UFOs Over Los Angeles County

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Editor's Note: the Almanac includes the following as speculation (or imagination) - not as established historical fact. We feature these and other stories in Mysterious L.A. as a part of the cultural fabric of Los Angeles County.

Since 1974, the National UFO Reporting Center has collected reports of possible UFO sightings from across the United States and provided summaries of these to the public. The non-profit organization was founded in Seattle by UFO investigator Robert J. Gribble. Its purpose is “to receive, record, and to the greatest degree possible, corroborate and document reports from individuals who have been witness to unusual, possibly UFO-related events.” The center has taken reports primarily by its telephone hotline, operated 24 hours daily, almost continuously since it was opened. Government and law enforcement agencies (such as FAA, National Weather Service offices, the U.S. military, NASA, and local emergency dispatch centers) are said to routinely refer callers from the public to its hotline with reports of possible UFO sightings.

The center says that it distinguishes its operations from other UFO monitoring organizations by providing summaries of its data to the public. Those determined by the center to be experienced UFO investigators are granted access to more detailed data.

With Los Angeles County in mind, the Almanac reviewed the center’s summarized reports from 1942 through mid-October 2025. Since 1942, 16,965 sightings had been reported in California and, of these, 3,273 were reported in Los Angeles County. The number of sightings in L.A. County, identified by community, are shown in the table below. We noticed that, besides the obvious larger numbers reported for the county's most populated cities (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Burbank), there was also a relatively large number of sightings reported in the medium-sized community of Whittier.

As for the question of whether UFOs actually do visit the Los Angeles area, the question to us is - if we were visiting Earth from another planet, why would we not want to visit Los Angeles?

Also see: Underwater Alien Base Off the Coast of Malibu?

Number of UFO Sighting Reports by Community
Los Angeles County

Reports for 1942 through October, 2025

Source: National UFO Reporting Center.