Confusing Venus for a UFO

I've heard/read that some UFO sightings are instead possibly sightings of Venus. I've seen Venus, but haven't ever thought it was a UFO; so the 'Venus' explanation has always kinda confused me.

Here's an article from Science@NASA (May 3rd, 2004) that tells a little bit about Venus in this respect.

Venus/UFO?

[Beginning of article]
"May 3, 2004: Picture this: You're in a car riding along a country road at night. The sky is clear; the stars are twinkling. The silhouettes of moonlit trees glide by the side window. Flash! A blue-white light beams through a gap in the forest. Flash! It happens again. And again, and again. It's following you.
In the movies, this is when the spaceship lands. A door opens. Eerie-green lights flood the roadside. Something alien steps out ... and you have a Close Encounter. Time to dial 9-1-1!
Relax. It's only Venus, the second planet from the Sun....."


NOTE: I'm not suggesting every UFO is Venus or anything, so relax yourselves
Just offering an interesting article
Be well.

When you see Venus in the sky and it is obvious, it will appear like a brighter than normal star.

I fail to see how anyone has ever confused an unusually bright star with a UFO. Venus will not dart back and forth. It won't appear and disappear. It may flicker and be slightly larger and brighter than the average star appears to be, but that's it.

$0.02


[Edited on 22-5-2004 by Zzub]

true !
even usaf people have chased the star in the past !
the twinkle and the eyesight going to the brain to be calculated what the object may be.

still the albedo of venus is to blame ofcourse.

Originally posted by Zzub
...I fail to see how anyone has ever confused an unusually bright star with a UFO. ...

Me neither. Unless...I guess someone could have thought a UFO was 'parked' and idling in space. Other than that, I don't really understand it.

Venus can probably account for a small percentage of sightings cases but I hardly find "It was Venus" as satisfactory explanation for ALL sightings.

Oddly enough, twice in my life, I have seen venus as a cigar shaped metal object with a glare at one end through a vehicle window during daylight. I can never repeat the action once I clear my eyes and try and locate it heh.

Its been the same both times I glanced up and thought I saw a UFO then I look up again and cannot find it. What I always find instead is venus. Weird. Wonder why it is cigar shaped ?

X

Originally posted by Xeven
Oddly enough, twice in my life, I have seen venus as a cigar shaped metal object with a glare at one end through a vehicle window during daylight. I can never repeat the action once I clear my eyes and try and locate it heh.

Its been the same both times I glanced up and thought I saw a UFO then I look up again and cannot find it. What I always find instead is venus. Weird. Wonder why it is cigar shaped ?

X

Insinuating that many sightings AREN'T Venus is just as stupid as insisting MOST sightings ARE Venus.

Cigar shaped? What timezone are you from? I haven't heard about "cigar shaped" UFO's in over 20 years.

Wonder why it is cigar shaped ?

If you actually bothered to read the article, you'd know that Venus has phases. This could make it appear "cigared" shape.
Some "sightings" are probably Venus, but not all.

plenty people see a good year commercial zeppelin and think they see a cigar !

Originally posted by NOGODSINTHEUNIVERSE
plenty people see a good year commercial zeppelin and think they see a cigar !

Like who?

just aim and see in a telescope how venus twinkles !