Old and busted: whirling flying saucers. The new hotness: triangular-shaped vessels. It seems Unidentified Flying Objects' shapes are changing with the times--or maybe with TV shows. This week, the British Government released its fifth batch of files on alleged UFO sightings within the country, this set dating from from 1994 to 2000. The files total more than 6,000 pages and were released by the Ministry of Defense and the National Archives. What struck experts most was the changing shape of the reported UFOs. CNN reports that the shift may have come about because of popular notions of what futuristic tech would look like:
"In the 1950s the next big leap in technology was thought to be a round craft that took off vertically, and it's intriguing to note that this is the same period when people began to report seeing 'flying saucers' in the sky," said David Clarke, author of a book called The UFO Files and a journalism lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University. He pointed out that in the years covered by the latest file release, triangle-shaped U.S. stealth bombers and Aurora spy planes featured heavily on TV shows like "The X-Files" and movies like Independence Day.
But perhaps the most novel sighting was by a man who was presumably very hungry. He saw a "Toblerone-shaped" UFO hovering over Ananndale, Scotland. Those of you with a mouth full of sweet teeth know Toblerone to be a triangular-shaped Swiss chocolate bar. For more info, here's a video about the released files. Related Content: Discoblog: Aliens Could Send Messages Through the Stars, Scientist Says Discoblog: How To Chat With an Alien: The Official Guide Discoblog: Weird Science Roundup: Dead Space Monkeys and Suicidal UFOs 80beats: Russia’s Flawed Intercontinental Missile Test Lights Up Norway’s SkyImage: Wikimedia
