UFOs over Idaho

What's that in the sky?

Is it a bird, a plane, a weather balloon or ... a UFO?

According to a new myvision.org study using data from a survey the organization conducted in September and information from the National UFO Reporting Center Database, one-third of Idaho's nearly 1,300 UFO sightings have taken place in the past five years.

That places the Gem State at the top of the list for states with the most UFO sightings — 420 — per 100,000 residents in that time span.

"There’s a rise in sightings in the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West and New England states, with Idaho sporting the highest amount of sightings in the last five years," states the myvision.org report, "The United States of UFOs: What’s that in the Sky?"

Idaho is followed by New Hampshire, Montana, Vermont and New Mexico.

The term "UFO," was recently renamed unidentified aerial phenomena by U.S. officials. On Oct. 21, NASA announced it has selected 16 individuals to participate in an independent study team to explore the subject.

“Exploring the unknown in space and the atmosphere is at the heart of who we are at NASA,” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., said in the announcement. "Understanding the data we have surrounding unidentified aerial phenomena is critical to helping us draw scientific conclusions about what is happening in our skies. Data is the language of scientists and makes the unexplainable, explainable."

The Press posted an internet poll asking North Idaho residents if they have experienced a UFO sighting in the past five years. Three people voted "yes," two voted "no" and three selected "I haven't, but I want to believe."

"UFO Unidentified Flying Object = Secret Military Aircraft," Facebook user DJ Hall commented.

"I think they took over the NIC Board," Chris Danley commented.

"I’m pretty sure we are all aware that the nutties are moving here in droves," David Lund posted.

"No but wish I would," Gloria Hedman Lundeberg commented. "I’ve seen many many years ago in North Dakota when I was a child!"

"Why does the global map of reported UFO sightings (not pictured here) correlate so heavily with national borders? Do aliens care about human property lines?" Facebook user Michael Lentz responded.

Jimmy Benson, an Air Force veteran who works at Mountain View Alternative High School in Rathdrum, said he has seen two unidentified flying objects in the sky in his lifetime, one in California and one recently in North Idaho.

"Both objects definitely classified as unidentified," he said. "With all my expertise, I could not identify them, and both of them lasted in excess of 20 minutes. They both started as, ‘That’s odd,’ and a little while later I’m like, ‘That’s really odd, what’s going on here?'"

The most recent sighting was on a clear moonlit night Sept. 6.

“I see the Space Station all the time, I see satellites all the time, I see meteors all the time. I know what they look like," he said. "This thing was a bright blue light. It was hanging over a mountain south of Hayden Lake when I first noticed it. It was there 20 minutes later.”

He said he's a scientific person, but he doesn't disbelieve people's claims.

"It’s not that I saw little green men," Benson said. "That was an unidentified vehicle in the sky that, with all my training experience, I can’t identify. I don’t know what it is. That’s why I like the term, 'unidentified.'"

According to the myvision.org report, 78% of Americans believe aliens exist. More than one in 10 have seen a UFO or experienced something extraterrestrial, and 33% believe the American government has captured an alien.

Myvision.org provides information on eye health and vision provided by a network of ophthalmologists and optometrists.

View the whole UFO report: myvision.org/guides/united-states-of-ufos-and-aliens