Mapped: Ohio's UFO hotspots
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Area 51 is more than 2,000 miles away, but Ohioans have still reported seeing their fair share of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in recent years.
Why it matters: Discussion and reports of UFOs — or the more modern term, UAPs (unidentified anomalous phenomenon) — have become more mainstream in recent years as lawmakers and others push for answers.
Zoom in: Residents in the Cleveland metro area reported 678 sightings between 2000 and 2023, according to the National UFO Reporting Center.
- That's 31.6 sightings per 100,000 residents, or just below the national rate (34.3).
The intrigue: 361 of those sightings were in Cuyahoga County.
- The UFO capital of Northeast Ohio appears to be Portage County, with a whopping 78.2 sightings per 100,000 residents.
Flashback: Portage has a history with UFO sightings, including a famous 1966 police chase that inspired Steven Spielberg's film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."