"My wife and I noticed what we thought was a star. It then started moving up and down, side to side and at 90 degree angles," reads a September report marked as coming from Hastings, Minn. "I have never seen anything like this before."

"I was driving to work early in the morning and noticed double-layered lights surrounding a massive circular object in the sky around 494 and Minnetonka Blvd," reads another from Minnetonka in August.

“Just got home from buying a dirt bike for my kids and took it for a drive in the dark to the end of the driveway,” described another from Mora in June, “I saw a fireball looking circle moving around slightly about a half mile away, about 60 ft up, it just suddenly disappeared.”

Nearly a hundred times each year, Minnesotans file reports of suspected UFO encounters with a volunteer organization known as the National UFO Reporting Center, which makes them available to be searched online.

Extraterrestrial encounters have been creeping back into the zeitgeist this year, with the U.S. Navy acknowledging the existence of mysterious flying objects in September. Soon after, thousands of revelers descended on Area 51 as part of a viral stunt that began on Facebook.

Meanwhile, Minnesotans have been quietly celebrating the 40th anniversary of the state’s most famous encounter, and scientists and media outlets paying closer attention to out-of-this-world sightings.

“People are looking up in the sky, people are watching and they know to report what they see,” said Tom Maher, Minnesota State Director of the Mutual UFO Network, one of the world's oldest and largest organizations of paranormal enthusiasts, which also collects local encounters.