TR-3A Black Manta and TR-3B Astra — who hasn’t heard these names, two of the most widely referenced craft in the global ufology community? Black triangles are reported, described, sighted, photographed, and documented in many parts of the world. Within the community, it is commonly accepted that such aircraft supposedly exist; even their alleged mode of operation and their origin are considered known. But there is also, around the world, a lesser-known, little-explored, and rarely sighted type of black UFO: the so-called “black rectangles.”
These types of UFOs seem to have manifested only recently, as their reports are, interestingly, relatively modern — likely from the 1980s onward.
You’ve probably rarely, if ever, heard someone describe seeing one, but they do exist in the record and have even been photographed. It’s difficult to say much about this type of object, since within the casuistry of close-contact and abduction reports, it virtually never appears — it is only sighted from a distance.
What is curious — and even unsettling — about these objects is their size. They are generally described as extremely large, with some even compared to the size of a football field.
When browsing through the NUFORC database and looking at its gallery, we can become intrigued by certain illustrations — and that’s exactly what happened to me. I noticed that there is a specific type of UFO with very distinct characteristics: they are rectangular and black, some with lights on their lower edges and others without.
But as we delve deeper, we realize that they are not so uncommon after all, although they are rarely captured in images. Below, we will look at some cases in which this singular and little-known UFO appears.
On September 18, 2015, around 10:20 PM, in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, USA, a local resident reported seeing two diamond-shaped objects flying at low altitude over the area. The case, later recorded in the NUFORC database, describes an extremely brief — yet striking — sighting lasting about 10 seconds.
According to the witness, the two objects moved slowly, one following the other. The first displayed bright, phosphorescent-colored lights, while the second followed behind with no visible illumination. Both, however, emitted a strange, very loud sound, unlike conventional jet or propeller noises, which drew the observer’s attention even more.
A few seconds later, the two objects suddenly accelerated and disappeared behind the hills at a speed described as “very fast.”
In 1994, while driving along a main road in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, a woman experienced one of the most remarkable encounters involving a rectangular object ever recorded. The case, later submitted to MUFON (Case #31830), describes the sighting of a gigantic UFO.
According to the report, the witness was traveling along S. Oxford Valley Road with her mother-in-law when she noticed unusual electrical malfunctions: the windshield wiper came loose, and the radio stopped working. She pulled the vehicle into the turning lane, and upon stepping out, instinctively looked up — unaware that she was about to witness something extraordinary.
Above the road hovered a massive, silent, and completely stationary rectangular object. The woman described the UFO as larger than two or three football fields, with what appeared to be windows along its structure. Frightened, she called her mother-in-law, who confirmed that she was seeing exactly the same thing.
The most intriguing aspect, according to the witness, was that no other drivers stopped, despite the object being clearly visible above a busy road and making no sound whatsoever. The UFO remained in place for about ten minutes before suddenly accelerating and disappearing into the sky, leaving only a multicolored trail resembling the undulating movement of a snake.
The witness attempted to follow the object by car but lost sight of it before reaching Morrisville, Pennsylvania.
On November 30, 2018, around 10:30 PM, in the mountains of Seven Devils, North Carolina (USA), a local resident had an extremely brief yet striking encounter with a massive rectangular object. The case was later recorded in the NUFORC database.
According to the report, the man was looking north toward the Hawks Nest ski resort, observing the valley below at an elevation of about 3,600 feet, when something caught his attention: a gigantic black rectangle hovering in the sky.
The object appeared to be approximately 400 meters away and about 150 meters above the valley floor. Its size was impressive — the observer compared it to a football field, but extremely thin, like a “giant iPhone” floating horizontally in the air. Underneath its structure, there were about a dozen evenly spaced lights.
The sighting lasted only a few seconds. Silent, motionless, and without warning, the object shot off at an extraordinary speed toward the east, completely disappearing from view in an instant.
The lone witness described the encounter as remarkable, mainly due to the enormous size and incredible speed of the black rectangle that crossed the North Carolina mountain sky.
They were not only reported but also photographed
Although their reports are not very old and their appearances are not so rare, their captures do seem unusual; nevertheless, they have been photographed
On September 3, 2011, a resident of Round Rock, Texas, USA, had a sighting lasting approximately seven minutes that left him deeply impressed. The object, according to him, was about one mile away and had an unusual shape: a large rectangle in the sky.
The witness stated that he normally does not pay much attention to UFO reports. However, the day before the sighting, he had watched a video of a well-known Christian describing a UFO experience that had occurred decades earlier — something that intrigued him. On the morning of the sighting, he bought the book Majestic, about the Roswell incident, and while reading it, felt an inexplicable urge to look out his apartment window. At that moment, he saw nothing. About ten minutes later, the same feeling prompted him to look again, and this time, something was there.
In the sky, moving slowly from right to left, was a rectangular object as large as — or even larger than — an 18-wheeler truck. It appeared to be about 1,000 feet above the ground, moving completely steadily, with no aircraft nearby. The slow movement lasted about five minutes; then the object accelerated and traveled across the horizon in about two minutes before disappearing.
The witness also reported that, because of the strangeness of the shape and behavior of the object, he took photographs to document it. According to him, something so large and clearly rectangular, flying silently and alone, seemed entirely out of the ordinary.
In August 1987, Joe Clower was driving in Federal Heights, Colorado, with his camera in the car when he spotted a very unusual flying object in the twilight sky. The object was rectangular in shape with lights at all four corners, moving silently while he prepared his camera.
Joe managed to photograph the phenomenon. When the film was developed, he saw the image, but could no longer remember the exact date of the sighting. A friend was with him throughout the photographic event, witnessing the occurrence.
The record remains one of the rare captures of rectangular UFOs, standing out for its unusual shape and the silence of the object in flight.
The image below, very similar to the previous one but still different, is somewhat controversial. I found sources that cite three different dates for its capture: Kanarraville, Utah in 1981, or Kanarraville, Utah on November 30, 1980, and Kanarraville, Utah in 1996.
I believe the last date is the most likely, as it is associated with a full report available on the site AlienDave.com (from the Utah UFO Hunters), provided by the supposed witness, Megan Aldridge.
According to her account:
“I’m not sure if this will help, but I personally saw this object over my parents’ mobile home. It was around 11:30 PM and very dark. The noise was tremendous — similar to the sound of an F-16 reaching supersonic speed, but it seemed like four or five F-16s were circling the house at the same time.
I was out in the garage, polishing some stones, when I decided I needed to see what on earth was making all that noise. That’s when I saw the object, about 45 meters above the trees. It was very large and had two red lights and two blue lights on the underside, one in each corner.
I live close to a Boeing space research and testing facility, so I thought it might be one of their secret projects. After all, real UFOs only make a buzzing sound — if they make any sound at all, right?
Anyway, that’s it. I hope this helps. If you want more information, feel free to get in touch.”
What’s interesting about these types of craft — and I think we can definitely call them that — is their similarity to black triangles. Although described as much larger in some cases, they are also black and silent, with lights at their extremities.
Another curious point is that reports of sightings of these rectangles are relatively modern. Why is that?
The existence of such craft raises intriguing questions. Apparently, they are not associated with close-contact cases or abductions. Additionally, they do not seem to have significant height characteristics, as this is not highlighted in the reports.
So, what are these black rectangles? What are their functions and purposes? Are they remotely controlled? Are they manned? Could they be secret aircraft? We definitely cannot know. There is very little knowledge about these UFOs.
The fact is: they exist and are out there, just like other various types of unknown objects. Their intentions and purposes? Well, we do not know.
Below, I provide a list of reports of these objects submitted to NUFORC:
“Silent rectangular football field sized object flying at about 1,000 feet with 6 groups of lights on bottom and across the stern.”
www.nuforc.org/webreports/025/S25006.html
“I saw a rectangle shape object as big as a football field in the sky over the ocean moving from north to south.”
www.nuforc.org/webreports/062/S62269.html
“The craft looked like a metal football field… completely rectangular in shape, and made no noise.”
www.nuforc.org/webreports/052/S52032.html
“I saw a rectangular football field size object, covered underneath with dozens of colorful lights, gliding over the trees and road.”
www.nuforc.org/webreports/052/S52968.html
“Football-field-sized, soundless, rectangular object with lights on bottom, over northeastern Massachusetts.”
www.nuforc.org/webreports/017/S17759.html
“I was in awe at what I was seeing. This craft was rectangular in shape and had to be the size of a football field.”
www.nuforc.org/webreports/052/S52593.html
“…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.”
www.nuforc.org/webreports/030/S30821.html
“It appeared to me to be a two story rectangle with very large windows on the side of the object. It appeared to be very dark or black in color.
What caught my attention in the short time I saw the object was that the interior of the object was dimly lit up enough that I could see inside the windows I described above. I couldn’t tell much detail other than the interior was massive. I would estimate the total size of the object to be the size of a football field. I make this assumption because it nearly spanned the entire roadway (4 lanes plus a turning lane) as it crossed my path. The strangest thing about my encounter was that as it floated by I noticed movement in one of the rear windows. I can’t say how many total windows there were on the craft. In the one I saw into, it looked as if a person was moving from the inside towards the window to look out in the general direction of me and the police officers car with its flashing lights.”
www.nuforc.org/webreports/040/S40653.html
