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Sci-Fi

UFO Sightings Are Up 51% Amid Coronavirus, Data Shows (nypost.com) 94

Data from the nonprofit National UFO Reporting Center, which records UFO-related events, shows that sightings are up 51 percent so far this year compared to the same period in 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The New York Post reports: Among the 5,000 sightings recorded this year, 20 percent of them occurred in April -- the height of the COVID-19 crisis and lockdown, according to the news outlet. Peter Davenport, 72, who has directed the organization since 1994, says his phone has been ringing off the hook with reports of extraterrestrial accounts. Davenport of the city of Harrington in Washington state, collects firsthand accounts through his website and by phone and has been answering 25 to 50 calls a day.
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UFO Sightings Are Up 51% Amid Coronavirus, Data Shows

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  • Mental health (Score:5, Interesting)

    by tindur ( 658483 ) on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @02:05AM (#60464646)
    They are also reporting about deteriorating mental health during corona virus.
    • Re:Mental health (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Noishkel ( 3464121 ) on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @02:26AM (#60464694)
      Probably. Or perhaps there's more people with nothing else better to do than look up to see something they wouldn't bother looking for normally.
    • Re:Mental health (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Lije Baley ( 88936 ) on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @02:29AM (#60464702)

      Back when I was young and still reading UFO literature, I was struck by one of Jacques Vallee's books which was discussing UFOs as a real, but psychological phenomena, IIRC. He has had many other ideas about it as well, some of which are quite fantastic, but always a relatively unique perspective -- not believing UFOs to be extraterrestrial.

    • Or more cases of people drinking hand sanitizer.

    • by K. S. Kyosuke ( 729550 ) on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @04:26AM (#60464850)
      It's obvious what's going on here -- UFO's are spreading mental-health-affecting viruses! Plan 10 from Outer Space!
    • Re:Mental health (Score:4, Interesting)

      by DThorne ( 21879 ) on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @08:04AM (#60465242)
      I don't know if this was meant to be a laugh or not, but it's definitely related. Mental health isn't an on/off switch, it comes in nothing but shades of grey, and yup UFO sightings are definitely related to the cultural psyche. Drone prevalence probably helps as well. Bottom line I use is: if ghosts/UFOs/Bigfoot were real, tangible things, the insane ubiquity of phones with cameras should already have answered all those mysteries. Nope.
      • Problem with phone cameras is that they don't typically come with good telescopic lenses. Unless a UFO is 3 meters from your nose the pics and videos will be blurred and people will say it's fake/edited/not clear. In fact, with so many fake videos around even if a legit smartphone video is published, no one will bother looking into it.

        However, some these shortcomings have recently been solved when US Air Force published OFFICIAL videos taken by fighter pilots during exercise. This was all over the news.
    • I just see the Number 51, as from AREA 51. Canâ(TM)t be a coincedence....

  • by jonathantn ( 6373084 ) on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @02:08AM (#60464654)
    2020 - 1 star Very bad, would not recommend. Would give zero stars if possible.
  • by wierd_w ( 1375923 ) on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @02:13AM (#60464664)

    I mean, drunken, strung out, or otherwise questionable people of dubious educational background can't possibly be THAT interesting to extra-terrestrials, can they?

    Maybe they know that I would ask to get off this rock...

    • by rtb61 ( 674572 )

      It depends on the ET, it's all in the numbers, assuming something like a billion trillion, even the tiniest most perverse individuals will exist in all advanced societies, to the limit of medical technology to limit their reproduction and likely designated lower evolution planets (just like us, more advanced societies do not mean the disappearance of primitive societies). Very likely planets are set aside for less evolved members of any advanced society, especially the genetic variant responsible for the tr

      • I was being rather facetious there-- but of course:

        Yes, UFO stands for unidentified flying object. It is any object that cannot be visually identified, or does not have a radio transponder that identifies itself, that shows up on radar, or inside a restricted air space. The potential for what it actually *IS* is very large, and includes a large number of entirely pedestrian objects.

        Again, I was being facetious-- specifically, that the people that most often report seeing them from among the general public,

        • Obligatory Douglas Adams quote -

          “Teasers are usually rich kids with nothing to do. They cruise around looking for planets that haven’t made interstellar contact yet and buzz them.”
          “Buzz them?” Arthur began to feel that Ford was enjoying making life difficult for him.
          “Yeah,” said Ford, “they buzz them. They find some isolated spot with very few people around, then land right by some poor unsuspecting soul whom no one’s ever going to believe and then strut

        • What makes you think UFOs, and perhaps the ET that might be piloting them have not visited people who are not prone to confabulation? I am referring to the videos the NY Time leaked from the Navy fighter planes that showed objects that were capable of moving in the sky that are so far beyond our capabilities it's breath taking. There are plenty of stories told by sane, sober pilots in the US military that describe technology not of this earth.

        • > The statistical EXISTENCE of ETs is without question

          Not really. As someone once pointed out in a book I now forget, for there to be ET that can contact us, they have to reach a level of technological sophistication without destroying themselves or their planet. So there is a window there: reaching a technological level where you can contact other worlds on one end, and the end of civilization (due to war/misuse of resources) on the other end. That may not be a very large window. I think life on othe
        • Of the reported instances of ET visitation, the vast majority tend to be people who are prone to confabulation.

          This is likely because respected people are less likely to come forward and the people who do come forward have nothing to lose and nothing else to talk about. My dad once see a glowing ball the size of a house zip by his airplane wing while he was flying. He mentions it occasional when the subject of UFOs comes up but is not shouting about it from rooftops. My father-in-law, a complete skeptic, talks about an unexplained ghost that living in a house he lived in once. Neither of these people are going

        • > includes a large number of entirely pedestrian objects.

          Lots of *boring* objects, only one pedestrian. The pedestrian was yesterday near LAX.

          No word yet on whether the FAA has had a talk with Elon about that yet.

      • Perverse individuals eh?

        https://southpark.cc.com/full-... [cc.com]

      • Not aliens, just a guy in a jet pack: https://news.sky.com/story/pil... [sky.com]
    • by k6mfw ( 1182893 )
      maybe those drunken, strung out, questionable people make more interesting museum pieces.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Well no shit the aliens would want to check us out more. Wouldn't you too want to gawk at the crazy spectacle humans have made? This was probably the most drama happening on Earth since WWII or that time the Middle East guy with dementia was making up stories 2000 years ago.

    • Or maybe, just maybe ppl locked at home have more time to work on fakes....
    • That’s not a nice thing to say about Josephus.

      • by cusco ( 717999 )

        The Josephus mention of Christians has been pretty well demonstrated to be a fraud, inserted by a monk in the early history of the church. Tacitus probably as well, although that's not as well documented.

        I know too much trivia . . .

  • I wonder.. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by BlacKSacrificE ( 1089327 ) on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @03:08AM (#60464748)

    If there is a correlation with drone sales. People are sitting around bored, I guarantee there have been a lot of new toys bought since March, I wonder how many of them constitute this 51%?

    • yup, if you want to freak people out
      1 buy drone quadcopter
      2 buy some multi-colored LED lights
      3 fly at night early evenings when more people likely to spot it
      3 ???
      4 profit!!!
      • by q_e_t ( 5104099 )
        Can you explain the second step labelled 3 called "???"? Do you have a newsletter to which I can subscribe as step 4 intrigues me greatly. By second step labelled 3 I mean the 4th step, not step 2 which is labelled 2. And by 4th step I don't mean the step labelled 4 which is the 5th step. I hope that's clear.
      • You forgot the remote controlled laser pointers.
  • Just cuz you don't know what it is, doesn't mean it is aliens.
    Another word that has been corrupted to extreme political correctness.
      Somebody needs to capture a UFO and still not know what it is.

    • If take my drone with my best friend up to the Canadian border and fly it across, it is by definition Aliens--we're not Canadian citizens and are thus aliens. Just not "space aliens".
  • The SARS-CoV-2 virus was brought to earth by aliens who conspired with the Chinese to bring it to America. Fox News, go crazy!!!

  • UFOs, 5G (Score:5, Funny)

    by gnasher719 ( 869701 ) on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @04:33AM (#60464866)
    The UFOs are busy filling up the radiation in the 5G towers, to prepare us for mind control when Bill Gates' vaccine infects us all with a microchip.
    • Re:UFOs, 5G (Score:5, Funny)

      by wierd_w ( 1375923 ) on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @04:41AM (#60464886)

      That's all well and good, but when does lizard woman Hillary Clinton get to extract the delicious brain juice of children that have been all used up by her secret pedophile ring of democrat assocaites, and how do these sinister plots fit together!?

      • That's all well and good, but when does lizard woman Hillary Clinton get to extract the delicious brain juice of children that have been all used up by her secret pedophile ring of democrat assocaites, and how do these sinister plots fit together!?

        The sinister plots all come together in secret meetings held by the China loving deep state Illuminati alien collaborator lizard people in the basement of the Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria in Washington, D.C. It is only a matter of time before Q-Anon hero and super intellect Donald Trump cleans that place up for good. Mark my words, almost four years of the best brains in the Trump movement searching for that cellar door are about to pay off.

      • Well, Pelosi just had her mask repaired at that secretive Hairdresser outfit in SF. We should stake it out and see whether Hillary also goes there sometimes to have her's serviced.
    • to prepare us for mind control when Bill Gates' vaccine infects us all with a microchip.

      Oh so close [9cache.com].

    • I have faith that Q will protect us all from this.

  • by ledow ( 319597 ) on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @04:59AM (#60464916) Homepage

    And you conflated UFO with extraterrestrial even before finishing the summary, so I'm out.

  • I can think of three reasons for this:

    1. UFO's are somehow related to corona - maybe they brought the virus to the planet.
    2. People are starting to see things that aren't there, due to stress or neurological issues caused by a COVID-19 infection.
    3. People are spending more time outdoors and thus observe this kind of things more easily.

    Of course, we all know the answer already. I'm not saying it's aliens, but... it is aliens.

    • Re:Three theories (Score:5, Interesting)

      by bill_mcgonigle ( 4333 ) * on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @06:21AM (#60465036) Homepage Journal

      > 3. People are spending more time outdoors and thus observe this kind of things more easily.

      I've observed much more wildlife, more types of birds, several different airplane types, more satellites, and more dazzling sunsets this year. Nature is probably the same but my perspective has shifted.

      No unidentified sightings for me, though. Such a shame!

      • by XXongo ( 3986865 )

        I've observed much more wildlife, more types of birds, several different airplane types, more satellites, and more dazzling sunsets this year.

        And more drones than last year.

  • by allcoolnameswheretak ( 1102727 ) on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @05:49AM (#60464982)

    I wish aliens would come and save us from the idiot strongmen who are ruining this planet. It is a pivotal moment in human history, our human civilization is stretching the limits of what our natural environment can sustain, and we have
    Donald Trump in the US
    Boris Johnson in the UK
    Vladimir Putin in Russia
    Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil
    Xi Jinping in China

    Donald Trump doesn't give a shit about the environment, slashing funds for NASA and other agencies that are investigating climate change, or trying to muzzle them outright, while looking backwards to try to keep American fossil fuel industry alive into the 21st century. Not to mention he's a pathological liar, narcissist and self-serving real-estate mogul gone president.

    Boris Johnson is another bigmouth out of the Trump political school out to make Great Britain the Even Greater Britain again. He doesn't give a shit about the environment either and basically wants to turn the UK into a tax haven for Europe by having all the benefits of EU membership without actually playing by the rules of EU membership. He puts his Russian buddies into parliament because like Trump he is surfing the wave of Russian money that is funding the dismantling of the West.

    Vladimir Putin doesn't give a shit about the environment because his Mafia Russian Government is financed by the natural resources it exports. Also he might think Russia will be one of the few countries to come out better if the rest of the world goes to shit while Siberia becomes habitable. Also he is the most dangerous man in the world, with vast disinformation networks and funding divisive right-wing and conservative agendas in the west to cause strife and division in western democracies to basically weaken us, make us look bad in the world and bring down the western system of liberal democracy.

    Bolsonaro is yet another extreme right-wing populist who doesn't give a shit about the environment and would burn down the entire Amazon Rainforest if it means more plantations and more money for him and his rich buddies who will cultivate the land. Like Trump, despite overwhelming evidence and mounting singns, he thinks climate change is a hoax and like a typical corrupt politician and all of the people on this list, puts short term financial interests for his family above everything.

    Xi Jinping is an authoritarian dictator propagating a cult of personality in China only rivaled by Kim in North Korea. In terms of freedoms and liberty, he's throwing China back 30 years, increasingly clamping down on the press, Internet and individual freedoms. He pretends to care about the environment, but as with almost anything in China, most of what is said and done about the environment is fake. Only supposed to promote a progressive and good image of China on the inside and outside, but after just a couple of weeks it turns out all the shiny solar panels break down and end up in a landfill because they were produced on the cheap.

    Dear aliens, if you are hearing us, please help.
    You could abduct those five individuals for some anal probing. Or just eat them.
    The world will be a better place almost instantly.

    • Wow, dude, please don't stop taking your meds cold turkey like that.
    • but after just a couple of weeks it turns out all the shiny solar panels break down and end up in a landfill because they were produced on the cheap.
      While you are right about the persons, this is nonsense.

  • More people are looking up and praying to God thinking that it will somehow help their selfish selves?
  • U.A.P. would be far more appropriate. Unexplained Aerial Phenomenon. To use the term flying requires evidence that is mutually exclusive to the use of the term unexplained.

    Or maybe that is asking to much of /. editors.
  • May just be people who saw Comet NEOWISE and didn't know what it was.
  • People are drinking more during the pandemic. Why would anyone be surprised that there is an increase in UFO sightings?

    https://chicago.suntimes.com/c... [suntimes.com]

  • 12 Monkeys
    7 Days
    Milennium
    Deja Vu
    There's that TNG episode, no spoilers.

  • by Tony Isaac ( 1301187 ) on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @08:30AM (#60465322) Homepage

    ...that are a little more clear than a fuzzy blob!

    These days, there are cameras everywhere. Any time there is an incident in the news, there are close-up photos. Not just a few, but many.

    Why don't we have clear, indisputable photo evidence of "alien" ships? A conspiracy? No way, there's no cover-up that could be THAT big and pervasive, considering the number of "UFO" sightings.

    Yeah, I know there are UFO Web sites that have lots of photos, but trusting these sites is like trusting Facebook for news.

  • is it airplane? A astronomical site? A meteorological event? A spacecraft from other planet? Or simply a light in the sky? John Pike has said it all depends on what movie you saw the night before.
  • no problems here, as long as the aliens are wearing face masks and maintain social distancing.

  • The other year, I was in CA when I went for a walk. I saw a bright, white object moving in the daylight sky erratically and videoed it for several minutes on my cell phone. Trying to get quality video with a cell if a light in the sky with magnification is tough.

    My gut tells me that is was, most likely, a drone observing traffic or a news drone. But, it appeared to be at a fairly high altitude and itâ(TM)s motion was very erratic with quick jerky movements. Given the varying sizes of civilian dron

    • If you could get GOOD photos of it, you'd see it's nothing of consequence and you'd tell nobody. If you could SEE it clearly yourself, you'd not even take a photo.

      Now if you see an Alien looking craft, then it's partially identified so is it truly a UFO anymore?

      Other phenomenon would remain... having more time to look at the sky the number should go up... more drinking; plus covid does attack nerves too... One could watch these partying students but I suspect they weren't the smart ones to begin with...

    • There are nearly a thousand weather balloons & their instruments released all over the globe every 12 hours. Winds are high at high altitudes and change with level.

      CA also has significant aerospace R&D, and it could easily be a drone or other non-commercial aircraft.

  • The US government admitted to UFOs from a decade before?

    Movie quote timeâ"-

    Sol Robeson : Hold on. You have to slow down. You're losing it. You have to take a breath. Listen to yourself. You're connecting a computer bug I had with a computer bug you might have had and some religious hogwash. You want to find the number 216 in the world, you will be able to find it everywhere. 216 steps from a mere street corner to your front door. 216 seconds you spend riding on the elevator. When your mind becomes obse

  • UFOs...saucers...pizza... [Gasps] Alex Jones was right!
  • Coincidence?

  • Gone are the days of the tin foil hat, now its tin foil on the drone to trick the neighbors into thinking its a UFO.

1 1 was a race-horse, 2 2 was 1 2. When 1 1 1 1 race, 2 2 1 1 2.

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