Last Friday (3/14) at approximately 6:30am some Pasco County residents called 911 after seeing a strange object in the sky over Wesley Chapel, Florida. Residents reported the object to be three white lights arranged in a triangle formation and one red light that remained stationary. The responding deputies report says the object was a balloon, though no more detail was given.

The balloon explanation, while a classic standard of UFO detractors, seems to be a reasonable explanation of this sighting. FAA Regulations Part 101 require balloons operated outside of daylight hours carry marker lights to alert pilots to their presence. Furthermore, this FAA document (pdf link) indicates that the required lighting for a balloon would be a flashing red light on top and additional lighting to indicate the size of the object. This would account for the lighting and the white light’s apparent movement relative to the red light (as the payload swung back and forth in the wind). Here is a video of the object so you can make up your own mind:

Video: The Pasco County UFO Sighting @ Phantoms and Monsters

FAA Air Traffic and General Operating Rule Part 101

FAA Advisory Circular: Obstruction Marking and Lighting (PDF)

Many people believe that UFO visitation is by no means a recent phenomena. Some point to the Bible and other historical documents as containing clues to the presence of UFOs in the past In fact there are numerous references to flying chariots in the Bible and in the parlance of time “chariot” simply meant a means of conveyance not the ancient vehicle we think of today, making biblical UFOs a real possibility. Perhaps the best clues that our ancestors witnessed the same phenomena we see in our skies today is in their art.

One famous example is “the Madonna and Saint Giovannio” a 15th century painting generally attributed to an artist at the school of Filippo Lippi where, what we would call a UFO, can be clearly seen over the Madonna’s left shoulder (pictured above). XFacts has an excellent listing of similar instances of UFOs appearing in art dating back as far as 12th century and beyond (and where most of these works can be seen today). At first glance (especially if you are looking at only one image) it is easy to dismiss the “UFOs” as the result of the paintings being incorrectly interpreted with modern eye, but when you look at the consistency of how these “unidentified painted objects” are depicted it makes you wonder what these artist from different times and cultures saw that influenced them to include these objects in their art. Take a look for yourself and let us know what you think in the comments.

Ancient UFOs @ XFacts.com

Technorati Tags: Art, history, UFO

photo by dev null If you are lucky enough to see a UFO (hopefully it was a pleasant experience and nothing horrific happened), the first thing I would suggest doing is writing down a detailed account of what you saw (including the date, time and direction you were facing) and draw as detailed diagrams of the craft and maps of where you were in relation to it. If you later choose not to report the sighting you can just destroy this information if you like, but if you do report your encounter it will help you make it as detailed as possible. Once you have taken notes about your sighting, take a minute to relax and let the initial excitement pass. Now you have to consider a very important question, whether or not to report your UFO encounter.

When you consider reporting your sighting the first thing to think about is if there is a simple, non-UFO, explanation for what you saw. Ask yourself, could what I have seen been an known aircraft? Another common source of UFO reports is the misidentification of stars or other celestial bodies. You can use a sky chart like the one at Sky & Telescope (free registration required) to see if there are any visible stars, planets located where you saw your UFO. You may even want to call your local community college or science museum to see if there were any meteor showers the night of your sighing. Don’t feel like this analysis should make you doubt what you saw - you did see something. This is just an exercise to see if when you think back about your sighting if you can come up with any good explanations. Even if you are not 100% sure you saw a UFO it is okay to report it (you just do not want to report something that you 100% know wasn’t a UFO). The next question you have to ask yourself is much more personal and will require some soul searching to find the answer.

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Technorati Tags: report, sighting, UFO