It’s the third week of the month, so this week I’m giving you an update on UFO reports in Alabama from the past month, courtesy of the Mutual UFO Network.A search for UFO reports in Alabama between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31 on MUFON’s website, www.mufon.com, resulted in five reports from within our state. None of the reports say exactly where the following incidents took place other than that they occurred somewhere in Alabama.
The first incident occurred on Jan. 5 and was reportedly seen by four witnesses. The UFO was disc-shaped and appeared to rotate from side to side, witnesses said. When viewed through binoculars, witnesses saw that the object was multicolored, appearing at times to be red, green and blue. Witnesses also said that they could see what looked like lights around the middle of the disc and that the object looked “very large relative to distance.”
The second incident occurred on Jan. 6, and the witness first noticed the UFO while carrying groceries from his vehicle into his home. The object was just below the clouds and made no noise, witnesses said. The object traveled northeast in a straight path for about 10 miles and covered the distance in less than two minutes, the witness said.
The object appeared to have a “flickering, bright white flame with a red lens surrounding the bottom of it,” he said.
The “flame” flickered at a slow, steady pace and the witness said that it was like looking at a large fire from a distance. “Although the wind should have had a greater affect considering the speed at which it moved,” he said.
The witness said that there were no flashing or pulsating lights to make him think that it was an airplane, helicopter, weather balloon or satellite. It flew just under a small amount of cloud cover and eventually disappeared into the clouds above, the witness said.
The third incident occurred on Jan. 13. It was reported by a witness who was driving and had been watching what he thought was a star on and off for a couple of hours. The “star” was the brightest in the sky, and sometime between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. the witness saw it move.
The witness stopped his car and confirmed that the “star” was moving. He tried to use the camera on his cell phone to record the movement, but streetlights in the area “made it hard to see anything,” he said.
The witness hurried home, got another camera and began recording the object. It eventually stopped moving and the witness felt that it was only a mile or so away. The witness got back in his car and began driving toward the object in order to get a closer look, he said.
The “star” had been on the man’s left, but it eventually ended up on his right side. He knew it was the same object because of its brightness, he said. The object began moving again, but the witness couldn’t see it clearly because of the trees, he said. His camera also died at that point, he said.
The man drove another mile or so down the road to get past the trees, and the object reappeared, but only for about 15 seconds before it disappeared into the dark sky.
When the man returned home and reviewed his camera footage, he noticed that there was a string of three red lights on the object and “some type of head to it,” he said.
The fourth incident occurred on Jan. 14 and was reportedly caught on an exterior camera the witness set up to record the night sky. According to the short witness report, the video footage reportedly shows the “reflection of the UFO overhead.”
The fifth incident occurred on Jan. 24, and the witness said that the UFO appeared to be following an airplane. The witness was standing in his driveway at 11:26 a.m. when he looked up and saw an airplane that was traveling west, away from Birmingham, he said. The plane was so high in the sky that the witness couldn’t see its body clearly, he said. He assumed that the plane was large because it was leaving a large contrail in its wake, he said.
As the man continued to watch the plane, he noticed a larger object behind it, “just slightly lower in the horizon, trailing the plane,” he said. Light from the sun reflected off the object, and even though it kept pace with the plane, it left no contrail behind it.
The witness watched the object for three to four minutes before it and the plane went behind the trees in the man’s front yard. The man walked about 45 feet to the end of his driveway and at that point was able to see the plane, but not the trailing object.
The witness said that it never crossed his mind to get a camera, but he called his brother in Kansas City, Mo. at 11:36 a.m. to tell him about the experience. While on the phone with his brother, the witness saw another plane flying east at high altitude towards Birmingham and the trailing UFO again.
“This time I was only able to see the object for about 15 to 20 seconds,” the witness said. “And then it just disappeared, but the airplane was still in view.”
Before closing out this week, I just want to put it out there again that I would be very interested to hear from any readers of The Courant who have witnessed a UFO in Conecuh County. I think a lot of other people would be interested in hearing your story too, and I’d be willing to accept your report on an anonymous basis if you’d be more comfortable with that arrangement. You can contact me by e-mail at courantsports@earthlink.net or by phone at 578-1492.
