Formerly, they were known as Unidentified Flying Objects...now there's some other vernacular used by government officials. Now, they're called UAPs, or "unidentified anomalous phenomenon"...boring!
At any rate, we still prefer UFO.
Since 1974, there's been a group who have tracked as many UFO sightings and reports as possible, and interestingly, they're based out of Davenport, WA! Their website is called the National UFO Reporting Center, or NUFORC for short. Led by a well-known respected scientific researcher and some assistants, they track and analyze thousands of reports annually.
We centered on WA State for starters. The 'modern' era of the UFO in the US began in 1947 actually, and was in WA state. There had been sightings throughout the 1940's and earlier, especially with WWII, people paid attention. But the era began on June 24, 1947.
Kenneth Arnold, a civilian pilot, was flying his aircraft near Mt. Rainier on a bright sunny day. He reported to air traffic control and other authorities he saw a V-formation of 9 silver objects flying near the mountain. He thought they were military test planes, but estimated their speed at 1,700 MPH. He described their flight pattern as a rock skipping over the water, or a "flying saucer." The name stuck.
A prospector on nearby Mt. Adams reported he saw the same thing, adding credibility to Arnold's story.
Since then, UFO activity has increased, then decreased, with regular cycles in the US and around the world. To this day, they continue. NUFORC just celebrated its 50th anniversary and has hundreds of thousands of reports nationwide, including WA.
We are going to include the Yakima Valley as part of our information. These reports are examined, and if possible, explanations are provided by the website, but many are considered unknown or "open." Here we go! (from NUFORC)
January 14th, just after midnight in Pasco, the witness reported seeing a "fireball" re-and orange, and was watched for about a minute. The report says the witness was "military," but did not elaborate. The witness said they were driving on Court St. and observed the fireball, and they included a photo they took from inside their vehicle.
January 11th, a resident in Kennewick was outside around 7:47 PM and for 35 minutes, observed what they described as a blinking red circle. They also shared a video of the sighting on the website. It apparently went in circles for some time, and did not behave like a regular airplane or helicopter. The person was near Washington Elementary School.
On January 23rd. 2 residents in a cornfield near Toppenish reported seeing a huge triangle-shaped object that flew just over their heads, with lights, but was quiet, and described as gliding along. They also provided a picture of this sighting that took place around 7:30 PM. The closest distance they saw was just over the treetops. Check out their video, it's a little creepy!
By the way, according to NUROC, WA ranks 3rd in the US in the total number of UFO reports they've accumulated US and worldwide.
Not everyone believes there's intelligent life out there, many UFO reports are later able to be explained (weather, light refraction, airplanes etc) but it's kinda fun to see how many people have seen things in the sky they and experts just cannot explain.