Did you know a UFO sighting in Washington state is credited with kicking off decades of reported sightings across the country?
In 1947, private pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine shiny UFOs moving at fast speeds near Mount Rainier. It’s said that his explanation of the aircraft led to the widespread use of the term “flying saucer.”
In fact, official documents from the federal government refer to Arnold’s sighting as the first in the United States. The CIA and other agencies became involved in the phenomenon of unidentified flying objects after this report.
Since then, government agencies have transitioned to the term UAP over UFO, meaning unidentified anomalous phenomenon, in an effort to ease the stigma.
UAP sightings common in Washington state
The Evergreen State has remained a hotbed for UAP sightings since the original “flying saucers” at Mount Rainier.
For several years in a row, Washington has ranked high on national studies of which states have the most sightings.
Most recently, Casino.CA released a study analyzing the hotspots in both the United States and Canada. Again, Washington ranked number two.
According to the study, Washington has an average of one UAP sighting per 1,093 people, beat out only by California, with one per 1,075 people. Since 1974, there have been 7,125 reported sightings in Washington.
For comparison, you’re least likely to see a UAP in Louisiana, where the average is one sighting per 3,815 people.
The top 10 states for UAP sightings are:
California
Washington
Florida
Oregon
New York
Texas
Pennsylvania
Arizona
Colorado
Nevada
Determining states with the most UAP sightings
The study used data from the National UFO Reporting Center and digital media reports to determine which states have the highest prevalence of UAPs. There were reportedly 149,000 sightings examined.
The National UFO Reporting Center shows over 80 reports in Washington just this year, all across the state.
Recent Grays Harbor UFO sightings
Ocean Shores
March 5, 2024, 12:20 a.m.
Duration: 15 minutes
Observers: 1
Location: About 1,000 feet above the ocean at the beach
Shape: Cigar
Color: Off white light blue
Estimated size: 300 yards wide or larger
Estimated Speed: Maybe 5 miles per hour .then vanished
Description: Glowing outline of something huge slowly pulsated through low clouds as it moved silent and slowly along the beach.
I was taking some garbage outside my house to dump in my can shortly after midnight and I noticed a section of sky glowing strangely and slowly pulsating. It was definitely not a fleet of drones, or random fireworks or some kind of flares, it was way too big and silent to be a helicopter … too slow and silent to be a plane … weather was overcast, cold, very slightly snowing. … So after quickly shutting all my outdoor lighting off I went out and looked again at it. And … I could see it much better.. And whatever it was, it quietly glowed through the clouds like a slow moving horizontal row of lights that had to be approximately 300 feet wide or larger. Kind of eerie watching every light slowly pulsing in perfect synchronicity and luminosity. Glowing dim to bright in about 10 second intervals when it reached the brighter of the pulse you could make out an outline of what I can only describe as looking like a curved cigar shape with maybe 20 or so lights running down the edge of it. … it was totally silent the entire time I watched it..then, after 10 minutes it slowly started getting smaller as it got farther away always moving in a northern direction following the beach. … The lights were almost hypnotic as they perfectly pulsated slowly from an orangish/dim white to brighter greenish blue then back again. … I estimated the width had to be to be at least 100 yards wide (like the length of a pro football field) then, a few minutes before it was gone the colors of the lights slightly changed. … They were pulsing from a reddish/orange color to a darker blue/white color then it was gone.
Hoquiam
Feb. 5, 10:32 p.m.
Duration: About 30 minutes
Observers: 1
Location: Top of hill looking out over Grays Harbor towards the mouth of the harbor to the Pacific Ocean
Shape: Light
Color: White
Estimated size: Unknown
Viewed From: Land
Direction: Facing southwest
Estimated Speed: Erratic
Characteristics: Animals reacted
Observed white light moving extremely erratically. Light did not resolve well beyond being a disk when using binoculars. … Light passed in and out of clouds and appeared to hover over the mouth of the Harbor. At the end, it shot off over the Pacific Ocean.
Humptulips
Dec. 30, 2023, 10:37 p.m.
Duration: 3-5 min
Observers: 2
Location details: U.S. Highway 101, Youmans Road
Shape: Unknown
Color: Whitish/greenish
Estimated speed: Very fast
Characteristics: Lights on object
Me and a friend were driving down the highway and we observed a formation of around 10 diamond shape lights in the sky when I was asking my friend if she was seeing that in the sky, we both saw the lights disappear and then one much larger brighter whitish green lit up craft/object shot across the sky from where we had seen the formation at lightning speed, did like a downward travel then jumped back going up and out of sight and/or disappearing from view. At the time of the sighting the sky was clear — there were stars visible and moon was out partially covered by fog/haze at the end of the sighting.
Aberdeen
March 6, 2023, 5 p.m.
Duration: 35min
Observers: 2
Location details: Nisqually basin area
Shape: Changing
Characteristics: Lights on object, aura or haze around object; floating objects that look like a jelly fish shape
Coming back from Seattle and the two crafts were just hanging in the sky. I watched it for a while before bringing the attention to another person. Neither one of us can really describe them but we’ve seen it now a total of three times. The second time in the same area. The third time over the ocean in Ocean Shores.
Ocean Shores
Oct. 25, 2023, 4:06 a.m.
Duration: 15 minutes
Observers: 1
Location details: Seen three orbs hovering over Duck Lake, moving all over
Shape: Orb
Characteristics: Lights on object, aura or haze around object, white/blue sparkling lights
All our electricity went out. I got up and looked out the window. I saw three orbs flying around the lake in back of the house. Then I looked to my left and saw a flashlight and then the light suddenly changed to bright and I could see all across the lake. Next day I asked my neighbor if she saw anything. She said no. I noticed three flood lights on her dock. I asked about them. She said they don’t work. When I left, I thought UFOs can make them work.
Ocean Shores
Aug. 8, 2022, 10:12 p.m.
Duration: 15 seconds
Observers: 1
Location details: Public bathroom with two parking lots
Shape: Formation
Looking in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia, two formations flew from west to east quickly. Looking in the direction of Cassiopeia at 10:12 p.m. with a completely clear sky I witnessed at least five lights arranged in a V almost half circle formation with an additional two lights; one taking a position in the front moving from left to right (north south) and back to the other end of the formation whilst the other light following in the rear copied this motion but in an opposing manner (if the front light was at the north end the rear would be in the south). The manner in which these two oscillating lights flew was too perfect, they did not alter their path. …. This formation flew very quickly from west to east rapidly reaching the horizon. Before the first formation disappeared from sight a second formation of at least five lights in a more compact V formation entered the sky at the same location as the initial formation and followed the same path across the sky in-front of Cassiopeia until reaching the horizon. The speed at which these lights flew across the sky exceeds any International Space Station transit and satellite I have seen in the night sky. The best way to describe the individual lights is to compare them to the stars in the background night sky, if they suddenly stopped moving they would look like new stars in the sky. My thoughts, first wave aliens, second wave maybe fighter jets. This happened at a very popular beach and the movement was too quick and lasted too long for me to be the only one to witness it, I can only hope.
— Reported to the National UFO Reporting Center
