From the March 2013 issue

More UFOs identified

Although some UFOs are truly bizarre, they still can have explanations that do not involve aliens.
By | Published: March 25, 2013 | Last updated on May 18, 2023

Spaceship
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”


Other UFOs turned
IFOs