Have you ever wondered if social factors like pandemics can affect UFO reporting? In a recent article published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration, authors Chase Cockrell from the University of Vermont, and Mark Rodeghier and Linda Murphy from the Center for UFO Studies, investigated whether the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an increase in UFO sightings. The authors hypothesized that the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in lockdowns and social distancing measures, may have led to an increase in UFO sightings. The reasoning behind this hypothesis was that with more people staying home and spending time outdoors, there may have been an increase in available free time, which could result in more UFO sightings. Additionally, the authors tested the idea that increased feelings of anxiety and uncertainty may have led to heightened attention to the environment, which could have caused people to more often notice unusual phenomena and make sense of what they experienced by connecting it with UFOs. The authors analyzed data from the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), the two most comprehensive UFO reporting sites in the United States, from 2018 through 2020 and compared the number of UFO reports before and after…
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New study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on UFO reporting
