text: There Have Been 45 UFO Sightings Reported Across Illinois So Far in 2024
  Aliens Have Been the Subject of Speculation for Decades
  Whether you believe in aliens or not, the topic of life outside of our planet has been something that many people have speculated about over the years. There have been stories of little green men, or tall, slender gray beings, almost as if something of a ghost story.
  Many people believed that the United States government has known of the existence of extraterrestrial life for decades. Some claim that the government ran tests on alien technology at an Air Force Base in Nevada, commonly known as Area 51, according to Space.com.
  Located at Groom Lake in the desolate desert of southern Nevada, Area 51 is a U.S. Air Force installation notorious for its rumored connection with unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Conspiracy theories claim the base is used to test alien technology allegedly recovered from crash sites, such as the well-known incident in Roswell, New Mexico. These theories are fueled by the base's long-standing secrecy and its continued inaccessibility to the public.
  New Testimonials Claim Extraterrestrials Have Been Here a 'Long Time'
  In May of 2023, a professor in the Department of Pathology at Stanford University who had ties with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) by the name of Garry Nolan took part in an interview where he claims that extraterrestrial intelligence "hasn’t just visited, it’s been here a long time, and it’s still here." You can watch that interview below.
  Three Military Veterans Testified Before Congress
  In July 2023, three military veterans stood before Congress to testify in a hearing on UFOs. One of those veterans, a former US Air Force Intelligence officer, made claims that non-human "biologics" had been recovered from the crash site of a UFO, according to NPR.
  Unveiled CIA Documents on Extraterrestrials
  In addition, the CIA released dozens of previously classified documents detailing information dating back to the 1940s through the 1990s. Those documents are now publicly available as part of the CIA's Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room.
  This collection catalogues CIA information on this subject from the 1940s through the early 1990s. Most of the documents concern CIA cables reporting unsubstantiated UFO sightings in the foreign press and intra-Agency memos about how the Agency handled public inquiries about UFO sightings.
  Memoirs Released By Former Pentagon Employees
  Just this week, we learned that former Pentagon employee by the name of Luis Elizondo has released a book where he claims a UFO was recovered in the 1947 Roswell incident. His book also suggests that the government has nonhuman remains in its possession.
  Elizondo isn't the only one with a book. Another former Pentagon employee, Jay Stratton has also released a memoir, according to reports.
  Jay Stratton is a former director of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, a predecessor to the current All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) that is tasked with investigating reports of UFOs, which the agency prefers to call “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” or UAPs. In addition to a memoir, which will be published by William Morrow, producer Dan Farah has also secured the rights to produce a film or TV adaptation of Stratton’s work.
  The National UFO Reporting Center
  Online, there is a resource that collects and aggregates UFO reports all across the country. It's called the National UFO Reporting Center. It's here that for fifty years people have been able to document unusual events that could be UFO-related.
  The National UFO Reporting Center was founded in 1974 by noted UFO investigator Robert J. Gribble. The Center’s primary function over the past five decades has been 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. Throughout its history, the Center has processed over 170,000 reports, and has distributed its information to thousands of individuals. The principal means used by the Center to receive sighting reports is this website, which has operated continuously since 1995. Prior to that period, the telephone hotline and the U.S. mail were the primary means of taking reports.
  There Have Been 45 Reported UFO Sightings in Illinois in 2024
  It's in the webpages of the National UFO Reporting Center that we discovered that there have been 45 reported UFO sightings so far in 2024 in the state of Illinois. Since the inception of the site in 1995, there have been a total of 4,350 sightings documented across the state.
  Many Illinois UFO Reports Include Photos or Videos
  The Illinois sightings reported in 2024 span the state. Many of the reports include photos or video of the sightings. One such sighting from Rockford that was reported by an airline pilot to have occurred on February 17, 2024, was believed to have been traveling at an estimated speed Mach 2.5. It was described as:
  Triangle formation of lights with other lights making passes through and around the formation
  I was the Captain of an airline flight from Chicago to Des Moines. Shortly after takeoff, climbing through 18,000ft to 24,000ft we saw 3 white lights appearing and disappearing in a triangular formation at very long range, bearing 300 as we flew on a heading of 270.
  There were other lights, sometimes orange in color, making passes East and West through and around the formation at a very high rate of speed, sometimes climbing and descending.
  One extremely bright light appeared directly ahead of us at 24,000ft at what we estimated to be 25nm range, but it is difficult to determine as we have no idea of the size of the object. It then disappeared.
  Urbana, Illinois is Home to the Most Recent UFO Report
  The most recent report in Illinois is from Urbana where witnesses claim to have seen a dark gray shape hovering behind them.
  My husband and I were driving from Champaign Illinois toward Indiana and my husband said "what is that behind us?" When I turned around I seen a dark gray rectangle hoovering. We looked at it for about 2 minutes and it just stayed in one place then it started to move upward and then disappeared.
  Although there are no photos or video of the account, the full report is available here.
  Do aliens and UFOs exist? It seems hard to negate the growing evidence that suggests they do.
  2024 UFO Sighting in Illinois
  Gallery Credit: Kat Mykals
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