Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S.

Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Roswell, New Mexico - The Birthplace of Modern UFO Lore

Roswell, New Mexico will forever be associated with UFOs and extraterrestrials in the minds of many. This otherwise quiet town in southeastern New Mexico was catapulted into the realm of science fiction back in July 1947, when a mysterious object crashed in the desert nearby.

The Roswell Army Air Field issued a press release stating they had recovered the remains of a "flying disc" on a ranch northwest of town. But just as quickly, that press release was rescinded and a second statement claimed it was merely the remnants of a weather balloon. This abrupt reversal sparked all kinds of conspiracy theories about a government cover-up of an alien spacecraft.

In the 1970s and 80s, several witnesses and acquaintances of witnesses came forward to say they had direct knowledge of alien bodies being recovered from the crash site. Books like "Crash at Corona" and TV shows like "Unsolved Mysteries" further fueled speculation that extraterrestrial life had landed outside Roswell.

Today, Roswell has fully embraced its connection to UFOlogy. The city's lampposts are designed like flying saucers, alien heads adorn street signs, and spaceship motifs can be found on murals all over downtown. The Roswell UFO Museum chronicles the alleged events of 1947 through dioramas, documents, and recreations. Visitors can even see residue from the crash site on display.
Many UFO enthusiasts make pilgrimages to Roswell, hoping to get a taste of the unknown. They visit the alleged debris field and crash site located on private ranches outside of town. Tour companies offer day trips or overnight camping excursions to these restricted areas for those wanting a close encounter.

Believers have reported seeing mysterious lights and aircraft performing impossible maneuvers over the desert at night. They say this is evidence that extraterrestrials are still monitoring the location. Skeptics chalk it up to CMDs (comprehensible misidentified phenomena) like airplanes, satellites, and weather balloons.

What else is in this post?

1. Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Roswell, New Mexico - The Birthplace of Modern UFO Lore
2. Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Area 51 - America's Most Infamous Top Secret Military Base
3. Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Sedona, Arizona - Cosmic Vortexes and Mystical Sightings
4. Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Mount Shasta, California - Underground Cities and Lenticular Clouds
5. Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Skinwalker Ranch, Utah - Site of Unexplained Paranormal Phenomena
6. Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - The Great Lakes - Hotbed of Water-Related Anomalies
7. Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Mount Rainier, Washington - Home to Kenneth Arnold's Historic 1947 Sighting
8. Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Gulf Breeze, Florida - Waves of Strange Encounters in the 1980s

Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Area 51 - America's Most Infamous Top Secret Military Base

Tucked away in the remote Nevada desert, Area 51 has cultivated an aura of mystery and intrigue for decades. This closely guarded military base is infamous for its rumored connections to aliens and UFOs. While the government denied its existence for many years, Area 51 was officially acknowledged in 2013. However, the secrecy surrounding its purpose has only intensified its legend.

Area 51 was established in 1955 as a testing ground for experimental aircraft and weaponry. The need for secrecy and seclusion led the military to choose an isolated dry lake bed nicknamed “Paradise Ranch.” Personnel arrived via unmarked buses and cargo planes to avoid drawing attention. Supersonic test flights began in 1962, explaining many local sightings of peculiar aircraft.

Strange lights over the Groom Lake area sparked UFO rumors as early as the 1960s. But public intrigue reached a fever pitch in 1989 when Bob Lazar claimed he had worked on reverse-engineering alien spacecraft at a hidden S-4 facility near Area 51. Lazar detailed the saucer-like shape and element 115 fuel source powering the crafts. His compelling accounts put Area 51 on the map for ufologists.

The U.S. government’s refusal to even acknowledge Area 51’s existence only added to its mystique. Numerous books, television shows, and films popularized the base as the epicenter of extraterrestrial activity and sci-fi aircraft development. For conspiracy theorists, the intense secrecy surrounding the base is the biggest giveaway that otherworldly phenomena are at play there.
Of course, trespassing is strictly forbidden near Area 51. But that hasn’t stopped curious souls from flocking to the Extraterrestrial Highway in hopes of spotting something strange. Viewpoints like Tikaboo Peak overlook the base from afar. Some ambitious skywatchers even camp along the perimeter.

Signs clearly warn that deadly force is authorized for those crossing into restricted areas. But a few brazen explorers have snuck past security over the years, sometimes sharing photos of hangars and runways before being detained. The most infamous incident was in 2019 when over 2 million Facebook users RSVP’d to a farcical event to “storm Area 51” and “see them aliens.” Only a few dozen people actually showed up, but memes immortalized the viral craze.

Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Sedona, Arizona - Cosmic Vortexes and Mystical Sightings

With its red rock formations, steep canyon walls, and abundant Joshua trees, Sedona is downright otherworldly even without the UFOs. But this city in Arizona's high desert has an added layer of intrigue for those curious about cosmic phenomena. Sedona sits in the heart of vortex country - thought to be power centers that radiate spiritual energy and facilitate self-reflection. These vortexes, along with frequent paranormal sightings, draw metaphysical travelers from around the globe.

The idea of the vortex came to Sedona in the 1980s through channeler Page Bryant. She defined vortexes as swirling centers of subtle energy coming from the surface of the earth. Bryant identified four main vortexes in the Sedona area, each corresponding to a different part of the human psyche. There's the masculine Cathedral Rock Vortex, the feminine Airport Mesa Vortex, the balance-seeking Bell Rock Vortex, and the introspective Boynton Canyon Vortex.

Visitors come to meditate amidst the red rock vortices, hoping to experience spiritual awakenings, psychic channeling, and self-healing. The vortexes are thought to open the mind to receiving wisdom from higher realms. Even skeptics have reported feeling energized and introspective while visiting these power centers.

Beyond the vortexes, Sedona is also known as a hotspot for sightings of orbs, energy forms, and extraterrestrial crafts. Ghost tours and jeep tours make stops at areas like the Bradshaw Ranch, where a supposed underground portal has enabled timeslips and dimensional shifts.

Locals recommend gazing at the skies near the airport around dusk and dawn for the best chance of spotting mystical lights. Some disclose stories of strangevisitors and abductions, or unexplained events like time loops and mirages. The energy of Sedona attracts those seeking cosmic experiences.

Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Mount Shasta, California - Underground Cities and Lenticular Clouds

Rising 14,179 feet above northern California, majestic Mount Shasta stirs the imagination with legends of lost civilizations and UFO sightings. This potentially-active volcano has long been associated with mystical tales of people from the stars who dwell in vast cities beneath the mountain. Lenticular clouds shrouding the peak only add to its air of otherworldliness.

According to local lore, Mount Shasta is hollow inside, containing underground cities inhabited by an ancient race known as the Lemurians. This legend traces back to the 1904 book A Dweller on Two Planets, which told the life story of aLemurian man named Phylos. Accounts describe these Lemurians as very tall, graceful, spiritual people who colonized much of the American continent thousands of years ago after their homeland of Mu sank.
Believers assert that the Lemurians retreated into the bowels of Mount Shasta to escape cataclysms on the surface. There, they supposedly created a hidden paradise of lush vegetation, sparkling streams, and magnificent crystals. The Lemurians are said to possess technology allowing them to adjust the volcano’s activity and use spaceflight-like aircraft.

Numerous eyewitnesses claim to have encountered these mysterious inhabitants of Shasta during hikes or spiritual quests. Their depictions often describe very attractive human-like beings in white robes who exude a sense of wisdom, kindness, and harmony with nature. Some visitors even insist they were brought inside the mountain to the Lemurians’ temple-filled city of Telos.
Lenticular clouds frequently form over Mount Shasta, which ufologists link to UFO activity. These lens-shaped clouds look artificial, unlike any normal weather phenomenon. Witnesses observe bright lights and disc-shaped objects emerging from these clouds, capable of defying gravity with abrupt vertical motions. Such sightings have led many to conclude that Lemurians use alien spacecraft to travel from the surface to their hidden civilization.

Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Skinwalker Ranch, Utah - Site of Unexplained Paranormal Phenomena

Tucked away in a remote corner of northeastern Utah, Skinwalker Ranch has cultivated an air of menace and foreboding. Within its 480 acres of rugged wilderness, countless accounts of harrowing paranormal activity have spawned sinister legends and hypotheses. This hotbed of unexplained phenomena terrifies and captivates curiosity-seekers in equal measure.

Skinwalker Ranch earned its ominous moniker from shape-shifting witches known as “skinwalkers” in Navajo folklore. But modern mysteries permeating the property transcend Native lore. Starting in the mid 1990s, owners the Sherman family experienced a disturbing barrage of mutant animals, poltergeist activity, and UFO sightings on the grounds. Cattle mutilations featuring surgically precise cuts scared the Shermans off the land, which was later purchased for study by aerospace billionaire Robert Bigelow.

What unfurled under Bigelow’s National Institute for Discovery Science was straight out of a horror movie. Researchers monitored invisible objects, glowing orbs, and menacing entities through cameras and sensors. One camera captured a blurry image of an otherworldly creature aptly dubbed the “crawler.” But funding dried up after no hard conclusions could be drawn. Today, the History Channel series The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch continues the quest to document and identify the peculiar happenings.

Explanations for the eerie events run the gamut from top-secret military tests to interdimensional portals to extraterrestrial activity. The ranch’s proximity to declassified nuclear missile sites indeed raises military suspicions. An energy vortex or rip in space-time could also theoretically warp the fabric of reality. But despite sensational speculation, no theory has been substantiated.

One chilling constant seems to be an intelligence behind the disturbances, capable of toying with observers. Phantom knocking responds to questions asked aloud. Orbs dance around witnesses almost mockingly. The randomness yet responsiveness of the anomalies implies some sinister puppeteer pulling the strings. This lends a psychological terror to the site.
Only adding to the enigma is the futility of most investigative efforts on the ranch. Cameras fail mysteriously. Underground scans reveal nothing. Markings discovered on the ground evaporate when approached. It’s as if the forces at play intentionally cloak themselves from human comprehension. The inability to ever directly see the perpetrator breeds unease.

Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - The Great Lakes - Hotbed of Water-Related Anomalies

Spanning over 94,000 square miles along the U.S.-Canada border, the Great Lakes have sparked endless intrigue with frequent sightings of otherworldly phenomena emerging from or dipping into their frigid waters. Reports range from mysterious objects and lights in the sky to enigmatic creatures and alleged alien bases hidden within the lakes. Something about these enormous inland seas seems to attract the inexplicable.

At over 31,000 square miles in surface area, Lake Superior is the largest, deepest, and coldest of the Great Lakes. Numerous accounts tell of a luminous UFO emerging from or crashing into the lake during the 1960s and 70s. In 1968, guests at a lakeside lodge in Manitoba reported a brilliant, multi-colored light hovering over the water for nearly an hour. Just weeks later, a father and son witnessed a blinding oval object with a red glowing underside plunge into the water off the shore of Duluth, Minnesota. It appeared to split in two when it entered the lake.

Far below the surface, some theorize that an underwater alien base exists, with saucer-shaped crafts coming and going. They cite the nearly 1000 unexplained disappearances and drownings in Lake Superior as evidence of UFOs colliding with small boats. The lake’s deep shipwrecks and icy conditions that preserve bodies have never revealed any alien artifacts, however. More likely explanations point to rogue waves, rip currents, and hyperthermia. But legends of the “Lake Superior Triangle” live on.

Lake Michigan has its share of celestial rarities too, including “little green men” emerging from the lake near Muskegon in 1967 described as skinny humanoids with silver skin tight suits and helmets. Campers witnessed their saucer-shaped craft hovering above the water. Once spotted, the entities dashed back into the craft, which shot upwards and vanished in seconds according to witnesses.

Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Mount Rainier, Washington - Home to Kenneth Arnold's Historic 1947 Sighting

Rising majestically above the Seattle metro area, Mount Rainier stands as an iconic emblem of the Pacific Northwest. But this towering volcanic peak is etched in UFO lore as the location of the very first widely-reported modern flying saucer sighting in 1947. Pilot Kenneth Arnold spotted nine mysterious objects while flying near Rainier, ushering in the dawn of the UFO craze.
Arnold was surveying the area around Mount Rainier in search of a missing military transport plane on June 24, 1947. The skilled civilian pilot from Idaho frequently participated in aerial search and rescue missions. As he scanned the rugged terrain, a bright flash of light caught his eye. Arnold described seeing nine very bright, saucer-like objects flying in a V-formation at an estimated 1,200 miles per hour.

In Arnold's words, "they flew like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water." This description gave birth to the term "flying saucer" in popular vernacular. Arnold estimated the crescent-shaped objects were around 50 feet in diameter and Passed by Rainier's summit in just 102 seconds. He noted their odd, weaving flight pattern as they disappeared westward at incredible speed.
Arnold's sighting triggered a flood of other flying saucer accounts in the weeks that followed. The U.S. Air Force launched Project Sign to analyze this mounting wave of unidentified aircraft reports from citizens and veteran pilots. Though Project Sign concluded the sightings lacked conclusive evidence of either extraterrestrial origin or threat to national security.

Out of This World: The Top UFO Sightseeing Destinations in the U.S. - Gulf Breeze, Florida - Waves of Strange Encounters in the 1980s

Tucked along Florida's Gulf Coast, the small town of Gulf Breeze was thrust into the spotlight in the late 1980s by a succession of spectacular UFO sightings and close encounters. For a few years, this sleepy community seemed like the epicenter of extraterrestrial activity, with regular reports of mysterious lights, alien visitors, and spacecraft maneuvering through the skies.

The wave began in November 1987 when local businessman Ed Walters claimed to see a glowing, top-shaped craft hovering above his neighborhood. This marked the start of Walters' purported repeat encounters with aliens and their vessels over the next two years as he managed to capture photographs, videos, and even artifact samples from various landings around Gulf Breeze. His polaroid photos of UFOs proved convincing enough to get international exposure.
Walters wasn't alone. Hundreds of residents chimed in with their own detailed, consistent accounts of unexplained events around town. Strange beams of light were seen beaming down from the night sky. Orange orbs and metallic crafts seemed to appear and disappear at will. Odd circular imprints and burn marks would mysteriously materialize on local land after a sighting. Even police officers and mayors witnessed phenomenon they couldn't rationalize.

The shared descriptions of angular, silver aircraft with ringed domes or blue lights matched depicted in Walters' images. The frequent oddities sparked UFO skywatches where locals gathered in parks or on beaches hoping to glimpse something inexplicable. Some didn't have to hope, claiming chilling encounters with bald aliens in silver suits on their own properties.

While many skeptics dismissed the sightings as misidentified planes from nearby Pensacola Naval Air Station or grand hoaxes, those who experienced the events swore something uncanny visited their small town in droves throughout 1987 and 1988. The tantalizing sightings spawned UFO organization investigations, dozens of books and documentaries, and even a "Gulf Breeze sighting" tourist craze for a few years before the hype died down.