UFOs and Calgary are probably not words you would commonly put in the same sentence, but if we are to believe recent reports, this could soon change.         

Manitoba-based Ufology Research has revealed that there were 26 reported UFO sightings in Calgary last year– more than almost any other city in Canada, second only to Toronto’s tally of 34.

“Ufologist” and trained astronomer Chris Rutkowski told the Calgary Herald that some distinct trends can be identified from the UFO reports.

“The classic Hollywood-style flying saucer is rarely reported. We have reports of triangles, boomerang-shaped objects and spherical objects that are much more common than saucers,” Rutkowski said. “It’s shifted away dramatically from what popular culture dictates should be up in the sky.”

According to the survey, more than half of all the reported sightings in 2011 were of “lights in the sky,” with an average of two witnesses for each sighting.

Bernie Axenchuck, who staffs a hotline for UFO sightings in St. Paul, Alberta, told the Herald that most of the calls he receives are from rural areas in Alberta: “It’s usually some unidentified form of light that is moving in a weird or odd rotation. Most are not moving in a pattern that a plane would fly. It’s either moving up or down or in a circular motion,” Axenchuck said. “Some people are quite panicked about it, they think it’s really close.” 

Manitoba-based Ufology Research has collected data on reported sightings since 1989. There were 986 UFO sightings reported in Canada last year, which is up slightly from the year before.

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