This is a list of alleged sightings of unidentified flying objects or UFOs in Albania.
1907
The first documentation of a UFO encounter in Albania is found in the diary of Mihal Grameno. Grameno was a distinguished journalist, writer, and activist of the patriotic and democratic movement, hailed as a hero of the people. He fought alongside the guerrilla group of Çerçiz Topulli during the years 1907–1908. In his book "The Albanian Uprising," Grameno recounts his memories of the long and difficult journeys of Çerçiz's fellow fighters through the mountains, including a strange incident. "One night, while the fighters of Çerçiz were stationed at the top of a high mountain, a shiny object flew in front of us, stood suspended in the air for several minutes, and then disappeared," writes Grameno. As airplanes were still in their early stages at that time, it is unlikely that this is what he witnessed. It also could not have been a meteor or a comet since they are known to fall immediately and not hover in the air.
8 July 1933
In 1933, a list of abnormal reports was addressed to the Prefecture of Milan, mentioning an unusual incident that occurred on 8 July 1933 in the sky of Vlorë. It was reported that two airplanes changed direction in a non-normal way for the technology of the time.
18 July 1947
An FBI report from July 18, 1947, states that unidentified flying objects (UFOs), also known as "saucers," were observed in various locations around the world, including Mexico City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Halifax, Newfoundland, Paris, Milan, Bologna, Yugoslavia, and Albania.
January 1963
In January 1963, residents of the village of Kallamishtëz in the Kurvelesh area reported seeing a bright object in the sky. Albanian authorities attempted to calm the population by telling them that what they had seen was not a UFO, but rather a new model of a jet plane being used by the Albanian Air Force.
1969
Ilir Malindi a lawyer by profession, who was born in Skrapar marked in his memories that he personally experienced an incident in the Pirogoshi Canyon, above Çorovodë, in 1969. After exploring the famous cave in this area, when they were returning to the city, they were surprised by two luminous objects that were circular in shape and reflected heavily in the depths of the Pirogoshi Canyon. They continued to illuminate for a minute, writes Malindi in his memories, and then abruptly broke away, disappearing rapidly into the sky. Many people in the area and in Çorovodë had also seen them, and there was extensive discussion at that time. At the time, they concluded that it could have been some NATO missile.
1 August 1990
Gëzim Dapi, an environmental engineer born in Tirana, recounts a strange event that happened to him during the summer of 1990 while serving in the military in Shkodër.
"In the summer of 1990, I was serving my mandatory military service in the village of Bardhaj in Shkodër. My military unit was responsible for anti-aircraft defense. We were all trained to identify different types of planes during the day and night, and our unit had military technology tools that could distinguish planes at close and far distances. On the night of August 1st, I was on duty.
At around 2:30 in the morning, a series of lights (100-150) arranged in a strange pattern, resembling the shape of a diamond and about 20 meters in size, appeared in the sky at high speed with very little noise, similar to the sound of a flock of birds. It was not an airplane or any other flying object that we knew of. Moreover, it had a very high speed and made very little noise."
Gëzim reported this strange event to the central operator of the battalion at the time. There, he learned that he was not alone.
"Five other soldiers from different anti-aircraft units who were on duty at that time had reported the same thing to me. The next day, officers asked us about it, but no city or radar in Albania had identified it, except for us soldiers who saw it with our own eyes. It was not given much importance then because it was just after the opening of embassies, and other issues were the order of the day. Two months later, the newspaper "Zëri i Rinisë" published this event, but not in detail."