No one knows for sure if aliens exist, but there are plenty of sightings in Kansas City that bolster belief. According to the National UFO Reporting Center, there have been thousands of sightings in Missouri and Kansas — and nearly 300 sightings in KC alone.

Eyewitness accounts

They say seeing is believing. Here are several eyewitness accounts of UFO sightings in Kansas City from the State Report Index:

June 20, 2022 | “We saw the lights watching for shooting stars [...] A car alarm went off shortly after no one was around and no one ever shut off the blinking lights but it stopped honking in ~10 seconds.”
March 4, 2022 | “On the north side of the bridge about 500+ feet in the air were 60+ white/reflective flying triangles. They were flying in a spiral formation. About 1 minute after observing the spiral formation, the upper half broke off and started forming a double helix.”
May 4, 2000 | “My daughter called me out to the front yard to look at something in the sky [...] It was changing brilliant colors. Magenta, aqua, turquoise, green, gold, unlike primary colors.”
Oct. 1, 1952 | “I saw a very large number of disc-shaped UFO’s glinting in the sunlight. [...] About two or three weeks later, two Air Force officers came to my school and I was called out of class and interrogated by them.”
July 22, 1957 | “My family encountered a red glowing event in which the car, a 1956 Olds, seemed to be illuminated in a red fluorescent-type light.” (User reported missing time.)

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What causes the sightings?

Airplanes | One possible reason for the sightings could be activity at KCI. Even a commercial plane can create vivid vapor trails that may look like extraterrestrial evidence.
Sprites | A natural phenomenon known as sprites occurs in the metro. (For instance, photographer Paul Smith captured these light shows over Missouri and Arkansas.) Sprites are flashes of light triggered by thunderstorms that may resemble flashing spacecraft lights. They can appear as balls of electricity or streaks of light.
Clouds | A hole-punch cloud (a donut-shaped cloud that can look like a flying saucer) can occur when a plane flies through cirrus or cirrostratus clouds.
Optical illusions | Reflections may look like lights in the sky, especially at night. Sightings on 35 may be headlights refracting off the windshield or rearview mirrors.

Or… maybe the sightings really are visitations from extraterrestrial tourists. The aliens might have heard about Kansas City being a 2026 FIFA World Cup host city and decided to pay us a visit early.