1.    When you see a flying saucer (disc, cigar, spheroid, what have you), that's an encounter (close or far) of the first kind.
2.    When you encounter any type of 3-D physical tracings, or remnants, of something apparently not of this world, or this dimension - such as when someone has etched a sketch in your crops or when your cow is mutilated or when you find a piece of chrome off a flying saucer - that's an encounter of the second kind.
3.    And then when you encounter not only a saucer, or a ship, but you also see the entities who are driving said ship, and they maybe wave at you, and you wave back, that's an encounter of the third kind.
4.    And if you get invited aboard, or taken aboard, and have experiences therein, that's an encounter of the fourth kind. 
5.    And finally, let's say you haven't seen a space craft, or its tracings, nor have you seen the occupants of such a craft, nor have you been aboard, but you would like to, and you're not afraid, and you have learned something about what it takes to initiate contact, so you try it - try to initiate contact - and out of the blue, so to speak, contact does indeed happen, (of any of the previously mentioned first to fourth kinds) this is an encounter of the fifth kind.
         The exact number of close encounters in the Bible is impossible to calculate. By the standard definitions of close encounters the Bible records hundreds of encounters. Every time time God appears in or uses a cloud, pillar, throne, chariot, or otherwise described device, angels appear to men, God speaks from the sky, or anomalous action from these vehicles is described; it is an encounter.

            The Big Five Encounters of the Bible

There are five close encounters described in detail in the Bible, several instances of men being transported by or entering into stationary or flying vehicles, many direct encounters with vehicles in the  air, conversations from the sky, or beings on the ground.  The five extended encounters require more than a cursory examination and should each be studied in their entirety.  They are briefly outlined below:

The Greatest Close Encounter in History, The Exodus

         This encounter starts with a conversation from a glowing vehicle on the ground, follows the high-tech
harassment of the reluctant Pharaoh, and Hebrew's flight from Egypt, Moses' entry into the vehicle, and then records
the forty year wanderings of the nation of Israel as it is directly led by aerial guidance.  Scores of descriptions
and encounters with flying vehicles, advanced technology, and space age weaponry are recorded during this journey.  The Exodus section of this site covers the individual instances, but a complete read of the book is worthwhile. 
            The world record for number of witnesses and length of encounter must certainly be held by the "Exodus" event.  While most people know about Ezekiel's "Wheels” and Elijah’s whirlwind, few consider the incredible experiences of those who participated in the exodus from Egypt.  Accepted estimates of the number of Hebrews that left Egypt with Moses put the number at about 1.5 million.  Added to that number are the Egyptian refugees from the disaster that had just occurred, and others following this huge entourage out of a devastated Egypt.  That could swell the number of travelers on the Exodus to between two and three million, being constantly overshadowed, sustained, and led by a huge flying object.  At the beginning of the journey, this massive group of people was saved from the pursuing Egyptian army by this vehicle and fed daily and provided with water for 40 years.  At times this vehicle would halt and hover over this group for months, providing shade during the day and light at night.  The group would not travel if the vehicle was not moving.
            Another little known aspect of the "Exodus Event" is found, not in the book of the Exodus, but in Deuteronomy, "Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years." (Deuteronomy 8:4) and "And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot." (Deuteronomy 29:5).  Amazingly, these verses are saying that the clothes and shoes of those in the Exodus traveling group never wore out in 40 years of constant use.  There are some amazing phenomena described in relationship to UFOs and this anomaly could very well be associated with the constant presence of the guiding and protecting vehicle hovering over them. 
            Two million people walking 10 abreast, with 6 ft between rows would extend for about 250 miles and, every day, those people were fed and given water.  An interesting estimate of just the basic survival needs of such a large group of people gives an interesting perspective on how massive an operation this must have been.  It would require 1000 tons, 2 million pounds of food every day just to ward of starvation and we know from scripture there was plenty to eat.  To do this would require the equivalent of a freight train a mile long to deliver the food every day.  Add to that a bare minimum of 5 million gallons of water per day and that train would stretch to the horizon.  And, this went on, every day, for forty years.  

The Beginning of the 40-Year Exodus Encounter
            The first encounter that Moses has with God appearing directly to him is from the famous account of the strange "burning bush".  He was amazed because what he is is seeing seems to be a bramble on fire but the bramble is not being consumed.  (...behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.) God then begins to speak from inside this glowing bramble-like object....behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed... I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt....And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush.....Exodus 3:2-4 ).  This is similar to the description of another strange object encountered later (And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of  Israel. Exodus 24:17)   It is during this encounter that Moses is given the commission to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. 
            In the 16th Chapter of the Exodus the close encounter begins in the wilderness of Sin.  The people are beginning to question whether they were just taken on a wild goose chase and will die of hunger out in the middle of nowhere.  Yhovah reveals to Moses that he will now begin to feed the people in two ways, by driving wild game into the encampment in the evening and providing bread, manna, in the morning.  As Aaron was telling the people a vehicle appears and that very evening flocks of quail covered the camp and the next morning manna appeared on the ground in quantities more than enough to satisfy everybody's hunger.  This had to happen every day as the manna had to be eaten before the next morning or it would rot, except the double quantity they gathered on the day before the Sabbath, the only day the manna would not appear.  While they were camped at Rephidim Moses is given the power to bring water from rocks. 

A Direct Encounter with Yhovah
            In the 19th Chapter of the Exodus the people experience a prolonged encounter with a great craft about two weeks after the food miracle and warding of an unsuccessful attack by Amalek the chief of an Idumean tribe at Rephidim.  (The defeat of Amalek is a miracle in itself and involves what seems to be Moses using some form of psychokenesis. Exodus 17:10-12)   Yhovah demands that a strict perimeter be established around mount Sanai, where the vehicle is about to land and the people are warned that breaching that perimeter could cause death to humans and animals.  The craft is so huge it causes the million-plus people witnessing to tremble at the bright lights and terrible sounds coming from it.   Moses goes up the mountain and into the vehicle and Yhovah reinforces his warning about the deadly perimeter.  Moses goes back down the mountain, warns the people, and Yhovah begins to speak directly to the people and giving them his commandments from the vehicle.
            These commandments continue from the 20th through the 23rd chapters of Exodus.  In the 24th chapter, after the vehicle has been on the mountain for 6 days, Yhovah calls Moses back up to the vehicle where he remains for 40 days receiving instructions for a mobile tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant and other items from models Moses sees in the vehicle, (verse 40).  Yhovah gives minute details of everything in the tabernacle and the rituals and restrictions to be performed in it and personally writes it all down on stone tablets with his own hand. 

Moses is Transformed, and the Long Journey Begins
            While Moses is gone the attention span of the people proves to be very short and they build a pagan altar, which Moses breaks in anger.  After this discretion is dealt with Moses returns to the vehicle and Yhovah makes him rewrite the edicts and he brings these new tablets to the people.  Moses' face is glowing so intensely after the prolonged meeting with Yhovah that the people are afraid to come near him and he is forced to cover his face with as veil.   Moses oversees the building of the tabernacle and the ark and the vehicle leads the Hebrew nation through the wilderness for the next 40 years.  

Descriptions That Verify a Flying Guiding Vehicle
♦  The escort that accompanies the travelers is called a "pillar of a cloud" by day and a "a pillar of fire" by night.  The word pillar is translated from `ammuwd, pronounced, am-mood; a column as standing; also a stand, i.e. platform. This means that this could either be a column or a platform that had the appearance of a cloud in the daylight and when the sun went down, it lit up. And, it is staying close to the people, in other words, hovering.  When considered in light of the many other descriptions, replacing the word platform where pillar appears seems a more logical choice. 
♦  The platform comes directly between the Hebrews and the pursuing Egyptian army.  (Exodus 14:19)
♦   The platform harassed the Egyptian army. (Exodus 14:24)
♦  The "glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud" that leads the Hebrews. (Exodus 16:10)
♦  The lord ascended on Mount Sinai with great lights beaming into the night sky, shaking the mountain greatly and broadcasting very loud sounds with increasing volume.  (Exodus 19:18 -20, 20:18) 
♦  People were fearful of the vehicle.  (Exodus 20:18)
♦   The platform/cloud descends and hovers. (Exodus 33:9, 34:5, Numbers 12:5) 
♦  The platform/cloud ascends. (Exodus 40:36)
♦  God broadcasts his voice from the platform/cloud. (Exodus 33:9, 34:5, Psalms 99:7)
♦  The people follow the platform wherever it led them and was always with them.  (Exodus 40:36-38, Numbers 9:17-18, 10:34, Nehemiah 9:19)
♦   The cloud provides shade and light.  (Numbers 9:16)
♦  The platform/cloud hovers above the group for days, months and even up to a year. (Numbers 9: 22)
♦  The cloud takes off and lands. (Numbers 10:11-12)
♦  The vehicle protects the people.  (Numbers 14:14)
♦  The platform/cloud scouts ahead for places that the Hebrews will rest. (Deuteronomy 1:33)

Elijah's and Elisha's Whirlwinds and Chariots of Fire

         Elijah and Elisha encounter a great number of chariots of fire in the sky and Elijah is taken up into a chariot of fire by a whirlwind.  This occurs in the face of confrontation with an army pursuing them, which they defeat and take prisoner with the help of this strange fleet.  This can be found in the second and sixth chapters of 2 Kings.

Ezekiel's Whirlwind and Great Fire

        The first and tenth chapters of Ezekiel and other verses describe at least two separate encounters with the vehicle, as well as face-to-face encounters with beings and divine abductions.  The close nature of these encounters provides the most thorough description of the physical devices, brilliance, and material composition of the flying craft of Yhovah.  This can be found in the first and tenth chapters of Ezekiel.

The Most Ignored Close Encounter - The Transfiguration

         The incident commonly called the Transfiguration is an account of an encounter Jesus and three apostles have with a bright hovering craft and two "men" from that craft.  Transfiguration refers to the change of the appearance of Jesus that the apostles witness as he is having this encounter.  The question almost never asked is, what caused this change?  If one examines the entire incident, a rather familiar scenario develops.  Jesus is up on a mountain just before his crucifixion, late at night, and the apostles are awakened from a deep sleep.  There is a bright object overhead and suddenly Jesus turns a radiant white.  Two men appear out of the object and talk to Jesus about his impending death.  These men then are taken back up into the object and a voice is broadcast from the object.  The answer to what caused the change in appearance is a light beam from that glowing object, the beam that transported the two men to and from the ground.  This the same light, "brighter than the sun", that Paul speaks of in Acts 22.  The same effect is seen when a helicopter shines its search light on the ground, everything turns white.  And, the same effect is seen in pictures and movies of encounters with UFOs. The place of the transfiguration was probably Mount Hermon and not Mount Tabor as is commonly thought.  This encounter is described by each of the three Gospel authors, Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36. Forty years after the event Peter recalls it, 2 Peter 1:16-18. 

The Revelation Of John

         From the beginning to the end, the vision of the future given to John is a high-tech, high-flying scenario.  It is his testimony of the end times from the perspective that Jesus shows him, complete with a description of the inside of the command vessel.  John has a front row seat during the conquest of Earth and the defeat of the armies of mankind that Satan has amassed to fight the Second Coming. This can be found in the first chapter of The Revelation.