Four UFO reports were filed in Alabama during the month of January 2016

It’s the second Thursday of the month, so this week I’m giving you an update on UFO reports in Alabama from the previous month, courtesy of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). A search for UFO reports in Alabama between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31 on MUFON’s website, www.mufon.com, resulted in four reports from within our state during that time.

The first incident occurred around 7:15 p.m. on Fri., Jan. 1, in Pinson, about 15 miles northeast of Birmingham. The witness in this case, along with his wife, mother and daughter, reported seeing three, unusual lights in the shape of an inverted triangle in the southern sky. The witness said these lights were larger and brighter than the visible stars, and the strange lights were orange or yellowish-orange in color. The witnesses watched as the lights moved “very slowly” to the east and appeared to rotate slightly. In all, the witnesses watched these strange lights for three to four minutes before the lights disappeared behind clouds to the southwest.

The second incident occurred around 6:50 p.m. on Sun., Jan. 17, in Pelham, which is also a suburb of Birmingham. The witness in this case had stepped outside to smoke when he looked up and saw an “erratic traveling flame.” At first, he thought this “bright flickering flame” was some kind of burning parachute, and as he watched, he thought it was going to land about 50 yards away in a neighbor’s yard. Suddenly, it stopped descending and changed direction, and as he continued to watch it began to gain altitude. The witness said he watched the object as it traveled away from him, and eventually it became so small that he could no longer see it.

The third incident occurred around 6:30 p.m. on Fri., Jan. 29, in Jasper, which is in Walker County, not far from Birmingham. The witness in this case, along with his mother and sister, reported seeing three “balls of light” that changed both speed and direction. All three “bright lights” traveled south through the sky and made a pair of 90-degree turns, moving “dramatically” more slowly between these turns. At first, the witnesses thought the first object was a bright star, but realized it couldn’t have been a star when it began traveling toward them at great speed. All three lights were visible for five to 10 seconds.

The fourth incident occurred around 6:22 p.m. on Sun., Jan. 31, in Leeds, which is also a suburb of Birmingham. The witness in this case was outside helping his son work on his truck when they looked up and saw a bright, slow-moving light coming from the southwest. The father ran inside for a pair of binoculars and through the binoculars he could see the light had a “fog-like hue” around it. They continued to watch as the object, which emitted no sound, made a 45-degree turn “really different than a normal aircraft.” They watched the object until it disappeared from view behind the tree line.

Before closing out this week, I just want to put it out there again that I would be very interested to hear from anyone who have witnessed a UFO, especially 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.