Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Parsing the Local UFO News Report

I didn't see the UFO. Just heard about it. Damn! Missed it again. Oh well.
At least the local news actually reported on the sighting, which, since 9/11, it seems like very little local media reporting of sightings has been happening.

Here's a clip:'It doesn't necessarily mean that it's little green men from another world' | Local and  Regional News | Eugene News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KVAL CBS 13

The news clip can't resist playing the required "I saw a flying saucer que the X-Files tape" music. But at least they encourage viewers to contact the station if future sightings occur.

From the accompanying text of the news report:
Buttram [a witness] showed KVAL News the video he took on his phone. It doesn't look like much. But other people reported seeing the lights, including Bill Brown, who posted photographs on the KVAL News Facebook page.

Orange Orb above Lorane Highway, OR
At least more images are at the KVAL Facebook page. KVAL's station, by the way, is on top of a hill, and that is where I had my "orange orb" encounter -- complete with missing time -- so many years ago. (To be accurate, not on the hill itself, but I first spotted the orange orb above the station at the hill from my vantage point which was down on the highway below.) Interesting comments from viewers and other witnesses who say they saw the same UFO, including the lame ones from people who "don't believe" or insist the lights were Chinese lanterns. Chinese lanterns that come together to form a triangle? Snort.

The best they could do in terms of debunking was contact the Science Factory, a science museum full of fun things for kids to explore. Quoting Sue Peterson, planetarium director:
"...the lights could have been a plan, a meteor - or even geese. science factory.

"The city lights, which are kind of orange tinged, will reflect off of their stomachs," she said, "and you'll see that kind of orange, you know, in a V shape."

Have to giggle at the typo "plan" and for goodness sakes, doesn't anyone speak decent English anymore? "...you know...?" Then again, the news reporters, especially the women, dress like hostesses in a strip club. I don't know if they have hostesses in strip clubs (and I'm not against strip clubs, which some might find ironic) but there is such a thing as time and place. But I'm going off on a tangent. Focus, Regan, focus.

At least Peterson did make the quite reasonable statement that:
"A UFO means unidentified flying object," Peterson said. "It doesn't necessarily mean that it's little green men from another world."

Article ends with the quasi-humorous put it in its place comment:
"I stood there and watched for a couple more minutes," he said, "and then we went to WinCo and got diapers."

1 comment:

Terry the Censor said...

> it seems like very little local media reporting of sightings has been happening

Local UK papers are rather good about running reports and following them up. But, yeah, the clichés in local TV in the US make one's eyes roll involuntarily. Their investigations are pretty lame.