📊 Analysis

Drones & drone swarms — an analysis

What 1,544 reports of drones & drone swarms have in common: when and where they are seen, shapes, colours, how long they last and what the sky shows — compared with all UFO sightings.

1,544 sightings🎥 1,122 with video139 in the last 12 months🗓️ 1978–2026

What stands out

  • 41% of drones & drone swarms with a time were seen at night (9 pm to 5 am), against 44% of all sightings.
  • The busiest hour is 8 pm.
  • The busiest year so far is 2024, with 692 reports.
  • 49% come from the United States.
  • The Sky match explains 8% of the drones & drone swarms it has checked (a launch, satellite, fireball, planet or plane), against 6% of all sightings.
  • The most-reported shape is orb (242).

When

Sightings per year
19782026
Show as a table
Sightings per yearSightings
19781
19790
19800
19810
19820
19830
19840
19850
19860
19870
19880
19890
19900
19910
19920
19930
19940
19950
19960
19971
19980
19990
20000
20010
20020
20030
20041
20050
20062
20071
20080
20091
20101
20110
20120
20135
20146
20152
20160
20173
20183
201911
202022
202163
202258
2023175
2024692
2025386
2026110
Last 24 months
Dec 2024Nov 2026
Show as a table
Last 24 monthsSightings
Dec 2024505
Jan 2025102
Feb 202527
Mar 202533
Apr 202523
May 202520
Jun 202523
Jul 202517
Aug 202520
Sep 202542
Oct 202534
Nov 202527
Dec 202518
Jan 202616
Feb 202614
Mar 202616
Apr 202613
May 202620
Jun 202613
Jul 20266
Aug 20264
Sep 20263
Oct 20265
Nov 20260
Time of day local time
12 am11 pm
Show as a table
Time of daySightings
12 am26
1 am16
2 am15
3 am15
4 am8
5 am6
6 am15
7 am5
8 am7
9 am5
10 am5
11 am3
12 pm6
1 pm5
2 pm12
3 pm9
4 pm14
5 pm41
6 pm49
7 pm73
8 pm80
9 pm77
10 pm52
11 pm28
Month of the year
JanDec
Show as a table
Month of the yearSightings
Jan157
Feb60
Mar75
Apr74
May79
Jun70
Jul77
Aug85
Sep99
Oct98
Nov114
Dec556

Where

Countries
US states
Top towns and cities
  • Los Angeles, California13
  • Toronto, Canada8
  • Phoenix, Arizona7
  • Morris County, New Jersey6
  • Brooklyn, New York5

What people saw

Shapes
Colours
  • White124
  • Red95
  • Green68
  • Orange48
  • Blue36
  • Silver35
  • Black33
  • Multicolored28
What the Sky match found
  • No ordinary match697
  • Bright planet (possible)46
  • Starlink train (possible)7
  • Rocket launch5
  • Rocket launch (possible)3
  • Starlink train3

See all 1,544 sightings on a map → More reports

Counted from the sightings on this site, as reported — shapes, times and places are what witnesses said. Updated hourly.

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