The first documented image of a UFO was captured in 1870 on the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Food for thought next time you're out scoping for alien life. and midnight, and peak between 9 and 10 p.m. Of note is that the vast majority of all UFO sighting reports in the United States occur between 4 p.m. NUFORC's dataset includes reports dating back to 1400.įor each state, we've also included details of famous UFO sightings in that state.

Stacker compiled a ranking of the states with the most reported UFO sightings by analyzing data from NUFORC's 24/7 hotline, which has been around since 1974. Since its founding in 1974, the National UFO Reporting Center has processed more than 150,000 reports. By the time he and the other men on his boat got their wits about them, their vessel was a mile from where it had been when they first spotted the light. The first recorded UFO sighting dates to 1639 when, long before the era of planes and satellites, John Winthrop wrote in his diary about a large, strange light in the sky that shot back and forth. Stateside sightings were hardly restricted to military flyover zones, however. The term 'UFO,' short for 'unidentified flying object,' was coined in 1953 by the United States Air Force as a bucket term for unexplained sightings like these. A smattering of other, unfamiliar objects in the sky were noted in Germany in 1561, Hull, England, in 1801, and multiple times during World War II when Allied pilots used the term 'foo fighters' to describe the odd circles of light pilots noticed flanking their planes during combat. A wave of mysterious apparitions showed up in fourth-century China when a 'moon boat' was documented floating overhead once every 12 years. Strange sightings were recorded around Rome in 218 B.C. In the Bible's Book of Ezekiel, a mysterious ship is described as appearing from the sky in Chaldea (modern-day Kuwait). UFO sightings date back to biblical times.

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