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UFOs Over Los Angeles County

UFO, Alien, Los Angeles

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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-September 2021. Since 1942, 14,980 sightings had been reported in California and, of these, we found at least 2,970 in Los Angeles County. The number of sightings in L.A. County, broken down by community where pinpointed, are shown in the table below. For many reports since 2014, comments in the report note that the sighting might have actually been of Starlink satellites (a network of 1,600 SpaceX satellites that provide global internet access). We also noticed that, besides the obvious larger numbers reported for the county's most populated cities (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Burbank), there were also relatively large numbers of sightings reported in the medium-sized communities of Whittier and Lawndale.

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?

Geology, Marine, California


Number of UFO Sighting Reports by Community
Los Angeles County

Reports for 1942 through September 19, 2021

Community Reported UFO Sightings Period of Reports
Acton 9 1994 - 2020
Agoura Hills 10 2004 - 2017
Agua Dulce 2 2001 - 2005
Alhambra 17 1977 - 2020
Altadena 8 2003 - 2021
Angeles National Forest (San Gabriel Mountains) 6 1975 - 2004
Antelope Acres 1 2006
Antelope Valley 2 1995 - 2017
Arcadia 18 1988 - 2019
Arleta 4 1977 - 2020
Artesia 2 1980 - 2004
Arts District (Los Angeles) 1 2017
Atwater Village 1 2004
Avalon 7 2002 - 2016
Avocado Heights 1 2015
Azusa 20 1967 - 2019
Baldwin Hills 1 2020
Baldwin Park 13 1958 - 2020
Bell 2 1976 - 2009
Bell Gardens 2 2002 - 2021
Bellflower 13 1996 - 2012
Beverly Hills 9 1997 - 2018
Boyle Heights 1 2015
Brentwood 1 2012
Burbank 107 1981 - 2021
Calabasas 14 1989 - 2020
Canoga Park 20 1966 - 2021
Santa Clarita 9 2004 - 2019
Carson 16 1978 - 2020
Castaic 8 1993 - 2019
Catalina Island 5 1992 - 2020
Cerritos 13 1975 - 2020
Chatsworth 20 1978 - 2020
Commerce, City of 32 1969 - 2013
Industry, City of 4 2006 - 2019
Claremont 28 1974 - 2020
Compton 12 1963 - 2020
Covina 33 1955 - 2020
Cudahy 1 2007
Culver City 21 1965 - 2019
Diamond Bar 13 1977 - 2015
Downey 30 1967 - 2021
Downtown Los Angeles 4 1998 - 2008
Duarte 9 1992 - 2019
Eagle Rock 8 2001 - 2017
East Los Angeles 9 1957 - 2017
Edwards AFB 12 1981 - 2016
El Monte 15 1975 - 2020
El Segundo 10 1994 - 2016
Encino 13 1996 - 2019
Gardena 14 1996 - 2021
Glassell Park 1 2006
Glendale 43 1993 - 2021
Glendora 18 1973 - 2020
Gorman 3 1993 - 1997
Granada Hills 10 1962 - 2017
Hacienda Heights 5 2002 - 2018
Harbor City 6 2000 - 2011
Hawthorne 19 1954 - 2019
Hermosa Beach 12 1967 - 2019
Highland Park 4 1999 - 2015
Hollywood 38 1968 - 2019
Huntington Park 6 1978 - 2020
Inglewood 10 1995 - 2020
Irwindale 2 1998 - 2009
Koreatown 1 1991
La Cañada Flintridge 6 2000 - 2016
La Crescenta-Montrose 10 1977 - 2017
La Mirada 14 1961 - 2017
La Puente 17 1966 - 2016
La Verne 9 1960 - 2020
Lake Hughes 1 2016
Lake Los Angeles 2 2017 - 2019
Lake View Terrace 1 2009
Lakewood 27 1975 - 2019
Lancaster 53 1961 - 2021
Lawndale 59 1968 - 2015
Lennox 1 2014
Lincoln Heights 3 2009
Littlerock 12 2009 - 2020
Llano 2 1996 - 2014
Lomita 4 1979 - 2015
Long Beach 141 1957 - 2021
Los Angeles 519 1942 - 2021
Los Angeles International Airport 4 1999
Los Feliz 3 2010 - 2018
Lynwood 4 2009 - 2019
Malibu 32 1966 - 2021
Manhattan Beach 17 1993 - 2018
Mar Vista 2 2006 - 2020
Marina del Rey 22 1998 - 2020
Maywood 9 1947 - 2016
Mid-City (Los Angeles) 1 2012
Mission Hills 5 1998 - 2012
Monrovia 18 1988 - 2015
Monte Nido 1 2007
Montebello 25 1997 - 2020
Monterey Park 10 1971 - 2019
Mount Washington 1 2017
Mount Wilson 1 1979
Mt. Baldy 1 2021
Santa Clarita 8 1976 - 2017
North Hills 4 2001 - 2011
North Hollywood 52 1954 - 2021
North Long Beach 1 2012
Northridge 18 1993 - 2021
Norwalk 34 1957 - 2020
Pacific Palisades 10 1976 - 2019
Pacoima 7 1983 - 2015
Palmdale 56 1960 - 2021
Palos Verdes Estates 4 2002 - 2016
Palos Verdes Peninsula 7 1971 - 2011
Panorama City 7 1987 - 2012
Paramount 11 2004 - 2020
Pasadena 56 1954 - 2021
Pearblossom 3 2003 - 2014
Pico Rivera 23 1997 - 2019
Playa del Rey 19 1966 - 2020
Playa Vista 3 2014 - 2019
Pomona 40 1968 - 2020
Quartz Hill 2 1955 - 1996
Rancho Palos Verdes 15 1979 - 2021
Redondo Beach 39 1978 - 2021
Reseda 27 1958 - 2020
Rolling Hills 1 2009
Rolling Hills Estates 1 2018
Rosemead 11 1968 - 2020
Rowland Heights 3 1999 - 2008
San Dimas 16 2001 - 2019
San Fernando 13 1965 - 2018
San Fernando Valley 15 1998 - 2015
San Gabriel 12 1975 - 2017
San Gabriel Valley 3 2000 - 2014
San Pedro 41 1987 - 2021
Santa Clarita 37 1978 - 2020
Santa Fe Springs 4 2006 - 2016
Santa Monica 63 1976 - 2020
Santa Monica Mountains 1 2002
Santa Clarita 11 1967 - 2014
Sherman Oaks 40 1994 - 2021
Sierra Madre 5 1989 - 2012
Signal Hill 4 2013 - 2020
Silverlake 3 2005 - 2016
South El Monte 5 2004 - 2018
South Gate 20 1952 - 2020
South Los Angeles 1 2015
South Pasadena 11 1999 - 2019
Stevenson Ranch 3 2009 - 2017
Studio City 21 1965 - 2019
Sun Valley 6 2009 - 2017
Sunland-Tujunga 16 1951 - 2020
Sylmar 17 1997 - 2021
Tarzana 11 1991 - 2018
Temple City 14 1957 - 2021
Toluca Lake 3 2003 - 2015
Topanga 5 2004 - 2016
Torrance 50 1992 - 2019
Universal City 3 2003 - 2015
Val Verde 1 2008
Santa Clarita 22 1974 - 2020
Valley Glen 2 2012 - 2020
Van Nuys 46 1974 - 2020
Venice 29 1999 - 2019
Walnut 6 2000 - 2017
Watts 3 2006
West Carson 1 1982
West Covina 21 1955 - 2020
West Hills 12 1994 - 2020
West Hollywood 13 1997 - 2021
West Los Angeles 12 1965 - 2020
Westchester 2 2010 - 2014
Westlake Village 8 2000 - 2017
Westwood 2 2014
Whittier 61 1965 - 2021
Wilmington 22 1952 - 2021
Winnetka 4 2002 - 2011
Woodland Hills 29 1965 - 2021

Source: National UFO Reporting Center.