The truth is out there: Here's what we found in a year's worth of Bay Area UFO reports

📍 Location

📝 Description

Updated synthesis: The Bay Area UFO reports piece (The truth is out there: Here's what we found in a year's worth of Bay Area UFO reports) originally highlighted NUFORC submissions from fall 2018, including Richmond (Oct 2018), Oakland (July 7, 2018), San Ramon (Sept 10, 2018), Kentfield (Dec 23, 2018), Vacaville, and other nearby locales, with explanations ranging from rocket launches to misidentified aircraft. A notable note within NUFORC context was that Bay Area sightings in 2018 did not include any reports from San Francisco itself. As of 2024–2025, official U.S. government UAP reporting (AARO) indicates hundreds of incidents have been reviewed, but the vast majority are explained as prosaic objects (balloons, birds, drones, satellites, conventional aircraft), with no evidence of extraterrestrial technology or visitation. Taken together, the Bay Area 2018 set remains a historical catalog of unconfirmed sightings, many plausibly explained by mundane phenomena, and does not constitute a confirmed alien encounter. Updated government reporting reinforces a cautious, data-driven stance toward UAPs rather than extraterrestrial attribution.

🔍 Circumstances

Bay Area sightings were reported to NUFORC during late 2018 (and published in early 2019 as a year-in-review). Reports spanned multiple cities (Richmond, Oakland, San Ramon, Kentfield, Vacaville, etc.) and described varying shapes and behaviors (oval/metallic shapes, clusters of lights, single bright lights, triangles). Observers often reported dusk/dawn observations, with some accounts noting movements that resembled aircraft or spacecraft-like activity. NUFORC noted that some explanations could involve rocket launches or other conventional sources; there were no reported sightings specifically within San Francisco city limits in 2018.

👤 Physical Description

Descriptions included oval metallic shapes, bright multi-light formations (e.g., six lesser lights around a main light), a large single bright light, and triangular or disk-like shapes. Some accounts mentioned sounds or reactions (e.g., a loud or persistent hum in at least one Kentfield case), but most Bay Area reports were visual observations with varying duration.

ℹ️ Additional Details

Source material includes NUFORC reports and accompanying summaries; some NUFORC entries explicitly noted possible rocket launches as natural explanations; later government reporting (AARO) confirms many sightings are ordinary phenomena and stresses data quality and sensor limitations; the Bay Area 2018 piece functions as a historical snapshot rather than a live case, and there has been no official confirmation of extraterrestrial visitation tied to these reports.

🔗 Sources (7)

👥 Community Contributions

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