NC and SC Cities Rank High for UFO Sightings – Study by NUFORC (Charlotte Observer)

📍 Location

📝 Description

Initial reports tied the NC/SC region to a NUFORC data-driven study of UFO sightings, naming Charlotte, Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, Gastonia, and Raleigh as hotspots based on sightings reported to the National UFO Reporting Center. NUFORC remains the primary public repository for such data, and subsequent analyses and news coverage continue to reference the Carolinas as prominent locations in sighting databases, though as a regional trend rather than a single event. The 2014 Charlotte Observer-linked NUFORC post described a cluster in the Charlotte area (Matthews) and noted additional witnesses reported in the Charlotte Observer. Since then, individual NC/SC sightings have been documented (e.g., Gastonia in 2015) but there has not been a new unified ‘case’ that reproduces the 2014 ranking; latest coverage discusses the Carolinas as hotspots only when aggregating NUFORC data and applying per-city or per-capita metrics.

🔍 Circumstances

Dataset-based ranking derived from NUFORC’s historical sighting reports, cited by the Charlotte Observer in 2014, identifying NC/SC cities with high counts of UFO reports (e.g., Charlotte, Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, Gastonia, Raleigh). NUFORC continues to publish new reports and maintains state/city indices; modern coverage often frames the Carolinas as hotspots when data are analyzed by population or per-capita rates, rather than announcing a single new sighting event.

ℹ️ Additional Details

The 2014 NUFORC post notes a Charlotte area sighting linked to the Charlotte Observer; NUFORC remains active with ongoing reports; coastal NC/SC sightings have appeared in NUFORC archives, including Gastonia (2015) and various coastal reports; recent independent analyses (e.g., Stackers' NC city rankings and WSOC coverage) continue to show Charlotte as a leading NC city for sightings when data are broken out by city and by per-capita metrics. There is no single ongoing incident tied to the 2014 ranking; the phenomenon is represented by a long-running database of reported sightings.

🔗 Sources (7)

👥 Community Contributions

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