UFO Sightings in California
15,215 UFO sightings reported in California since 1935, peaking in 2014 (869 reports); most often described as light.
- Total sightings
- 15,215
- Span
- 1935–2028
- Peak year
- 2014 (869 reports)
- Dominant shape
- Light
1935–2028 · peak 2014 (869 reports)
Top cities in California
Los Angeles
1942–2022 · peak 2007 (29 reports)
San Diego
1944–2022 · peak 2007 (32 reports)
Sacramento
1956–2022 · peak 2012 (26 reports)
San Jose
1947–2022 · peak 2012 (21 reports)
San Francisco
1956–2021 · peak 2008 (26 reports)
Fresno
1953–2022 · peak 2014 (18 reports)
Long Beach
1957–2022 · peak 2017 (13 reports)
Bakersfield
1961–2022 · peak 1995 (13 reports)
Santa Rosa
1955–2022 · peak 2015 (10 reports)
Santa Barbara
1968–2022 · peak 2020 (12 reports)
Riverside
1976–2020 · peak 2008 (11 reports)
Modesto
1947–2021 · peak 2009 (13 reports)
Redding
1986–2022 · peak 2012 (10 reports)
Burbank
1981–2021 · peak 2003 (24 reports)
Huntington Beach
1945–2020 · peak 2012 (8 reports)
Anaheim
1963–2020 · peak 2015 (12 reports)
Ventura
1967–2021 · peak 2012 (13 reports)
El Cajon
1969–2022 · peak 2014 (14 reports)
Irvine
1980–2022 · peak 2007 (18 reports)
Oakland
1968–2022 · peak 2003 (6 reports)
Ventura · CA, USA
A report from Ventura, CA in April 1974 described three circular objects with white lights, the outer one appearing to move around the others, lasting 3-4minutes.
Santa Rosa · CA, USA
A report from Santa Rosa, CA in March 1974 described a large, disk-shaped object described by witnesses in detail, lasting 2 hours.
Orange · CA, USA
Car radio goes dead, bright light.
San Diego · CA, USA
Something very large and silent passed overhead - heard but not seen. ((NUFORC Note: Possibly the sound of wing vortices. PD))
Orange County · CA, USA
A report from Orange County, CA in November 1973 described a dark, void-like anomaly in the daytime sky that witnesses compared to a black hole, lasting 40min.
El Centro (a few miles west of) · CA, USA
orange nocturnal light
Atwater · CA, USA
As you can see this happened a long time ago, so my recolections of exact times and date regretable are gone.. although it was 3 days
Laguna Beach · CA, USA
A report from Laguna Beach, CA in September 1973 described an unidentified object seen near the Coast Highway, lasting 1 hour.
Loomis · CA, USA
It looked like a faint star to began with. one that as redish in color, and was just sitting there within a group of other stars that w
San Diego · CA, USA
A report from San Diego, CA in August 1973 described an intense noise overhead that reportedly shook the ground, lasting 2 minutes.
Lake Hamiton / Sequoia National Forest · CA, USA
A report from the Sequoia National Forest area, CA in July 1973 described a sphere-shaped object, alongside a reported unexplained gap in the witnesses' memory of the event.
Richmond · CA, USA
A report from Richmond, CA in July 1973 described three differently shaped, silent objects observed during two separate events, moving northbound, lasting 20 seconds.
Stockton (intersection of I-5 and I-580) · CA, USA
A report from near Stockton, CA (I-5/I-580) in July 1973 described numerous shape-shifting objects seen along the highway during a busy holiday weekend, lasting 3hrs.
San Rafael · CA, USA
A report from San Rafael, CA in June 1973 described a large, oval object seen near the county civic center by the reporter's sister and family, lasting 20 minutes.
Huntington Beach · CA, USA
A report from Huntington Beach, CA in June 1973 described a silver, cigar-shaped object roughly 300 feet long with about ten windows, flying near 200 feet up at low speed, lasting 20 seconds.
Citrus Heights · CA, USA
Low flying, silent, wing shaped craft passed directly overhead while we were moon gazing; report on local TV breaking news.
San Jose · CA, USA
A report from San Jose, CA in June 1973 described a triangular formation made up of nine lights, with no solid object visible, lasting 15min+.
Newport Beach · CA, USA
A report from Newport Beach, CA in June 1973 described a V-shaped formation of lights seen moving across the night sky, lasting 10 seconds.
San Luis Obispo · CA, USA
A report from San Luis Obispo, CA in May 1973 described an object that made a sharp 90-degree turn at high speed before appearing to vanish upward, lasting 5 minutes.
Sacramento · CA, USA
A witness in Sacramento, California reported a slowly rotating, cylindrical object roughly 75 feet above an intersection, during a twenty-second sighting in March 1973.
San Clemente · CA, USA
An anonymous witness in San Clemente, California reported noticing unusual, cat-like eyes on a figure encountered during a roughly one-minute event in February 1973.
Glendora · CA, USA
An illuminated Saucer hovers over my back patio. The Object rises beyond a neighboring house to the South. After hovering for five min'
Trinidad · CA, USA
A witness in Trinidad, California reported a light initially thought to be a satellite that changed directions too quickly for normal orbital motion, during a ten-minute sighting in November 1972.
Crescent City · CA, USA
A witness in Crescent City, California reported high-pitched tones during what they believed was an unidentified object encounter, in a brief thirty-second sighting in the early 1970s.
Fortuna (foothills) · CA, USA
Witnesses in the foothills near Fortuna, California, reportedly hundreds of people, described a huge, self-illuminated sphere with a translucent field, during a ninety-minute sighting, October 1972.