Live map

Every sighting. Live, on one map.

Public reports pinned where they happened, the aircraft and satellites overhead right now, and a timeline that runs from 1947 to tonight.

Create a free account Members: open the map
Aircraft refresh
~15 s
Live layers
6
Years of history
79
The Sighted live map over the south-eastern United States: public reports as pins and live aircraft over Georgia and the Carolinas, with the timeline below.

01Live context

See what else was up there, as it happens.

A light in the sky means more when you can see what else is flying. Turn on the live layers and the map fills with real traffic: aircraft from ADS-B receivers, satellites from their orbits, and members who are outside watching tonight.

  • Aircraft refresh about every fifteen seconds when you zoom in to a region
  • The ISS and bright satellites, positioned live
  • Members on watch and sky cameras streaming now
  • Forty-nine major observatories around the world

On the map

  • SightingsPublic reports, as pins or a heatmapSince 1947
  • AircraftLive ADS-B positions via adsb.fi~15 s
  • SatellitesStations and bright satellites (CelesTrak)Live
  • WatchersMembers outside looking upTonight
  • Live viewsSky cameras members are streamingNow
  • ObservatoriesMajor optical, radio and solar sites49

02Time machine

Replay the sky, back to 1947.

Drag the timeline to any range, or press play and watch reports appear in order, with fading trails. Lanes underneath show what else happened in the sky: rocket launches, big fireballs, meteor shower peaks, the Moon’s phases and eclipses.

  • Tonight, this week, 30 days, a year, or everything
  • Playback at the speed you choose, on a loop if you like
  • Sky events from launch schedules, NASA fireball data and the meteor calendar
The map timeline from 1947 to today, with lanes for sightings, watchers, live views and sky events.

03Find the pattern

Narrow it down to exactly what you saw.

Filter by shape, by status and by evidence, then switch between a flat map, a 3D globe, the solar system and the sky itself. Close together, reports cluster; zoom in and they separate.

  • Eight shape categories, from orbs to triangles
  • Only confirmed, only with photos or video, only validated
  • A heatmap for where reports gather

Views

MapGlobeSolar systemSky

Shape

LightsTriangleOrbSphereDiscCylinderBoomerangOther

Evidence

ConfirmedUnconfirmedHas photo or videoValidated only

Under the hood

Real data, credited.

Every layer comes from a named public source, and the map says which.

Aircraft
adsb.fi

Community ADS-B network, refreshed about every 15 seconds.

Satellites
CelesTrak

Published orbits, propagated live in your browser.

Sky events
Launches, fireballs, showers

Launch Library 2, NASA CNEOS and the IMO calendar.

Archive
From June 1947

Historical cases alongside every new report.

Questions

About the map

Is the live map free?

Yes, with a free account. Signing up takes a minute, and the map comes with everything else: reporting, Sky Tonight, the Moon and solar system, alerts and the community.

Where does the aircraft data come from?

Live aircraft positions come from ADS-B receivers via adsb.fi and refresh about every fifteen seconds. Zoom in to a region to see them; at world scale there would be too many to draw.

Which satellites are shown?

Space stations, including the ISS, and CelesTrak’s list of bright, naked-eye satellites, positioned live in your browser from their published orbits.

How far back do the reports go?

The timeline runs from June 1947 to tonight. Historical cases from the archive sit alongside new reports, and you can replay any range or just look at tonight.

Can I share exactly what I am looking at?

Yes. Share copies a link to the current view, including the place, zoom, filters and time range, so someone else opens the same map.

Keep exploring

More ways to watch the sky.

Tonight

Something is up there. See it on the map.

Free with a Sighted account. Join in a minute and the whole sky opens up.

Create a free account Members: open the map