Canadian survey reports increased UFO sightings in 2015

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, April 12 (UPI) -- A survey of UFO sightings in Canada found that the country saw a general increase in reported sightings in 2015 and the second highest totals in 30 years.

The Canadian UFO survey was released on Monday, revealing statistics about various sightings that took place throughout the country in 2015.

According to the survey, three or four UFO sightings a day were reported adding up to a total of 1,267 for the entire year. The total ranked second only to 2012 when 1,981 reports were made in the midst of the end of the world predictions based on the Mayan calendar.

"That ranges from reports from B.C. right across to Newfoundland," science writer Chris Rutkowski, who was one of the writers of the report told the CBC. "We're very puzzled because we don't hear a lot about UFOs anymore although the UFO sightings continue to come in...in 2015, there was an unusual number of cases from Quebec, in fact three or four times."

Several theories for the increase in UFO sightings were presented in the study, including possible increases in military testing and other objects in the sky, increased ability to share and report sightings due to the internet and even an increased desire by some people to look skyward for assistance due to economic downturn.

The study accounts for explainable phenomenon such as lights in the sky and reported that in 2015 just less than 12 percent of all UFO sightings were classified as unexplained.

"We do break those down into high quality cases, where we do have enough information from a number of sources – investigators have gone to a site or we've talked to the witnesses," Rutkowski said. "It brings the unexplained numbers to a more manageable number of one or two or three percent."