UFOs caught on video over Russia (L) and Mexico (R).

On December 23, witnesses in the Russian town of Trekhgorny (near Khazakstan) saw a mysterious object in the sky. Multiple witnesses recorded the object on video. What appears in these videos is described by the Huffington Post UK as “a silver object in the centre of a cloudy orb, travelling at some speed.”

Although the UFO appears quite alien, its origin is likely Earthly. As the Huffington Post UK points out, some believe the object captured on video is related to the failed Russian Meridian satellite launch that occurred the same day as the sightings. The Soyuz-2.1b rocket that was carrying the Meridian-5 communications satellite failed seven minutes into its December 23 flight, according to the BBC, and debris came crashing back to Earth.

The failed launch theory is further supported by a video posted online by UFO hunter Sheilaaliens. While researching this UFO sighting, she discovered photos from a Russian photographer who photographed the launch of the rocket, as well as the rocket’s failure. His photos of the failed rocket returning to Earth show the identical object that is seen in the UFO videos.

Another glowing orb UFO appeared in Tijuana, Mexico on December 25. As Gather News reports, “The witness describes the UFO on the YouTube page as an ‘orb’ and a ‘Mother Ship’ which somehow survives what looks like an explosion. It manages to stay aloft, stay brightly lit, hover and maintain a relationship to the ‘orbs’ dispersed from its central mass.”

The video footage of this UFO exploding is pretty incredible. I thought it was fascinating, and I didn’t quite know what to make of it. But after discussing the video with my friend and colleague Alejandro Rojas, I now share his opinion that the video shows a popping balloon. This theory is supported by a video of a bursting weather balloon posted by user jaws1975 on the AboveTopSecret.com website in a discussion forum thread about the Tijuana video. The bursting balloon produces a similar effect as the exploding “mother ship.”

Although the objects in the Mexico and Russia videos could be something more mysterious (possibly extraterrestrial), the theories presented in this article are plausible, even probable, identifications.

The Trekhgorny and the Tijuana videos are two of the most fascinating videos I have seen this year. They round out 2011, a year filled with incredible UFO footage and UFO stories. I am excited to see the many exciting photos, videos, and witness accounts that are sure to surface in 2012.

What are your thoughts about these strange aerial objects in Mexico and Russia? Share your views on the Open Minds Facebook page.

An image capture from the 1st Jerusalem UFO Video. (image credit: Eligael Gadliovich)

Israeli TV Channel 10 investigator Nitay Elboim has uncovered new information about the popular Jerusalem UFO videos taken in January of this year. The videos made headlines around the world, and many in the UFO community still talk about these controversial videos. However, this new information sheds further doubt on their authenticity. You can watch Nitay’s report in the YouTube video below.

The first video was taken by Eligael Gadliovich, and soon after three teenagers posted another video of what appears to be the same object. In these videos a light can be seen descending over the famous Dome of the Rock. It then flashes and speeds straight up and out of sight. The videos are very shocking and immediately became a hit. They were featured on news programs throughout the world.

During his investigation, Nitay discovered that Eligael is a filmmaker and actor with his own film production company. Nitay also found Golan Ardiv, a film teacher, among the actors in one of Eligael’s movies, and it just so happens that the teenagers who took the second video attend the school where Golan teaches. Although the makers of each video claimed not to know each other, this evidence made Nitay have doubts. He called Eligael to ask about his association with the teenagers.

Eligael was very cryptic in the call. When asked if this was all a coincidence, Eligael said he did not believe in coincidences and suggested that these connections may not be a coincidence. He then also mentions that he wanted to investigate the incident from a cinematic point of view. Nitay appeared confused by his statements and asked if Eligael felt there was a base for what Nitay was suggesting. At this point Eligael said he was too busy and he would have to go, but before ending the call he said that everything everyone was saying about the video was true. What he meant by that is unknown. Was this a confession of sorts? Either way, Eligael did seem to be caught off guard by Nitay’s discoveries.

Israeli TV Channel 10 investigator, Nitay Elboim, on right. (image credit: Israeli Channel 10)

Nitay was unable to reach Eligael again to get further clarification, but he was able to reach the film teacher, Golan. Golan said he was present when Eligael filmed the UFO, but that he didn’t know the teenagers. When asked if the teenagers went to the school where he taught, Golan changed his story and admitted that he did know them. Nitay then asked Golan if he had a chance to talk to the students about their UFO video. Golan said it has been busy since they are approaching final exams, so he hasn’t talked with them yet.

In summary, Nitay uncovered that Eligael is a filmmaker, the teenagers in the second video are film students and Golan not only knows them, but lied about his association with them. To Channel 10 this was enough for them to determine that the videos were not authentic, although they admit the motive behind the hoax is still not clear. They speculated that perhaps Eligael is going to use the video to help promote an upcoming film.

The original video:

The second video:

This weekend we were able to catch up with the legendary Dan Aykroyd at a Crystal Head Vodka signing at BevMo in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was gracious enough to let us ask him a few questions about UFOs, a subject he has a great interest in.

Dan Aykroyd has been interviewed often about his UFO interests; most recently he served as the pro-UFO representative on Larry King Live on April 30, 2010. Aykroyd was among a panel of scientists brought together to discuss Stephen Hawking’s statements on the possible malevolent nature of would-be cosmic visitors.

When asked by Larry King what he really believed, Aykroyd stated: “They are here, science should accept that they are here and look how they have come from a billion years in the future or the next dimension or wherever they are coming from. They have abducted people.”

Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFOs (image credit: Graviton Entertainment)

Unlike the majority of celebrities, Aykroyd has been completely open about his extraterrestrial beliefs, which is perhaps due to the fact that he grew up in a family where paranormal topics were not uncommon; his grandfather, Samuel Augustus Aykroyd, was a mystic and a spiritualist. Much of Aykroyd’s intense interest in UFOs was captured in a 2005 documentary entitled, Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFOs, in which Aykroyd participated in a long interview that focused almost entirely on his UFO research and history.  Produced by UFO researcher David Sereda, the two-hour video highlights the depth of knowledge Aykroyd has in the UFO field. As evident from the documentary, Aykroyd is fascinated with the subject and has served for several years as the official Hollywood representative of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).

In the video, Aykroyd shares how he got interested in UFOs in the first place. He says that as a kid, he remembered seeing a Life magazine article with a picture of UFOs over the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC. The photograph was taken in 1952, the same year that Aykroyd was born. During the famous sighting, air force jets scrambled to chase the strange lights over the Capitol, but it was later reported to the media that the objects were too fast for them to catch. The young Aykroyd was fascinated by the story as well as the fact that no one knew what these things were.

Adding fuel to his ufological fire, young Aykroyd then saw the science fiction movie about humanoid alien visitors entitled, The Day the Earth Stood Still. In the movie, an alien lands and warns the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets. Aykroyd felt the movie’s plot seemed accurate, a view he still holds today. He feels that, if there is another species out there monitoring us, they would be observing how mankind is destroying the planet and would probably be concerned.

From left: Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd hunting ghosts on Ghostbusters. (image credit: Columbia Pictures)

Another compelling personal experience that Aykroyd shares in the documentary is a strange event that happened in the middle of the night in upstate New York in the mid-1980s. Aykroyd woke up in the middle of the night telling his wife, “They are calling me, I want to go outside.” His wife asked who was calling him, and Aykroyd replied that “something” wanted him to go outside. His wife told him to go back to sleep, so he did. The next day Aykroyd says the media was reporting that all over upstate New York, Quebec, and Vermont, people had reported having this urge to go outside at 3 o’clock in the morning. When they got outside, witnesses reported a tremendous pink spiral above the Great Lakes area.

The Blues Brothers DVD cover. Dan Aykroyd (left) and John Belushi look mysteriously similar to the fabled "Men in Black". (image credit: Universal Pictures)

Aykroyd also claims to have had a run-in with the “Men in Black.” He told Sereda that during a television show taping, he went outside to use the phone to talk to Britney Spears about her upcoming appearance on Saturday Night Live. He noticed some men in black suits standing next to a black car; Aykroyd looked away, and when he looked back a moment later they were gone. Within a couple of hours, Aykroyd reported that producers were ordered to stop shooting the project he was currently working on, which happened to be a UFO program. They had been interviewing Dr. Steven Greer of the Disclosure Project, who had amassed a large amount of credible UFO witnesses, including retired military officers.

Aykroyd’s documentary also includes the history of modern UFO research as told by Aykroyd. Impressively, Aykroyd demonstrates a vast knowledge on the subject, equal to some of the top UFO researchers.

He also flexed his ufological muscles on a Larry King Live special, repeatedly mentioning important abduction cases, such as the cases of Travis Walton, and Betty and Barney Hill. Aykroyd admitted that perhaps some of the fear around this subject is justified. Larry King asked Aykroyd if he believes that we are going to know the truth in our lifetime. Aykroyd said that he thinks there is going to be some sort of event that will open the public’s eyes, which will probably happen soon, a sentiment that he also shared in the documentary. He believes that the day when a concert holding a million people has a mass UFO sighting, or some similar incident occurs, officials will finally have to come clean with what they know.

Whether or not UFOs begin to show themselves en masse or not, Aykroyd is certainly a believer, and will continue keeping his eye on the sky.

My Crystal Head Vodka signed by Aykroyd. (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

First Video: UFO Filmed From Bus 582

Three clips of UFOs allegedly filmed in Guangzhou, China have appeared on the Internet recently, all showing the objects’ detailed structures.

The first video was reportedly filmed from bus 582, with no date given, the second by a resident in Cencun on Aug. 6, 2010. The latest one was filmed above a canal in Cencun, allegedly on Aug. 30, just a few days ago. The scene in that one was chaotic, with people screaming in the background.

Many believe the videos are fake because the footage is too clear, as if watching scenes from a science fiction movie. The UFOs’ three-dimensional structures are apparent with corresponding variation in sound as their respective distances from the camera vary.

The Chinese who analyzed the video online in slow motion identifies himself as a film and television post-producer, and gives four arguments against the possibility that it is man-made:

1. The lens fluency and the optical illusions are perfect. The craft, horizon, and the cameraman are in a reasonable perspective while zooming in. The relationship between the streaks and the front and rear of the window reflection, several times out of focus, cannot be simulated through post-production, he said.

2. The synthesis of the foreground and background has no flaws, especially as the craft flies past a street light. Even Hollywood’s special effects experts cannot deal with this material without a blue screen and the result would be low-quality—there would be jagged, and different colored trails. After carefully observing the joint of the street lamp and the craft by zooming in, there is no apparent flaw at all.

3. The change of focus and the transition of lights are natural and impeccable. Creating such effects would require specialized software, equipment, and professional knowledge. Also, the lighting of the craft and the setting appear quite natural.

4. The crafts’ shape, structure, material, texture, and movement are extremely realistic, comparable to the Imperial Star Cruiser in Star Wars. In the last video, as the craft leaves the scene, the devices at its base suddenly light up as it speeds up.

The Chinese expert concludes that there are no apparent traces of man-made objects or post-production processing in the video. He said, to put it simply, if Chinese people can produce videos of such quality, Hollywood would have lost its monopoly on creating science fiction movies.

However, there are various discrepancies, for example in the first video, there is no shadow or reflection on the ground or window. The footage conveniently blurs out when the UFO goes behind the lamp post. Also the real objects like posts and trees in the background have image echoes due to the movement of the camera, whereas the UFO does not.

Second Video: UFO Filmed From Rental House in Cencun

Regarding the second video, a netizen commented that its special effects are too complicated for laypeople to produce in a short time. For instance, white lights appeared when the UFO moved suddenly, and the rotation speeds of its lower and its upper parts are different.

There are several difficulties:

1. The sudden appearance of lights as the craft speeds up look real and are hard to produce.

2. The process of the lens going from blurred to clear when changing focus.

3. The humming sound of the craft is irregular—not just the difference in the sounds closer to and further away from the lens, but also in the three seconds when the craft is nearest to the camera.

To achieve such a three-dimensional effect requires professional knowledge of sound recording and 3-D film effects.

“It’s hard for me to imagine that a person who lives in such a shabby rental house could produce such special effects,” the netizen said.

Third Video: UFO Filmed Over Canal in Cencun

In the third video, the craft’s structure is very clear with a humming sound changing from far to near. It goes out of focus, then it flies over the camera. The process is natural and the light matches the light of the environment. It is hard to imagine someone making so much effort to create such a high quality 3-D work, the netizen said.

However, the UFO’s reflection does not have the same sharpness as the other reflections in the water and is not rippled in the same manner. The reflection appears to be incorrectly placed in relation to the perspective.

Using a satellite map, an Epoch Times reporter in China located two waterways similar to the scene in Cencun. He called nearby residents, but no one knew anything about the incident.

Presently, the authenticity of these three videos cannot be verified.

Read more at the Epoch Times website.

Note: A recent story says that someone has come forward claiming to have made one of these videos and apologizes for the trouble he caused. Read more about recent Chinese UFO sightings.

Jiangbei Airport was shut down for an hour on August 17, 2011 due to UFO sightings. (image credit: Holiday China Tour)

China’s media had a busy month with credible UFO sightings and dubious UFO videos. UFOs shut down an airport and were sighted by pilots from Shanghai to Beijing. As if on cue, or perhaps as a result of the UFO media coverage, videos started popping up. The question is: Are they real, or just people making hoaxed video to take advantage of the UFO focus?

According to Fox News, on Wednesday, August 17, UFO reports caused a major airport in the city Chongqing, China to divert flights. Witnesses reported a round glowing object circling Jiangbei International Airport for nearly 50 minutes. Some have speculated that the object was a hot air balloon or a Chinese lantern. However, there has been no official statement as to what the object really was.

Last summer, on July 7, a similar incident took place which garnered international media attention. Xiaoshan airport in Hangzhou, China was closed for an hour due to UFO sightings. Although the media misreported much of the event, the core story was based off of pilots and passengers who saw a mysterious light over the airport when landing. Like this year’s event in Chongqing, there was never an official answer as to what the object was. One writer speculated that it could be very wealthy pilots who often fly into airport unannounced.

One of several pictures taken of the glowing ball of light over Shanghai on August 20, 2011.

On August 20, another spectacular sighting was reported by several pilots in Shanghai. They described a ball of light that was thousands of meters above the city that grew until is faded out and disappeared. The object was described as several times larger than the moon and estimated to be 92 kilometers wide before it vanished. At the same time, the same object was reported above Beijing.

Another one of the several photographs taken of the UFO over Shanghai on August 20,2011.

There were hundreds if not thousands of witnesses, many of them astronomers. Some have speculated that it could be caused by rocket launches, or chemicals emitted by some other device, such as a satellite. It is unclear whether the witnesses in Beijing and Shanghai were witnessing the same phenomenon. The two cities are over 500 miles apart.

Another one of the several photographs taken of the UFO over Shanghai on August 20,2011.

Wang Sichao

Planetary astronomer, Wang Sichao, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Purple Mountain Observatory, said “this object could be a special spacecraft that can hardly be explained with current aircraft technology.” Sichao is no novice when it comes to UFO sightings. He has been investigating the phenomenon for decades.

All of this excitement has been keeping Chinese news sites buzzing about UFOs, and in the midst of the hype several alleged UFO videos have appeared. The one which has gotten the most mileage is alleged to have been taken in Guangzhou. The video is only 30 seconds long and shows an object hovering over a lake. According to one report, the video has gotten over 4 million views on China’s most popular video sharing site, and was the eighth most searched for item on China’s most popular search engine yesterday. A recent report on the video says the hoaxer has confessed and apologized for the deception.

Incidentally, late last year Sichao made headlines when he predicted that there could be an increase in UFO sightings in China. He told the Beijing Review: “It does not mean large numbers of UFOs but refers to events of credible facts backed by observation. But these facts cannot yet be explained by existing scientific knowledge or natural phenomena.”

Purple Mountain Observatory (image credit: www.chinapage.com)

Without official explanations as to what has been seen over Chongqing, Shanghai and Beijing, Sichao’s statements have borne out to be spot-on.

UFO on Kumam's cell phone (credit: Koiremba Kumam)

Critics of Kumam’s video footage suggest the UFO was nothing more than a glitch in the camera resulting from shooting directly into the sun. However, there has been no official explanation for this UFO, or for the physical reaction claimed by the witness.

View more alleged UFO videos.

In January of 2009, a research team from Open Minds paid a visit to photographer Arturo Robles Gil at his home in Mexico City, Mexico. Robles had been documenting mysterious objects in the sky with some frequency, and Open Minds hoped to capture closer, higher quality photos of these UFOs above Mexico City. The team and I arrived at Robles’s home at approximately 8:00 AM to get an early start scanning the skies.

Extreme air pollution in Mexico City builds as the day progresses, so sky viewing is best done in the early morning. Robles observes many mysterious objects in the sky from the vantage point of his building’s rooftop. After evaluating the location, the Open Minds team set up a camera with the hope of photographing one of these sky creatures. This high-powered camera kit included a Nikon D3x (Nikon’s flagship 24.5 megapixel digital SLR camera) and a Sigma ultra-telephoto zoom lens (APO 200-500mm F2.8/400-1000mm F5.6 EX DG), the largest high speed zoom lens available. At the time of this trip, this premiere lens was one of only two existing in the United States.

The sphere above Mexico City (credit: Jason McClellan/Open Minds)

Once I had successfully spotted the sky object in the camera, I focused the lens, and I began snapping photos. I had trouble remaining focused on the task of capturing as many images as possible because I was so amazed at what I was observing on the camera’s 3-inch super-density LCD monitor. My initial thought was, “This might be a weather balloon,” but after only a couple of seconds, I was convinced otherwise. Even though the object was nearly 20,000 feet away, I could clearly see it on the screen, and the object reminded me of a creature I have seen many times before—not in the sky, but in the sea. I can best describe the characteristics and movements of the object as jellyfish-like. The object was semi-see through, and it billowed and undulated as it moved. I believed I was watching a living creature, not a balloon or a rigid mechanical craft.

The UFO and its fiery tail (credit: Jason McClellan/Open Minds)

Less than two minutes later, the creature slowly disappeared from sight. The once-translucent object became completely transparent and vanished. I remember trembling as a result of both adrenaline and disbelief at what I had just seen.

To this day, I can only describe—but cannot fully explain—what I observed in the sky above Mexico City.

View other UFO videos.

Open Minds has reported on several stories from Kalmykia in the past, primarily due to the former president of the republic, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who claims to have met with extraterrestrial beings back in 1997.

Credit: 3news.co.nz

The description of multiple orange objects in the sky with a flickering appearance certainly resembles the appearance of Chinese lanterns. It is probable that what these witnesses saw in New Zealand were Chinese lanterns, but it is also possible that the UFOs were something else entirely.

The report of this sighting comes just one day after the New Zealand government released 2,000 pages of documents relating to UFOs.

Polk County UFO (Credit: Fox 13)

Atlanta fireball UFO (credit: Access Atlanta)

On December 1st, two strange “fireball” objects were observed falling from the sky in Santa Monica, California. Jeremy Corbell, a witness, was able to capture the strange UFOs on video with his iPhone. The objects had strangely illuminated contrails, and one of the objects, which Corbell descriptively refers to as a “silver surfer UFO,” was seen maneuvering. The video (see below) was posted by Corbell on YouTube.

Adding his take on the video, conceptual artist and researcher Mark McCandlish commented,

“In spite of the shakiness of the footage, it is obvious that you’ve captured something that was NOT a falling meteor or typical fighter aircraft. I have had stick time in the F-4, A-7, F-15 and the F-16 (up to 9.3 G’s). This aircraft- (the closer of the two)- executed about a 110 degree turn in a matter of seconds. Judging by the speed that it appeared to be traveling, it was surpassing the performance of any “manned” fighter aircraft I’m familiar with.”

Corbell contacted Open Minds again after locating a video shot by a different witness showing the same “silver surfer UFO” object shot near the same time as the original video, but from a different vantage point.

Corbell was also able to locate two more videos from other witnesses who filmed strange UFOs over Santa Monica, CA seven days after the December 1st sighting.

Corbell also pointed out the fact that Twitter was exploding with chatter about “Santa Monica Fireball.”

So what are these fireballs in the sky? Are they all the same type of craft? Are they space junk? And why all the sightings now? Is this some sort of fireball UFO wave?

Czech Republic fireball UFO (courtesy of K. Rasin)

Many people are not used to seeing the unusual appearance of airplane contrails illuminated by the sun. This very spectacle was recently given global media attention in the coverage of the so-called “mystery missile” off the California coast. On Monday, November 8th, the pilot of a Los Angeles CBS affiliate news helicopter was filming the sunset when he captured footage of what many believed to be a launched missile 35 miles off the coast of L.A., north of Catalina Island. Some experts said the object was clearly a rocket, while others offered the opinion that the object was simply an airplane, and the rocket-like appearance of the contrail was the result of a combination of the camera’s angle and the setting sun.

L.A. mystery missile (credit: KCAL/KCBS