The ESRI "world map" of UFO sightings most likely had an artificial popularity boost. It's extremely easy to debunk it two different ways. This map is entirely illegitimate, yet it still somehow spreads to millions of people today.
The ESRI world map: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAopNJMbFEI
In the description it says:
>Data source: http://www.nuforc.org
This means that they created a world map using only data from one country, rather than gathering data from a dozen or more countries at minimum, which is what you're supposed to do with a world map. I will provide data from other countries below. It should be no surprise that the country they obtained the data from is heavily biased on that map, yet this propagandistic absurdity still enjoys enormous publicity today.
Now see Worldwide distribution of the English language, which also matches the UFO map very closely.
A lot of people apparently forgot to check where the data came from with this map. It was promoted by Mick West and Michael Shermer for some examples of people who should have known better, but millions upon millions of people were fooled by this over the past decade, and this disinformation is still doing damage, even here today. Here it is with 102,000 likes and about 2 million views on instagram. Here is one with 1,000 retweets on Twitter. I've seen tweets of this with 4 million views, and on and on...
I will repeat: it was a world map that only used data on UFOs from a single US-based organization... When you check other countries, it should not surprise you to find out that the distribution of UFOs appears to be distributed fairly evenly, both with total reports and leftover unknowns, exactly as you would expect. Instead, if we took only the data from France and mapped it, for example, the map will be very heavily biased towards France.
Before I provide data from outside of the US, the only other important thing that I need to point out is that it matters whether the organization collecting the cases is civilian or government. If you compare government organizations that study UFOs, they are highly similar country to country. Similarly, civilian organizations come up with similar numbers as well, except they might collect 10 times the amount of reports or more. You can compare total population in the country, total UFO cases, and the total cases that are left unknown after thorough investigation. It's best to compare it like apples to apples, but it doesn't matter because you can easily discredit the ESRI map either way. Nuforc is a civilian organization, but I will provide sources here on each for anyone interested in comparing them.
Data from US and other countries:
United States (population 330 million, 13,128 UFO cases, 5 percent unexplained after investigation):
>By the time Project Blue Book ended in 1970, it had collected 12,618 UFO reports... 701 reports were classified as unexplained, even after stringent analysis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Blue_Book
Modern stuff: https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Unclassified-2022-Annual-Report-UAP.pdf
>"Where the full 13,134 [Bluebook] cases are critically appraised, the percentages of unknowns falls to some 5 percent." -The Hynek UFO Report, page 18
France (population 65 million, 1,600 UFO cases, 3.1 percent leftover unexplained):
>The team is called Geipan. That's a French acronym for Study Group and Information on Non-Identified Aerospace Phenomenon. Its boss is Xavier Passot. Surrounded by dozens of books on UFOs, and stacks of documents, he tells me his mission is to be as transparent as possible about strange sightings and to follow up on each one that his team receives. They publish their results on their website which gets 30,000 hits a month. The team receives, on average, two UFO sightings a day. The department insists an 11-page form is filled out for each one. The idea is to provide details including photographs where possible but also weed out jokers and time-wasters. ... But there are around 400 UFO sightings going back to the 1970s that the French team cannot explain. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29755919
>Of the 1600 cases registered since 1954, nearly 25% are classified as “type D”, meaning that “despite good or very good data and credible witnesses, we are confronted with something we can’t explain”, Patenet says. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11443-france-opens-up-its-ufo-files/
Note: it depends on who is counting, how vigorously they investigate, what their methodology is, etc. A number closer to reality in France is probably 3 percent leftover unknowns after investigation, similar to US estimates. Here is one that says 3.1 percent: "99 cases in Class D, (Unidentified Phenomenon after investigation, 3.1%" Link
Uruguay (population 3,500,000, 2,100 cases, 40 Unknowns or 2 percent):
>The Uruguayan Air Force has had an ongoing UFO investigation since 1989 and analyzed 2,100 cases, of which they only consider about 40 (2 percent) to be definitely lacking any conventional explanation. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Ultimate_Collection_on_UFOs/eQj1AwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=uruguayan+air+force+ufo&pg=PA160&printsec=frontcover
Canada (population 39 million, 20,000 UFO cases, 3.42 percent unknowns in 2025):
>The talk and presentation mark Rutkowski’s donation to University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections of his extensive personal collection and files on this case and other UFO sightings and related phenomena from across Canada. These include more than 20,000 separate UFO reports filed with various agencies since 1989 https://news.umanitoba.ca/the-falcon-lake-ufo-files/
>The 2025 numbers show 1,052 UFO reports were shared in Canada, involving “participating private organizations, and through social media.” Those 1,052 sightings are in contrast to the 1,008 in 2024, 570 in 2023, 768 in 2022, 722 in 2021, and 1,243 in 2020, which was up from 849 in 2019. Out of all those 2025 reports, 3.42 per cent were classified as “unexplained.” https://globalnews.ca/news/11723579/ufo-sightings-in-canada-2025/
Sweden, Norway, Finland in the 1930s only (5-10 percent unexplained, 487 cases, 42 unknowns)
Ghost Fliers, winter of 1933/34-
>In another twist, the Swedish military, through its Chief of Staff, published its final report on the Ghost Flier in early July 1935, more than a year after the wave had ceased. After concluding that 42 of the 487 reports investigated by the three countries were of actual aircraft violating the borders, the General Staff now admitted that the Ghost Flier was real. "It must be concluded that aircraft whose nationality has not been established have flown over Northern Scandanavia during the winter of 1933-1934," the report said.
-UFOs and Government- a Historical Inquiry, chapter 16
The 1950s, Sweden- (population in 1950s: 7 million, 6,000 reports. Out of 400 cases investigated, 40 remained unknown, or 10 percent)
>During the 1950s, the Swedish Defence staff not only collected but also investigated hundreds of alleged sightings of unidentified flying objects from all over Sweden. Extensive archives, now at the Defence Research Institute, show a dedicated staff making a great effort to solve the many reports.
>"We did get reports from several sources--the general public, the local military organizations, in different parts of Sweden, and from the central air control," says Peter Sundh, who from October 1951 until October 1954 was head of a unit at the Defence Staff responsible for investigating reports about UFOs. During this time, his department handled 6,000 reports, of which 400 were investigated and around 40 remained unexplained.
>"We always tried to verify the reports, make a thorough interrogation and never had a superior attitude towards the witnesses. Even when we took the reports higher up in the hierarchy, no one laughed at the concept of aliens or flying saucers. There were always these five to ten percent that we never could explain."
-UFOs and Government- a Historical Inquiry, chapter 16, by Michael Swords, Robert Powell, and others. (link to Google books)
Additional information: http://www.cagliostro.se/2011/05/02/the-ghost-fliers-2775134
Spain (population 47 million, 7,000 cases, 7 percent unknowns):
>UFO sightings in Spain are in excess of 7,000, but less than 2 percent of these have been reported to the Spanish Air Force (people may not have known they could, or how to report such things to the Air Force). Out of 122 cases analyzed by an international team directed by Ballester Olmos, 99 had conventional causes, 14 insufficient data for evaluation, 9 unexplained. - UFOs and Government, Michael Swords and Robert Powell, page 430.
Denmark (population 6 million, 15,000 sightings, 200 Unknowns or 1.33 percent)
>COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The Danish Air Force has released 329 pages of previously classified archives on UFO sightings, including details on more than 200 unsolved cases. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/01/30/Denmark-releases-UFO-archives/90411233360944/
>The Danish Air Force has opened its UFO files, which were treated as state secret up until today. The archive features information on over 15,000 reported extraterrestrial sightings. https://denmark.net/denmarks-secret-ufo-files/
>Danish UFO Files https://archive.org/details/DanishUFOFiles/page/n21/mode/2up
Civilian UFO case collection:
Germany (population 85 million, 140,000 sightings, of which 5 percent are unexplained, 500 cases with no possible explanation):
>"Germany has a high level of UFO sightings," Robert Fleischer, the coordinator for the German Initiative for Exopolitics, told Deutsche Welle.
>He said that, since 1974, over 500 so-called "real" UFO cases - reported sightings that, after careful consideration by specialized experts, cannot be related to any conventional information - have been recorded.
>"However, there has never been any official recognition by the German government relating to UFOs or UFO activity," Fleischer added. "So if the Germans were to open any files relating to UFOs, all we would find out is that they pass all their information to the Americans." https://www.dw.com/en/despite-partial-disclosure-europes-ufo-files-remain-mostly-under-wraps/a-4783950
>In Germany, there seems to be an endless list of hobby clubs and nonprofit associations. The Association for UFO Research (GEP) is one of them. Their databank includes 140,000 entries, and 95% of them can be explained. https://www.dw.com/en/ufos-and-aliens-in-germany/a-58077707