Do you want to believe? Even if you’re not a fan of the classic TV show “The X-Files,” UFOs and alien life can be fun to speculate about. But did you know that many Iowans past and present claim to have seen UFOs for themselves?
In fact, there has long been a high rate of reported UFO sightings in Iowa, with hundreds documented over the years, which may be one of the reasons an episode of “The X-Files,” called “Conduit,” was actually set in Iowa.
But never mind the fictional adventures of Mulder and Scully. For some real-life out-of-this-world Iowa lore, that state’s reported UFO sightings are hard to beat.
Here are some of the wildest, freakiest UFO sightings in Iowa’s “intergalactic” history
1. Stories of “Star People”
People in Iowa have been looking up at the sky and witnessing things they can’t quite explain for centuries—far longer, in fact, than Iowa has been a part of the United States. Native American oral tradition, passed down through multiple tribes, refers to “Sky People,” or extraterrestrial beings.
The Dakota Sioux, who historically made their home in what is now Northern Iowa, as well as Minnesota and other parts of the Midwest, were avid astronomers and believed that human beings originated from “Star People.” Their ideas about the stars formed the basis for star maps, as well as part of the Dakota Sioux spiritual tradition.
While the concept of the Star People is not quite the same as UFOs, many have pointed out the similarities, and books have been written tracing the potential connections between Indigenous American oral tradition and present-day UFO theories.
2. The Council Bluffs Fireball
One of Iowa’s most famous (or perhaps infamous) UFO sightings took place in Council Bluffs in 1977 and is known among UFO enthusiasts as the Council Bluffs Fireball. On the night of Dec. 17, 1977, something happened at Council Bluffs’ Big Lake Park, but what it actually was remains debated.
Multiple witnesses near the park reported seeing something strange around eight in the evening. A group of three friends reported a “glowing red object” hurtling to Earth from hundreds of feet in the air. When they followed it to investigate, they found a glowing orange-blue something-or-other on the ground. Elsewhere, a couple driving toward the park saw something large and round hovering above the treeline, while another couple reported a glowing orb.
But things got even stranger when the something-or-other was investigated by the local fire department and it was found to be a hunk of molten metal, later tested and identified as high-carbon steel. Too metallic to be a meteor, but with no airplane or industrial accidents reported in the area, there are still those who say the only likely explanation is an extraterrestrial one.
3. A lunar eclipse brings mysteries to Britt
There’s something a little bit mysterious about the red-tinged moon of a lunar eclipse, but one particular eclipse in 2015 brought an extra dose of mystery in Britt, Iowa. The 2015 eclipse was a total supermoon lunar eclipse, sometimes known as a “Blood Moon,” to set the stage in an especially spooky fashion. In and around Britt on the night of the eclipse, multiple witnesses reported UFO sightings, and while some of that can be explained by the fact that more people looking up at the sky than usual means an unusual amount of UFO-type sightings, the reports also bore an eerie similarity.
Specifically, multiple reports described “triangular-shaped craft,” and according to the so-called “Mutual UFO Network,” roughly 13 people saw the suspicious triangles. There’s never been any explanation for the eclipse sightings, and just two years later, Iowa residents in Des Moines put a playful spin on a different eclipse, donning “tinfoil hats” along with their safety glasses to watch 2017’s solar eclipse in a parody of UFO media.
4. The UFO hotspots in and around Des Moines
Speaking of Des Moines, the city may be famous as the state capital and the home of events like the Iowa State Fair and the Iowa Caucus, which draws national attention during election years. But if the numbers are to be believed, Des Moines might also be drawing extraterrestrial attention. The Iowa state capital is also the capital of UFO sightings, with nearly two hundred sightings reported in Des Moines and surrounding Polk County between the years 2000 and 2023.
What exactly are eagle-eyed Hawkeyes (pun intended) sighting in and around the capital? Reports are varied. Many reports of Iowan UFOs center on “strange lights and unexplained aerial phenomena.” Experts have found substantial numbers of alleged UFOs to be weather balloons, reflective mylar balloons that have floated astray, or other similar natural phenomena; others have yet to be fully explained—in earth-bound or alien ways.
5. The curious case of the Sioux City cigar
One of the most common explanations for UFO sightings is that the alleged UFO is actually a weather balloon, or other piece of meteorological equipment. But what about when professional pilots—who are kept abreast of all such equipment because of their jobs—sight a UFO? It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s hard not to wonder. And for 75 years, Iowans have been wondering what, exactly, those pilots saw flying over Sioux City.
In January 1951, an experienced airline pilot, Larry Vinther, was flying a passenger plane above Sioux City when he saw an enormous aircraft overhead. Upon flying closer to get a better look at the unusually large plane, he saw a massive, perfectly smooth, cigar-shaped craft, half-hidden in the night sky.
Others, including staff at the flight control tower at the Sioux City airport, also saw the unusual plane, but it zoomed off into the night sky and seemingly vanished before anyone’s questions could be answered. While some speculate that the plane was a military aircraft kept secret from civilians, to this day, no one knows who—or what—was flying the strange craft.
You don’t have to be a “UFO truther” to enjoy the mystery of a UFO sighting story. And the next time you look up at a clear Iowa sky, keep your eyes peeled—you just might end up with a UFO sighting story of your own!
This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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