A new reference book gives California the crown for being the state with the most UFO sightings in the country.
The "UFO Sightings Desk Reference: United States of America 2001-2015" cites data compiled by The National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).
Author Cheryl Costa sorted through the reports every week looking for New York sightings to use for her column in the weekly Syracuse New Times.
When she realized how much people liked the column, she and her spouse/co-author Linda Miller Costa decided to look deeper into the reports to see the stats of other states.
Their research shows California topping the list with almost 16,000 sightings and Los Angeles County alone having 3,200 sightings.
Costa says the common trends with reports were usually seasonal.
"The people who see the majority of sightings are outside having a smoke, walking the dog or outside smoking walking the dog."
Costa also says the reports she cites were by people who were sincere and wanted to get what they saw "off their chest."
NUFORC reports that the five most recent California sightings are from:
- Miramar on March 21, 2017
- Van Nuys on March 19, 2017
- Palm Springs on March 18, 2017
- Riverside on March 17, 2017
- San Diego on March 15, 2017