Two news reports generated very high interest all over the globe this week. These reports even pushed the newest China UFO sighting this week off the radar. (See yesterday’s Shanxi province post).

First, I’ll talk about the UFO report close to home in New York City yesterday. Various news broadcasts on the internet featured eyewitnesses accounts. The eyewitnesses were insistent that the objects in the sky that mesmerized them were not balloons. Less than 24 hours later, New York Daily News posted a contradictory, but believable article, accompanied by a video with convincing evidence. The object was identified as white balloons adorned with silver designs for a teacher’s engagement party.

Earlier this morning, I caught a segment on the morning news, in which a cute little moppet stated quite vehemently that it was not a UFO. “Those were our balloons.”, she said.  The selected video presented a child trying to convince grown-ups that, well, they need to grow up.

Amid the frenzy of the New York UFO articles flying through cyberspace, an incident occurred at TRACON, unrelated to the balloon sighting. TRACON controls the airspace above John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. Flights were temporarily grounded, with others not allowed to land, due to smoke and odors at the air traffic facility. Some might say that this should have been the big news out of New York, not the UFO sighting. Some conspiracy theorists might speculate that the two incidents are somehow related, but it’s just a coincidence.

Then, there’s the other top story. Earlier this week, originating from a galaxy far, far away from Earth, the notion that an astronomer may have received an alien signal dominated the news. The astronomer who claims to have received the signal two years ago was painted in a rather unflattering manner. He hasn’t produced any evidence for the signal, but the mere thought of the signal was intriguing. The very next day, it was revealed that Gliese 581g may not even exist for a signal to originate from.

So, in my mind, I am considering the possibilities of these two events. As far as UFO sightings are concerned, I don’t jump to conclusions that UFOs are from space. Although I do write blog posts with breaking news, my regular readers understand that they shouldn’t panic until they get confirmed facts. They also understand what my beliefs are related to UFOs.

It is my belief that we have to try to identify the object, first and foremost. Once we do that, then we can consider where the object came from, then we can consider who was piloting the object. It seems to be reversed for many others, with the assumption of aliens, first and foremost.

These unidentified objects in question are routinely explained away as weather balloons, military planes, planets, missiles, rockets, or swamp gas.

The identification of the objects as “escaped balloons” by a child in New York is quite convincing. The objects were identified. We know what they were, where they came from, and know that the wind piloted them across the sky. Not to mention another group that claimed that celebratory balloons had also been released from Times Square. However, some eyewitnesses to the event are vehemently standing by their firsthand accounts. They speculate that the escaped balloon incidents were just a coincidence, insisting that the events are unrelated.

Last night, I watched UFO videos from Moscow, San Francisco and Seattle that seemed to be similar. These sightings did not get picked up by the media since the focus was on New York.  This raises the question of whether the people in these other cities were hoping to see something unusual, as a result of the event in New York.

Videos of objects in the night sky make it really hard to examine and identify objects that could easily be planes or helicopters. Some people do jump the gun when deliberately looking for UFOs. The sightings in major cities on the same day appear to be just a coincidence.

As far as the alien signal in question is concerned, did astronomers jump the gun in announcing the unconfirmed extrasolar planet? Even the Wikipedia entry that I referenced prior to posting the story stated that the existence of Gliese 581g is currently unconfirmed. Although my post was the first post after Space.com’s post, I did make sure to include that word, but it was not used in the slew of articles that I saw after mine.

So, in this case, the investigation method still applies. The object must be identified and confirmed, first, before aliens or other life forms are taken under consideration. I am very hopeful that the existence of Gliese 581g is proven. We have to have proof, first, that it exists.

Are we too anxious to make contact with possible life outside our planet? Are the explanations for the sightings finally getting better?

People’s Daily Online reports that two “luminous objects” appeared over northwestern Taiyuan in China’s Shanxi Province on October 11th. The objects were spotted at 8:40 pm and the sightings were reported to media agencies.

Reporters immediately traveled to the scene. On the way, they continued to receive UFO reports.

When reporters arrived at the scene, they did observe a “big milky-white luminous spot” circling above the clouds. The object disappeared around 9:10 pm.

This is not the first UFO sighting in Shanxi Province. According to People’s Daily Online, UFO sightings are frequent in Shanxi Province. The caption of an accompanying UFO photo on the website cites a date of September 23rd.

Visit People’s Daily Online to view the article, which also includes a short interview with a UFO expert.

When Leslie Kean’s UFO book was released in August, there was some speculation by critics that Kean was simply “cashing in” on the growing popularity of the UFO topic.

After all, in July, China gained worldwide attention resulting from highly publicized UFO sightings – one of which gave cause to shut down a busy airport in Hangzhou. Additionally, the release of Kean’s book, UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record, was sitting on the New York Times Bestseller List when another UFO caused the shut down of another airport in Batou, Inner Mongolia.

I spoke with Kean on the phone in September and came to some conclusions about the speculation of those few critics.

Considering Kean’s book was the result of a ten-year research project, the critics made no sense. Paranormal topics and ufology weren’t as widely popular with the general public when she was writing the book.  In fact, the release date of the book was scheduled by Random House far in advance of the “UFO craze of 2010″, as some have called it.

Another speculation I read was that Kean must be some sort of “UFO fanatic”. As someone with a lifelong interest in UFOs, I quickly found that Leslie Kean was not a kindred spirit. Although Kean had picked up and read a couple books on the UFO subject in the 1980′s, she said she was somewhat intrigued by the subject. She wasn’t deeply interested in it and had no desire to write about it.

As an independent investigative journalist, Kean contributed a feature story to the Boston Globe about UFOs in 2000. The research for this article did further pique her interest. It also raised questions in her mind. As a result, that article led to her contribution of more mainstream media articles about UFOs.

Responsible coverage, based on a rational and credible approach, is what Kean has always brought to her readers. She went further than simply reporting on the topic to bring information to the general public. By 2002, she co-founded the Coalition for Freedom of Information.

“Coalition for Freedom of Information (CFi), [is] an independent alliance advocating for greater government openness on information about UFOs, and for responsible coverage by the media based on a rational and credible approach.” – Leslie Kean’s ufosontherecord.com

In 2007, Kean co-organized a Washington DC international press conference on official UFO investigations. The conference was held three years prior to the September 27th National Press Club conference, where retired military men went on the record about UFOs and nuclear weapons.

During our conversation that took place prior to the September conference, Kean expressed her optimism that members of the media would attend the conference. Although few journalists actually ended up attending in person, the conference was widely viewed via CNN live streaming Internet coverage. It was widely reported after the conference by the mainstream media to the general public.

While on the subject of the general public, when I spoke with Kean, she spoke of what she had in mind when she started writing her book. First, the book was not geared toward UFO enthusiasts. Secondly, she said, “I wanted to present a book to a new audience that presented them with just the facts, written in a language that the new audience would understand.” The topic of UFOs is one that Kean feels that people in the general public need to know about.

Kean’s book has been received positively, but it hasn’t been well-received by everyone. MSNBC’s James Oberg wrote a highly critical article in September about it. MSNBC offered Kean space on their website for a rebuttal, which she took advantage of, and expressed much appreciation for the opportunity to do so. LiveScience quickly called the two articles the beginning of a “UFO Battle“.  The speculation from LiveScience left readers waiting for a rebuttal from Oberg to Kean.

A rebuttal never came. The battle was over, just like that.

Due to Kean’s book, the UFOs in China, and the surge of interest in the UFO topic, the mainstream media have noticed the popularity of the topic. They have jumped into the topic, though in a tardy manner, thus far. The Inner Mongolia airport shutdown was covered by ABC News three weeks after bloggers originally reported the September 11th incident to their readers.

This more than three-week lag time for the Mongolia incident, was much worse than the mainstream media’s week-late reporting of the Hangzou Xiaoshan airport incident in July. The late reporting of the Xiaoshan incident in July caused other media outlets to report the date of the incident a week later than it actually occurred. The Mongolia incident in September, reported by ABC News in October, caused even more confusion for readers.

Due to the late reporting, bloggers, like myself, had to explain to our readers that the late news of the Mongolia incident was not new news, nor was it even “fresh” news, as ABC News reported it. No reason was offered about why the mainstream media took that long to report it. The only new item reported was that the Chinese government refused to comment on the incident.

That response from China is no surprise to the rest of us. There isn’t a clear answer for most of the incidents out of China. The “it was likely a plane” theory offered by Chinese UFO experts for the Xiaoshan airport incident in July is not good enough.

Airport officials should be able to identify planes, even illegally flying private planes when they order the shut down of an airport. Until the plane or the pilot are positively identified, it is still a UFO. There has been no concrete conclusion from that investigation. No explanation was ever offered for the mass sighting in Chongqing, either.

Now, we are revisiting the Inner Mongolia airport shut down as “fresh” news, nearly a month after it happened. This is not timely reporting by the mainstream media.

Additionally, reporting has not always been based on a credible and rational approach, like Leslie Kean has been fighting for. Most bloggers I know, aim every day to live up to those standards. However, some members of the mainstream media just aren’t getting it.

A Washington Post article resulting from the National Press Club Conference in September was presented in a satirical and rather bizarre manner. A Time article recently speculated that aliens might be interested in Peking duck or Chanel knock-offs, referring to a possible reason for the China UFO wave.

Did anyone say anything about aliens?

First, we have to determine what the objects were, then we can speculate where they came from and who was flying them.

Though some members of the mainstream media have followed Kean’s lead to report responsibly on the subject of UFOs, others really need to learn a few things from Leslie Kean.

From a reader’s viewpoint, there are three things that readers have expressed that they desire from mainstream media reporting:

• Just present the facts.
• Report on incidents in a timely manner.
• Spare us the lame UFO jokes.

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On a related note:

Anyone who is confused about the time line or reported information about the China UFO incidents are welcome to refer to my related articles about China, starting on July 8, 2010.

From Roswell to China: UFO disrupts air traffic in east China UPDATE (JULY 8, 2010)

Source in China cites ‘military connection’ for UFO sighting (JULY 8, 2010)

Was it a ‘UFO’? ‘IDK’ is the latest response from China (JULY 10, 2010)

Experts join in on the investigation of the UFO in China (JULY 14, 2010)

Media in China report second UFO sighting in Chongqing (JULY 15, 2010)

Commentary on the China UFO, Roswell, Bloggers and the Mainstream Media (JULY 16, 2010)

OPINION: Why the idea of a China UFO conspiracy is inappropriate (JULY 19, 2010)

Misleading mainstream media article regarding UFO in China (JULY 20, 2010)

CNN, ABC, UFOs and other unexplained phenomena (JULY 21, 2010)

Team of experts in China release ‘China UFO’ findings (JULY 26, 2010)

UFOs: China researcher sees a pattern, predicts more sightings (AUGUST 2, 2010)

China offers explanation about UFO experts’ conclusion: ‘it was just a plane’ (AUGUST 5, 2010)

UFO in China was not ‘just a plane’, it was likely ‘a special plane’ (AUGUST 12, 2010)

Expert in China blames media and lack of ‘rational reasoning’ for mass UFO sighting (AUGUST 13, 2010)

Time Magazine reinforces China UFO theory: “it was just a plane” (AUGUST 18, 2010)

Expert in China weighs in on aliens, UFOs and Voyager (SEPTEMBER 1, 2010)

Another UFO spotted in Zhejiang Province in Eastern China (SEPTEMBER 2, 2010)

Video of reported UFO in Zhejiang province in China (SEPTEMBER 5, 2010)

Another UFO shuts down another airport, this time in Mongolia (SEPTEMBER 13, 2010)

UFO wave on ‘Earthquake night’ in Chile raises questions about China’s UFO wave (SEPTEMBER 14, 2010)

Frequent UFO sightings reported in China’s Shanxi province (October 13, 2010)