From Kendall Jenner to Shaquille O'Neal, six famous people who claimed they saw UFOs

The question of whether we are alone in the universe have kept philosophers and scientists intrigued since time immemorial. Today, too, the search for life outside Earth continues, but we have yet to find proof of extraterrestrial life hiding somewhere in the vastness of space. Closer home, however, there have been numerous instances when people have claimed to have had encounters with Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), with many of these reports coming from celebrities and household names. Here are a few such accounts.

Back in 2015, Khloe Kardashian and Kendall Jenner took social media by storm by making an otherworldly claim. Taking to Twitter (now X), Kardashian initially tweeted about spotting some glowing orbs in the skies across Southern California, from Los Angeles to San Diego. Later on, Jenner also supported the claim as she wrote, “Khloe and I are freaking out right now over this UFO situation.” As the posts gained traction, the U.S. Navy dismissed the alleged alien origins of the lights reported by Kardashian and Jenner. They explained that the lights were a result of a planned Trident II (D5) missile test. However, despite the clarification, Kardashian remained skeptical and wrote on the platform, “Of course they are because the government doesn't want to admit that we are not alone.”

Fans are used to watching Aaron Rodgers dominate the football field. But the NFL legend had quite an experience when he saw what he believed was a UFO. Speaking in an interview with Pete Holmes on the ‘You Made It Weird’ podcast in 2016, the NFL star narrated an incident from February 2005. Rodgers explained that he was staying in rural New Jersey the night before he was scheduled to travel into New York to film an appearance for ESPN’s Cold Pizza. That night, the NFL star heard a siren in the distance. As he went outside to investigate, Rodgers saw something that he could never forget.

Speaking to Holmes, Rodgers said, “It was a large orange, left-to-right-moving object. Because of the overcast nature of the night and the snow, you couldn't make out ... it was behind the clouds we were seeing, but it was definitely large, moving from left to right.” The Super Bowl champion also claimed to have heard fighter jets immediately after the incident. This made his belief stronger that what he saw might be a UFO. Rodgers also narrated the story later with Pat McAfee.

Back in 2021, Shaquille O'Neal sat for a conversation with Jimmy Kimmel for his show 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' During the candid conversation, Shaq claimed that he spotted a UFO in Madera, California, in 1997. He shared that he went out for a double date, and when returning home from a video rental store, they spotted a 'flying saucer'. "In Madera, California, and right when we passed the fairground, I could swear I saw a flying saucer come down with all the lights, and it was spinning, and then it took off," he stated. He further shared with Kimmel, "We all looked at each other, and it was like, I know that it was a UFO. I don't care what anybody says."

From his childhood, guitar legend Jimi Hendrix took a deep interest in science and extraterrestrials. He was so intrigued by the sci-fi hero Flash Gordon that he became a massive fan of the actor who played Flash, Buster Crabbe, and went on to adopt 'Buster' as his nickname.

As a child, Hendrix often doodled UFOs in his school books, and he also claimed to have encountered one in later years. "I believe in UFOs... I’ve seen them... I’ve been receiving transmissions", said Hendrix years later, as per Classic Rock. He shared how one night, he and his brother Leon spotted a UFO from the back window of their house in Washington State.

Keith Richards has always had a lot of interest in the topic of aliens and UFOs. He even believed that his estate in West Sussex attracted visitors from beyond Earth. Back in 1968, the legendary Rolling Stones guitarist told Melody Maker that he had seen more than one extraterrestrial being. The music icon also speculated that UFOs could be linked to the origins of humanity.

Richards told Melody Maker, “I've seen a few, but nothing that any of the ministries would believe. I believe they exist - plenty of people have seen them. They are tied up with a lot of things, like the dawn of man, for example. It's not just a matter of people spotting a flying saucer... I'm not an expert. I'm still trying to understand what's going on."