New research ranks Washington as top state for UFO sightings

WASHINGTON — New research ranks Washington as the most likely state for people to spot a UFO.

The team at online jigsaw site https://www.im-a-puzzle.com looked at data from the National UFO Reporting Center to find the total number of UFO sightings in each state as a proportion of 100,000 of its residents.

The research showed that Washington had 88.03 sightings per 1,000 residents or 6,812 total sightings.

“Washington is home to what is often regarded as the first UFO sighting of the modern age, which marked its 75th anniversary in June this year. On June 24, 1947, pilot Kenneth Arnold claimed to have seen a string of nine shiny objects flying past Mount Rainier at impossibly high speeds during his flight from Chehalis to Yakima,” according to a news release.

Researchers also looked at the number of sightings that were reported worldwide each month from January 2000 to December 2021 to find the best month to spot a UFO.

July won, with 603 reports filed during the month on average.

The rest of the top 10 states for UFO sightings are:

2. Vermont – 87.98 sightings per 100,000 residents.

3. Montana – 86.21 sightings per 100,000 residents.

4. Alaska – 83.94 sightings per 100,000 residents.

5. Maine – 81.55 sightings per 100,000 residents.

6. New Hampshire – 80.13 sightings per 100,000 residents.

7. Oregon – 79.04 sightings per 100,000 residents.

8. New Mexico – 73.96 sightings per 100,000 residents.

9. Idaho – 67.13 sightings per 100,000 residents.

10. Wyoming – 66.86 sightings per 100,000 residents.

Methodology: The National UFO Reporting Center’s database was used and sightings as a proportion of each state’s population were calculated. The number of sightings per month was calculated from worldwide reports between January 2000 to December 2021.

Sources: National UFO Reporting Center, United States Census Bureau

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