Cheryl Costa

Background

Cheryl Costa is a native of upstate New York and a military veteran with a background in information security from the aerospace industry. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from SUNY Empire State College in entertainment writing and is an accomplished playwright. Costa first witnessed a UFO at age 12, an experience that sparked a lifelong interest in the phenomenon.

Career as UFO Researcher

In 2013, Costa pitched an idea for a UFO column to Syracuse New Times. What began as a one-month trial evolved into a prolific writing career spanning over a decade. Her column, "New York Skies," has published more than 250 articles examining UFO sightings, historical cases, statistical trends, and disclosure issues. Her journalism combines rigorous data analysis with accessible storytelling, making UFO research available to mainstream audiences.

Landmark Statistical Work

In collaboration with her wife, Linda Miller Costa, Cheryl compiled and published the most detailed analysis of American UFO sightings ever assembled. The project analyzed data from two major repositories: the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). The first book, UFO Sightings Desk Reference: United States of America 2001–2015, examined 121,000 reported sightings. A second edition extended the analysis through 2020, encompassing 167,632 sightings across all U.S. states and cities.

Costa has emphasized that her statistical work does not prove UFO existence—rather, it catalogs patterns. She has highlighted that 5–7 percent of sightings in her database resist conventional explanation, and that the shapes and characteristics of these unexplained cases warrant serious study. Her data-driven approach has helped shift UFO research toward quantitative analysis and away from anecdotal narratives alone.

Recognition and Media

Costa's contributions to UFO research were recognized in 2018 when she was named "Researcher of the Year" at the International UFO Congress. She has appeared on television programs including Gaia TV and Coast to Coast AM, and has spoken at major UFO conferences including the UFO Congress and MUFON Symposium. She has also authored a compilation of her newspaper columns, The UFO Beat (2013–2019), and produced state-by-state UFO guidebooks.

Broader Impact

Costa's work exemplifies the emerging field of data-driven UFO research, where statistics and pattern recognition are applied to decades of eyewitness reports. By digitizing, categorizing, and analyzing 167,000+ incidents, she has created a resource for researchers, journalists, and the public seeking to understand UFO phenomena at scale. Her emphasis on transparency—noting what her data does and does not prove—has earned respect from both mainstream researchers and UFO enthusiasts.