Two UFOs reported in Alabama during the month of January

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 two reports from within our state during that time.

The first incident occurred on Thurs., Jan. 10, at 9:38 p.m. in Birmingham. The witness in that case said that a “very high” gust of wind followed by “what sounded like a converter box blow” caused him to go outside to investigate. A few moments later, while looking at the power poles in front of his apartment, he saw “two, bright lights, flying in an S-shaped pattern behind each other.”

The witness said that the lights started off as two separate points of light in the sky and “looked like they were either chasing each other or flying in an S-shaped pattern. The first light then morphed into what looked like the top of a trident.”

The outer edges of the lights were blue and the centers were red, he said. They flew across the sky for about two minutes. The witness went inside to get his camera phone, but by the time he made it back outside, the lights were gone.

The other incident occurred on Sat., Jan. 12, at 5:26 p.m. in Bay Minette. Details in that incident were few, but the witness in that case said that a field camera captured a photo of a UFO. He reportedly had the camera set up in a hollow on his property. No other details about that incident were available.

While we’re on the subject of strange, flying objects, many of you probably read about Asteroid 2012 DA14, which passed between the Earth and the moon on Friday. Amateur astronomers in Spain discovered this 150-foot space rock in February 2012, and it passed within 17,200 miles of Earth at 1:24 p.m. on Friday. You couldn’t see it from Evergreen though because at its closest, it was over Sumatra in Indonesia.

A distance of 17,200 miles sounds like a lot, but it’s not when it comes to the Earth and asteroids. That’s about 5,000 miles closer to the Earth than most of the weather and telecommunications satellites that orbit the Earth and about 1/13 of the average distance between the Earth and the moon. Scientists say that asteroids like 2012 DA14 “graze” Earth about once every 40 years and that similar sized asteroids actually hit the Earth about once ever 1,200 years.

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’m willing to accept your report anonymously. You can contact me by e-mail at courantsports@earthlink.net or by phone at 578-1492.