Oddsconsin: UFOs and alien abductions

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Photo taken at Lake Kegonsa Lock and Dam on the Yahara River in Madison. A sign for a "Boat Lock Operation" is mounted on the concrete in the lower foreground, while concrete steps and a walkway can be seen above and into the middle distance. The lake water and patches of grass stretch into the background. — ***Photo courtesy of Oddsconsin.***

This article was originally published by Oddsconsin, a blog by cartographer Howard Veregin about Wisconsin’s odd and unusual history, sites, and locations. Sign up for Oddsconsin’s mailing list here.

Oddsconsin—where we explore peculiar and sometimes mysterious features of Wisconsin’s human landscape.

Wisconsin has more unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings per capita than any other state in the Upper Midwest. The National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) lists 2,544 sightings in Wisconsin since 1947. With a 2020 population of 5.9 million, that means 4.32 sightings per 10,000 people. Compare that number to Iowa (4.00), Minnesota (3.88), Michigan (3.78), and Illinois (3.45). Wisconsin is clearly a destination for visitors from other planets.

In the U.S., the highest numbers of UFO sightings per capita occur in the west and southwest, including Washington (9.68), Montana (9.67), Oregon (8.72), New Mexico (8.25), Idaho (7.75), Wyoming (7.39), and Arizona (7.31). Alaska (9.05) and the New England states of Vermont (9.81), Maine (9.12), and New Hampshire (8.99) also report high numbers.

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Sightings occur in every corner of Wisconsin. The largest concentrations are in Milwaukee, Madison, and Green Bay. But almost every Wisconsin city has at least a few. UFO shapes include spheres, ovals, orbs, disks, cigars, triangles, diamonds, and circles. Lights and fireballs are very common. Sometimes, there are multiple UFOs flying in formation.

The NUFORC database is based on reports submitted by the public. NUFORC makes no claims about the validity of the reports. Obvious hoaxes have been omitted, but most reports are unedited.

Some sightings involve alien encounters. For example, a 1990 Madison report of a bright orange light (“witnessed by friend and cat”) describes how an alien slid to the ground on a tree branch. The alien was wearing “almost caveman-like clothing, chest bare, head huge and brain-shaped.” (UFO Sighting 35073)

Another case (Milwaukee, 2009) reports “three translucent inter-dimensional beings out my window three times in 2 weeks [as] I was sitting on my recliner in my living room.” The witness describes the aliens as having “very long arms and the width of their bodies were about six. Their height was maybe one foot… The face was cone shaped.” (UFO Sighting 72662)

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Another report from South Milwaukee in 1970 describes two aliens as “short beings wearing long black over coats and large brimmed hats… they had no face. It was completely blank and white.” (UFO Sighting 5549)

A Kenosha account from 2019 states, “I seen an alien that looked like a reptoid, and it looked back at me.” (UFO Sighting 144809)

Given the variety of alien descriptions, perhaps Wisconsin is being visited by beings from multiple planets.

Encounters with aliens sometimes lead to violent reactions. The 1990 Madison report cited earlier states, “The guy I was with was about to shoot at him [the alien] but his gun didn’t work.” (UFO Sighting 35073)

A more colorful example comes from Marshall in 2023. A father and his son were on a youth deer hunt, and the son wanted to shoot something. Seeing a flying object cresting a hill, the father, initially thinking it was a turkey vulture, said, “Well shoot that…wait…what is that?? It don’t have any wings!! What the hell is that!” It turned out to be a copper-colored rectangle flying at 35 to 45 mph and making no sound. The father “considered shooting it” with his .338 Winchester Magnum but decided this was irresponsible. (UFO Sighting 187358)

The city of Stoughton, with a 2020 population of about 13,000, has had nine sightings. This gives a frequency (6.83 per 10,000), above the state average.

One report from 1997 tells of a UFO crash. An individual, fishing at the locks (presumably the Yahara River Locks just north of the city) felt a low vibration and saw a bright flash over his head, which then slammed into the marsh behind a copse of trees. It was a terrifying experience. “I left right that second and didn’t go back for a few minutes to pick up my fishing equipment.” (UFO Sighting 118620)

This individual also reported having “a strange group of memories from my youth that I believe are of me being abducted on a few different occasions.” Another Stoughton account states that, in 1966, the witness’ entire family was abducted by aliens. The incident was recalled due to the aid of “hypnotherapy sessions or by a method of self-hypnosis.” The witness described one alien as having an “orange monkey face.” Another alien, who “looked like a movie star,” had extreme carnation-pink skin and was “wearing what looked like a snowmobile suit.” Other aliens inside the spacecraft were chalk white with big fish eyes. Some of these aliens probed the witness, shoving something up his right nostril and other bodily orifices. (UFO Sighting 88640)

Who’s to say whether these incidents are real or fictional? Some might be imaginary, others hoaxes, but with so many sightings in Wisconsin, can we really conclude there’s nothing going on? We might not have an explanation, but there are too many reports of fireballs and flying cigars to simply disregard the evidence. Perhaps we should be proud of our state’s status as a hotbed of UFO sightings. Welcome to Wisconsin, UFO capital of the Upper Midwest!

_{Header photo alt-text has been corrected to reflect Veregin’s photo taken at Lake Kegonsa Lock and Dam, not Tenney Park Lock and Dam.}