Scotland: Aliens' Official Favorite Destination

scubacuda writes: "This Reuters article says that Scotland has the highest concentration of UFO sightings--300 per year, the most per square kilometer and per head of population of anywhere in the world. That means 0.004 UFOs for every square kilometer of Scotland -- a rate four times as high as in France or Italy, earth's other UFO hotspots. (In comparison, only 2,000 UFOs are spotted every year in the United States represent, making just 0.0002 sightings per square kilometer. Bonnybridge--30 miles west of Edinburgh--seems to be the Scotland equivalent of Roswell, New Mexico). UFO nuts explain it in terms of aliens being attracted to remote areas. But can anyone say *autosuggestion*?"

Comments

Re:A book recommendation for the submitter:

[Anonymous Cowtard]

Funny what lengths people go to in order to make sure everyone knows that the don't believe in all that "silly stuff." Almost like they have to do it constantly to remind themselves.

Those ratios are slightly off!!

[binner1]

If you remove all of the United States except for the trailer parks where most sightings occur, I think the US ratio would make Scotland's look like EuroDisney!

-Ben

Re:A book recommendation for the submitter:

[Surt]

You forgot the classic:

* People who believe that the creator of the universe chose _one_ single person in all of history to be his official representative, and that if you don't believe that, you're going to suffer for all eternity.

Re:A book recommendation for the submitter:

[Dark Paladin]

Great point - my argument with 99% of religions is "well, our profit (oh, my bad, prophet) said he was going to be the Last Prophet Ever, so that's why God doesn't talk to us anymore".

Great - I love the idea that God pretty much hates everybody in the present/future, so we're pretty much left without any more useful information from the All-Knowing. (Though personally, my view of someone All-Knowing would at least have their "one person in all history" include a chapter on "weird fucking shit that doesn't exist yet, but will in 2000 years, like 'cloning', 'nuclear energy', and 'Britney Spears/Backstreet Boys sexual fantasies'.)

Plausible explanation?

[Ogerman]

It's funny how anytime "UFO's" come up in discussion, people quickly move to talking about crazy / drunk people. It's amusing, although in contrast, I know enough ordinary, sane people who have seen so-called "UFO's" at fairly close range that a level-headed inquiry is in order. So anyhow, to make a long story short, after a little bit of research, it is my conclusion that most UFO sightings are nothing more than a type of ball lightning. Granted, "ball lightning" itself is not fully understood, but all indication suggests that it is some form of low temperature plasma that can form under certain atmospheric conditions or more often after a lightning groundstrike due to some sort of back-EMF effect. Ball lightning can apparently take various shapes, sometimes as a disk-like form (ie. the classic glowing UFO saucer). So, lets look at the known characteristics of ball lightning plasma and see how they compare to descriptions of UFO sightings:

1.) It can 'levitate' and pass through some solids.
2.) It tends to lose mass as the plasma breaks down, causing it to rise into the air before disintegrating or occasionally bursting with a loud pop.
3.) It often accelerates at an extremely high rate, likely due to electromagnetic fields. This typically occurs near the end of the plasma's 'life' and often after rising back into the air.
4.) It is often attracted to nearby metal objects and has been known to follow automobiles and perhaps airplanes.
5.) The plasma, depending on its makeup, often releases noxious gasses readily identifyable by their odor or color. Some of these gasses cause dizzyness, hallucinations, and loss of consciousness at high enough concentrations.
6.) It seems to form most often in flat terrain. (such as farmland!) Large formations may be of sufficient temperature to burn away grass or crops after descending.
7.) It sometimes rotates visibly on an axis.
8.) It usually emits a high pitched or even wavering sound.

Sound anything like the typical UFO encounter? I'd say so. Granted, many distant sightings are probably just aircraft or weather balloons. So sorry to burst your bubble X-Files fans. The truth IS out there but it's not that exciting.