Looking for Extraterrestrial Phenomena? Head West

The optimal chance for an encounter is in the western U.S., new research says

photo of Mount Rainier with illustration of aliens and their spacecraft in the water

Some locations are well-known for unidentified anomalous phenomena activity. The western U.S. is the place to go if you seek such encounters.

James Clapham; Alamy

Cari Shane,

AARP

En español

Published August 19, 2024

For more than 35 years, unidentified anomalous phenomena have been part of Lisa Tsering’s life. While the more familiar term is UFO (unidentified flying object), UAP started making its way into our vernacular a few decades ago. First defined as “unidentified aerial phenomena,” about two years ago it was changed to “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” a shift that allowed for the inclusion of a larger swath of undefinable sightings, including those underwater.

“It sounds weird but I don’t care if it’s weird,” the 62-year-old from the San Francisco Bay Area says of the “obsession” that she’s merged with her love of travel.

Tsering has visited dozens of “hot spots” renowned for their UAP activity, though she’s “not an experiencer, per se” — someone who has had “a real experience with what they call ‘the others’ or ‘the phenomenon,’ ” she explains. But, she says the connection to the subject keeps her traveling. Rather than traveling to see something, say the Eiffel Tower or the pyramids, Tsering says she travels to feel something.

“If you go to one of these sort of weird hot spot places, and you bring the gift of an open mind, it can really be an unforgettable travel experience, even if you don’t feel something,” she says.

For those looking to feel or see something anomalous in the skies, a new study by researchers at the University of Utah suggests the American West and Northeast are the places to head. While there have been reported UAP sightings in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., using data from more than 98,000 reported UAP sightings, the University of Utah researchers determined that both the Southeast and the central plains were the least UAP-hearty.

people viewing the sky with goggles at night

A night goggle photo taken during a sighting tour in Nevada.

Courtesy Miesha Johnston

Anomalous objects back in the news

Anomalous objects are having a moment. The spike in interest and sightings of the anomalous may be pandemic related. According to Diana Pasulka, a professor of religion studies at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, UAP sightings increase during times of crisis. Congress has held hearings, NASA has commissioned a study team and the Pentagon has established a task force. There’s bipartisan support for a bill calling for government transparency about research on extraterrestrials.

“I’m definitely convinced there’s something out there,” says Alan Steinfeld, the author of Making Contact: Preparing for the New Realities of Extraterrestrial Existence. In 1987, while parked overnight off a deserted road, Steinfeld and his girlfriend “felt like we were frozen in time,” he says, adding that he believes UAP is a phenomenon that goes beyond objects. “It can have a physical effect; it can be negative or positive; it can attack people’s moods; it can shift the nature of what they think reality is,” he says.

Several years ago on a trip to West Texas from Austin, Suzanne Kho, 58, drove to see the Marfa Lights. She says she “spent over an hour at the viewing platform … and scanned the horizon to get a glimpse of these mysterious lights without any luck. So I remain a skeptic.”

One of the issues with sightings, according to the experts who debunk them, is a lack of familiarity with normal objects in the sky, including planets often reported as UAPs. Atmospheric phenomena are explainable, too, from sun dogs caused by ice crystals that project columns of light on each side of the sun to lentil-shaped clouds that look like mid-century B-movie flying saucers.

Fewer people over 50 report seeing UAPs

Not everyone reports what they see, especially those over the age of 50, says Greg Eghigian, a historian of science and medicine at Penn State and author of After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon. Studies show that the majority of reported sightings and interest in UAPs come from people under 30. Eghigian believes the majority of people older than 50 are simply nonreporters rather than not interested.

He suspects fear of ridicule is one of the top reasons people over 50 don’t report sightings. He knows through his research that adults 50-plus are visiting these hot spots but are drawn there, not to “ground” themselves, like the younger visitors, but for the “experience,” including to fulfill destination bucket lists as well as for the history and nostalgia.

Travel surveys suggest Eghigian is right. The 2024 AARP Travel Trends survey reports that 67 percent of all travelers surveyed over 50 have a travel bucket list of places they would like to visit (and 75 percent of respondents 50 to 59). Additionally, more travelers in their 50s (29 percent) say they are planning to visit “unique or off-the-beaten-path destinations than in years past.” That finding correlates with a YouGov survey that reports those over 50 list outdoor attractions at the top of their destination to-do list, including national parks such as Sequoia and Rocky Mountain, which have for years had their share of UAP sightings.

For the UAP curious, Lorien Fenton, 67, suggests starting in or near your own backyard — if you live in an area without light pollution — especially on a cloudless night in the spring or fall. All you need is a lounge chair, blanket and binoculars, she says. You can also bring a laser light (for pointing) and night vision goggles.

For those looking to travel, Fenton, who is the head of MUFON Marin Sonoma in California, recommends “sighting tours,” such as the UFO Nightwatch Tours in Las Vegas, the UFO Skywatch Tour in Sonoma and Napa counties and Sedona UFO Tours in Arizona. Or, check out annual events such as McMenamins UFO Fest in Oregon in May, the Roswell UFO Festival in New Mexico in July and the Exeter UFO Festival in New Hampshire, which starts Aug. 31.

Those looking for specific destinations should consider these four locations.

Tourists taking photographs of Extraterrestrial Highway 375 Nevada.

The Extraterrestrial Highway, State Route 375 runs adjacent to Area 51 in Nevada.

Nancy Hoyt Belcher/Alamy

State Route 375, Nevada/Roswell, New Mexico

Officially named Extraterrestrial Highway, State Route 375 runs adjacent to Area 51 which many believe is where alien technology is being tested, including objects from Roswell, New Mexico, made famous by the alleged crash of a flying saucer in 1947. “Area 51 in Nevada is one of the best places to go,” says Fenton, who has been visiting for 40 years. While nearby, consider driving to the Black Mailbox, a known meeting place for the curious and a “drop spot for extraterrestrial communications,” according to the Travel Nevada website. There’s also the Alien Research Center and the Little A’Le’Inn which takes ET kitsch to the next level.

UFO Watchtower and information center near Alamosa, Colorado

The 10-foot UFO Watchtower in south central Colorado was built in 2000.

Alamy

UFO Watchtower, Colorado

In south central Colorado, a 10-foot UFO Watchtower has been drawing the curious since Judy Messoline built it in 2000. Last summer 10,000 people visited. Messoline says she built the tower after her cattle farm failed and that it wasn’t meant to be serious, but then people just started coming. “Since opening the tower, we’ve had 303 documented sightings from just the tower,” says Messoline, 79. For $5 per person, the curious can climb up on the tower or visit the museum where the skeleton of Snippy the horse — believed to be the first reported livestock mutilation by aliens in 1967 — is on display. Those who want to RV or camp can stay overnight for $20 per tent or vehicle.

Nearby, the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is designated as an International Dark Sky Park for its exceptional stargazing vantage point. Another neighborhood stopover is “The Witch’s Grave,” where the tombstone reads, October 36, 1913 (not a typo).

Skinwalker Ranch in Utah is closed to the public, but you can drive up to the gate, which is what Lisa Tsering did in 2022.

Courtesy Lisa Tsering

The Skinwalker Ranch, Utah

This paranormal hot spot has flying saucers, unknown illnesses, shape-shifting monsters and mysterious lights. The location stars in the History Channel show, The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch, in its fifth season. Though it’s closed to the public, you can drive right up to the gate, which Tsering did in 2022. “I felt this weight, like something dragging me down into the earth. I’ve never felt anything like that before, and I’ve been to … power spots. But this was a creepy and negative power spot.” The following day she says she experienced “the hitchhiker effect,” when “some of the weird paranormal stuff, good and bad, follows you home.” She and 15 of her colleagues were laid off.

The term “flying saucer” was coined after a pilot saw something while flying near Mount Rainier in Washington.

Stefano Politi Markovia

Mount Rainier, Washington

What happened in Mount Rainier changed our collective culture. It was after a sighting by a pilot flying in the area that the term “flying saucer” was coined, a visually descriptive term that became part of the American zeitgeist. By 1952, the Air Force had transitioned to “UFO,” which remained the popularly used term for the remainder of the 20th century. According to NASA, there have been 7,230 UAP sightings in Washington state, double the number of reported sightings of UFOs in any other state, per capita. Earlier this year in Mount Rainier, a National Park Service webcam caught an unexplained image over a building; it disappeared a minute later. The state also had the earliest reports of UAP dating back to the 1940s.

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Cari Shane is a Washington, D.C.–based freelance journalist who specializes in science, medicine and health. Her work can be found in a variety of publications, including Fast Company, Scientific American and Smithsonian.