The 25 Best Cities for UFO Sightings

While UFO sightings may be few and far in between, there are cities in the U.S. that have reported them in much higher frequency than others. Back in 2017, the Syracuse New Times published a list of the top cities in the states that have had UFO sightings from 2001-2015. After compiling the data, it was determined that there have been more sightings in Phoenix, Arizona, than in any other city.

The data was taken from a book penned by Cheryl Costa and Linda Miller Costa titled UFO Sightings Desk Reference: United States of America 2001-2015. In the book, which was published in March 2017, the authors compile “data and analysis for 100,000+ sightings of unidentified flying objects reported by individuals during the first 15 years of the 21st century.”

Costa says that Phoenix may be a hotbed for UFO sightings because of the Phoenix Lights phenomena that happened twenty years ago. In 1997, there were two events that occurred in Phoenix and Sonora, Mexico in which thousands of witnesses claim to have seen a formation of five lights in a V-shape. There was no sound emanating from the aircrafts, and they were arranged in a triangular formation of lights.

The US Air Force claimed that the second group of lights was caused by flares dropped from an A-10 Warthog aircraft, according to The New York Post.

Filling out the top five behind Phoenix are cities including Las Vegas, Seattle, Chicago and Portland.

Full list of the 25 most UFO sightings across U.S. cities:

1. Phoenix, 929 sightings
2. Las Vegas, 639 sightings
3. Seattle, 616 sightings
4. Chicago, 562 sightings
5. Portland, 528 sightings
6. Los Angeles, 525 sightings
7. Tucson, 480 sightings
8. San Diego, 477 sightings
9. Houston, 466 sightings
10. Denver, 429 sightings
11. Austin, 426 sightings
12. New York City (Manhattan), 418 sightings
13. Orlando, 390 sightings
14. Springfield, 380 sightings
15. Albuquerque, 376 sightings
16. Miami, 375 sightings
17. Philadelphia, 338 sightings
18. San Antonio, 334 sightings
19. Columbus, 327 sightings
20. Jacksonville, 326 sightings
21. Sacramento, 316 sightings
22. San Francisco, 310 sightings
23. San Jose, 308 sightings
24. Myrtle Beach, 305 sightings
25. Dallas and Kansas City, 294 sightings each