If you're wondering whether that strange light you saw zipping across the night sky was a UFO, you're not alone. According to the National UFO Reporting Center, more than 1,300 UFO sightings have been reported so far this year.

However, that number represents a decline in recent years.

While the organization only recorded 307 sightings back in 1990, they reached a peak of 8,619 in 2014, before falling slightly to 5,516 in 2016.


Comment: The source data is available here at statista.com


UFO sightings chart
© StatistaYou will find more infographics at Statista
But the decline in sightings doesn't mean interest in UFOs by both the public and the military has fallen off.

One recently leaked military report revealed fascinating new details about a 2004 incident involving what appears to be a UFO. The incident is better known as "the Tic Tac incident" due to the Tic Tac-like shape of the purported UFO.


The Department of Defense released three separate videos taken of the AAVs (anomalous aerial vehicles) from the incident after a secret Pentagon program intended to find signs of alien life was revealed by the New York Times to have been defunct since 2012. However, the paper's sources said the program continues to exist in some form, despite being stripped of its explicit funding.

And why not? The American military - and the air force in particular - has been investigating incidences of UFOS for decades. In 1947, the Air Fore started investigating more than 12,000 claimed UFO sightings before the project ended in 1969. While the program concluded that most of the sightings involved conventional aircraft or spy planes, more than 700 incidences remained explained.

Perhaps we'll learn more after President Trump launches his 'Space Force'.