I was on holiday in Bodrum in July 2014 when at about 5 p.m. a strange, bright object appeared in the sky. My first thought was that this was a balloon, but a balloon would not appear so large from that altitude. Moreover, the object was emitting a bright light and moving faster than a balloon. It disappeared in 10-15 seconds. It had taken me by surprise, and I was uncertain if I had just seen a UFO.

Bodrum is one of the most popular resort towns in Turkey, where foreign and local tourists flock to in the summer months. Announcing in public that I had just seen a UFO would have surely resulted in responses mocking my observation. Since I wasn’t sure of what I had seen, I didn’t make a fuss out of it and just told my wife, who replied, ”It could be something else such as a laser show.”

But two days later, the newspapers carried reports that a UFO had been seen from Bodrum. The Sirius UFO Space Sciences Research Center that studied the photos taken by three people in Bodrum asserted that it was indeed a UFO and posted the photos on its website. Skeptical citizens came up with explanations such as “It could be the Ramadan cannon” (marking the end of the fasting day) and “The end of the world must be near.”

Then started a flow of reports from citizens who recounted having seen UFOs, the latest of which was taken rather seriously when two Turkish Airlines pilots from the same plane reported having seen one. On May 20, pilots of a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 flying from Bodrum to Istanbul reported seeing an unidentified object emitting green light at an altitude of about 17,000 feet crossing over them as they approached the airport around 11:30 p.m. The following is what the pilots reported to air traffic control at Istanbul Ataturk Airport: “An unidentified object emitting green light crossed in front of us at a distance of 2,000-3,000 feet and disappeared. We think it is a UFO. Both pilots saw the object.”