The UFO Phenomenon

Scientists determine where in the US you are most likely to see a UFO

By T.K. Randall
March 23, 2024

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) UFOs seem to be a hot topic these days and it will come as no surprise that people across the United States continue to report sightings of unidentified objects in the sky on a regular basis.

But if you've never had an encounter and want to see a UFO for yourself, where exactly should you go?

In a new study, researchers at the University of Utah wanted to find out how environmental factors such as cloud cover and light pollution impacted the number of sightings in any given area.

To this end, they analyzed almost 100,000 sightings collected by the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) between 2001 and 2020 and produced a map of UFO hot and cold spots.

The resulting map makes it clear that the western part of the United States sees far more UFO sightings than anywhere else, with the exception of a small section of the north-eastern corner."The West has a historical relationship to UAP - Area 51 in Nevada, Roswell in New Mexico and here in Utah we have Skinwalker Ranch in the Uinta Basin and military activity in the US Army Dugway Proving Ground," said University of Utah geographer Richard Medina.

"Plus, there's a robust outdoor community that recreates in public lands year-round."

"People are out and looking skyward."

This is not to say that the prevalence of reports in the west of the country is necessarily down to alien visitation, however, as the study's goal was to look at conventional factors that influence sightings.

Even so, the map provides an interesting overview of the distribution of sightings across the states.


Map Image Credit: Medina, Brewer et al. Scientific Reports 2023

Source: Science Alert

Tags: UFO