Welcome to the March 2009 round up of news and views on UFOs, alien abductions, crop circles, ghosts, the paranormal, the unexplained, the weird and the wonderful.

UFOs Over London

BBC 1 recently screened an episode of the magazine show Inside Out, focusing on UFO sightings over London. A popular misconception about UFO sightings is that they occur predominantly in remote areas - people envisage a lonely country road, late at night, with a driver suddenly noticing a strange light above the car. Every now and then a town declares itself a UFO hotspot. The MoD files tell a rather different story. Britain's UFO hotspot is, in fact, London. At first, this may seem counter-intuitive. In our cities, people shuffle along grimly, tending not to look up. If they do, views are generally obscured by buildings and the light pollution in London means one can see only the brightest stars and planets from the capital. However, thinking it through, the explanation is obvious. In the countryside, if there's something unusual in the sky, it may only be seen by a handful of people, if it's seen at all. Moreover, most people who see UFOs don't report them, either because they fear being disbelieved and ridiculed, or because they don't know who to contact. However, if something flies over London, with its teeming millions, there are more potential witnesses. For more details on this story and to watch the programme, check out the BBC - the BBC asked viewers to send in their own UFO photos, so there may be more material on the site soon.

UFO Hits Wind Turbine - Update

In last month's column I featured the story of how a UFO was blamed for damage to a Lincolnshire wind turbine. This was the front page headline in The Sun on 8th January and the story subsequently made international news. Locals in Conisholme in Lincolnshire saw strange lights in the sky on the evening of 3rd January. Then at around 4am the following morning, residents were woken by a huge explosion. The following morning, damage was spotted to one of the wind turbines at a wind farm run by power company Ecotricity. The turbine is 290 feet high and each of the three blades were 65 feet in length. One blade was bent out of shape and another had been knocked off completely.  One theory put forward by defence insiders was that a prototype BAe Systems UAV named Taranis was involved. A search of the site with a metal detector failed to turn up evidence of anything unusual. Residue from the damaged blades has been sent to the German manufacturers for forensic analysis and the results of the analysis are now in. Although a definitive explanation is still awaited, a collision has been ruled out, eliminating the UFO theory. It seems likely that one or more of the bolts securing the blades failed, causing one to come off and collide with another. Needless to say, this prosaic explanation has not been accepted by some conspiracy theorists, who are suspicious, not least because the analysis took nearly a month, despite original predictions that it would take a few days.

MoD Releases 2008 UFO Information

The MoD has released details of all 2008 UFO sightings. There has been a massive increase in numbers, with last year's figure over twice that for 2007. The figures are as follows:

2006:  97
2007:  135
2008:  285

In fact, last year's total is the biggest for 10 years. This sizeable increase in sightings is extremely interesting. It may be that people are seeing more strange things in the sky, but the massive interest generated by the MoD releasing their UFO files last year may also have played a part, raising awareness and making it more likely that people would report their sightings to the MoD. There was extensive media coverage of this story both nationally and locally. A summary, listing brief details of each sighting, can be found on the MoD website.  Go to the MoD for details of the sightings, including one from a police officer and one involving a UFO seen over the Houses of Parliament.

LOWFI

A new group dedicated to the study of the unexplained has been formed in America. The League of Western Fortean Intermediatists (LOWFI) will act as a clearing house for reports of strange phenomena, which will be archived and made available to the public. They will organize informal monthly salons and field trips, as well as hosting visiting lecturers and generally bringing together modern-day phenomenologists. Plans to publish a bi-monthly journal are in the works. Fortean is a reference to the author Charles Fort, a legendary chronicler of the unexplained. This group is the brainchild of journalist and researcher Skylaire Alfvegren. Check out www.forteanswest.com for more details of this exciting new venture.

Science Impossible

Watch out for a new series on History Channel (US) called Science: Impossible, looking at various fringe science and exotic technologies. If you're interested in subjects such as robotics, nanotechnology, mind control, invisibility and weather warfare, check out this new series. I contributed to several episodes in my capacity as a defence analyst, commenting on the history and potential military applications of some of these concepts. Broadcast dates are not yet available, so more on this story next month.

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Next month sees the DVD release of The Day The Earth Stood Still, the remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic. A classic story of alien visitation, this is one of the best sci-fi blockbuster movies in recent years. Check out The Day The Earth Stood Still website for information and a peak at the trailer. Keanu Reeves is perfectly cast as alien visitor Klaatu and the special effects are breathtaking. High octane sci-fi at it's very best. While the DVD will be packed with numerous extras, if you can still catch it on the big screen, go and see it.

Biography:

Author, journalist and TV personality Nick Pope used to run the British Government's UFO Project and is now recognised as one of the world's leading experts on UFOs, the unexplained and conspiracy theories.

Check out www.nickpope.net for more information about Nick.

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