Recently, a suspicious flickering light and an unidentified flying object were observed late at night in St. Louis near the familiar landmark Arch Bridge. This location happens to be a rather normal one in which previous proclaimed “UFO” sightings have taken place in the past.
Because there are likely tens of thousands of possible explanations for various UFO’s observed each year, it’s important to understand the term itself and the difference between this, and actual suspected “aliens” or Martians are flying around our airspace.
The UFO Hype and Drones
A UFO, regardless of where it’s flying stands for an Unidentified Flying Object. What this means is that there’s plenty of potential UFO’s flying around our airspace and the earth every day, and again by no means likely “aliens.”
In fact, UFO’s can range from late night hot-air balloons all the way to UAV’s or (personally owned) drones. Because drones are becoming both more accessible and affordable, it’s become a rather common occurrence to see personally driven drones at major events, touring cities, and snapping photos.
Most drones are now available on the market (typically around $300 or more) come included with a GPS device, some with cameras, and allow special functions for rotational “floating” or stand-in-place patterns that can be mapped out before takeoff. This means that drones were flying around, which non-directional lights (per law requirements) could easily be mistaken at night (or during the day) for an Alien “UFO.”
Also, remember, St. Louis is a huge city, with a bustling airspace which both private and commercial planes are always taking off and landing at. This, and also military aircraft and operations due to nearby bases in most instances quickly explain possible “UFO” sightings but are not always publicly cleared or verified by the U.S. military for obvious reasons.
Thanks to the popularization of aliens and UFO’s starting as far back as the 1940’s and 1950’s, along with T.V. shows like the X-Files it should be no wonder why people find such a fascination, interest, and even hobby of “UFO hunting.” Ironically enough, earlier this year a suspicious, glowing, what appeared to be falling ball of fire was observed over most western states and reported to police thousands of times within a little over an hour. This particular instance merely winded up being a Chinese rocket ship re-entering the atmosphere. Perhaps in the future, the United States government or a group of scientists might implement a website for submitting observations, coordinates, and updates provided by the government warning it’s citizens when suspicious UFO’s such as this may be observed, and why.
Note, similar potential UFOs sighting was reported in Clearwater Beach FL earlier this year.
Image credit: www.cia.gov and Wikipedia