This novelty UFO in Moonbeam, Ontario, Canada, is a tribute to early-20th-century settlers who witnessed flashing lights descending from the sky. They called the sights “moonbeams,” and they are the town’s namesake. The lights could have been aurorae or illumination from the Transcontinental Railway reflecting off the snow. // Wikipedia user P199
UFO sightings are abundant — the National UFO Reporting Center often records hundreds every month in the United States alone. Phil Plait’s May article, “The science behind UFOs,” discussed a number of high-profile events through a “cold, logical lens.” Sights that appear spooky are often astronomical or technological, rather than extraterrestrial, and are just unfamiliar manifestations of familiar phenomena like planets, planes, and practical jokes. Plait has written extensively about UFOs on his blog, Bad Astronomy. Click on the links below to see more in-depth coverage of some stories from his Astronomy article
and more.
Stories covered in
“The science behind UFOs”
- Euclid, Ohio, sees Venus.
- New York City sees
balloons. - Morristown, New Jersey,
sees a hoax. - Phoenix, Arizona, sees
parachuting flares. - People all across Norway
see Russia performing military tests.
Other UFOs turned
IFOs
- Russia sees itself
performing military tests. - Australia sees a SpaceX fail.
- Denver sees insects.
- Forks, Washington, sees
Jupiter. - Jerusalem sees
video-editing software. - The Internet sees ice falling off the space shuttle.
