Are UFO sightings impacting our health? 👽
We set to find if unexplained activity in the sky is sending people to the emergency department.
It seems like UFOs have been in the news a lot lately.
There was the 2021 report from the U.S. Director of National Intelligence stating there were 144 reports of unidentified aerial phenomena that could not be explained, including 18 that seem to display use of advanced technology. There was the 2022 introduction of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), created by Congress to “address Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP [the current term used by the U.S. government]) using a rigorous scientific framework and a data-driven approach.” There was the Chinese spy balloon floating over the U.S. this February, followed by congressional testimony in July from former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch alleging government coverups of UAP investigations.
Last week, the AARO began allowing government-affiliated individuals to report knowledge of UAPs, and stated they are working on mechanisms for the general public to do so in the future. The U.S. government, it seems, will be approaching these UAP/UFO sightings with newfound public seriousness and scientific rigor.
Despite having no particular background in such phenomena (unless watching E.T. counts), we found ourselves wondering: could these UFO sightings have anything to do with our health?
The data is out there
The National UFO Reporting Center, or NUFORC, is a non-governmental, non-profit organization that keeps a database of UFO sightings (several hundred a month) reported to them by the general public. They make their data freely available, albeit with a disclaimer:
The National UFO Reporting Center makes no claims as to the validity of the information in any of these reports. Obvious hoaxes have been omitted, however most reports have been posted exactly as received in the author’s own words.
Of course, the NUFORC database contains reports submitted by the public that have not undergone investigation, unlike sightings described by the military. But with these limitations in mind—and in keeping with our appreciation for the study of not-so-serious topics—we thought it was worth asking: Are there acute health impacts associated with these UFO sightings?
In a study we published this year (along with Harvard cardiologist André Zimerman, Brown University economist Jaemin Woo, and intrepid Harvard undergraduate David Shaw), we combined data from the NUFORC database with a national insurance claims database. We looked at about 32,000 UFO sightings reported in the U.S. from 2015-2018. Here’s a map of where those sightings came from (which mostly follows population density):
And here’s a breakdown of the appearance of the object as reported:
Are there health impacts of UFO sightings?
We were interested in whether there might be any acute health events associated with these UFO sightings that result in emergency department (ED) visits. Do these UFO sightings lead to stress that could induce a heart attack? Could these objects be emitting any substances that might cause heart problems or breathing problems (we aren’t serious, but play along with us)? Could sightings lead doctors to think that patients were having psychotic hallucinations?
To answer these questions, we had to look at what happened to patients at the time of the UFO sighting and in the location of the UFO sighting. If we compare what happens to patients in the days surrounding the UFO sighting to what happens to patients on the day of the sighting in that same area, we can get a sense of how these health problems might go along with UFO sightings.
We found that there were no meaningful differences in rates of ED visits for heart attacks or diagnoses of psychosis on the days of UFO sightings compared to surrounding days. We did see a slightly lower rate of ED visits for breathing problems on the day of UFO sightings compared to surrounding days. Here are our findings, a plot that has been, ahem, thematically stylized:
Our findings led us to a few notable conclusions. First and most encouragingly, there did not appear to be any widespread increases in rates of heart attacks, breathing problems, or psychosis in the region when a UFO sighting was reported, on average. So whether these UFOs are natural phenomena, man made phenomena, or extra-terrestrial activity, they weren’t causing the acute health problems we examined. Phew!
Second, we were concerned that if UFOs were sighted in the area, that patients telling their doctors about these UFOs might lead them to be diagnosed with a psychotic disorder—but the results suggested this wasn’t happening. Notably, prior research suggests that those who report UFO sightings do not have any higher rates of mental illness than those who don’t.
Third, it was curious that ED visits for breathing problems were lower when a UFO was reported in the area. Our best guess as to why we saw this was that perhaps on days when the sky was more visible and UFOs more easily spotted, the atmospheric conditions were less likely to induce breathing problems in patients with asthma or COPD (this would be an area for a future study).
What’s next?
We have to assume that most of the sightings reported to NUFORC are due to explainable, every-day phenomena—and our research findings are consistent with this. We wouldn’t expect an impact from airplanes, satellites, or natural phenomena in the sky since they’re there every day, even if some days their appearance is obscured enough that they’re reported as a UFO.
But if these new government initiatives result in publication of data about anomalies that remain unexplained despite investigation, there’d be an opportunity to do a similar study that would be better able to tell us about possible health impacts—or the peaceful or hostile intent—of visitors in the sky. 👽
This is an Ig Noble submission, yes?