They Are Not Alone: U.F.O. Reports Surged in the Pandemic

With skies lacking light pollution and most nights free, New Yorkers reported nearly twice as many mysterious sightings last year.

In the years since she says extraterrestrial beings took her from her suburban yard outside Rochester, N.Y., Virginia Stringfellow has kept her story mostly within a close-knit community of people who say they have also encountered U.F.O.s. But over the past year, that pool has grown: Each of her monthly locals-only U.F.O. meet-ups average about five new people who believe they have seen a mysterious object in the sky — not including about 50 out-of-towners who have tried to join. “I have to turn away people,” said Ms. Stringfellow, 75.