An interactive map of 15 years of UFO sightings

[The Straight Story]

An interactive map of 15 years of UFO sightings

In the past 15 years, the Davenport, Wash.-based National UFO Reporting Center has collected more than 30,000 reports of UFO sightings through its hotline and Web site. The following three maps visualize that rich history.

The first plots every sighting as a small yellow dot, with lighter colors representing a higher density of reports.



The second map plots the reports week by week—just click on an icon to read a description of the sighting. In many cases, several people report what appears to be the same incident. For example, there was a huge cluster of UFO spottings in the Northeast on Sept. 19, 2009. (NASA launched a rocket experiment in Virginia that night.) Astronomical events are often misidentified as well, such as in the third week of November 1999, when several people reported seeing a UFO in the Midwest. It was the same night as the Leonid meteor shower. Reports also spike in the first week of July.

http://www.slate.com/id/2278314/

[FSogol]

1. That's a lot of weather balloons.

:hi:

[DearAbby]

2. Swamp gas

:wave:

[shraby]

3. Seems swamp gas is pretty prevalent throughout the country.

[TalkingDog]

18. Contrails.Venus, Weather Balloons, Ice Crystals, Atmospheric Effects n/t

[MrMickeysMom]

4. Holy shit... I ought to visit my brother more often...

I see Greene, NY has reported as many as Monroe, FL (over 30 per 100k).

You sure can see the stars from there.... I just wish I'd see one of these things just once.

[SidDithers]

5. That's an awful lot of crazy...nt

Sid

[apocalypsehow]

6. +1. n/t.

[Octafish]

9. What a profound thing to say.

People who report things you can't explain aren't necessarily crazy. Who knows? They may be interested in learning something new.

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[apocalypsehow]

23. "learning something new" - Like...what, exactly?

:shrug:

[surrealAmerican]

10. It's not crazy to see something you can't identify.

It is crazy to assume it's some sort of alien invasion; but we're not talking about "flying saucers", we're talking about UFOs.

[FLPanhandle]

11. +1

Of course it's only crazy if someone is thinking it's aliens.

Any pilot or sailor will know that looking at something without any frame of reference like a sky or sea, you'll see lots of things that don't make much sense. However, that's the optical effect of the lack of reference. Not little green men.

[GoneOffShore]

16. Yes it is.

And the beat goes on.

Andrew Wakefield supporters will be checking in soon.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

7. I haven't seen any

[HysteryDiagnosis]

8. Something to think about

[Still a Democrat]

12. Yet not one photograph of an alien vessel

And if it's of this world, it's something someone couldn't make out - big deal.

[AsahinaKimi]

24. consider the fact that

even if someone were to photograph a real space ship, there would be someone who would find a way to call it PHOTOSHOPED. So, whats the freaking point:

:shrug:

[WhiteTara]

13. Venus is often mistaken for a UFO n/t

[jimlup]

14. Er eh, that's basically the US population density map

Or, it could also be the earth as seen from space at night showing the city lights.

[Octafish]

15. It looks as if there's a correlation between population centers and sightings.

That implies there are more UFO reports from areas where there are more people.

I wonder what an analysis would show of relatively unpopulated areas and sighting peaks? We have historical data, UFOCAT.

[WillyT]

17. Maybe If We Just Turned Of The Lights ???

:shrug:

:evilgrin:

[Hugabear]

20. Then why is there still not one single shred of evidence for UFO's?

Surely by now, especially with all the high-def cameras and camcorders out there, somebody would have solid footage of a UFO that would stand up to serious scientific scrutiny. Or a tangible piece of wreckage. Something that could be analyzed and verified. Yet, after decades of reports, we still have NOTHING.

UFO enthusiasts don't often like to talk about real physics. Even at the speed of light, it would take years or decades to travel between stars. However, anything with mass wouldn't be able to travel that fast, so now you're talking about decades or centuries. Humans didn't start broadcasting their presence here on Earth until the early 1900s; prior to that, Earth would have appeared to just another rocky planet around an average star. Even if an alien civilization could have figured out that Earth supported life, there wouldn't have been much indication that there was intelligent life. Thus, not really much reason to come traipsing across the galaxy to visit us.

[Countdown_3_2_1]

29. No plaster casts of a landing pad, no footprints of an alien...

Where is the dropped flashlight of cigarette wrapper left behind?

Solid objects leave some sort of evidence behind. Where is it? we have 60-70 years worth of blurry images...and nothing else/

[Desertrose]

21. Disclosure...

it's getting closer....

[Matariki]

22. bwahaha - love this comment

This UFO business really got me very mad, to the point that I contacted my attorney to see if there is a point to file a discrimination class action suit against the extraterrestrials. How come they show up all over Russia, Norway, the US, Australia, Tasmania, and etc. but in Boynton Beach NADA, SIPO. In Boynton we have nice beaches full of female earthlings in very small bikinis, excellent restaurants, moderate price shopping centers, etc. We are getting discriminated and we are out the loop. I have not seen one and I go out at night to see at least a small one. We are not asking for a full display just something that we can photograph and show to our friends. Please !!!

[mdmc]

25. ..

[NYC Liberal]

26. Astronomical events and military exercises ARE UFOs

when the people witnessing them don't know what they are.

UFO ≠ aliens...necessarily. But too many people see a UFO and automatically assume they must have seen an extraterrestrial spacecraft.

[Countdown_3_2_1]

27. All these sightings and not a single photo thats in focus...

Lots of Computer Generated fakes, but not a single real photo showing the rivets and license plates.
Is it a law that UFO are always blurry and outa focus?

[Brickbat]

28. The map that shows reported density of sightings by population is a lot more interesting.