Grimsby's UFO didn't fly right

TheSpec.com - Local - Grimsby's UFO didn't fly right

JACKSON HAYES
The Hamilton Spectator

(Jan 28, 2009) Move over, Roswell, and step aside Area 51, the new hotspot for UFO activity appears to be the busy skies in and around Hamilton.

But the only problem for all the believers who are spotting zigzagging objects and mysterious lights, says Rob McConnell, is that there is a logical explanation for "99.9999 per cent of them."

McConnell has hosted his paranormal radio show X Zone from his Mountain home for 16 years.

Broadcast on more than 50 radio stations in Canada and beyond, he said he sifts through mounds of extraordinary claims to find the truly unexplainable stories.

As for the high frequency of UFO sightings in this area, McConnell chalks it up to normal air traffic.

"A lot of people forget to take in their surroundings," he said. Planes from four airports crowd the airspace over Lake Ontario daily.

A recent example of an unsubstantiated claim provides a perfect case for McConnell: A posting on Brian Vike's HBCC UFO Research blog spiked interest after pictures of a "UFO" spotted Saturday night in Grimsby were uploaded by James Borg. Borg took the photos from a strip of beach on the cold winter night and said whatever it was, it was "definitely" not a plane.

The pictures don't reveal much -- distant illuminated dots in a black sky. But with calls to the coast guard, the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, the Department of National Defence and a quick examination of the images, McConnell concluded it was indeed a plane. The best thing UFO enthusiasts and spotters can do is report anything to the national UFO reporting centre and see if it stands up to scrutiny, he said. And "use common sense, it always prevails."