UFO Sightings In US Surged During COVID-19 Lockdown

With more time in their hands because of the lockdowns brought about by the pandemic, people have been reporting more Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) sightings to authorities. According to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), there has been a significant increase in the number of UFO sighting reports since the first few months of the pandemic last year.

NUFORC, a U.S. organization that tracks UFO sightings and alien contacts, revealed that it has received about 600 reported sightings in the United States in February 2020 -- only slightly higher than its average number of reports. Since 2017, the organization's average number of UFO sightings has steadily been around 454.

However, the months following February began to show different results. By March, NUFORC received 816 UFO sighting reports, and then 1,040 more in April.

Stories surrounding the UFO sightings also differ greatly from each other, according to CTPost, with one user reporting about one bizarre UFO sighting that happened on April 20 in Collinsville, Connecticut. According to a witness, "lights in the shape of a V" traveled westward and became circular and stationary in the west about 60 degrees above the horizon.

Another incident report made on Nov. 27 claimed that a "glowing blue ball of light moving horizontally across the sky" was seen in Manchester, Connecticut before it suddenly dropped straight down.

Despite its job of tracking user-submitted reports of UFO sightings, NUFORC does not verify these reports, and it is unknown if government agencies follow up on them, as per CTPost.

In December, many were shocked when Haim Eshed, former Israeli space security chief, claimed that aliens were real and they were in contact with some countries. Eshed also stated that former President Donald Trump knew all about the matter and has even attempted to reveal their existence to the public but was stopped.

Nevertheless, many others chose not to believe the reported UFO sightings as they could just be instances when some people misidentified normal flying objects on the planet.

“I’ve heard anecdotal accounts that UFO sightings have risen during the coronavirus pandemic and the associated lockdowns, but have yet to see any definitive data on this,” said Nick Pope, who used to run the British Ministry of Defense, in an article posted by The Cut.

“In the normal course of business, a bigger percentage of UFO sightings than people might suppose does just turn out to be well-intentioned people misidentifying aircraft,” Pope added.