By Roger Marsh
An October spike in U.S. UFO reports occurred in West Virginia, Maine, Delaware and Colorado, according to witness reporting statistics released November 1, 2014, from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).
The four states were rated in the National UFO Alert Rating System as a UFO Alert 1 which represents 4.01 or higher reports per million residents during the month of October 2014: West Virginia, 4.85; Maine, 4.51; Delaware, 4.36; and Colorado, 4.24.
Utah, Vermont and New Hampshire were the next highest reporting states showing between 3.03 and 4.0 reports per million residents and listed as a UFO Alert 2: Utah, 3.85; Vermont, 3.19 and New Hampshire, 3.03.
Oregon and Oklahoma earned an Alert 3 rating with reports per million residents between 2.51 and 3.0.
Kansas, South Carolina and Nebraska 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 report numbers are: West Virginia, 9; Maine, 6; Delaware, 4; and Colorado, 22.
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 reporting states for October 2014 with 16 or more reports were: California, 75; Pennsylvania, 25; Florida, 25; New York, 24; Ohio, 24; Texas, 24; Michigan, 19; Arizona, 17; Illinois, 17; Colorado, 16; Missouri, 16; and Utah, 16.
The sphere remains the most-reported UFO shape with 153 October cases; up from 140 September cases, 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, 77; Star-Like, 69; Triangle, 65; Unknown, 57; Disc; 55; Other, 52; Fireball, 37; Oval, 36; Boomerang, 34; N/A, 36; Cylinder, 22; Diamond, 20; Cigar, 17; Teardrop, 10; Chevron, 7; Egg, 7; Flash, 7; Cone, 6; Bullet-Missile, 5; Blimp, 4; Saturn-like, 1; and Cross, 1.
The object’s distance from the witness includes: Less than 100 feet, 82 cases; 101 to 500 feet, 114 cases; 501 feet to one mile, 163 cases; over one mile, 223 cases; unknown, 261; and no value stated, 26.
In addition, there were “17 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.
