Narrative

UFO sightings have been a target of human curiosity for a long time. They have fueled so many debates, research endeavors, and cultural narratives worldwide. Our project aims to look at and analyze UFO sightings through different theoretical perspectives to create the most comprehensive source for anyone researching this phenomenon. We study how the UFO phenomenon reflects and influences the dynamics within a society by examining the historical context, the social impact, and data patterns linked to UFO sightings. This paper follows our research questions, methodology, and findings that we summarize and contribute to the field of digital humanities. Based on data from both the USA and worldwide, we have made a case for the ubiquitous and intriguing nature of UFO sightings and highlighted their cultural and social significance.

Research Questions and Hypothesis

Our research is guided by the following questions:

How can we best map and visualize UFO sightings data to create full and accessible resources for those interested in the phenomenon?
What is the connection between UFO sightings and modern society, especially in regards to digital humanities and data science analyses?
How do socio-political events bear on the rate of sighting reports and the character of UFOs?
What are the common characteristics among credible UFO sightings, and how do they differ from typical debunked cases?

We hypothesize that UFO sightings are culturally sensitive, dependent on the social and political situation and technological advances. We expect to find clear patterns of the data showing great public attention around major historical events, wars, periods of crisis, and change. We also hope that reports of good quality will show a few constant features that make them different from hoaxes or misidentifications.

Methodology

Our study is mixed-method: it combines quantitative data analysis with qualitative content analysis. We apply several theoretical lenses to drive our research:

Intersectionality: Understanding the historical and social contexts of UFO sightings, their patterns in social media, gender differences in reporting, and the socioeconomic implications of access to reporting platforms. This perspective can contribute to a better understanding of how the various demographic factors combine to affect the experience of UFO sightings and whether these will be reported or not.
Reader-Response Criticism: How people interpret sightings, public comments on social forums, and influence from larger communities in terms of related narratives. This perspective will enable an exploration of how personal beliefs, experiences, and feelings determine the way an individual perceives and interprets sightings of UFOs.
Critical Disability Studies: Ensuring that all users can access our project and considering the needs and inclusiveness of persons with a disability. It gives more weight to creating an inclusive digital environment that meets user needs of every diversity.

Data Collection and Analysis

We collected data from multiple sources, including:

UFO Sighting Databases: CORGIS UFO sightings dataset, which provides a comprehensive collection of reported sightings with details such as location, date, and description.
Historical Archives and Government Documents: Including declassified military reports and official investigations into UFO phenomena.
News Reports and Media Archives: To capture public reactions and media coverage over time.

Our analysis makes use of GIS mapping to visualise spatial distributions and statistical techniques to find patterns and trends. In order to find recurring themes and traits in eyewitness accounts, we also conducted content analysis.

Historic UFO sighting photo of a flying saucer

Historical Context

Throughout history, periodic UFO sightings have been individually reported, but they really began to gain great publicity in the middle of the twentieth century. In the timeline below, there are some events that correlate important happenings with UFO sightings.

1947: The Roswell Incident marks the beginning of modern UFO lore. A mysterious object crash-landed in Roswell, New Mexico, leading to widespread speculation and conspiracy theories about extraterrestrial life.
1950s-1960s: Heightened Cold War tensions and the Space Race coincide with increased UFO reports. During this period, many sightings were reported near military installations and nuclear facilities, reflecting the anxieties of the era.
1970s-1980s: Advancements in aerospace technology and the release of previously classified government documents fuel public interest. The rise of science fiction in popular culture also contributed to the growing fascination with UFOs.
1990s-Present: The rise of the internet and digital media paralleled an increased amount of real and false UFO information. In a way, it democratized UFO research, but easier access has also fostered hoaxes and groundless claims.

UFO sightings research is not just the study of a particular unexplained oddity; it also provides a perspective on more considerable social anxieties, technological developments, and cultural changes that have occurred through the years. For example, the Roswell Incident in 1947 took place within an already highly charged post–World War II context and initiated contemporary UFO lore, mirroring apprehensions and insecurities of that period. The upsurge in sightings during the Cold War era of the 1950s and 1960s was a natural reflection of anxieties regarding technological espionage and the unknown capabilities of potential adversaries. The 1970s and 1980s, with their significant steps forward in aerospace technology and the advent of declassified documents, did much both to whet the public's appetite and to deepen its skepticism concerning the nature of the interface between government secrecy and public curiosity. The democratization of information by the advent of the internet in the 1990s has seen increased credible reports and much misinformation about UFOs. By using the tools of data science to sift through these patterns in conjunction with their historical context, our project sheds light not only on the social and political forces involved in shaping public perception of UFOs but also helps in bringing understanding closer to how such phenomena are embedded into human history and culture.

Click on each location
to view more details..

- These are 10 randomly selected samples of UFO Sightings between 1970 to 2015
- The three different colors represents three different ranges of time
- Due to the limitation of budget and resources, we are unable to showcase every single locations in the dataset.

Data Visualizations

Our project includes several data visualizations to illustrate our findings:

1. Map: Locations of UFO sighting incidents across different states, highlighting geographic hotspots:

This map shows the distribution of UFO sightings in the United States, where red areas indicate hotspots and blue areas indicate cold spots. Of particular interest is the fact that significant hotspots in the western states cluster into California, Nevada, and Arizona, agreeing with regions known for the existence of military bases and aerospace research installations. Similarly, cold spots occur in the central and southeastern states, indicating fewer reports of UFO sightings. This map helpfully separates significant and non-significant areas, so regional variations in UFO sightings are visible, an essential part of the broader project. This visualization helps our broader project by providing a geographic context for patterns of UFO sightings.

2. Temporal Trends of UFO Shapes

This shows how UFO descriptions have changed over time. Each shape-saucer, light, triangle, and sphere has been mapped to show their dominance during periods. The graph shows that some dominant shifts were from saucers, described the most in early reports, to lights and triangles, in later years. Such shifts can be affected due to technological progress, alternations in the media, and even cultural stories that are altering regarding extraterrestrial phenomena. By considering such an analysis within the context of the visualization, the reader can determine how societal determinants and historical backgrounds shift characteristics across UFO sightings, thereby coming to a more nuanced understanding of this broad topic.

Temporal trends of reported UFO shapes across decades, showcasing the changing prevalence of shapes such as saucers, lights, triangles, and spheres

3. Most Typical UFO Shapes

The following bar graph depicts the most reported shapes of UFOs worldwide. Lights, triangles, and circles are some other shapes reported very frequently in this order. The diversity of described shapes hints at differing interpretations but also different phenotype or maybe experiences. This type of visualization helps search for commonalities among witness descriptions, which can aid researchers in sorting out sighting types and uncover factors that might be affecting these reports. These data underline the study of shape in UFO research, supporting future studies on the characteristics and reliability of different sightings.

Distribution of the most commonly reported UFO shapes globally, highlighting the frequency of each form

4. Country with the Most UFO Sightings

The following bar chart shows the number of UFO sightings reported by other countries. There are substantial geographic differences in this kind of thing. Far ahead is the United States, probably because of increased reporting or, indeed because there were a lot more sightings there. The other countries show some significant numbers, such as Canada, Great Britain, and Germany. This geographical distribution raises many considerations regarding cultural, societal, and media influences on the reporting of UFO sightings. It poses questions as to whether higher sighting incidences in some regions are an effect of openness or better reporting systems in the such areas and whether, indeed, higher levels of incidence exist in such areas. There is a need to consider this geographical analysis for global patterns in UFO reports and factors driving these differences.

Number of UFO sightings reported in various countries, indicating significant geographic disparities

5. Frequency of UFO Sightings by Hour

This plot indicates the distribution of UFO sightings as a function of the hour and has apparent temporal features. The main plot has a strong phase transition at a few hours and one inset that gives the percent distribution of sightings by hour. Clearly, from the plot, most sightings were during night hours; perhaps people were outside more often or due to some environmental feature that increased sighting probability at this time. This time-of-day analysis highly suggests that the temporal variable must be considered in terms of the possibility of seeing a UFO, and it provides essential information on when to expect a UFO sighting. These patterns make it possible to put the reports in context and imply that one can be made to struggle toward possible explanations of these phenomena.

Frequency of UFO sightings by the hour of the day, revealing distinct temporal patterns and peak times

Analysis and Findings

Our analysis reveals several notable patterns and findings:

Temporal Peaks: The major waves of UFO sightings occurred during the 1950s-60s and 1990s-2000s. These peaks are associated with periods of technological progress and socio-political tension of a wide reach, confirming our hypothesis that UFO sightings are determined—at least partially—by the wider social context.
Geographic Hotspots: Hotspots of the sightings, in very high numbers, were recorded within the United States, particularly around military bases and research facilities. This may indicate that there is a link between UFO sightings and military activity that ought to be explored further.
Credibility Factors: The most plausible sightings are those that come with corroboration in the form of multiple witnesses, physical evidence, and consistent descriptions across independent reports. Such characteristics help set reports apart from hoaxes or misidentifications. For instance, most credible reports describe an object of uniform shape, such as a disk or triangle, and occur more often in rural or remote areas where conditions of observation are much clearer.

Socio-Political Influence

According to our study, socio-political factors contribute to the frequency and nature of UFO reporting. In particular, there is a substantial increase in UFO sightings during periods of political tension or technological change, such as the Cold War and the Space Race. In turn, this supposes that one of how anxieties and curiosities of societies might materialize is through UFO reports. In addition, media coverage and governmental response to date have also sparked public interest and created much speculation.

Gender and Socioeconomic Factors

The intersectional analysis opens up the gender and socio-economic-related discrepancies in reporting UFOs. More men reported these than women, likely because of norms and taboos engraved through society on discussing or reporting unusual experiences. The fact that people from more privileged backgrounds are likely to have the resources and platforms for sighting reporting, and the available data may be biased for that reason, potentially heightens this issue. This finding, therefore, brings to the forefront the consideration of demographics in the analysis of UFO sightings

Illustrations and Photographs

Our narrative is supplemented with well-captioned and credited illustrations, including:

Historical photographs of notable UFO sightings, providing visual context.
Diagrams of common UFO shapes and their descriptions, aiding in the identification and categorization of sightings.
Charts and graphs derived from our data analysis, visually representing our findings.

Contributions to Digital Humanities

Our project contributes to digital humanities research in that it strives to show interdisciplinary approaches and, therefore, contribute to a better understanding of such a complex phenomenon as UFO sightings. We provide a comprehensive view of the cultural and social dimensions of UFO reports by intertwining historical context, data analysis, and theoretical framework. In addition, using digital tools for data visualization and GIS mapping opens up possible technology options in humanities research.

Expanding Digital Humanities

Our project exemplifies how digital humanities can be helpful to for meshing the traditional approaches of research in humanities with modern methodologies of technology. We could have analyzed the big data sets and looked at patterns by using digital tools more easily and accessible. This contributes to our understanding of UFO sightings more profoundly and shows that this is useful for further applications to broad digital humanities techniques in other research areas.

Accessibility and Inclusiveness

This work, therefore, will be sure, when in use with Critical Disability Studies, to provide a digital material set that is mindful of a diversified audience. Resizable text, alternative text to images, and the site's keyboard navigation are just some of the first steps toward inclusion for a wide range of user needs within the digital environment. The core values of digital humanities are based on inclusiveness and the democratization of access to information.

Conclusion

Our exploration of UFO sighting experiences is seen as the weave between the social and political fabric, the advancements of technology, and cultural belief systems. Hence, it is through in-depth analysis and creative methodologies that this paper will advance further discussion on the UFO phenomena and the associated social implications. The project at hand proves very valuable for the general public interested in UFOs to provide rational thinking and sound judgment about these occurrences.

We draw upon a range of theoretical lenses and appropriate digital methodologies, hence indicating how digital humanities research can respond to complex and multifaceted topics. Hence, our findings indicate how careful one needs to be in considering historical, social, and cultural contexts when investigating reports of UFO sightings, and they bring new light on this old and enigmatic phenomenon.