State Report
UFO Sightings in Iowa
1,934 sightings on record from 1939 to 2023, drawn from the National UFO Reporting Center databank.
Total sightings
1,934
Share of US total
0.9%
Peak year
2012
188 reports
Top shape
Light
445 reports
Years active
84
Sightings by decade
reports / decadeTop shapes reported
all-timeLatest 20 sightings
most recent on record| Date | City | Shape | Duration | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-12-19 | Early | unknown | 2-4 minutes | Changing Lights, odd directional changes |
| 2023-12-06 | Lawler | light | 30 - 45 minutes | 4 to 5 lights in the sky to the east of New Hampton IA aprox 10 miles roughly above Lawler IA |
| 2023-11-29 | Storm Lake | unknown | hours | It looked like it could be a white hot air balloon, but very high- like a jet plane. |
| 2023-11-10 | Iowa City | light | About 2 to 3 seconds | Fast moving bright light overhead. Not a normal aircraft! Then disappeared. Clear night. |
| 2023-10-14 | Mt. Pleasant | light | 8 seconds | There was 1 light then it separated into 4 lights, then it went back together. |
| 2023-09-25 | mason city clear lake area | light | — | The often told story years ago was of the ufo seen over the creek near downtown, apparently several witnesses, |
| 2023-09-18 | Grinnell | star | 5 minutes | About 10 objects moved from one end of the sky to the other in less than a minute |
| 2023-08-17 | Council Bluffs | triangle | 3 | Triangular craft with 7 lights under it mimicking an air plane |
| 2023-08-16 | Sioux city | sphere | 15 minutes | Seen a jet go straight up until it reached a certain altitude then headed west and went over us then a sphere shaped... |
| 2023-07-29 | Dubuque | other | 2-3 minutes | Went outside on break. |
| 2023-07-29 | Adel | light | 1:18 | Bright light. Not an airplane. No sound |
| 2023-07-01 | Milford | circle | At least 10 mins | Not moving, from what we can tell - or perhaps very slowly - silver or white, reflecting light |
| 2023-06-27 | Marion | light | 2 minutes | Craft that had unusual movement compared to airplane helicopter or any other known flight |
| 2023-06-12 | Johnston | triangle | 20 seconds | Black equilateral triangle daytime |
| 2023-06-03 | Altoona | fireball | about 5 seconds | Looked like a firework at first but then just disappeared into the air. |
| 2023-06-02 | Norwalk | circle | — | Object moved quickly and appeared to change shape slightly |
| 2023-05-27 | Carter lake | cube | 5 minutes | I saw a UFO and bc watched it go through a slit in the sky. |
| 2023-05-07 | Des moines | light | 15 minutes | Very bright green light with yellow purple and red lights rotating in the middle |
| 2023-04-13 | Rowley | oval | about 2 minutes | Bright white craft stays mostly still in the early morning. |
| 2023-04-08 | Brighton/ Fairfield | teardrop | 96 minutes | Black snake like objects in the sky |