UFO Study: Arizona Had 9th Most Sightings Of 2020

PHOENIX, AZ — Big news for paranormal researchers, truth-seekers and fans of the strange and occult: Arizona is one of the country's hot spots for UFO sightings, according to a new report.

For its study, GambleOnline says it searched through data from the National UFO Reporting Center show that Arizona had the ninth most UFO sightings of 2020, with 222 sightings logged. California was No. 1 with 619 sightings, followed by Florida with 398, Washington with 368, Texas with 297, New York with 289, Ohio with 239 and Oregon with 236.

Other highlights from the study include:

Lights are the most common type of UFO reported

Mysterious lights made up 1,777 of last year's UFO sightings, according to the National UFO Reporting Center, making them far and away the most common type of UFO. The second most common were circles, with 886 sightings, and spheres, with 444 sightings. The least common sighting was the lowly cone-shaped UFO, only spotted 14 times.

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Most sightings come between 8 p.m. and midnight

It may seem like common sense — it's much harder to see mysterious lights during the daytime, after all — but 40 percent of UFO sightings happen between 8 p.m. and midnight. If you'd rather not endure the hassle of experiencing a mysterious and world-shattering phenomenon, the best time to be out and about is from noon to 4 p.m., when UFO sightings are scarce.

Spring is UFO season

If you're an amateur alien hunter, spring is the best time to get out there. Researchers found that April and March had by far the most sightings, with 1,045 and 828 UFO reports respectively. December had the least sightings with 370.

Interestingly July is a relatively average month for UFO sightings, despite the fact that July 2 is UFO Awareness Day — you'd think people might step up their sky-gazing game.

The average UFO sighting lasts 19 minutes
UFO sightings in media tend to be blink-and-you-miss-it, but in real life, the UFOs hang around. Most UFOs (38 percent) stuck around for between one to five minutes, but 11 percent hang out for more than half an hour. Another 11 percent stuck around for 16 to 30 minutes, making the average sighting 19 minutes long.