Flying saucers. Lights in the sky. Little green men. But that’s just the stuff of science fiction, right – the kind of thing you’d see in some of the 50 best sci-fi movies of all time?
The jury is still out. But for thousands of years, humans have looked to the stars and raised the question: “Are we alone in the universe?” Regardless of whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, the fact remains that thousands of Americans from all walks of life – and all states – claim to have spotted something weird in the skies. The National UFO Reporting Center, a non-profit organization that records and attempts to document possible UFO related-events, has reported over 150,000 sightings since its founding 48 years ago. Even Thomas Jefferson reported witnessing a large red object pass overhead in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, crashing nearby on April 5, 1800. (In our time, these are the cities with the most UFO sightings.)
The topic of UFOs – unidentified flying objects – is becoming more and more mainstream. In July, the House passed a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to set up a secure government system for reporting UFOs. And back in June of 2021, the Director of the Office of National Intelligence published a report titled “Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.” Clearly, the U.S. government is taking UFOs seriously.
If aliens do exist, they seem to like some states more than others. 24/7 Tempo has ranked the all 50 states according to the most sightings of UFOs per 100,000 people, using data from the National UFO Reporting Center’s report index going back to 1998. Population data is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey.
Click here to see the states where the most people see UFOs.
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50. Texas
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 19.59
> Total sightings: 5,786
> Total population: 29,527,941
49. Louisiana
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 23.01
> Total sightings: 1,064
> Total population: 4,624,047
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48. Georgia
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 23.87
> Total sightings: 2,578
> Total population: 10,799,566
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47. Mississippi
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 25.36
> Total sightings: 748
> Total population: 2,949,965
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46. Alabama
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 25.70
> Total sightings: 1,295
> Total population: 5,039,877
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45. Maryland
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 27.83
> Total sightings: 1,716
> Total population: 6,165,129
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44. New York
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 28.18
> Total sightings: 5,590
> Total population: 19,835,913
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43. Virginia
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 29.45
> Total sightings: 2,545
> Total population: 8,642,274
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42. New Jersey
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 29.52
> Total sightings: 2,736
> Total population: 9,267,130
41. Tennessee
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 31.27
> Total sightings: 2,181
> Total population: 6,975,218
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40. Illinois
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 32.37
> Total sightings: 4,102
> Total population: 12,671,469
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39. North Carolina
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 32.80
> Total sightings: 3,461
> Total population: 10,551,162
38. Nebraska
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 34.12
> Total sightings: 670
> Total population: 1,963,692
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37. North Dakota
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 34.32
> Total sightings: 266
> Total population: 774,948
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36. Michigan
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 34.52
> Total sightings: 3,470
> Total population: 10,050,811
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35. Oklahoma
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 35.07
> Total sightings: 1,398
> Total population: 3,986,639
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34. Minnesota
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 35.27
> Total sightings: 2,013
> Total population: 5,707,390
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33. Florida
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 35.58
> Total sightings: 7,749
> Total population: 21,781,128
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32. Kentucky
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 35.73
> Total sightings: 1,611
> Total population: 4,509,394
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31. Ohio
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 35.94
> Total sightings: 4,234
> Total population: 11,780,017
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30. Massachusetts
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 36.34
> Total sightings: 2,538
> Total population: 6,984,723
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29. Pennsylvania
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 36.49
> Total sightings: 4,730
> Total population: 12,964,056
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28. Iowa
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 36.52
> Total sightings: 1,166
> Total population: 3,193,079
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27. Indiana
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 37.94
> Total sightings: 2,582
> Total population: 6,805,985
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26. Kansas
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 38.44
> Total sightings: 1,128
> Total population: 2,934,582
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25. Delaware
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 38.77
> Total sightings: 389
> Total population: 1,003,384
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24. California
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 39.25
> Total sightings: 15,401
> Total population: 39,237,836
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23. Wisconsin
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 39.65
> Total sightings: 2,338
> Total population: 5,895,908
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22. Arkansas
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 39.99
> Total sightings: 1,210
> Total population: 3,025,891
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21. South Carolina
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 41.11
> Total sightings: 2,134
> Total population: 5,190,705
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20. South Dakota
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 41.88
> Total sightings: 375
> Total population: 895,376
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19. Utah
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 43.23
> Total sightings: 1,443
> Total population: 3,337,975
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18. Missouri
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 43.40
> Total sightings: 2,677
> Total population: 6,168,187
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17. Hawaii
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 45.02
> Total sightings: 649
> Total population: 1,441,553
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16. West Virginia
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 48.29
> Total sightings: 861
> Total population: 1,782,959
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15. Nevada
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 51.05
> Total sightings: 1,605
> Total population: 3,143,991
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14. Rhode Island
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 52.66
> Total sightings: 577
> Total population: 1,095,610
13. Colorado
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 52.91
> Total sightings: 3,075
> Total population: 5,812,069
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12. Connecticut
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 53.17
> Total sightings: 1,917
> Total population: 3,605,597
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11. Arizona
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 64.88
> Total sightings: 4,721
> Total population: 7,276,316
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10. Idaho
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 68.12
> Total sightings: 1,295
> Total population: 1,900,923
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9. Wyoming
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 68.24
> Total sightings: 395
> Total population: 578,803
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8. New Mexico
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 74.58
> Total sightings: 1,578
> Total population: 2,115,877
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7. Oregon
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 79.70
> Total sightings: 3,384
> Total population: 4,246,155
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6. New Hampshire
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 81.28
> Total sightings: 1,129
> Total population: 1,388,992
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5. Maine
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 82.35
> Total sightings: 1,130
> Total population: 1,372,247
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4. Alaska
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 84.21
> Total sightings: 617
> Total population: 732,673
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3. Montana
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 87.12
> Total sightings: 962
> Total population: 1,104,271
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2. Washington
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 88.72
> Total sightings: 6,866
> Total population: 7,738,692
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1. Vermont
> UFO sightings since 1998 per 100,000 people: 90.00
> Total sightings: 581
> Total population: 645,570
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