nPostednon July 2, 2014
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n Somenpeople claim that, on this date in 1947, a space vehicle full ofnaliens crash landed near Roswell, New Mexico.
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nFor that reason, somenufologists (people who are interested in UFOs) celebrate today asnWorld UFO Day.
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nThey want to, in their words, raise awareness of “the undoubted existence of UFOs.”
n Somenpeople claim that, on this date in 1947, a space vehicle full ofnaliens crash landed near Roswell, New Mexico.
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nFor that reason, somenufologists (people who are interested in UFOs) celebrate today asnWorld UFO Day.
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nThey want to, in their words, raise awareness of “the undoubted existence of UFOs.”
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nOnenof the main ways of celebrating seems to be gathering together tonlook at the night sky – to look for UFOs.
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nInwas looking at the group’s file of “evidence” for UFOs, and I sawna mention that the number of UFO reports always jumps on World UFO Day.
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nLet’snthink about that…
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nObviously,nnobody could believe that aliens have been monitoring ourninternet (and somehow understanding and translating websites writtennin English), and that at least one alien noticed that a tinynpercentage of the world’s billions celebrates UFO Day on July 2, andnthat the aliens therefore sent out their ships to travel however manynlightyears to Earth so that they could be sure to make an appearancenon that day!
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nSo…Inguess the only other explanation for more UFO reports on World UFOnDay is that more people are looking for them. That makes sense. Ifnyou’re not looking for ravens, you might not notice a one…but ifnyou decide to look for ravens and keep a count of how many you see onna particular day, you are quite likely to spot a few. n
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nButndoes that meant that there are always a lot of aliens buzzing aroundnthe world in their spaceships, waiting to be noticed? And, if younthink about it, since the aliens wouldn’t know which towns in thenworld have ufologists out looking for them, there would have to be annawful lot of aliens zooming through Earth’s nighttime skies!
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nInwonder why aliens would bother!
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nLet’snthink some more. First, what does “UFO” actually mean? Younprobably know that it stands for Unidentified Flying Object.” If anUFO were clearly a spaceship, it would be an identified flyingnobject, right?
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nInnactual fact, UFOs do exist – I’m not saying that alien spaceshipsnhave been to Earth, I’m saying that UNIDENTIFIED “flying” objectsnexist – because people are often confused by what they see. It’snhard to tell what a light in the night really means.
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nIs it a tinynlight on a dark, nearby object? Is it a large light on a farther-awaynobject? Or is it an entire object, glowing from within, either tinynand near or large but quite far away?
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nIs it a tinynlight on a dark, nearby object? Is it a large light on a farther-awaynobject? Or is it an entire object, glowing from within, either tinynand near or large but quite far away?
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nIsnit something people made (like an airplane or a weather balloon)?
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nIsnit a familiar nighttime object (like the planet Venus) madenunfamiliar by clouds or other phenomena?
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nIs it an optical illusionncaused by air’s ability to bend light and ice crystals’ ability toncreate arcs or circles?
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nIsnit a familiar nighttime object (like the planet Venus) madenunfamiliar by clouds or other phenomena?
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nIs it an optical illusionncaused by air’s ability to bend light and ice crystals’ ability toncreate arcs or circles?
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It’s a cloud. That really, really looks like a flying saucer! |
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nIs it a strange shaped cloud, or a weird sort of lightning, or othernunusual weather phenomenon?
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Ball lightning, confounding people for centuries! |
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Analysis of this photo shows it to be a hoax — a hoax that has been photoshopped into multiple “photos of UFOs.” |
nIs it a hoax?
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nIs it a flaw in the lens ofna camera?
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nIs it a flock of birds?
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nThe only time I saw a UFO hovering over thencity, I was the only kid among an excited group of kids who took thentime to really check it out – and it turned out to be just a streetnlamp! (I know, lame, huh? But it was one of thosentricky-angle-weird-lighting-conditions situations.)
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This type of street lamp in Phoenix, AZ, has been mistakenly reported as a flying saucer many times. |
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- Onenof my favorite astronomers, Phil Plait, talks about UFOs here.
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- Andnone of my favorite astrophysicists, Neil deGrasse Tyson, discussesnUFOs here.
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nAlsonon this date:
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n“GoldennAge of Airships”
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nPlannahead:
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nJulyn holidays
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nJulyn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in July
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nAugustn holidays
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nAugustn birthdays
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- Historicaln anniversaries in August
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