I saw a UFO, relatively close, back in 1974.
It was about 100 yards away, flying maybe 50 feet above the ground, very bright, and totally silent. My dad was with me. We both saw it.
It flew across our path, at about maybe 50 MPH. Large, clear open space with no obstructions.
As it passed us, from right to left, and as it neared a busy road (Commercial Blvd in Fort Lauderdale) it accelerated and rose into the sky. We watched it until it disappeared into the clouds, which it clearly lit up as it passed through them.
Was it alien? Experimental? Foreign? I haven’t the faintest idea.
I know what it wasn’t...it wasn’t a helicopter or any other conventional aircraft. It flew way too steady and straight to be ball lightning.
Unidentified Flying Object.
Up your meds.....
The sightings have been experienced in prior centuries. Do a web search on 18th century UFO sightings. They read very much like the reported sightings of our modern times.
Charles Fort first noticed the pattern of the sightings from reading historical accounts in newspapers and journals. Fort made the astute observation that no matter how persistent or convincing the experience was people would automatically deny it.
https://science.howstuffworks.com/space/aliens-ufos/ufo-history7.htm