Phoenix has been ranked the top U.S. city to see a UFO

Move over, Roswell.

September 17, 2024

Keep watching the skies. Tim Gabor

Audio By Carbonatix

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Move over, Roswell. Phoenix has been ranked the top city in the U.S. where you're most likely to see a UFO by online sports-betting site BetUS.

Quick, someone call Agents Mulder and Scully.

The ranking, which was released on Monday, was compiled by BetUS using data from the National UFO Reporting Center tracking the number of sightings by city, state, and date from 2013 to the present. Phoenix topped the list with 323 sightings since 2013. It wasn’t the only Arizona city in the top 10, as Tucson ranked fifth with 244 sightings.

Other cities in the top 10 include NYC (313 sightings), Las Vegas (309), Portland (279), Boise (236), Los Angeles (222), San Diego (220), Albuquerque (216) and Seattle (209).
As any ufologist will tell you, the Valley has long been considered a hotspot for unexplained aerial phenomena. One reason is its close association with the infamous Phoenix Lights, a series of sightings over Arizona in March 1997 that are regarded as one of the largest and best-known UFO encounters in history.

Shane Hurd, assistant state director of the Arizona chapter of the Mutual UFO Network, told Phoenix New Times in 2022 that the Valley's ideal conditions make it a prime spot for sightings.

“There have always been a lot of reports of UFO sightings here in Arizona. I think some of the reasons might be because we have clear skies and, when the weather's good, people are out a lot more,” Hurd said. “So there's more opportunities for something to be seen.”

Arizona was previously ranked as the U.S. state with the sixth-highest number of UFO sightings in a 2022 study by Outforia, a website devoted to appreciating the outdoors.

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Benjamin Leatherman is a staff writer for Phoenix New Times where he focuses primarily on arts, culture, music and nightlife. He joined New Times in 2003. Prior to that, he contributed to magazines such as Tips & Tricks and The Wrestler. Benjamin has earned multiple awards from the Arizona Press Club including an award for sports enterprise reporting in 2009 and an award for statewide arts reporting in 2014. He holds a bachelor’s of arts in journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Contact: Benjamin Leatherman

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