The UFO Phenomenon: Should I Believe?
What over 80,000 reports of UFO sightings data over the last century told us.
By Zachary Zeng, Jiahui Zhou, Jay Chen, Mengyao Liu
There is a large amount of data that people have witnessed UFOs, through ancient times and modern days. But still, do you believe in UFO and aliens? In 2019, we had the opportunity to dig deeper into over 80,000 sighting reports data. Based on our understanding of the UFO sighting phenomena, there are factors: external events, population, daily/seasonal activity, and time of day.
1946
UFOs garnered considerable interest during the Cold War, an era associated with a heightened concern for national security.1968
Science Fiction Movies Succeeded. (2001: A Space Odyssey)1974
The National UFO Reporting Center has provided a 24-hour hotline phone number for people to report UFO activity that has occurred within the last week.1984
The Terminator.1990
Internet Became Popular.History of UFO Sightings
Geography - Population and Air force
The second chart shows a map which represents the geological relationship between the number of UFO sightings in the states of the United States with the population and Air Force Base locations.
Whenever we pulled out a list of the top states for UFO sightings, our first instinct was that the reason California is No. 1 because of its population. However, after exploring the other top 10 states, we found a vast contrast:
For example, in 2010, Washington has about half the population (6.7 million) of Pennsylvania (12.7 million), but Washington (247) has nearly twice of the UFO sighting numbers of Pennsylvania’s (145). In the meantime, New York (19.4 million), who has nearly population of Washington and Pennsylvania combined, has UFO sighting volumes (160) similar to Pennsylvania. So population isn’t the sole driver.
Therefore, the opinion that a state’s population is the sole driver for the volume of UFO sighting reports doesn’t hold up.
Considering the similarity between the Undefined Flying Objects and general Flying Objects, we then looked at the relationship between UFO sightings and air force base locations. To our surprise, after plotting them onto the same map, we found a pretty clear relationship between the two.
Exploration
The most promising option for you to see UFO in is on at in
The UFO Sightings in the specific month
The UFO Sightings in the specific day
Top3 locations for UFO Sightings in the specific day
The second chart shows a map which represents the geological relationship between the number of UFO sightings in the states of the United States with the population and Air Force Base locations. Whenever we pulled out a list of the top states for UFO sightings, our first instinct was that the reason California is No. 1 because of its population. However, after exploring the other top 10 states, we found a vast contrast:
For example, in 2010, Washington has about half the population (6.7 million) of Pennsylvania (12.7 million), but Washington (247) has nearly twice of the UFO sighting numbers of Pennsylvania’s (145). In the meantime, New York (19.4 million), who has nearly population of Washington and Pennsylvania combined, has UFO sighting volumes (160) similar to Pennsylvania. So population isn’t the sole driver.
Therefore, the opinion that a state’s population is the sole driver for the volume of UFO sighting reports doesn’t hold up.
Considering the similarity between the Undefined Flying Objects and general Flying Objects, we then looked at the relationship between UFO sightings and air force base locations. To our surprise, after plotting them onto the same map, we found a pretty clear relationship between the two.
The most promising option for you to see UFO in is on at in