Celebrate World UFO Day Every July 2
What’s that bright light in the sky? Is it a drone? A fireball? The planet Venus? Or maybe Jupiter?
Nope, it’s aliens come to celebrate World UFO Day with the people of earth.
Ok, maybe not. But July 2 is still World UFO Day, and whether or not aliens join us, it’s a perfectly valid reason to celebrate.
We celebrate on July 2 because it’s close to the date in 1947 when an alien spacecraft supposedly crash-landed just outside Roswell, New Mexico. (The government insists it was a weather balloon).
The very first World UFO Day was in 2001.
At one time there was also a UFO Day celebration on June 24. That was the date, also in 1947, when pilot Kenneth Arnold claimed he saw a formation of nine plate-shaped objects flying near Mount Rainier in Washington.
1947 was a busy year for UFOs!
Are UFOs Real?
Yes! UFOs are real.
Now, before you start insisting there are no aliens visiting earth, slow down. Listen!
UFOs are real. Aliens are not real (or maybe they are, but that’s not what we’re discussing at the moment).
UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object. And plenty of people have seen lots of things in the sky they couldn’t identify. These sightings have been happening at least for all of recorded history. And those flying objects were all UFOs.
But there’s no proof that even one of them was an alien spacecraft. There’s also no proof they weren’t … at least the ones that were never identified as likely stars, planets, etc.
We don’t have an absolute answer to whether alien life exists, and if it does how intelligent it might be. But there’s still plenty we don’t know, so let’s not rule it out completely.
In fact, the day’s official website clearly leans toward believing. Actually, they state it outright. The World UFO Day Organization wants governments to declassify any information they have about UFO sightings. And it wants believers to help raise awareness of the “existence of UFO’s and with that intelligent beings from outer space.”
And a lot of people do believe. The National Geographic Society did a survey in 2012 showing that 36% of Americans believe in UFOs and 11% believe they have seen one. The survey used UFO to mean the more generic “unidentified flying object,” not specifically alien ships.
But no matter if you’re a believer or a skeptic, you can still have fun with World UFO Day.
Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this unofficially extraterrestrial holiday.
Ideas For Celebrating World UFO Day
Keep an eye on the sky, checking for UFOs.
Maybe grab some friends and head to a park or other open space to sky-gaze. Bring binoculars or a telescope to help you identify celestial objects. Bring a picnic lunch too, and just enjoy the day whether or not you see anything.
Spend the day with a movie marathon featuring alien life:
- E.T.
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (the 1951 version is one of my favorite movies!)
- Independence Day
- Men in Black
- Contact
- Signs
What other movies would you suggest?
Have a UFO themed party:
- Make a UFO cake
- Or make cupcakes and decorate them with UFOs or Alien edible toppers
- Serve UFO cocktails (yes, it’s a real drink!)
- Or UFO shooters
Get the kids involved and do some UFO themed crafts:
- Paper Plate Flying Saucer
- Bottle-top and pipe cleaner aliens
- Or find pompom aliens, spinning UFO craft and more on this page
If you live near Roswell, (or don’t mind a road trip) consider a visit to the International UFO Museum there. The town also has its own UFO celebration, the Roswell UFO Festival, held around the same time as World UFO Day.
Check out this quick video about World UFO Day from WatchMojo.com:
Not a believer? You might prefer to check out the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry website. The site deals with much more than UFOs of course. But you can check out the Skeptics UFO Newsletter (from the early 2000s and now archived at the Wayback Machine), an article on how UFO myths sometimes develop, and other UFO stories.
What other ideas do you have for celebrating World UFO Day?
