UFO spots

In the United States, UFOs are sighted in every state, with the greatest number of reports coming from the Northeast and the Southwest. Generally, sightings occur in rural areas, small towns, and near military installations. Statistical analysis indicates that sightings most often occur around 9:00 p.m. with a secondary peak at about 3:00 a.m. UFO reports are evenly distributed throughout the week, with peak periods of reports coming during the summer months, especially July. Since the modern UFO era began, there have been extraordinary numbers of sightings (called waves) in the United States during the years 1947, 1952, 1957, 1966, and 1973. Some places are notorious for the number of UFO sightings that has been recorded so if you are looking for a sighting,  these are places to begin …

United States of America

Nevada’s State Route 375

Dedicated as the Extraterrestrial Highway on April 18, 1996, Nevada’s State Route 375 is a 100-mile stretch of two-lane asphalt that runs through Lincoln and Nye counties. Marked at either end with signage that uses images of F-117 stealth fighters as well as flying saucers, the road is actually one of the least traveled roads in America.
         
Sedona, Arizona

The massive rust-colored swirls of rock that make this area so visually stunning are said to contain high amounts of electromagnetic energy. “It’s thought these same forces attract UFOs. A good place to watch for them is on the road to the airport on a high mesa.” Along the way, you’ll likely encounter new agers, crystal-gazers and other devotees of woo woo. “You’re odd in Sedona if you haven’t seen a UFO.”

La Grange, Georgia

UFO sightings date to 1938, when a local teen reported seeing a domed saucer in broad daylight. “There have been dozens of photographs, videos and witness reports of saucers or tube-shaped ships, as well as fireballs moving across the sky.” Among the prime sky-watching spots: Roosevelt State Park in Pine Mountain, around the lakes near West Point Dam and along the Troup-Heard county line. Viewing is best after 10 on weeknights.

The ET Highway is marked by signs along Nevada’s route 375.

Rachel, Nevada

Nicknamed the Extraterrestrial Highway by clever state tourism promoters, Highway 375 cuts through tiny Rachel and some of the Mojave Desert’s most desolate turf. Nearby, the off-limits Area 51 is the site of a “supposed secret military base near Groom Lake, about 90 miles north of Las Vegas, and ostensibly where scientists have studied fallen alien spacecraft.” Don’t miss the Little A’Le’Inn, Rachel’s only motel/bar.

Siler City, North Carolina

About 10 miles south of town is the Devil’s Playground, a 30- or 40-foot circle that is stripped of vegetation. “(Some) believe nothing will grow there because it was a well-used UFO landing spot. Others say nothing will grow there because people keep trampling over it looking for a UFO landing spot.”

Los Angeles

Head straight for Griffith Park Observatory, where a range of telescopes provides ideal stargazing on clear nights. “There’s been on-again, off-again UFO activity around Los Angeles.” Even if you don’t get lucky with a saucer sighting, “you’ll definitely see a lot of unidentified walking objects in L.A.”

Gulf Breeze, Florida

In 1987 a contractor took some snapshots of what was purported to be a UFO. The photos’ authenticity is still debated, but they haven’t been debunked, either, and Gulf Breeze has become “one of the hottest UFO hot spots.” Watchers routinely meet at Shoreline Park in search of the otherworldly.

An alien appears to be trapped in its parachute cord and a power line running across Main Street in downtown Roswell, N.M.(El Paso Times).

Roswell, New Mexico

In July 1947 , officials from a nearby military base announced that a UFO had crashed outside town. The next day, officials updated the statement, saying the object was an experimental weather balloon. That didn’t stop UFO buffs, not to mention local promoters, from making the most of the incident — whatever it was. Today the town throws a yearly UFO festival and draws tourists with its UFO museum and shops peddling T-shirts with messages such as “I was abducted by aliens and all I got was this stupid T-shirt.”

Hudson Valley/Pine Bush, New York

Waves of UFO sightings, “including saucers and boomerang-shaped objects hovering over the nearby nuclear power plant,” make the region “one of the best sky-watching areas in the northeast.” Unlike in Roswell, however, locals haven’t embraced UFOs as a civic theme. Best vantage points are on Searsville and Drexel roads.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Reports of saucers cruising above the city date to 1947 (the same week as the Roswell incident!). Other alleged alien craft sightings have been reported over Cinergy Field, home of the Cincinnati Reds and Bengals. “If you’re interested in UFOs and are a baseball fan, you’re in luck.” Actually, Ohio is rife with UFO activity. “It’s easier to list the Ohio towns that haven’t reported a UFO than those that have.”

Elmwood, Wisconsin

Residents commemorate a spate of presumed UFO encounters from the ’60s and ’70s with the annual UFO Days during the last full weekend in July. “In one incident, a resident was allegedly chased by a starlike object that followed her home, landed on the hood of her car and then flew off. Also, a fireball was seen there that essentially hit a local police officer’s car and burned out all his plugs and points.”

Courtesy of  UFO USA: A Traveler’s Guide to UFO Sightings, Abduction Sites, Crop Circles, and Other Unexplained Phenomena (Hyperion, $12.95), a state-by-state guide to prominent UFO points of interest includes sites of alleged crashes, abductions and close encounters of many kinds..