World UFO Day this year became more interesting after videos released, a month ago, by the Pentagon brought discussions of ‘unidentified flying objects’, ‘flying saucers’ and sightings of ‘bright blue light’ in the sky into the mainstream. In the United States, often than not, we have heard of UFOs being talked about by the government’s top defence departments.
World UFO Day is marked every year on July 2. UFOs grabbed attention after the Roswell incident in New Mexico, sometime in July 1947. A ‘flying object’ had reportedly crashed at a ranch in Roswell, the owner had claimed and remnants were also found. The US military had later said that it was just a weather balloon and since then several conspiracy theories emerged across the world.
UFOs have hit headlines frequently this year. In May, reports revealed details of the encounters that US Navy pilots have had with “unidentified aerial phenomena” off the east coast of the United States. The incidents came under the spotlight in the backdrop of three videos released by Pentagon officially on April 29, showing ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’, much to the delight of UFO enthusiasts.
In a statement dated April 27, the Department of Defense said that the videos were taken by Navy pilots in 2004 and 2005, and had been circulating on the Internet since they were leaked in 2007 and 2017. “The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as ‘unidentified’,” the Pentagon said in its statement. The release of these videos showing UFOs created a huge buzz on the Internet.
A video of one of the latest ‘UFO sightings’ went viral in January when the Popocatepetl volcano in Mexico erupted spewing lava and clouds of ash into the sky. The footage of eruption had a mysterious white light floating from left to right across the volcano, leading to speculation about everything from aliens to unexplained natural phenomena. According to news website SOTT, government-run webcams had captured the explosion on camera.
