Recently (October 18) the Democrat Herald, out of Albany, Oregon, carried a story about a couple who reported seeing a UFO.

However, I'm not so much interested in the UFOs itself (for now) as I am the reactions of some who think there's nothing to report.

The couple, Raye and Derral Laufer, were outside their home, having a smoke (no lame dope jokes please) and were treated to a UFO sighting:
two long, silver, bullet-shaped objects flying side-by-side across the sky. Neither object had lights or made a sound, Raye said, and they soon split up: One headed east, the other toward the northeast.
Moments later, Raye observed another UFO much closer to home:
As Raye scanned the horizon to see where they went, she turned and saw what Derral had just spotted floating above treetops almost directly above their home.

"There was this orb," Raye exclaimed. A large object, glowing red and orange, silent, emitting what she says looked like sparks.

"It was beautiful," she remembers. Derral and Raye watched the object float in the same spot for about a minute, move over until it was directly over their roof, pause, then slowly journey north.
Naturally, they were curious not only to what it was they saw, but if anyone else had seen the same thing. Raye put out notices and asked around, but no one had seen what she and her husband had seen. Doing some research on the internet, she found out about Peter Davenport's NUFORC, where she reported the sighting. All of this seems like a completely understandable response, but some think otherwise.

The Democrat Herald's website has a section for comments. Many people left comments, including some who have seen similar UFOs. (I myself saw an orange orb many years ago here in Oregon, and I've been corresponding with a witness who had seen one as well; she got it on tape.)

But others had different opinions, not on seeing the UFOs, but on reporting seeing UFOs. One poster with the handle of "What" wrote:
And obviously she followed up on the suggestion to contact the media. D-H, is this really newsworthy? "
Yes, it is "newsworthy" and I have to ask, why isn't it? Unidentifiable machines flying around your home -- emitting sparks, no less -- seem pretty "newsworthy" to me. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather read about weird craft in our skies than the latest stupid self-indulgent stunts of a Paris Hilton.

Another poster, "ChadT" wrote:
Come on Democrat Herald.. front page news? You could not find a better story than this? Do a story on a local teacher going out of their way to influence our kids.. or a local war hero.. or why the most unemployed county in the state fights big employers that might be coming here.. jeez "
Here is that bizarre argument that because one comments on one thing, that person or entity does not care about other things. If I write about scrambled eggs, that doesn't mean I don't care about the war. Or that I dislike fried eggs.

Another poster decided that there's "a place" for this kind of thing, and suggested The Keyhoe Report. Well, okay, but why exile UFO sightings to a fringe UFO site where, for the most part, only those interested in UFOs will visit? Why not give this, and other UFO reports the place they merit -- in the mainstream media?

This non-extraordinary reaction to extraordinary things is definitely weird. I don't know what the game plan is among the scofftoids: do they think that by acting jaded the subject will just go away? Is it fear, or a general unease, about the whole thing that causes some to so easily dismiss UFO sightings to the point that they're not worth comment? The next step is: head stuck firmly in the sand. Don't acknowledge that huge triangle, weird lights, funny objects or, in the case of the Lafuers, orbs emitting sparks. Like the military's stance on homosexuality, the philosophy seems to be "don't ask, don't tell." We'll just let the little buggers fly over us without comment.

Maybe it's because this mindset assumes that "UFOs really mean aliens" (another recent tactic perpetuated by the skeptoid zone) which isn't true of course. But if one believes this, then don't address the reality of things zipping in our skies; just ignore it. This assumption that it's all aliens is a distraction. Some may be, some may not be, -- it's beside the point. We have two issues here: real live aliens from outer space, and/or government operations. If the former, wow! But if the latter -- which is likely true in many cases -- we're faced with covert government activities. Spying, weather and environmental monitoring, climate control, weapons technology, all kinds of things from the mundane (collecting data on current weather patterns, for example) to the disturbing (spying, etc.) Regardless of the cause behind the UFOs, the fact is the UFOs exist, and we have every right to talk about our observations and experiences.

Die hard skeptics have always been "anti UFO" and done their best to debunk, deny, and distract. But I've noticed a new tactic among some of that ilk: the "who cares?" response. They don't even bother anymore with arguing about the topic, they just shrug, yawn, say things like "UFOs, old hat stuff," and trundle along. (Literally, someone said that to me once.) These types acknowledge there are weird, unexplainable lights and machines up there, but don't see any need at all to explore such things.

I find that as astounding as any UFO.