Ufology Research

In taking a gander through the latest UFO sightings reported to MUFON, this one popped out at me:

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT
Ottawa, Ontario
Description: ”stargazing last night, i noticed what was surely the prettiest star. it twinkled a rainbow of hues very brightly. it was not the first time i have observed it in pretty much the same position, which was about forty degrees elevation, to the east south east, just above the neighbourhood treeline. last night though, through both binoculars and naked eye, the star was especially transfixing. i felt an enthrallment and felt unwilling to remove my gaze for several minutes. really a very soothing feeling, almost hypnotic, obviously very hard to describe; i was feeling quite a connection to this star! in my marvel i thought i saw the star wander to and fro, and even change altitude, but i couldnt be sure because these movements were slow, and i have no tripod setup of any sort. so still 'connected', i 'asked' for slightly more conclusive behaviour; i dont know what i was expecting, maybe a figure eight! there was no variation in activity for half a minute or so, but then the star brightened slightly before fading out to black over three seconds. i stayed out only for another five minutes or so, but i came out again about a half hour later to find the same light had returned, and now it was definitely wandering, with noticeable displacement. observed it off and on until about four am, when the the clouds rolled in. i am quite impressed, since until last night i had only suspected this object to be.. unidentifiably compelling. im certain i will see it again.“

I’m sure he will. It was undoubtedly either Formalhaut or another star. What’s most remarkable is that the witness found watching it to be soothing, hypnotic and “connected” to the object of his attention. He even tried “communicating” with the star, and it seemed to cooperate, after half a minute.

The question we might ask as ufologists, would be why watching a starlike object that is in no way different from a star should elicit such a response. Not only the “connectedness” and calm felt by the witness, but why he would feel compelled to tell someone else about it, reporting it as a UFO. He had seen it previously in the same position, and its duration (several hours) surely must have suggested to him it was actually a star. Yet he believed it was something else, and “unidentified.”

Many cases like this exist within UFO databases. I don’t know the exact number but since nocturnal lights are about half of all UFO cases, then reports of starlike lights like this one may comprise 15 to 20 per cent of all reports. Not everyone is as enraptured by his or her starlike UFO, but many people see stars and believe them to be UFOs.

Note that this does not mean that all starlike UFOs are actually stars. However, the likelihood of a starlike UFO being identified or possibly identified as a star is quite high.