“Beam me up, Vladimir!”

For once, here’s a post purely for fun, auto-scheduled while I’m in the air to the USA and following up on an earlier one about intercultural philosophy and extraterrestrial life:

An enormous pyramid-shaped UFO was recorded hovering over Moscow a few days ago.  Whether it’s a hoax, a meteorological trick of the eye, or the real thing, it’s certainly impressive.

You can watch nighttime footage here and here, courtesy of The Sun and YouTube, as well as a daytime shot here, courtesy of SciFiWire.  Also, check out this UFO enthusiast’s history of the phenomenon in the former Soviet Union.

As part of neweurasia‘s ongoing “Astrostan” series, we are gathering readers’ stories about UFOs in the region.  Complete the survey below, or leave a comment at the main post here.  If you’ve got photos or videos, share the link, too.

A personal comment –

Speaking for myself, although by nature a skeptic, I’ve always harbored a fascination for UFOs.  Yes, I was one of those kids who snuck episodes of the X-Files‘ first season and watched Fox’s obviously ridiculous Alien Autopsy.   I was a twelve year old boy at the time.  Perhaps the mystery surrounding the phenomenon appealed to my nascent spiritual proclivities.

I must confess that one of the initial appeals of the Baha’i faith to me were the many indications in its scriptures that one day in the far future humanity may finally meet other intelligences.  Indeed, the next Manifestation of God may not even be human (for an academic article on “exotheology”, go here).

I also attribute my perennial, if quiet, interest in this subject from my mother.  She instilled in me a very deep sense of awe for the cosmos, both as a vast, voidful wilderness, and also as a place potentially teeming with secret life.  It is indeed truly hard to believe that we are alone in the universe.

I’ll end this post with a quote from the immortal Immanuel Kant:  “Two things awe me most, the starry sky above me and the moral law within me.”