OVNI (UFO) Captures the Attention of Josefinos
Ovni's or UFO's were the talk of the town in San José yesterday as many witnessed unexplained unusual movements over the skies of downtown San José yesterday afternoon, that can only be attributed to being Unidentified Flying Objects.

It was shortly after 1:30pm when, according to some eye witnesses, they say something flying up in the sky that caught their attention when the objects, apparently lined up in some type of formation.

What the cameras caught was something slightly different, an unexplained point of light in the blue afternoon sky that appeared to move slowly. Quickly the word spread and heads were firmly glued upward to catch a glimpse.

The occurrence lasted for almost an hour and experts have no explanation caught the attention of the curious and passerby while others expressed fear that this could mean the end of the world.

Possible explanations include the possibility that during this time of year the planet Venus could be seen, but without movement.

Experts haven't yet been able to provide an answer, other than to say that the sighting of UFO's seems to be associated with earthquakes or the coming of an earthquake, but that is only speculation. The first quake of this year occurred 10 days ago with a magnitude of 5.9 on the Richter scale.

Yesterday's fotos were sent to Costa Rican expert, Víctor Fung, who is coordinator for the sociación Costarricense de Astronomía (Acodea), who after discounting the planet Venus, said it possibly could be a satellite by the satellite phone company Iridium, but the discarded when Iridium said their satellite is not programmed to fly over Costa Rica for yesterday, according to the company.

"Frankly I do not know what it could be. What is important to clear up is that an Ovni (UFO) is not necessarily a flying disc with extraterrestrials on board", said Fung.

The radar tower at the Juan Santamaría airport said it recorded no flying object. At the Bolaños airport in Pavas, tower control personnel said they saw nothing in the air, nor on their radar screens nor where there reports from pilots of anything unusual in the sky.

UFO sightings in Costa Rica have been reported over the years

What is a UFO?
A UFO or Unidentified Flying Object is simply defined as any object or optical phenomenon observed in the sky which cannot be identified, even after being thoroughly investigated by qualified people.

A fuller definition was given by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, late astronomer, U.S. Air Force consultant and UFO proponent, as "the reported perception of an object or light seen in the sky or upon the land the appearance, trajectory, and general dynamic and luminescent behaviour of which do not suggest a logical, conventional explanation and which is not only mystifying to the original percipients but remains unidentified after close scrutiny of all available evidence by persons who are technically capable of making a common sense identification, if one is possible."

The U.S. Air Force adopted a similar official definition in 1954. A UFO was "any airborne object which by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features, does not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be positively identified as a familiar object." In addition, investigation was stated to be for the purposes of national security and to ascertain "technical aspects."

It is important to note that none of the above define UFOs as actual craft of extraterrestrial origin. However, by the stricter definitions, something must remain unidentified and have anomalous characteristics to be classified as a UFO. Such characteristics, as noted by early Air Force studies dating back to 1947, might include unconventional shape, high speed and acceleration, high maneuverability, extreme rate of climb, absence of sound and trail, formation flying, and/or evasion upon pursuit.[2] Consequently there has been continued speculation that some UFOs might be spacecraft constructed by extraterrestrial intelligence (the ETH or Extraterrestrial Hypothesis), although a number of other theories also exist to explain UFOs. However, no incontrovertible physical evidence of the existence of such spacecraft has been presented, though many forms of disputed physical evidence do exist in the public domain.

It is the unproven contention of some that incontrovertible proof probably does exist but is being withheld from the public by world governments, perhaps out of fear of widespread panic and social disruption that might result from disclosure of such information. Such allegations have been made by Ufologists as well as notable high-ranking military officers, government officials, astronauts, scientists, and other notable ETH supporters.

However, similar groups of notables are equally skeptical, and often dismiss such statements as conspiracy theories, maintain that the evidence is unconvincing, and that the subject in general is pseudoscience.