Twenty years after it happened, the Ariel School sighting is still considered one of the most compelling UFO sightings in recent history.

Ariel School is a small elementary in Ruwa, Zimbabwe. In 1994, this remote school gained worldwide notoriety as ground zero for a UFO encounter with 62 witnesses. The story begins on the night of September 14th, 1994, two days before the incident, as the late MUFON field investigator Cynthia Hind recalls:

“Wednesday, 14th September, 1994, was an exciting night for Southern Africa. Round about 20:50 to 210:05 hours, a pyrotechnic display of some magnificence appeared in the almost clear skies of this part of the continent.”

She was referring to a strange event witnessed by hundreds, including scientists and astronomers. While reports vary, most spectators described several flattened craft emitting a trail of fiery ejecta that lingered on the night sky. They all submitted similar drawings of the object in distress.

The next night, the sky remained dark.

Friday morning, at approximately 10:15, the UFOs reappeared, this time in front of 62 schoolchildren. The teachers at Ariel School were in a meeting and the children were playing outside when three silver spheres suddenly became visible in the sky.

They soon disappeared in a flash of light then reappeared in a different position in the sky. After three such displays of cloaking/uncloaking, one of the strange craft began descending and landed in an area covered in rough vegetation, at a distance of about 100 yards.

“Then a small man (approx 1 meter in height) appeared on top of the object. He walked a little way across the rough ground, became aware of the children and disappeared. He, or someone very like him, then reappeared at the back of the object. The object took off very rapidly and disappeared.

The little man was dressed in a tight-fitting black suit which was ‘shiny’ according to one observant girl (11 years of age). He had a long scrawny neck and huge eyes like rugby balls. He had a pale face with long black hair coming below his shoulders.”