A nighttime phenomenon
74% of all sightings happen between dusk and the small hours, peaking at 21:00. Bright objects simply stand out against a dark sky.
80,332 eyewitness reports · 1906–2014
A field atlas of UFO sightings
Eight decades of real reports from the National UFO Reporting Center, mapped and broken down by shape, place, and time. Explore the patterns — then dig into individual accounts on the interactive map.
- 5 countries
- 29 shapes
- Light most reported
- 21:00 peak hour
80,332
Total reports
Light
Most reported shape
16,565 reports
2012
Peak year
7,356 reports
21:00
Most active hour
local time of sighting
3 min
Median duration
half last less than this
29
Distinct shapes
from light to chevron
Latest from NUFORCchecking live feed…
What the data shows
Four takeaways before you dive into the charts.
The 2012 surge
Reports climbed from a handful in the 1950s to 7,356 in 2012 — tracking the spread of camera phones and the internet as much as the skies.
Mostly an American record
81% of reports come from the United States, where NUFORC is based. California alone logged 8,912 of them.
Gone in a flash
The median encounter lasts just 3 min. Most are brief — a light that crosses the sky and vanishes before a phone is even out.
Patterns over space & time
Hover any bar or column for exact figures; tap the i for how to read each chart.
Reports per yeariEach column is one calendar year. The tallest is highlighted. The climb reflects easier reporting (web, phones) as much as more sightings.
A steady rise from a handful in the 1950s to a peak in 2012.
Most common shapesiTop 12 shape categories by number of reports. Colours match the map and the field guide below.
What people say they saw.
Time of dayiReports grouped by the local hour of the sighting (0–23). The evening and night-time spike is unmistakable.
Sightings cluster sharply after dark.
By monthiAll reports grouped by calendar month. Warm, clear evenings — and people being outdoors — lift the summer totals.
Summer evenings draw the most reports.
By weekdayiReports by day of the week. Friday and weekend evenings see slightly more sightings — more people out, looking up.
Weekends edge ahead.
How long they lastediReported durations bucketed into ranges. The bulk are over in minutes; long, hours-plus sightings are rare.
Most encounters are brief.
Top countriesiNUFORC is US-based, so the dataset skews strongly American. Treat this as a map of reporting, not of actual activity.
Reporting is heavily US-centric.
Top U.S. statesiRaw counts, not adjusted for population — bigger states naturally produce more reports.
Absolute report counts.
Top citiesiThe single most-reported localities. Population centres and well-known hotspots both show up here.
Hotspots by exact locality.
Shape trends by decadeiEach column is a decade; segments show how the mix of the six leading shapes shifted — note 'triangle' rising in later decades.
Composition of the six most reported shapes over time.
LightTriangleCircleUnknownFireballOther
Field guide to shapes
Witnesses pick from a fixed vocabulary of shapes. Here is what each term means — and how often it turns up in 80,332 reports.
Light16,565
A point or glow of light with no discernible body — the single most common report.
20.6% of all reports
Triangle7,865
A triangular craft, often described as silent, dark, and surprisingly large.
9.8% of all reports
Circle7,608
A round object seen face-on; flatter ones are usually logged as disks.
9.5% of all reports
Unknown7,516
The witness could not assign a familiar shape.
9.4% of all reports
Fireball6,208
A burning, fast-moving ball of light — many turn out to be meteors or re-entries.
7.7% of all reports
Other5,649
A described form that fits none of the standard categories.
7.0% of all reports
Sphere5,387
A clearly three-dimensional ball, often metallic or glowing.
6.7% of all reports
Disk5,213
The classic "flying saucer" — a flattened, plate-like craft.
6.5% of all reports
Oval3,733
An elongated, egg- or ellipse-like outline; a stretched circle.
4.6% of all reports
Formation2,457
Several lights or objects moving together in a coordinated pattern.
3.1% of all reports
Cigar2,057
A long, narrow, tube-shaped craft with no wings.
2.6% of all reports
Changing1,962
An object reported to morph its shape during the sighting.
2.4% of all reports
Flash1,328
A brief, bright burst of light with no lasting form.
1.7% of all reports
Rectangle1,297
A flat, box- or panel-like object with straight edges.
1.6% of all reports
Cylinder1,283
A rounded, can-like object, often seen end-on or tumbling.
1.6% of all reports
Diamond1,178
A four-pointed, kite-like outline, often with lights at the corners.
1.5% of all reports
Chevron952
A shallow V or boomerang of lights, like an arrowhead.
1.2% of all reports
Egg759
A smooth, ovoid craft, rounder than a cigar and seamless.
0.9% of all reports
Teardrop750
A rounded body tapering to a point, like a falling drop.
0.9% of all reports
Cone316
A pointed, ice-cream-cone profile, wide at one end.
0.4% of all reports
Cross233
An object with two perpendicular axes, like a plus sign.
0.3% of all reports
Explore the reports
Filter by location, shape, year or keyword. Click any point or row for the full account.
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About this data
A few things worth knowing before you draw conclusions.
📚 Where it comes from
80,332 reports from the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), combined via live nuforc.org databank + planetsig/ufo-reports historical archive. Records span 1906 to 2014, with United States contributing the majority.
🧭 How to read it
These are reports, not confirmed events. Geographic and yearly totals reflect where and when people file reports — driven by population, internet access and media attention — so they map reporting behaviour, not alien traffic.
⚠️ Take it with salt
Every entry is an unverified, subjective eyewitness account. Many have ordinary explanations — aircraft, satellites, planets, meteors and balloons. Treat the patterns as a study of human observation, not proof of anything.
🔄 Freshness
The snapshot rebuilds daily (last built 6/13/2026). The “Latest from NUFORC” strip near the top updates live whenever the deployment can reach nuforc.org.