Strange Lights in the Sky
Unidentified Flying Objects
By Daniel Muniz

Do I personally believe in Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO)? Or rather, do I believe that this planet is being visited by intelligent life from another planet?

Naturally, a skeptic’s initial question is to bring incontrovertible uncontestable proof about the existence of an alien spacecraft or an alien being.

The simple but inescapable answer is that no such proof exists regardless of how enthusiastic the UFO supporters are; or at least not real enough for the scientific community to take seriously.

The search for extra-terrestrial artifacts is much like looking for Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster.

There are plenty of fascinating accounts of such encounters from very credible sources but go ahead and bring me a carcass or a live animal and then we can have a serious scientific discussion about these creatures. Until then, all the grainy, out-of-focus photography and videos don’t amount to a warm bucket of spit.

And I see the same problem with UFOs; that is, show me the proof.

Unlike many skeptics, I like to think that I have a more open mind and I truly enjoy reading about an element of the fantastic. If there is something strange and unusual going on, I would like to know more about it. But I am also a practical man. Talk is cheap and dubious evidence is just that. I need to see solid concrete proof that something strange and unusual is indeed happening instead of relying on fuzzy vague third party references.

For instance, the world is filled with plenty of psychics. Many have amazing stories to tell. For me, forget the stories. Buy a state lottery ticket and show me concrete proof of how genuine you really are. Or step into a casino and play the roulette wheel or craps to demonstrate to the world the authenticity of your talent. I don’t want to hear about the annual psychic’s predictions about what is going to happen in the next year. Call up your stock broker and buy shares from 20 different corporations and let’s see how you fare at the end of the year.

Unfortunately for UFO research, when you rule out the dubious evidence, about the only thing left are the colorful eyewitness accounts of lights in the sky or the abductions. Yes, Roswell is interesting but show me some real physical evidence instead of affidavits that were made 30 years “after” the events took place.

As for myself, I personally take issue with personal accounts of seeing strange lights in the sky regardless of who makes them. And the reason for the skepticism is because I used to live a few miles away from the main runway of the San Antonio International Airport. In fact, that previous house I used to live in was almost directly underneath the flight path to the main runway. In broad daylight I could vividly see intricate details on the aircraft flying above me.

That neighborhood was also surrounded by a greenbelt, a city park, and a retention dam for flood control. A quick walk down certain streets or in the park or greenbelt could give you the illusions of unusual silent lights hovering over the tree line. Momentarily, there was no sound and no movement from these crafts. And sometimes it even felt that these objects hovered that way for a long time.

But human perception is incredibly deceiving.

In daylight, it is difficult to ascertain size, mass, and speed. And at night time, it is practically impossible.

In the evenings from the vantage point of my backyard or while I was walking my dogs, I always managed to see the most spectacular display of strange lights in the night sky. I often saw weird formations, bizarre glows, eerie movements, pulsating flashes, or just things that were plain creepy. However, all of these uncanny lights always floated their way to the main runway of the airport.

And then after about a year of seeing these strange luminous lights, I stopped taking notice. I never took them seriously in the first place because I knew exactly where each light went to. I did enjoy watching them because they were strange and unusual but knowing what they were did not give me the same kind of effect other individuals.

I have been around people who claimed to have experienced the sightings of similar out-of-this-world objects in the sky. I do not discount the validity of what they saw but I question their perception.

For instance, police officers have told me that they have had two people standing next to each other who witnessed the same car accident. One guy will claim that the car is green while the other will say that the exact same car is red. They did see the identical car accident but each perception of the incident may wildly vary from person to person. I see the same problem with such eyewitness accounts of flying saucers.

I don’t want to take away from the eyewitness accounts of what people saw but I will challenge their perception of what they saw. From what I saw at my old neighborhood, it didn’t take much to realize that the human eye can be fooled into misinterpreting a lot of things in the sky.

If a UFO researcher wants to be credible, at least show me something like a flying saucer in clear sharp focus landing on an open field. So far all the footage I have seen happens to be jerky video or blurry photography of objects that are too far away to actually discern anything of scientific value. Just like with psychics, give me something I can take to the bank, like right six numbers to the Texas Lottery or a hot stock tip, instead of a lot of talk.

I believe that I still have an open mind about the existence of intelligent life from another planet visiting the earth but it is going to have to take some indisputable scientific evidence to persuade me. Or perhaps the landing gear of a flying saucer hitting me on the head while it is making its final descent.

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