Over the past four years, there have been more than 1,500 sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) across the UK. Our map shows where you’re most likely to spot these mysterious visitors from outer space.
UFO fans have had an exciting time recently. Last year, American fighter jets shot down a strange flying object.
It turned out to be a Chinese balloon thought to be on a spying mission. They also took down three other objects in or near US airspace.
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Major David Grusch, a former Air Force intelligence officer, caused a stir online when he said the US was hiding a programme that finds and studies UFOs. The mystery continued into 2024. Ukrainian soldiers filmed a big disc-shaped object over the Donetsk battlefield.
Closer to home, a walker found a weird monolith on a hilltop in Powys. He first thought it was «some sort of UFO», but now some people think aliens might have put it there.
On Teesside, it’s Stockton that stands out as getting the bulk of sightings. These include red bright objects, cylinders, and most intriguing, a «number of stars transformed to make a delta shape, then clustered together whilst moving, making electronic/beepy noises.» There was also a number of sightings in Hartlepool, and one over Redcar.
Despite all the talk about alien visitors online and in the news, there haven’t been many sightings in the UK skies over the last year.
According to its yearly report, the research group UFO Identified recorded 395 sightings in the UK in 2023. That’s a drop of 20% from 497 sightings in 2022 and fewer than in 2021 (413) and 2020 (484). That makes a total of 1,789 sightings in four years.
The report, which gathered information from social media, newspaper articles, over 50 Freedom of Information requests, and direct reports to UFO spotter groups across the UK, revealed that people in the North West had the most sightings of UFOs last year. They reported seeing 41, followed by the South East with 40, and the South West with 39.
This pattern is similar to what was observed in 2022 and 2021. Over the past four years, UFO Identified has recorded the highest number of sightings in the South East (233), followed by the North West (218) and then the South West (193).
The fewest sightings were reported in Northern Ireland (30), and the North East of England (63).
You can check out the UFO encounters in your area over the last four years using our interactive map.
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