when I looked up, but as it came down in front of the car, I was able to then see the sides of it. It also was a white lighted, and saucer shaped.

The two U.F.O.

's then met each other, VERY close to the Highway, in front of us, ABOUT (Approx.) 200 hundred yards, then they shot STRAIGHT UP, side by side, into the sky. They seperated, once they got very high into the night sky.

The one on our left, went to the left and the one on our right went towards the right. I sat there watching the one on the right out the right side of the car for as long as I could see it. It moved around a bit, from side to side, then it sat still.

It looked like a star at that point. It was blinking on and off it's light. We were traveling on I-4, heading East towards Deltona, where my parents live.

We were out side city limits of Altamonte Springs, Florida. I want to say around Lake Mary, Florida when we saw them. I have read many books of U.

F.O.'s since then.

My father still will not talk about it when ever I bring it up, which is very frustrating for me. The U.F.

O.'s were Approx. 40 feet in Diameter.

I was absolutly amazed when they shot straight up. Nothing happened to the car while we observed this. There were other cars on the Highway, besides us.

The cars that were heading West, on the other side, looked like they slowed down a bit when the U.F.O.

's were coming down in front of us. I talked to a Mr. ((name deleted)) about my story once, back in about 1994.

He claimed that he was a U.F.O.

researcher and he knew people that seriously researched U.F.O.

's. I felt really good telling him about it.! I wasn' t met with "yeah right" sort of thing that most people react to.

I have NOT told any one else about it exept my husband and of course my mom upon arriving to my parents house. I know that my dad has not told anyone. I have only gotten him to say that he saw "Something".

I am now 42 years old. I was 31 years old when we saw the U.F.

O.'s in the Fall of 1988. My dad is now in his 70's.

I only want to be contacted through my E-mail address, or by my house mail. I do not think my husband would like for me to be doing this. I did not even tell him about my meeting with Mr.

((name deleted)). I wish not to be contacted by my telephone.

06/01/88 7:00 PM

UFO Shape: disk

Lasted: 5 to 10 minutes

Report

Venice Beach, FL

Full Report Text:

venice beach sighting orange lights at dusk on the beach in Venice Florida, high in the sky, a orange light,moving across sky, stoped in mid flight, the orange light was a honeycomb light, then came on a second honeycomb light below this one at a angle, then a third one come on, and stayed for short time, then each light turned off one at a time,, and dissappeared, it was a cloudy out at time.

06/01/88 6:00 PM

UFO Shape: unknown

Lasted: 5 minutes

Report

North Lauderdale, FL

Full Report Text:

I was in my bedroom which was at the we corner of our home on a canal. I just got home from work and was laying on my bed under the window facing the water, when I saw a bright, color-changing, shimmering light, with a bright spotlight shining in the yard of a neighbor. Dark oval/egg like object that made no noise.

Did not speak of it for over a year, until a neighbor mentioned it half heartedly. When I told her I saw it too, she turned ghost white and fell to the ground crying.

06/01/88 2:00 AM

UFO Shape: other

Lasted: >2 minutes

Report

Tamarac, FL

Full Report Text:

It was a clear night, 2AM and on my way to my parents home. I was traveling West on Commercial Blvd. Turned North, onto, one block East of the Sawgrass Parkway.

(Can't think of the name of that Rd.) As far as I could see, I spotted a tiny dot of bright light as far as my eyes could see to the North. Before I cold take a breath, the UFO skimmed along the top of the tree lined Road.

It made NO sound what so ever. My heart jumped, and I jammed my breaks on. It seemed to travel in a perfectly straight line over the tree tops.

I could ot determine how high the object was. When I turned around after stopping, It was absolutely gone. ((NUFORC Note: Date in 1988 is approximate.

PD)).

06/01/88 2:00 AM

UFO Shape: egg

Lasted: 5 seconds

Report

Live Oak, FL

Full Report Text:

six light in a triangle shape of green color and flying slowly ant just above treetops with no sound. This is the first UFO I saw.I am lucky enough to have seen two.

Me and my wife were traveling to Louisiana to see my Daughter and grand kids.It was around 1 or 2 am on hwy10.Exactly where we were at I didnt notice.

We were to busy talking about what we saw.I was driving along and noticed these lights coming for my right and about a mile away.As I got closer they were crossing hwy10 and I drove under them just as they were above the trees to my left.

I looked out the window and tried to see under them but they were flying so low that they almost touched the tree tops only maybe 50 or less above them and disapeared above the trees.They were 6 lights with 3 each in the shape of a triangle but kind of out of shape not perfectly triangle.They were green like the light on my computer not bright.

No sound with the speed of a helicopter.

06/01/88 1:00 AM

UFO Shape: light

Lasted: 3-5min

Report

Brandon, FL

Full Report Text:

Summary : One evening I looked 100' ahead and 100' high and saw what looked like stadium lights in a vacant field where there was no lighting whatsoever. At apporox. the above date and time I was sitting in my car in front of my girlfriends house.

We were arguing and she was sitting in the front passenger seat yelling at me. I looked out my front windshield and approx. 100' ahead of me and 100' high I saw what appeared to be '3' rows of stadium type lighting.

The lights were all white, but not bright enough that you couldn't look at it. At first glance I thought nothing of it. I blew it off as stadium lighting or some kind of neighborhood lighting.

I then turned back to listen to what my girlfriend was saying. Suddenly, it hit me.There is no lighting in that area.

The only thing in that area is a vacant field. (approx. 1 square acre).

So I quickly turned my head back toward the lights and said, "What is that!?". Before my girlfriend could turn her head to observe it, the lights disappeared. It was as if someone turned off the light switch.

I was frozen with disbelief. I didn't say anything or take my eyes off of! the spot. I didn't even say another word.

My girlfriend kept asking me "what?", "What was it?", "Talk to me you're scaring me.". I didn't talk.

I just slowly got out of my car, walked directly to the spot where I had seen the lights and looked up. NOTHING was there I MEAN NOTHING! I was standing directly below where I had seen the lights and nothing was around me.no poles.

no lights.nothing. I proceeded to tell my girlfriend what I had seen and she blew it off as some sort of stress related hallucination.

However, a couple of nights later we were in her driveway and I was giving her a hug. I had my back to the "SITE AREA" and she was facing it. Suddenly she says, "Did it look like that!?".

I turned quickly, but just as the last time it was gone. Before I could turn my head. She reacted the same way I did.

She was frozen and couldn't speak. She walked over to the same spot as I did and looked up in awe. She said, "I saw it.

" "I saw what you told me about the o! ther day and just when I asked you about it, it disappeared as if someone had flipped the light switch.".What did we see?? Was it listening to us?? Was it trying to monitor our behavior?? For years I have been telling people about what I had seen.

To this day, noone has been able to explain it. This is the first time I have gone public with this. I am extremely credible and didn't believe in UFO's until that night.

I was a Tampa Police Officer for 2 years and Tampa Police Dispatcher for 4 years. In fact I was a Police Dispatcher at the time of my sighting. My girlfriend and I are no longer together, but she was a Deputy Sheriff and is currently a detective for a local security company.

Has anyone else ever heard of this type of UFO? Can anyone ease my conscience?.

02/25/88 9:00 PM

UFO Shape: light

Lasted: 5mins

Report

Florida UFO Sightings From 1988 By Shape

This is a standardized set of shapes a UFO report can be filed under.

Shape / Appearance Sightings % Of Total
Light 4 reported sightings 28.57% of all reports
Unknown 2 reported sightings 14.29% of all reports
Other 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports
Changing 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports
Circle 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports
Disk 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports
Egg 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports
Triangle 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports
Rectangle 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports
Sphere 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports

Florida UFO Sightings From 1988 By Month

This data point is an aggregation of all UFO reports by the month the sighting occured in.

Month Sightings % Of Total
June 7 reported sightings 50.00% of all reports
July 3 reported sightings 21.43% of all reports
October 2 reported sightings 14.29% of all reports
February 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports
December 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports

Florida UFO Sightings From 1988 By Weekday

This data point is an aggregation of all UFO reports by the day of the week the sighting occured on.

Weekday Sightings % Of Total
Wednesday 6 reported sightings 42.86% of all reports
Friday 3 reported sightings 21.43% of all reports
Thursday 2 reported sightings 14.29% of all reports
Tuesday 2 reported sightings 14.29% of all reports
Monday 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports

Florida UFO Sightings From 1988 By Date (Top 5)

This data point is an aggregation of all UFO reports by the date the sighting occured on, limited to the top 5 dates with the most sightings.

Date Sightings % Of Total
06/01/88 6 reported sightings 42.86% of all reports
10/28/88 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports
07/15/88 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports
02/25/88 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports
12/01/88 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports

Florida UFO Sightings From 1988 By Time

This data point is an aggregation of all UFO reports by the time of day the sighting occured during. We took logical 4 hour windows in order to split the day into early morning, morning, afternoon, evening, night, and late night buckets for this analysis.

Time Of Day Hours Sightings % Of Total
Night 20:00 - 23:59 6 reported sightings 42.86% of all reports
Late night 00:00 - 03:59 4 reported sightings 28.57% of all reports
Evening 16:00 - 19:59 2 reported sightings 14.29% of all reports
Early morning 04:00 - 07:59 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports
Afternoon 12:00 - 15:59 1 reported sightings 7.14% of all reports

All Florida Cities with reported UFO sightings in 1988

These are running counts of how many UFO sighting reports were filed per city in Florida, in 1988

City Number of Reports View Reports
Miami 2 UFO Reports Miami UFO Sightings in 1988
Venice Beach 1 UFO Reports Venice Beach UFO Sightings in 1988
North Lauderdale 1 UFO Reports North Lauderdale UFO Sightings in 1988
Brandon 1 UFO Reports Brandon UFO Sightings in 1988
Fort Lauderdale 1 UFO Reports Fort Lauderdale UFO Sightings in 1988
North East Orlando 1 UFO Reports North East Orlando UFO Sightings in 1988
Live Oak 1 UFO Reports Live Oak UFO Sightings in 1988
Tamarac 1 UFO Reports Tamarac UFO Sightings in 1988
Jacksonville 1 UFO Reports Jacksonville UFO Sightings in 1988
Cape Canaveral 1 UFO Reports Cape Canaveral UFO Sightings in 1988
Saint Augustine 1 UFO Reports Saint Augustine UFO Sightings in 1988
Pensacola 1 UFO Reports Pensacola UFO Sightings in 1988

Other Years with Reported UFO Sightings in Florida

These are running counts of how many UFO sighting reports are filed per year in Florida.

Year Number of Reports View Reports
2024 40 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2024
2023 295 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2023
2022 333 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2022
2021 233 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2021
2020 414 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2020
2019 416 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2019
2018 233 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2018
2017 335 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2017
2016 367 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2016
2015 479 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2015
2014 648 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2014
2013 544 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2013
2012 463 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2012
2011 339 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2011
2010 222 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2010
2009 255 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2009
2008 303 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2008
2007 264 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2007
2006 200 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2006
2005 244 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2005
2004 209 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2004
2003 206 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2003
2002 154 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2002
2001 146 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2001
2000 120 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 2000
1999 106 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1999
1998 107 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1998
1997 50 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1997
1996 50 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1996
1995 52 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1995
1994 24 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1994
1993 11 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1993
1992 15 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1992
1991 8 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1991
1990 11 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1990
1989 16 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1989
1988 14 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1988
1987 13 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1987
1986 11 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1986
1985 17 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1985
1984 9 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1984
1983 8 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1983
1982 5 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1982
1981 11 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1981
1980 8 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1980
1979 11 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1979
1978 11 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1978
1977 15 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1977
1976 24 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1976
1975 22 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1975
1974 14 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1974
1973 11 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1973
1972 10 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1972
1971 5 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1971
1970 13 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1970
1969 11 UFO Reports Florida UFO Sightings in 1969