The year is 329 BC Alexander the Great leads his army to conquer the known world. While preparing his army to cross the Indus River to attack the Indian army, Alexander and all his troops watch in awe as two "great shining silver shields breathing fire around the edges" appear to emerge from the sky. These two "shields" repeatedly charged at his army until the elephants, horses and men-of-war all panicked and refused to cross the river where the horrendous incident occurred. The two “flying shields” disappeared in the sky as quickly as they had appeared. Seven years later, while attacking a Venetian city in the eastern Mediterranean, Alexander and both armies on both sides of the conflict witness the materialization of two objects in the sky. Suddenly, one of the objects fired a beam of light at the city walls, reducing them to dust. The objects disappeared and Alexander's army easily captured the city without the walls (Sitchin 4-10). Most historians would consider these two incidents to be false and dismiss them entirely. But why would the ancients bother to document these events if they never actually happened? The answer is: they wouldn't. The truth is that the events experienced by Alexander the Great and his armies were not unique. There are countless accounts from the ancient world of objects appearing and disappearing in the sky (Sitchin 21). Many of these reports mirror modern accounts of UFO sightings. Obviously, extraterrestrial encounters are not a modern phenomenon. They have existed since the time of the first civilizations on Earth (Sitchin 58). All recorded accounts of extraterrestrial encounters throughout human history can be classified into one of eight categories. The first of ...... half of the paper ...... or coincides with a close encounter of the second kind (Kean 266) . Finally, an encounter of the eighth kind occurs when an unidentified flying object is spotted near or near a military-government vehicle. This type of encounter is in accordance with an encounter of the first type which states that the sighting of any unidentified flying object is considered a close encounter of the first type (Kean 267). Reports of extraterrestrial encounters have been circulating since the dawn of human civilization. . Some cultures considered extraterrestrials to be their gods (Sitchin 59). Many legends and myths originate from sightings of unidentified flying objects. In ancient times, experiencing a close encounter was a casual, mystical, and at the same time terrifying experience. Today, all close encounters recorded throughout human history can be classified into one of eight types.