Mr Pezzimenti said it was possible to discount other phenomena, such as hot-air balloons or aircraft. "It was also at 10.30pm, so it could not have been Venus," he said. "It's something we cannot explain. "But many UFOs have been reported as behaving in this way - erratically, and making sudden right-angled turns without slowing down."
Australia has been something of a hotspot for UFO sightings in the past. Almost 900 a year were recorded throughout the 1990s, and there have been 200 this year. UFORQ has about 220 financial members and records reported sightings from all over the world. It had been in existence since 1956 and was the oldest still-running such group, Mr Pezzimenti said. One of the services it offered was a confidential support group for people who believed they had seen something but felt unable to tell anyone for fear of ridicule, or even worse, feared they might be going crazy.
UFO Research NSW spokesman Doug Moffett said the majority of the sightings in the state had been in rural areas.
The reason for this was because the aliens' actions were largely 'covert'. "They do not land and say 'take me to your leader'," he said. They could get lower and not be seen by so many people in country areas, he said.
Grafton-based UFO researcher and sky-watcher Barry Taylor said the phenomena went in 20-year cycles, known as 'flap activity'. He said the 1950s, the '70s and the '90s had been active years for sightings, and he expected activity to increase again this year.
SIGHTINGS
The Gold Coast, with 25 reports, ranks second to Brisbane in the number of unexplained sightings in Queensland between October 2008 and September last year. Out of a total of 123 statewide, Brisbane had 28, while Caboolture, Cairns and Logan were next on the list, with five. Source: http://tinyurl.com/yb7zrwn
