Saginaw,
Michigan, man discovers UFOs do exist; and he has a picture by
Cole Waterman | The Saginaw News Do
UFOs exist? 
A
recently snapped photo suggests they do, at least in the literal definition of
the term. An
image taken by Matthew B. Mook, 21 of Saginaw, depicts an unidentified flying
object hovering through mid-Michigan skies. But certain experts aren't ready to
the credit the phenomena to visitors from outer space. In
the early evening of Sunday, April 6, Mook and his father, Matthew H., 42, both
of Saginaw, were strolling through the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge. "I
was photographing wildlife, taking videos of deer and geese," said the younger
Mook, who works at Burger King, 1420 N. Michigan in Saginaw. Struck
by the beauty of the tranquil skyline, Mook raised his Aiptek digital camera and
took a photo of the setting sun. He didn't realize until he looked at the photo
later what his lenses had captured. In
the photo, a trapezoid-shaped object resembling a hat hovers in the middle of
the sun. A bluish platform seems to extend from underneath it. "I
got chills up my spine," Mook said of his impression of the image. Mook
first thought the UFO was a smudge in the lens or a defect in the camera. He changed
his mind when he noticed video footage he took at the same time of a flock of
flying geese showed the UFO maintaining its original position, though the camera
jostles around. Mook
hesitates to give his opinion on what the object is or where it came from, but
said, "I know what it's not: It's not a plane." "Awestruck"
was the only word the elder Mook felt appropriate for his initial reaction to
the photo.
"It's not swamp gas, it's not a helicopter and it's not a
goose," he said. Mook
also doesn't believe the object is an observation tower or telephone tower. "I've
been to the refuge a thousand times, and there's nothing out there like that.
There's nothing connecting (the UFO) to the ground." Others
aren't drawing the same conclusions. "We
get all kinds of flying things out here," said Steven F. Kahl, Shiawassee
National Wildlife Refuge manager. "We're mainly known for birds flying in
and out. Periodically, we get folks in ultralight aircraft and air balloons flying
over because it's a quiet, scenic area to go over. "There
aren't any mysterious studies going on that I know of." Kevin
T. Dehne, associate professor of physics at Delta Community College who teaches
astronomy classes wonders if the UFO couldn't be an anomaly caused by light overloading
the sensor on Mook's digital camera. "Often
when you point a lens at a bright object, you'll get weird anomalies as a result
of light refracting off the lens," Dean said. "Most
people aren't familiar with looking at the sky and when they see something odd,
they jump to UFOs," he said. "The vast majority of UFO sightings are
explainable when you take a close look." Dehne
also pointed out how professional astronomers and meteorologists -- people who
make careers out of studying the skies -- rarely report UFOs. "It
could be a lot of things," said one digital camera salesman who declined
to give his name. "The camera's sensors could've been overloaded by the sun." The
younger Mook remains skeptical of the experts' diagnosis of his eerie photo. "I've
taken more photos of the sun to see if it was a glitch in the camera," he
said, "and they all turned out fine." | 
