Recently, several television, radio, and internet talk shows have raised the question of what the ratio of UFOs is to IFOs. The question is usually asked to a guest of accepted authority within the UFO community, and the pat answer is always the same… 95% - 98% of the objects reported are explainable as conventional aircraft or natural phenomenon.

It's no secret that this information was laid on the public way back in the day after "Project Bluebook" was the "official" study by the U.S. government, and was later discovered to be part of a disinformation ploy. While the real numbers back then were higher than first reported, it seems that they have remained the standard to which everyone adheres without offering any real figures to back it up. That was several decades ago and for whatever reason nobody has challenged that theory… until now.

   Sighting reports abound worldwide and Mufon receives a good number of them, and although technology has increased investigative efficiency, it has also increased the level of difficulty in the search for truth. However, Mufon remains to this day as the single most authoritative organization investigating sightings using scientific methods and for this reason we can attain real numbers and an accurate ratio of IFOs to UFOs.

   The statistics in the chart below were obtained from the Mufon Case Management System, which anyone can access. Data was tallied from five U.S. states which consistently investigate the highest number of monthly reports, from January 1, 2012 through September 31, 2012. The categories at the top of the chart are case dispositions that Mufon certified investigators use at the conclusion of an investigation.

   As you see, the current ratio of UFOs to IFOs is much higher than the accepted tradition suggests. We at the West Central Section find this of interest, and although this is only a sampling of the overwhelming number of reports received by Mufon annually, it certainly demonstrates a marked difference in the percentages of those from decades past.

So the next time you hear someone recite the standard line that only 3% to 5% of sightings are unidentified, you will know the truth according to the hard numbers.

— Royce Fitzgerald, SD / Field Investigator