UFO Map: Southwest States
This map shows UFO sightings in 3 colors: Blue dots indicate reports before 1960. Violet is for 1960-1979, and Green for events from 1980 onward. The diagonal swath of blue in SW Idaho was largely from 1947, while the violet cluster in NE Utah dates from 1965 to 1970.All eras are well represented in California, but lay differently on the map. Northernmost Nevada is blank, while a string of sightings seems to run north-east from Los Angeles, through Las Vegas and well into Utah.
Sightings tend to occur near highways, railways and towns where there are potential witnesses.
In contrast, the violet cluster of sightings in thinly populated NE Utah (1963-1973) comes from a single thorough study by biologist Frank Salisbury.