It's 2012, here come the UFOs

Sightings of unidentified flying objects have sky-rocketed in the past 24 hours. File photo / NZ Herald

The New Year has seen a spike in reported sightings of UFOs, with 2012 hysteria blamed for an increase in reports of flashing lights and floating orbs.

WeatherWatch.co.nz - which receives a handful of eyewitness reports of meteors and other lights in the sky every day - said there had been a dramatic increase of alleged sightings in the past 24 hours.

While there would usually be about 10 reports from around the globe on a busy day, Weatherwatch said 80 reports had been received in the past 24 hours, with another 10 coming in every sixty minutes,

WeatherWatch.co.nz weather analyst Philip Duncan said there had been reported sightings of flashing lights, "floating orbs" and "UFOS" from those celebrating the New Year in Otago, Cape Town, Venezuela, the UK, Australia and North America.

He said the increase in sightings could be attributed to two factors.

"Many people around the world have been outside celebrating the New Year. In the US, where most of the sightings came from, conditions were fairly mild and dry in many areas - so more people were outside to see things. Finally, it's 2012, the year the world is supposed to end according to the Mayans and it seems many are already worrying ".

The comments range from normal meteor sightings, to the strange and unusual.

One Spanish writer said: "My father and I saw them in Spain at 00:45 am, but there were 5 or 6 of them all in a vertical line quite close to the earth....I have no answer to all these questions that we are all asking ourselfs and when I think I have an answer it just leads to more questions, so all I have to say is, WE ARE NOT ALONE!"

Mr Duncan said the sightings were likely to be meteors, shooting stars, Chinese lanterns - which appear as slow moving orange lights - and other normal aircraft.

- HERALD ONLINE