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Updated 12:41 pm, Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Think you may have caught a glimpse of a metal, sphere-shaped objected looming in the night sky above? Well, your not the alone.
According to a new UFO reference book, self-published by two UFO experts, California is the top state with the most UFO sightings in the country. California is followed by Florida, Texas, Washington and Pennsylvania respectively. New York came in at 6th followed by Arizona, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio.
The “UFO Sightings Desk Reference: United States of America 2001-2015” is a deep data dive into UFO sightings reported to The National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) from 2001 to 2015, explains author and UFO columnist Cheryl Costa.
She used both databases every week looking for New York sightings for her column in the weekly Syracuse New Times, she said, and started publishing tables for number of sightings in each New York county, shape of UFOs, when they were reported, etc.
According to a new UFO reference book, self-published by two UFO experts, California is the top state with the most UFO sightings in the country.
According to a new UFO reference book, self-published by two UFO experts, California is the top state with the most UFO sightings in the country.
Photo: Lorenz And Avelar/Getty Images
Click ahead to read about some of the Bay Area’s UFO sightings, declassified by the government.
Click ahead to read about some of the Bay Area’s UFO sightings, declassified by the government.
Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, AP
This Feb. 1953 UFO sighting was so widespread that “thousands” reported seeing bright amber and silver lights circling in the sky above San Francisco.
This Feb. 1953 UFO sighting was so widespread that “thousands” reported seeing bright amber and silver lights circling in the sky above San Francisco.
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
But as the San Francisco Examiner wrote the next day, there was a perfectly reasonable explanation: weather phenomena.
But as the San Francisco Examiner wrote the next day, there was a perfectly reasonable explanation: weather phenomena.
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
The Rev. drew this rendering of what he believed he saw.
The Rev. drew this rendering of what he believed he saw.
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
On Sept. 12, a government agent was sent to conduct a follow-up interview with the UFO-sighting reverend.
On Sept. 12, a government agent was sent to conduct a follow-up interview with the UFO-sighting reverend.
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
The 1966 handwritten letter was sent by an electrical engineer in Pasadena who saw an “extremely bright round (or spherical) object at approx. 9 PM.”
The 1966 handwritten letter was sent by an electrical engineer in Pasadena who saw an “extremely bright round (or spherical) object at approx. 9 PM.”
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
A rendering of what one California UFO spotter believed he saw.
A rendering of what one California UFO spotter believed he saw.
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
The letter is not what most people would imagine when they think “UFO sighting.” It’s logical, thoughtful and doesn’t include anything about aliens coming for our bodily fluids.
The letter is not what most people would imagine when they think “UFO sighting.” It’s logical, thoughtful and doesn’t include anything about aliens coming for our bodily fluids.
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
This report is from Feb. 13, 1953 and details the observations of four people on top of Mount Sutro in San Francisco.
This report is from Feb. 13, 1953 and details the observations of four people on top of Mount Sutro in San Francisco.
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
Photo: Project Blue Book, The Black Vault
29th December 1953: An Unidentified Flying Object in the sky over Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia. (Photo by Barney Wayne/Keystone/Getty Images)
29th December 1953: An Unidentified Flying Object in the sky over Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia. (Photo by Barney Wayne/Keystone/Getty Images)
Photo: Barney Wayne, Getty Images
Photo: NBC, NBC Via Getty Images
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo: Gerald Herbert, AP
Photo: Dominion, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo: AP
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo: SUSAN WALSH, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo: NICK UT, Associated Press
Photo: CHRISTOF STACHE, Associated Press
Photo: PIERRE ANDRIEU, AFP/Getty Images
Photo: David McNew, Getty Images
Photo: David McNew, Getty Images
UFO trail sign at Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England (Photo by: Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
UFO trail sign at Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England (Photo by: Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Photo: Geography Photos, UIG Via Getty Images
Rachel, NV, On The Extraterrestrial Highway, Highway 375, Home Of Numerous UFO Sightings And Near Area 51. (Photo By: MyLoupe/UIG Via Getty Images)
Rachel, NV, On The Extraterrestrial Highway, Highway 375, Home Of Numerous UFO Sightings And Near Area 51. (Photo By: MyLoupe/UIG Via Getty Images)
Photo: MyLoupe, UIG Via Getty Images
Rachel, Nevada, Near Area 51, Is Famous For UFO Sightings And Alien Watchers. (Photo By: MyLoupe/UIG Via Getty Images)
Rachel, Nevada, Near Area 51, Is Famous For UFO Sightings And Alien Watchers. (Photo By: MyLoupe/UIG Via Getty Images)
Photo: MyLoupe, UIG Via Getty Images
Photo: STR, AFP/Getty Images
Photo: AFP, AFP/Getty Images
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
This photo taken in December 2006 at the Area 51 exhibit at the Alien Zone in Roswell, N.M., shows a model alien standing outside a crashed spaceship. (AP Photo/Justin Norton)
This photo taken in December 2006 at the Area 51 exhibit at the Alien Zone in Roswell, N.M., shows a model alien standing outside a crashed spaceship. (AP Photo/Justin Norton)
Photo: Justin Norton, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo: AP
Photo: Anonymous, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo: The National Archives, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo: Marko Drobnjakovic, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo: AP
Photo: ERICH KAISER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo: Remo Nassi, AP
Photo: Michael Savage, AP
Photo: Alvin Quinn, AP
This is one of three photos of a supposed UFO taken by Rex Heflin, August 3, 1965, near Santa Ana, Calif. Heflin is an Orange County highway department investigator. (AP Photo/Rex Heflin)
This is one of three photos of a supposed UFO taken by Rex Heflin, August 3, 1965, near Santa Ana, Calif. Heflin is an Orange County highway department investigator. (AP Photo/Rex Heflin)
Photo: REX HEFLIN, AP
Photo: Kurt Strumpf, AP
Photo: Marko Drobnjakovic, ASSOCIATED PRESS
This photograph was taken by a tourist and shows an Unidentified Flying Object, flying over Romanian territory near Cluj town Sept. 24. 1968. (AP Photo)
This photograph was taken by a tourist and shows an Unidentified Flying Object, flying over Romanian territory near Cluj town Sept. 24. 1968. (AP Photo)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo: Associated Press
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Response to those stats was strong, she said. So when her spouse and co-author Linda Miller Costa got the idea of working through the reports to see just how far down they could drill for every state in the country, they started digging. The end result a year later is the 374-page desk reference.
She said there have been more than 120,000 UFO sightings reported from 2001-2015 in the U.S. She didn’t want to give away all the stats (you know, they do want you to get the book) but she said California holds down the top position with almost 16,000 sightings, and Los Angeles County outranks 40 individual states with 3,200 sightings.
Here are the five most recent California sightings according to The National UFO Reporting Center:
- Miramar on March 21, 2017
- Van Nuys on March 19, 2017
- Palm Springs on March 18, 2017
- Riverside on March 17, 2017
- San Diego on March 15, 2017
Her interest in UFOs stem from her personal UFO sightings, Cheryl Costa said, but her drive to write about sightings came from reading a short news story claiming UFO sightings had fallen off. The report suggested UFO were clearly not real since fewer and fewer people were reporting them, she said.
“That didn’t sound right,” she said. “I went out to one of the national data bases and the bar chart (of sightings) goes up like a rocket launch.”
And, she added, the reports were not from clearly crazy people.
“I found that the majority of sighting reports where by people who were very sincere, and it had energized them to find a place to report what they saw,” she said. “They wanted to get this off their chest.”
A couple other trends she noticed were, one, “the people who see the majority of sightings are outside having a smoke, walking the dog or outside smoking walking the dog.” And, two, “there’s a seasonal pattern.” For most of the country, reported sightings begin to climb during spring and summer. In places without notable shifts from winter to summer — Texas, Florida and Arizona, for example — the number of reporting’s stays relatively flat. Basically, she figures, come spring and summer, people are simply outside more.
Jake Ellison can be reached at jakeellisonjournalism@gmail.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/Jake_News. Also, swing by and *LIKE* his page on Facebook. If Google Plus is your thing, check out our science coverage here.
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