North Alabama man reports seeing 'faint stars' move in 'unusual fashion'

Owens Cross Roads witness reports UFO.

It’s the second Saturday of the month, so today 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 Sept. 1 and Sept. 30 on MUFON’s website, www.mufon.com, resulted in only one report from within our state during that time.

That incident took place on Tues., Sept. 19, around 9:10 p.m. in Owens Cross Roads, a small town of around 1,500 residents in Madison County, not far from Huntsville and Decatur. The witness in this case said he was outside smoking, looking up at the stars, when he saw what looked like two “faint stars” moving in an unusual fashion. One of these “stars” seemed to be leading the other on a northeasterly path, and they were moving at about the same speed, the witness said.

The witness said that he watched the “two stars” until they passed over a tree in his backyard and disappeared from sight. “From my perception, they were about three inches apart,” the witness said. He also noted that he “never saw any blinking,” which would have indicated that the unusual objects were aircraft.

I pulled out my trusty Farmer’s Almanac and checked the astronomical details for the period of time in and around Sept. 19 to see if something might have been going on in the night sky that could have confused the Owens Cross Roads witness. According to the Almanac, on the morning of Sept. 18 a “super lineup” occurred about 40 minutes before sunrise. This “super lineup” included the star Regulus, the crescent Moon and the planets Mercury, Mars and Venus. The following morning, the Moon, which was almost at the new phase, was below the planet Mercury in the predawn sky.

When viewed from the ground, planets look a lot like stars, so one is left to wonder if the witness in the Sept. 19 incident may have mistaken the unusual alignment of Mercury, Mars and Venus with a UFO. Of course, even if the witness did make this mistake, it doesn’t take into account the reported movement of the “stars.” As any stargazer will tell you, when viewed from the ground, planets and stars move very slowly through the sky, almost imperceptibly to the naked eye.

This month, the Moon will hover just to the left of Mars on Oct. 17 and below Venus on Oct. 18. Also, according to the Almanac, the moderate-strength Orionid meteor shower will also take place on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22. I say all that to say that if you see something out of the ordinary in the night sky during those times, it’s probably something with a reasonable, astronomical explanation and not “little green men.”

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 has 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.