It’s Been Seven Years Since The Last UFO Sighting in Quincy

What were you doing Halloween night, seven years ago? I'll give you a hint, Halloween in 2011 was on a Monday. I was in Redlands, CA, worked till about 7pm, then went home to hand out candy. I don't think I had a costume that year. Needless to say, I wasn't in Quincy. But do you know who was that night? Aliens. Here... it's better if you have this playing on a loop in the background while you read this.

According to the National UFO Reporting Center, there have been 3568 reported UFO sightings in Illinois, eight of which happened here in Quincy. The first reported incident was way back in 1954, as reported in 2009. A man recalled a time from his youth when an alien buzzed by his family's farm, even landed in a neighboring farmer's crops.

Reports trickled in over the years, like the one from 1970 that may have been a full blown abduction. The one from 1999 that was most likely just Venus in the night sky. There was a report of strange lights in 2000, and then nothing for over a decade.

But then, between February 13th and October 31st 2011, we got four reports of UFOs, or at least unusual light patterns that seemed to be flying with intent, if not a defined formation. In February, a Methodist Minister saw a brightly lit triangle in broad daylight. In June and September, there were just some indistinct lights and objects. And then on Halloween night, a self-identified trained pilot and former USAF officer saw a bright oval shaped object moving across the sky.

Why did we have such heavy UFO activity that year? Why haven't we seen any since? What were they looking for? Can I go with them next time they show up? Questions on literally everyone's mind.

You can see the full list of Illinois UFO sightings here. Just hit Ctrl+F to find your preferred town of interest. There were a couple in Mt. Sterling about 20 years ago, and Pittsfield had one back in '07. But that may have just been Timothy Rose coming home to visit family.