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

Nutball to Land ratio

[Anonymous Coward]

So... Scotland has relatively few nutballs but it's quite small hence a high nutball/per km ratio whilst the US is many, many times bigger than Scotland yet the nutball/per km ratio is just half that of Scotland (0.0002), so in conclusion, the US much have a ridiculously high level of nutballs and slack jawed yokels to maintain such a high ratio in a huge country.

Forget Scotland... what does this really indicate? Don't travel out into the country side too far.

Oh dear

[Rogerborg]

I live not far from Bonnybridge. I wouldn't call it the arsehole of the universe, because arseholes have a use. Bonnybridge is a classic oversized-small-town, i.e. crammed full of disillusioned young people with nothing to do. UFO spotting is pretty much the only thing to do there of an evening that doesn't involve pointy implements or GTA (the Live Action version).

Note the military airlanes, note the undulating foggy roads, note that UFO sighting go up after firework displays. It's pretty much a local game now, with people playing along and making up more and more outrageous claims. And note also the ulterior commercial motive: a (dear god) theme park.

I'm picturing the pitch now: "Come to Bonnybridge, home of surly teenagers and desparate hollow eyed single mothers. Taste the delights of warm Irn Bru and soggy chippies. A free stabbing with every ticket!"

Shudder. Nothing to see here. Move along. For your own good, move along.

Roswell that Ends Well

[Zancarius]

This is actually quite a funny topic today considering I don't really live all that far away from Roswell (at least, in New Mexico's terms -- to us, 100+ miles "really isn't that far"). The reason for my humor: UFO sightings -- last I checked -- have actually dropped in this State of the Union. I'm not sure if it's because Scotch sales have dropped over the last few years or because we have so many DWI's that the possible "sightings" are really just police checkpoints =D

Aside from that, I would definitely have to agree with some of the other /.ers that it is kinda funny how UFO sightings are common only in remote regions of the country. Then again, New Mexico has seen some of the government's strangest experiments anyway, so the local sightings might not be sightings at all =) Let's see ... Trinity Site ... F-117s ... God knows what else.

...still, that doesn't explain Scotland unless the aliens have a bizarre taste for bagpipes.

It's the Zygons!

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone call Dr. Who! Season 13, episode 1, "The Doctor tangles with alien race the Zygons and solves the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster." from http://www.tvchronicles.com/episodeguides/drwhotom baker.htm

Re:A book recommendation for the submitter:

[Dark Paladin]

The battle against human stupidity is never ending.

We have to fight against:

• people who believe aliens are really kidnapping people in the countryside
  
• people who believe that herbal viagra will add 2 inches to your penis
  
• people who believe that 2000 jews called in sick to work at the world trade towers
  
• people who believe that Microsoft software is secure
  
• people who believe that 500,000 illegal movies are downloaded from the Internet every day and that it's cutting in profits
  
• people who believe Daikatana was a great game, and John Romero is just getting picked on because he's famous
  
• people who believe that women/children/ethnicgroupsotherthanyourown have no rights because God Said So
  
• people who believe that you have to protect children from porn by using filters that all too often block the good instead of just the bad
  
• people who believe that women are just "asking for it".
  
• people who believe that all anime is porn, all games are violent, and all computer geeks are lonely males who never get dates
  
• people who believe that the search for truth and the destruction of lies is a worthless pursuit
  

Sadly, the human condition where only 5% of the population actually examines evidence, weighs the options, and picks the most logical choice that is proven true by experimentation and analysis is going to continue for a long time. Mainly because most people are too fucking lazy to think for themselves.

The truth about Scotland and most UFO sightings...

[Anonymous Coward]

here is a quote:
"... Aurora was being flown from a base in the Nevada desert to an atoll in the Pacific, then on to Scotland to refuel before returning to the US at night. Specially modified tanker aircraft are being used to top up Aurora's tanks with liquid methane fuel in mid-air... The US Air Force is using the remote RAF airbase at Machrihanish, Strathclyde, as a staging point... The mystery aircraft has been dropping in at night before streaking back to America across the North Pole at more than six times the speed of sound... An F-111 fighter bomber is scrambling as the black-painted aircraft lands, flying in close formation to confuse prying civilian radars."

here is the link:
http://www.fas.org/irp/mystery/aurora.htm