Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Mapping UFO sightings.
Credit: Max Galka/Metrocosm

Max Galka is a New Yorker “fascinated by data” and has just issued on Metrocosm a new data-rich look at UFO sightings.

Metrocosm is an exploration of urban life through the lens of statistics, data, and quantitative visualization.

Galka cofounded Revaluate, a real estate data business. Prior to that he modeled natural disaster risks and occasionally still does amateur hurricane predicting. Recently, he mapped federally regulated weapons; why another mansion tax is not what New York City needs; as well as creating a visual history of gender and employment.

But a new addition is his interactive UFO map. Galka details UFO reports and, in some cases, makes use of photo/video evidence.

Up close contact! Scene from Earth vs. the Flying Saucers circa 1956.
Credit: Columbia Pictures

Top ten

In his new posting, the most reported UFO sightings, according to Galka, are listed in a kind of Top Ten, David Letterman fashion:

Assuming that more reported sightings equate to more credibility, Galka notes that these are the 10 most “credible” UFO sightings in recent history in the United States:

— Tinley Park Lights, Tinley Park, IL (10/2004 77 reports

— Cone of Light, East Coast (9/2009) – 75 reports

— Tinley Park Lights, Tinley Park, IL (10/2005) – 72 reports

— Phoenix Lights, Phoenix, AZ (3/1997) – 65 reports

— Blue-Green Fireball, the Midwest (7/1997) – 63 reports

— Tinley Park Lights, Tinley Park, IL (8/2004) – 45 reports

— Blue-Green Fireball, the Midwest (11/1999) – 43 reports

— Washington Fireball, Renton, WA (7/2012) – 40 reports

— Rockford Lights, Rockford, IL (1/2001) – 25 reports

— Lights Over New Jersey Turnpike, Carteret, NJ (7/2001) – 25 reports

The big spike!
Credit: Max Galka/Metrocosm

Possible explanations

Galka points out that Illinois is involved in six of the ten UFO sightings that he has listed, as well as several other mass UFO sightings further down the list.

“I thought that was interesting because when you look at the total UFO reports per capita, Illinois actually ranks pretty low compared with other states,” Galka observes. “Aside from Chicago, it does not appear there is much correlation between mass UFO sightings and big airports.”

Some of the larger number of UFO sightings also coincide with large meteor showers or spacecraft launches, Galka points out. “Though when I looked into it,” he adds, “the effect did not come out very strong.”

Galka said that one pattern he did notice was that many of the mass UFO sightings occur on particular dates. He plotted the number of UFO sightings for each day of the year.

One message from this part of the research is that UFOs, flying those lengthy interstellar distances, clearly want to take part in U.S. Independence Day – July 4. That or ET is trying to find movie star Will Smith and set him straight.

To access Galka’s UFO research, go to:

http://metrocosm.com/

For more information on Galka’s new work and related UFO research, go to this informative Washington Post article by Abby Ohlheiser:

“The surprising places where Americans are running into UFOs” at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/06/05/map-where-americans-are-running-into-ufos/?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

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