The US Congress has been attempting to “pull back the curtain” on secret research into UFOs - as our maps show the places in the UK is most likely to be visited by extra-terrestrials.

The hearing, titled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth,” heard from several experts and a variety of witness accounts. Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) is the new name for Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).

Experts included government workers and a member of NASA’s UAP Independent Study Team. Michael Gold - former NASA associate administrator of space policy and partnerships and a member of the UAP study team - told the hearing that “the vast majority of UAP are drones”.

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However, he added that there are anomalies that must be studied and admitted that some of the UAPs observed “can move faster” than US submarines and “are being intelligently controlled”. Author and former Department of Defence official Luis Elizondo claimed that “advanced technologies not made by our government - or any other government - are monitoring sensitive military installations around the globe.” He insisted: “Let me be clear. UAP are real.”

The hearing, jointly led by Chairs Nancy Mace and Glenn Grothman, was the second to investigate the phenomenon of UAP. “Americans deserve to understand what the government has learned about UAP sightings, and the nature of any potential threats these phenomena pose,” the co-chairs said in a statement.

The hearing followed a long-awaited report released by NASA last year which studied previous sightings of UFOs (or UAPs) in the skies. While the report did not find any clear evidence that the sightings were alien, it did admit it was possible they could be.

Last year the British spotter group Identified documented a total of 395 sightings in the UK in 2023. That was a 20% drop from 497 UFO sightings in 2022 and also lower than in 2021 (413) and 2020 (484). It found that people in the North West had the best chance of seeing a UFO last year, with 41 sightings across the region, followed by the South East (40) and then the South West (39).

You can see what UFO encounters have been reported where you live using our interactive map above