Top 10 UFO Sightings: Up Above The World So High
We are a breed of newsfeed 'scrollers' (I just made that up!), lapping up memes, but let's admit it, we are all suckers for mystery. And what better topic than UFOs to spice up our lives, right? For the uninitiated, the acronym UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Objects, and this term gained prominence after the United States Air Force referred it as such in 1953. Prior to that, they were mostly called 'flying saucers'. We have heard numerous accounts of these mysterious objects navigating our skies, with rumours and conspiracy theories popping up every now and then, or documentaries, the fact is that our quest for aliens is still at a nascent stage. But these accounts of UFO sightings over the course of history can make sure that the spark never dies within us, and this obsession for all things extraterrestrial continues.
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| Roswell UFO Incident |
1) Roswell, 1947: The Roswell incident is probably the favourite of the conspiracy theorists and enthusiasts alike. It all started with unidentified debris, which a rancher found in his sheep pasture outside Roswell. While people were convinced that the remains were not from this planet, the local air force officials dismissed the claims, and asserted that it was crashed hot air balloon. Fifty years after this incident, the U.S. military issued a statement and clarified that the whole thing was actually a part of a high profile operation, Project Mogul. Well, that did not sound convincing at all, as most people noted.
2) Belgian Wave of 1989-90: This particular incident has continued to baffle everyone alike, both sceptics and the rest. The first report was taken by the Control Reporting Centre, Glons, and it spoke about a triangular formation in the sky, and how the lights changed colours. Rapidly. But that was not all. More than 2,500 reports were filed by individuals, about triangular objects! Although, there are no explanations as to why or what happened over the course of those 8 months, or no valid explanation given for the night sky and those objects which filled it, some people refer to as a mass delusion, while others still revel in its mystery.
3) Westall Encounter, 1966: Life was probably high on extraterrestrial air, when one UFO decided to appear right across the Melbourne sky, in Australia, and this seemingly absurd incident was witnessed by around 200 students and teachers, as it descended on an open field. This particular event, like all others, is unexplained, and there is a certain air of enigma attached to it, even after all these years. Although, researchers recently linked the whole incident to a secret government project, HIBAL (high altitude balloon, used to monitor the radiation levels), the speculations are as wild as ever.
4) Kenneth Arnold Case, 1947: "They were silvery and shiny and seemed to be shaped like a pie plate.... I am sure they were separate units because they weaved in flight like the tail of a kite." The Chicago Tribune carried these words of Kenneth Arnold, a private pilot, who claimed to have seen 9 UFOs flying past Mount Rainier. Their speed, according to Arnold, was around 1,200 miles an hour. Although Arnold's account was dismissed by most, telling he might have seen a mirage, or even clouds, a man named Fred Johnson, actually seconded his claims. The event still remains a phenomenal mystery.
5) Bracknell, 2013:
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| Bracknell UFO Spotting - Photo Taken by Steve Lambert |
A man on a terrace was making a phone call, when he saw to disc-shaped objects in the sky, and immediately snapped photos, which generated this huge UFO fever. Steve Lambert's terrace happened to face the Running Horse Pub, London Road, which is why this incident is referred to as the 'pub pair'. Lambert told that he spotted those objects for five seconds over Harmans Water at 8pm, after which they could not be found. Well, like all other cases, there is a lot of scepticism associated with this one too.
6) Tehran, 1976: The high-flying Iranian jets losed control to some extent, as their communications failed, and the intricate engineering of the jets crumbled as they tried to intercept the flying objects on 19 September, 1976. It was during the early morning hours, and the sky of Iran's capital city witnessed the outlandish drama unfolding. The reports for the incident were apparently sent to the US and other important government agencies, but the 'classified' tag attached to it speaks volumes, as it continues to attract the enthusiasts, and researchers alike.
7) Rendlesham 1980: Lieutenant Colonel Charles I. Halt, who was then with the United States Air Force operating from RAF, Woodbridge, and whose report made headlines over UFO sightings near Rendlesham Forest back in 1980, is now claiming to have fresh evidence regarding the same. On 26th December in 1980, mysterious lights appeared above Rendlesham forest, at around 3am, but when local police finally reached the spot after daybreak, they couldn't find anything else, or lights. But they did find some odd marks on ths ground, and impressions which were triangular in shape (well, the triangles seem to be at the core of all things alien). Halt's report mentioned a glowing object, metallic, and the changing colour of the lights, which had made this incident very popular. Pranks by airmen, or milite operation were attributed as the cause, but we will never know what actually happened on that fateful day.
8) Phoenix Lights, 1997:
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| Phoenix Lights - UFO Sightings in Phoenix, Arizona, USA and Sonora, Mexico |
Now this incident is actually two separate incidents, and the first one involved a triangular shape masquerading up in the skies, while the second described stationary lights, which much later was confirmed to be from flares. All this happened on 13 March, 1997, and the mass sighting stretched from Arizona in the US to Sonora in Mexico. While the first incident was, well, one of the very first UFO reportings, which its uncanny triangles, and lights emanating from it, as it kind of conquered the sky and newspaper headlines, the debunkers are rather strict with this one. Fife Syminton, the then governor of Arizona, who came out recently as a witness, or the rest of the people, seemed to have irked many sceptics, as most of them pointed it out to be the limitations of a naked eye.
9) Levelland Case, 1957: An initial report by two farm workers, Pedro Saucedo and Joe Salaz, were quickly followed up by accounts of a motorist, a married couple, and others. They all saw lights flashing, specifically blue lights, and this happened back in 1957. Levelland, a small town in Texas, with its impressive alien lights and witnesses who seemed to increase within a short period of time, is a delight for the Ufologists. Although the military and air force criticized them, and told that the mass sighting was possibly a result of ball lightning or electrical storm, the people refused to believe otherwise.
10) Ronald Reagan, 1974: What better way to pump up your alien-seeking heart, than a report of a sighting by a President of the United States, right? Ronald Reagan was the governor of California back then, and the sight he saw from inside the Cessne Citation aircraft, alongwith his pilot, would be a source of excitement and scepticism for everybody later on. Ronald's lights, as he once described, changed shapes and went 'straight up into heavens' were never mentioned throughout his career, and this secrecy has led the conspiracy theorists to believe there was a reason for it.
We will never know what actually happened in each of these cases. There will be believers, and there will be non-believers alike. If you are one of those UFO enthusiasts, we hope that you find one right outside your bedroom door. Till then, may the force be with you!
Post Written by - Lopamudra
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