A series of reports have come out recently demonstrating that Washington State is NUMBER ONE in the number of reports per person of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects).
Below is the data. During the past year, there was one sighting for every 1021 people in Washington.
In contrast, in Louisiana UFOs are observed less than a third as often, something perhaps explained by the greater interest in Mardi Gras, alligators, and spicy gumbo.
(1) UFOs really are more frequent here.
Perhaps extraterrestrials like our salmon or are interested in Boeing. Perhaps they think Washingtonians are particularly interesting. I would doubt it.
(2) Washington State has a mental health issue.
Some political commentators might agree with this. Perhaps folks in this state are so worried about the future of the world and the current administration that they yearn for intergalactic intervention.
(3) Our meteorology often produces features in the sky that look like UFOs.
This is the one I would put my money on.
A faculty member in my department analyzed the situation and demonstrated that Arnold actually saw lenticular clouds forced by Mount Rainier.
Such clouds form when relatively moist air is forced over a mountain barrier and then oscillates up and down, with upward motion producing the lens-shaped cloud (see schematic below).
As an aside, during a presidential debate on October 20, 2017, presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich admitted to seeing a UFO while staying at actress Shirley Maclaine's home near....... Mount Rainier.
The Pacific Northwest, and particularly Washington State, is probably the best place in the US to see lenticular/mountain wave clouds.
We have strong winds approaching the mountains.
Or this
It all started here.
Did you know that the UFO craze started HERE in 1947, when a pilot of a small plane (Kennith Arnold), flying between Chehalis and Yakima, spotted a group of "saucer-like" objects over Mount Rainier?
Such clouds form when relatively moist air is forced over a mountain barrier and then oscillates up and down, with upward motion producing the lens-shaped cloud (see schematic below).
Dennis Kuckinch
The Pacific Northwest, and particularly Washington State, is probably the best place in the US to see lenticular/mountain wave clouds.
You can see them here on many, many days--either by viewing the sky or on satellite imagery.
Why so frequent here?
We have big mountain barriers of sufficient height.
We have strong winds approaching the mountains.
We have air that is sufficiently moist to produce clouds.
Cloud like this:
Or this
So consider the meteorological explanation of our first rank in UFO sightings.
Or if you prefer:
The marijuana is pretty good around here
ReplyDeleteI used to fly drones. And encountered them many times at 1000 feet or so before there used to be a elevation cap per federal law I still have video some following me all the way to the landing site. They are not physical. Wisps of light
ReplyDeleteHi Cliff,
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of strange features in the sky, any insight into what this might have been? Midnight out of the coast at Kalaloch facing dead west onto the ocean.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sMIzm07koAR-kmVG-BLX_GDpx1mJBvFn/view?usp=sharing
It's definitely option #2. The PNW has always attracted odd people who are, as they say, "not well grounded". Today of course, it's completely off the charts.
ReplyDeleteWhen the scientific eye of the camera catches them, the argument is closed
DeleteLots of mushroom foraging here as well. Probably the highest concentration of Sasquatch sitings also.
ReplyDeleteThey may well be lenticular clouds around here. The ones that play "catch me if you can" with Navy jets (and always win -- e.g. the now-infamous "tic tac" chase video) and disable entire flights of Minuteman ICBMs are a bit more concerning.
ReplyDeleteJust wait until the Light Rail crosses Lake Washington at night. (Probably sometime in the next decade.)
ReplyDeleteOur eyes are electromagnetic sensors capped to a fractional slice of the spectrum. We walking blind.
ReplyDeleteOne of your most entertaining (and informative) posts ever. The first time I think I ever laughed out loud at a weather blog. Nice way to start this cold western Washington morning.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in fifth grade I got a home meteorology set. This was in a pre-electronic era, so everything was manual. It came with a poster with about 20 different cloud types. Being in Oklahoma. I marked off every cloud except a lenticular cloud, which I never saw in Oklahoma for obvious reasons. when I moved to Seattle 20 years later, I saw lenticular cloud over Mount Rainier within two weeks and finally checked that off my list!
ReplyDelete44 years ago, in Lakewood, I saw a stack of clouds over Rainier that I'll never forget.
ReplyDeletePeople were stopping their cars to view it. If I showed you a picture today you would think it was AI.