By Roger Marsh
A September spike in U.S. UFO reports occurred in Maine, Vermont, New Mexico and Oregon, according to witness reporting statistics released October 1, 2014, from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).“The four states were rated in the National UFO Alert Rating System as a UFO Alert 2 which represents 3.01 – 4.0 reports per million residents during the month of September 2014.”
Nevada, Colorado and Indiana were the next highest reporting states showing between 2.51 and 3.0 reports per million residents and listed as a UFO Alert 3.
Only Missouri earned a UFO Alert 4 rating with reports per million residents between 2.01 and 2.5. All other states were listed as a UFO Alert 5 with 2.0 sightings per million residents or lower. These numbers are based on the month when an event occurred, and not the month in which it was reported.
As the highest reporting states per million residents, the actual numbers are: Maine, 4; Vermont, 2; New Mexico, 8; and Oregon, 15.
The UFO Alert Rating System is based on five levels – 1 through 5 – where states with 4.01 or higher reports per million residents are rated an Alert 1; 3.01 – 4.0 reports are an Alert 2; 2.51 – 3.0 are an Alert 3; 2.01 – 2.5 are an Alert 4; and those states with 2.0 or lower are rated an Alert 5.
The UFO Alert Rating System has previously only reported on the raw numbers by state to rate each state. Beginning October 2014, the rating will change to rank states by population.
Disregarding populations, the top 10 reporting states for September 2014 were: California, 93; Pennsylvania, 32; Florida, 32; Ohio, 31; Arizona, 29; Michigan, 28; Texas, 27; New York, 25; Illinois, 24; and Indiana, 24.
The sphere remains the most-reported UFO shape with 140 September cases, down from 179 August cases; 216 July cases; 156 June cases; 129 May cases; 150 April cases, 131 March cases, 91 February cases; and 240 January cases. Other shape reports include: Circle, 84; Star-Like, 82; Triangle, 64; Disc; 61; Oval, 53; Other, 53; Unknown, 50; Fireball, 33; Cylinder, 20; Diamond, 15; Cigar, 14; N/A, 13; Boomerang, 13; Cone, 10; Flash, 9; Blimp, 7; Egg, 5; Chevron, 4; Saturn-like, 4; Bullet-Missile, 4; Teardrop, 4; and Cross, 2.
The object’s distance from the witness includes: Less than 100 feet, 115 cases; 101 to 500 feet, 75 cases; 501 feet to one mile, 169 cases; over one mile, 218 cases; unknown, 238; and no value stated, 16.
In addition, there were “23 landings, hoverings, or takeoffs reported and 0 entities observed.”
The most interesting UFO reports do not necessarily come from high reporting states – but those states with higher numbers do account for some of the most interesting evidence to study. While UFO sightings seem to pop up randomly around the country, this list is meant to offer a small insight into where Americans are filing reports.
Infographics for this reporting period were created by Outerplaces.com and include: Most Witnessed Shapes by State, Sightings By Country, Sightings By State, and Sightings Per Million People.
