Witness snaps 'random' picture of possible UFO in Birmingham, Ala.

What see you? Insect? Drone? UFO? 

Today marks the fourth and final 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. A search for UFO reports in Alabama between June 1 and June 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 Thurs., June 28, at 12:48 p.m. in Birmingham, which is about 170 miles from Evergreen. The witness in this case said he was standing in his driveway and snapped three “random” pictures of the sky with his phone. He said that he didn’t take a close look at those photos until about a week later, and that’s when he saw something strange.

The witness said that he noticed an unusual object in the photos, and his first thoughts were that it was perhaps a bug. He called the object “strange looking” and described it as looking “solid with some type of smoke or cloud around it.” He showed it to a friend, and he suggested that he report the incident to MUFON.

In addition to filing a report with MUFON, the witness also submitted all three of the “strange looking” pictures to MUFON. I looked at them closely last Thursday afternoon and only saw something out of the ordinary in one of the pictures. All three pictures were of a bright, sunny blue sky with a few white clouds.

However, one of the pictures does include an object that looks out of the ordinary. At normal magnification, the object appears to be an oval or egg-shaped object directly over the head of the photographer. The object appears small and looks like it’s at least 100 feet over the witness’ head.

When magnified, the object looks even more strange. In my mind, it’s one of three things. First, there’s a chance that this is some type of insect that happened to be flying over the camera when the witness snapped the photo. The “smoke” or “cloud” around the object could be an insect’s fast-moving wings.

Another thing to consider is that this mysterious object is a flying drone. The Birmingham area is the most heavily populated part of the state and there’s more than a fair chance that someone may have been operating a drone in the sky over the witness when he took the photo. Drones are becoming more and more common, so this could be what’s in the photo.

Of course, this could be a classic oval or egg-shaped UFO, which are commonly reported. In fact, USA Today published a story in March that described how a pair of U.S. Navy pilots recently encountered an “oval-shaped object” hovering above the sea off the coast of Southern California. When they flew closer for a better look, the object flew away at speeds like nothing they’d ever seen before.

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.