'We have no explanation': See list of US states with the most reported UFO sightings

Over a hundred unidentifiable flying objects are reported every month to the National UFO Reporting Center.

The center publishes these reports on their website's Data Bank and sorts them in different indexes based on their location, description, the date they were sent and the date of the sighting.

California, the most populated state in the U.S., leads as the state with the most sightings with just over 16,000, according to the data index.

Florida, the third most populated state, follows with over 8,000 and Washington, the 13th most populated state, with over 7,000.

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Peter Davenport, the non-profit's director since 1994, said the states with the most sightings tend to be the most populated states. He explained Washington State's high UFO sightings could be explained by the fact that the center is based there.

Davenport said he's noticed an increase in reports throughout his career and credits that to people's willingness to report them rather than more UFOs existing.

"I think the most prominent feature is people who are much more willing to report things that they can't identify," Davenport said. "So, people generally are more willing to talk about the subject."

What states have the most UFO sightings?

These are the top 10 states in the U.S. with the most reports, shared by the center (along with their 2022 state population rank).

• California -16,084 (1st)
• Florida - 8,205 (3rd)
• Washington - 7,145 (13th)
• Texas - 6,107 (2nd)
• New York - 5,834 (4th)
• Pennsylvania - 4,984 (5th)
• Arizona - 4,909 (14th)
• Ohio - 4,412 (7th)
• Illinois - 4,247 (6th)
• North Carolina - 3,630 (9th)

What are the most common types of UFOs reported?

The most common description is just a non identified light in the sky, according to Davenport.

"We don't get too excited about reports of that nature, because there are many lights in the sky," he said. "Stars and planets, of course, satellites."

As a commercial pilot himself, Davenport said he's most intrigued by reports submitted by airline pilots, which he calls "pretty good sources of accurate information when they see something they can't identify or explain."

Descriptions of these objects from the center's data ranges from common shapes like circles, ovals, triangles and diamonds to images like a light, orb, flash, disk or fireball.

A NASA team published a report on Sept. 14 showing that the most common form of UAPs reported are orbs or spheres.

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UFO center calls for more government transparency

At a July Congressional hearing, three former military members spoke about their knowledge of reported UFO encounters and discussed the security threats the phenomena could pose. The executive branch of government and the military continues to face bipartisan pressure to be more transparent about information relating to UAPs.

One of them was RRt. Commander David Fravor, who was among Navy pilots who during a 2004 flight, spotted the now-famous Tic Tac-shaped object that was captured on video off the Southern California coast. When testifying he described the oval object as "perfectly white, smooth, no windows," and said it displayed flight capabilities that were unheard of. Davenport said he knows Fravor and described him as a "reliable guy."

"They're trying to tell us what I suspect, they believe is the truth, and which I suspect is the truth," Davenport said. "Namely, we're being visited by objects or creatures, for which we have no explanation."

The researcher added that he's strongly convinced the U.S. government is shielding Americans from crucial information related to these sightings since 1947.

USA TODAY has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment.

Center director believes UFOs are a sign of extraterrestrial life

A 36-page report from NASA’s Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team released in September found no evidence that UFOs or UAPs are of extraterrestrial origin.

The team said some UAP simply can't yet be explained but that NASA is increasing their role in scientific investigation of these sightings, even naming a new director of UAP research, whose identity has been withheld.

Davenport said he believes a significant fraction of reported sightings deal with extraterrestrial creatures, due to technology exhibiting "flight characteristics that we don't have on this planet."

He said the Phoenix Lights incident decades ago is proof that there is technology that cannot be part of Earth. On March 13, 1997, eyewitnesses reportedly saw a string of hovering lights in the sky forming a V shape. Authorities dispelled these accounts and said the lights were flares used by the Air National Guard.