In the wake of the the horrific Hatian Earthquake that occurred yesterday, news sources have been alerting people around the world to the extremities of the disaster at hand. Please take time today to send thoughts and prayers to those who have been devastated by this terrible act of nature, and consider helping with relief efforts in some capacity, for which coordination will begin in the days to come.

In the meantime, while damage repair takes place here on Terra Firma, Space.com reported on a series of two "strange near-Earth objects" that drifted close to home in the wee hours Wednesday morning. Due to several strange elements pertaining to the object's path (at present, it is believed to be an asteroid), there was nonetheless speculation that it may have been "artificial," likely a satellite or portion of some other man-made craft sent into orbit in the past.

Those of you who own amateur skywatching equipment haven't missed your opportunity yet, however. 2010 AL30, as the object has been called, "is not the only space rock passing relatively close by Earth this week," the website confirms. "Another recently discovered object, known as 2010 AG30, will zip by the planet on Thursday. But that asteroid is about 43 feet (13 meters) wide, and will pass by at a comfortable distance of about 650,000 miles (1 million km) from Earth, NASA scientists said."

Sightings of such objects no doubt lend themselves to theories and speculation involving UFOs. For instance, back in 2006, an unusual (and unidentified) object seen orbiting near the Space Shuttle caused so much concern that a landing was postponed temporarily. The report read as follows:
No one knows what it is - the mysterious gray round object orbiting near the space shuttle Atlantis at an altitude of 187 nautical miles. Flight controllers first noticed the object early this morning at 2:45 AM, and were so concerned they had the shuttle crew delay stowing the KU TV antenna so the crew could downlink more video of the mysterious object.
Space Shuttle program manager Wayne Hale later suggested it was merely a plastic bag that escaped from the shuttle's cargo bay. Nonetheless, wording such as, "What is it? Is it something benign?" as used around the same time by Fox News, can appear to indicate more than intended.

Numerous videos showing various reflective debris in space has been likened to seas of UFOs swimming around our space operations in the past, although NASA presently denies that UFO craft are often witnessed during spacewalks and other activities while in orbit. Nonetheless, there are also the many reports issued by astronauts over the years pertaining to strange objects seen outside Earth's atmosphere, as shown in the videos below, the first of which features Gordon Cooper, who claimed to see "hundreds" of high altitude craft over a day and a half period, as well as a film being made of a small saucer:


Similarly, Buzz Aldrin described encountering UFOs in space:


At present, the 2010 AL30 is believed to be an asteroid; however, aside from sporadic referrals to it being a "space rock", NASA's official responses have been carefully worded to indicate that the object, whatever it may be, remains unidentified.