Chicago area residents report UFO sightings earlier this month

CHICAGO - Illinois ranks among the top 10 states for UFO sightings.

The National UFO Reporting Center says more than 4,100 people in Illinois have claimed to have seen a UFO over the past year.

The most recent sightings were on October 8, with reports coming from Crystal Lake, Arlington Heights, Quincy and Libertyville.

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Meanwhile, NASA on Friday announced the 16 people who will spend nine months researching how much information is publicly available about UFOs, and how much more is needed to better understand the unexplained sightings.

The team, led by astrophysicist David Spergel, president of the Simons Foundation for advancing scientific research, will also consider how best to use all this information in the future.

"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, said in a statement.

"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," Zurbuchen added.

NASA said the independent study will begin on Oct. 24, and a full report with the team’s findings will be shared with the public in "mid-2023." In total, it will cost no more than $100,000.