According to The Mutual UFO Network, better known as MUFON, in addition to sweltering temperatures, the summer of 2011 also brought with it a rise in the number of reported UFO sightings. According to Clifford Clift, MUFON’s International Director, reported sightings were nearly double the national average this summer. In a statement to Life’s Little Mysteries Mr. Clift said, “It’s pretty exciting, when you average 500 a month [nationwide] and go to 1,013 in one month, that’s an interesting spike in sighting reports.” MUFON is reviewing the raw report data to ensure that the spike in reported data actually correlates to increased UFO activity . Currently there doesn’t seem to be a correlating spike in reports to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) Database. However, since NUFORC’s data is manually approved/released, a delay could be causing the discrepancy in the numbers of reported sightings. If MUFON’s data is indicative of a upswing in UFO activity, we should see a similar uptick in NUFORC’s numbers as well as their team processes more reports which would further help to validate the trend identified by MUFON.

UFO Reports Spiked this Summer [via Area51.Org]

Reports are coming in of a strange incident along a highway outside Barstow, California this weekend. According to witnesses, a strange craft that was flying very low over the highway landed or crashed Saturday (12/12/2009). Following the landing/crash police, black government vehicles and a large military transport were reported racing to the scene. Upon arriving at the scene, the police and other agencies parked their vehicles facing outward, with their headlights on, so as to obstruct any view of the scene. While a photo of the scene was apparently take, as of now it has still not been posted online. Additional reports found by Phantoms & Monsters indicate that a craft was seen by truckers in the area flying low over the highway.

Adding to the mystery are the following videos from YouTube, supposedly shot in Tracy and Ridgecrest, California this weekend. Both videos are posted to established accounts with no other UFO related videos, which leads me to believe that they are genuine footage of some sort of unknown craft.

Read the rest of this entry »

Swamp Gas @ B.Z. Toons [via Chris Holly's Paranormal World]