Number Of UFO Sightings Increased Over The Summer

The international director of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), Clifford Clift, told a science news outlet that the number of UFO sightings over the summer increased. In August, there more than a thousand reported sightings. What is happening?

It may be cliché to ask, but as other media outlets have pondered: is this the beginning of an alien invasion? Physicists have long argued against the idea that aliens have visited this planet, but do concur that an advanced extraterrestrial species do exist; people are still sighting and reporting unidentified flying objects in the sky.

According to a report from the Mutual UFO Network, an organization that tracks UFO reports, sightings of strange objects increased over the summer. In August alone, reports increased from an average of 500 to 1,013. In many states, the number more than doubled.

Why did this happen? Clifford Clift, international director of MUFON, told Life's Little Mysteries in an interview that there are a variety of reasons. One of them being UFO flap or clusters where a UFO hovers over a large area that is seen by many people, which leads to a number of reports.

In the summer, more people are outdoors and keeping their eye on the sky at night time. They then start to question more things about what’s going on in this galaxy.

Clift noted, though, that it could have actually been a computer glitch where the software actually counted the reports twice. However, he also said that this could be the start of something big.

The MUFON director also alluded to the fact that a number of alien motion pictures have been released this year, including “Apollo 18,” “Battle Los Angeles,” “Cowboys & Aliens,” “Paul” and a slate of others.

“It's pretty exciting. When you average 500 a month [nationwide] and go to 1,013 in one month, that's an interesting spike in sighting reports,” said Clift. “It's likely that the media and [alien-themed] movies that are coming out, like 'Apollo 18' and 'Paul,' are piquing people's interest in UFOs.”

One recent UFO sighting has captured headlines across the globe. During a Notre Dame football game earlier this month, a video was captured of an object that was flying in the sky during a lightning storm.