There is something weird going on the Eastern United States. Lots of people along the Atlantic coast have reported seeing weird things in the sky over the past few days. If this happened in the 20th century everyone would be saying they are UFOs. Today, they are assumed to be drones. Probably drones run by a nefarious country like Iran or China. And with a mothership somewhere off the coast. Unfortunately (or I guess fortunately, since Iran invading would be kind of bad) after investigation most of these appear to just be common occurrences such airplanes or even stars in the night sky.
I can’t explain what all of these incidents are. But I can talk about my experience here in North Carolina.
While driving the other night I saw a bright light low in the sky to the west. It was too high to be a streetlight but too bright to be a star. Still, I had an idea what it was.
By the time I stopped it was gone. But I got out my sky map app and confirmed my suspicions. It was Venus. Probably now hidden behind a cloud.
Not long after I saw another light in the sky. This was actually a cluster of lights, including white, green, and red lights, some blinking. This time is was obvious what the object was. It was an airplane, probably coming in for a landing at RDU.
The thing is, I don’t usually notice these things. Venus is a bright prominent object on the night sky but I don’t usually notice it. I live a few miles south of an international airport but I rarely notice planes. So what’s going on? Why am I all of a sudden noticing things that are usually just in the background?
Well I had just been reading about the lights people have been seeing and claiming could not be planes or stars or planets but which clearly were. So my brain was primed to notice them. This is a common cognitive bias known as the Frequency Illusion. It has also been given the name the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon after a writer started noticing the Baader-Meinhof German terrorist group all the time after they came up in a conversation.
In fact it’s not that unusual for people to get confused by things in the night sky. Anyone who is a member of the r/Astronomy subreddit knows it’s in fact quite common for someone to post a question about what something is only for it to be determined it’s a SpaceX launch, Venus, or just an out of focus star.
Again, I can’t claim that there is nothing going on. Maybe there is a military test or something going on in New Jersey. But if so, it’s clearly fueled a panic, and people are freaking out about things that are completely normal.
All that being said, I would encourage everyone to pay more attention to the night sky. If you have access to a dark sky location near you, go there on a moonless night and just look up. One of my favorite things to do at the beach is go out there at night. With a good camera and good conditions, you can get a beautiful picture.
