TERMIUM Plus®

The Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic data bank.

FLYING OBJECT [3 records]

Record 1 2025-03-14

English

Subject field(s)
  • Interplanetary Space Exploration
  • Surveillance, Detection and Reconnaissance (Military)
DEF

[An] aerial object ... not readily identifiable to the observer.

CONT

The pilot reported seeing a UFO flying over Kansas.

OBS

The terms "UFO" (Unidentified Flying Object) and "UAP" (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) refer to the same concept but differ in scope and modern usage. "UFO" traditionally refers to any object in the sky that cannot be immediately identified. The term has long been associated with extraterrestrial spacecraft in popular culture, though it technically encompasses any unexplained airborne object. "UAP", on the other hand, is a more recent term adopted by government and scientific agencies to describe unexplained aerial events without the extraterrestrial connotations associated with "UFO."

French

Domaine(s)
  • Exploration interplanétaire
  • Surveillance, détection et reconnaissance (Militaire)
DEF

[...] objet [...] aperçu dans l'atmosphère et dont les témoins n'ont pu identifier la nature.

CONT

[...] l'acronyme «ovni» [...] désigne des phénomènes vraisemblablement matériels, observés à une distance variable du sol, et dont la nature n'est pas (encore) déterminée. Rien de nécessairement extraterrestre [...]

Spanish

Campo(s) temático(s)
  • Exploración interplanetaria
  • Vigilancia, detección y reconocimiento (Militar)
OBS

objeto volador no identificado; objeto volante no identificado; ovni: El término "ovni", acrónimo de "objeto volador/volante no identificado", ha pasado a ser un sustantivo común, por lo que lo adecuado es escribirlo enteramente con letras minúsculas. [...] Aunque en su origen esta voz era un acrónimo, una sigla que puede pronunciarse como una palabra, ya se ha incorporado al léxico común del idioma y hoy se escribe con todas las letras en minúsculas. [...] Sobre el plural, cabe añadir que, mientras son siglas, lo adecuado es no pluralizar en su forma escrita el término en sí [...] Sin embargo, cuando [las siglas] están ya lexicalizadas, al pasar a ser sustantivos comunes, forman el plural de acuerdo con las normas generales del español ("ovnis", "pymes", "láseres").

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Record 2 2019-07-09

English

Subject field(s)
  • Organizations, Administrative Units and Committees
  • Astronautics
OBS

The Shag Harbour Incident Society is a proudly independent organization [embodying] individuals who believe that [Shag Harbour's] local history, chiefly the 1967 UFO [unidentified flying object] sighting, should be cherished and made available to the general public. The organization was formed in the fall of 2006 with the goal of acquiring a permanent location to display the accumulating information collected on the mysterious UFO that landed in the harbour [in 1967].

OBS

UFO: unidentified flying object.

Key term(s)
  • Shag Harbor Incident Society
  • Shag Harbor UFO Incident Society
  • Shag Harbour unidentified flying object Incident Society
  • Shag Harbor unidentified flying object Incident Society

French

Domaine(s)
  • Organismes, unités administratives et comités
  • Astronautique
OBS

UFO : unidentified flying object (objet volant non identifié (OVNI)).

Key term(s)
  • Shag Harbor Incident Society
  • Shag Harbor UFO Incident Society
  • Shag Harbour unidentified flying object Incident Society
  • Shag Harbor unidentified flying object Incident Society

Spanish

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Record 3 2007-10-18

English

Subject field(s)
  • Emergency Management

French

Domaine(s)
  • Gestion des urgences

Spanish

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