ST. LOUIS (KTVI) – For decades there have been reports of UFOs, with some even claiming to have met extraterrestrial life. Meanwhile, astronomers are discovering new planets with regularity, some of which appear to meet the potential to host life.

Each year, 18 volunteer investigators for the Missouri branch of the Mutual UFO Network check about 200 possible sightings. Many of them are easily explainable: man-made or celestial objects, such as planes, satellites, or stars. Some sightings are not as common but can still be explained.

MUFON, which says Missouri is one of the busiest states in the nation for UFO sightings, says five percent of the possible sightings cannot be explained.

With the aid of the Kepler Telescope, NASA scientists are discovering new exoplanets (planets outside our solar system). At last count, more than 3,200 exoplanets have been found; 21 could have the right atmospheric conditions for life.

Astronomers at the University of Rochester mathematically concluded the odds are one in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (ten billion trillion) that we are the only intelligent beings in the universe.

See the report on the UFO in southern Illinois here: