Can UFOs Be Explained?

It Was Aliens

"It was aliens, I seen 'em."

Testimonials and allure surrounding the sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects and other strange phenomena have been with us for at least decades.

Debates and ideas as to the source or cause of UFOs and UFO sightings continues to rage on as ferociously today as it did back in the 1960s. Is there really a government "Area 51"? Does extra-terrestrial life truly exist? Is mankind the only higher intelligence life form? Are spirits, ghosts, angels, demons and super-human life forms real? These are but a scant few of the questions asked by millions of people earth wide.

More Recently

But more recently, astronomers and scientists from multiple fields have given attention to other, more plausible explanations for UFOs and sighting events, like those that often take place in Tepoztlan, Mexico, beyond the casual "weather balloon", satellite, small aircraft, reflections of moonlight or other "weather phenomenon" basic explanations for these so-called events.

To generate visual phenomena over such a widespread area as a city or extensive country-side area would require tremendous amounts of radiant energy within the visible spectrum. There are natural phenomena which indeed could generate, not only the necessary quantities of energy, but also do so within the needed frequencies for visibility by the naked human eye.

Natural Phenomena

The following five conditions are considered to be natural phenomena capable of accounting for unexplained "sightings" and other "UFO-related" events:

St. Elmo's fire

Not an uncommon sight aboard ships at sea, this unique phenomenon appears as an eerie greenish glow that crawls along masts, railings flagpoles and other wooden or metallic surfaces. It has also been called by the names St. Nicholas and St. Hermes.

The Aurora Borealis

Most commonly called the "Northern Lights" this atmospheric phenomenon is visible in the northernmost latitudes of the earth. Russia, Canada, Chile, Argentina and the Scandinavian countries all regularly report visibility of the Northern or Southern Lights.

The Aurora Australis

Near the southernmost latitudes of the earth the Aurora Australis or Southern Lights, like its northern hemisphere equivalent, is visible in the late evening skies of southern Australia and the Antarctic continent as reported by scientific crews stationed in the Antarctic region.

Earthquake Lights

A more recently identified phenomenon called earthquake lights result from the sudden massive release of energy during an earthquake or tremor. These dull reddish waves of light, brilliant sparkling balls or dimly lit flashes are more likely to be visible during quakes in very late evening hours or when the earthquake occurs at night as have in Lima, Peru and Cali, Colombia.

Volcanic Eruption-related Phenomena

Another more recently identified phenomenon is the visible occurrence of lightning flashes or other visible phenomenon immediately before, during or after a volcanic eruption. Lately, during eruptions of fairly active volcanoes such as Tungurahua in Ecuador or Galeras in Pasto, Colombia, visible phenomena have been witnessed by hundreds of people from many different walks of life.

Since many, if not most, of these phenomena occur frequently in South America and can make for interesting, locally-observed news-worthy events, in upcoming installments on this topic we will delve a bit further into these phenomena, their causes, explanations, results and some eye-witness accounts and quotes related to these events.