Bigger & Harman, APC - July 2019

DID YOU SEE THAT? 3 Famous UFO Sightings (Besides Roswell)

Going stargazing this summer? Be sure to keep your eyes out for unidentified flying objects (UFOs)! July 2 is World UFO Day, commemorating the supposed UFO crash that took place in 1974 in Roswell, New Mexico. Everyone knows about the strange things that happened in Roswell, but let’s look at a few lesser-known, but no less strange, UFO sightings. THE FIRST FLYING SAUCER On June 24, 1947, civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold was flying his plane near Mount Rainier in Washington when he reported seeing nine blue, glowing objects flying in a V formation at around 1,700 mph. Arnold would later describe the crafts’ motions like “a saucer if you skip it across water.” The government confirmed there were no aircraft tests in the area that day. In the following

weeks, other sightings of Arnold’s flying saucers would crop up across the region.

visible wings and emitted no heat or no exhaust trail. The video, which can be viewed at COI.ToTheStarsAcademy.com/2015- go-fast-footage , shows the object in the fighter’s targeting system. The pilot and the weapon systems officer can be heard shouting and asking, “What is that, man?” The video leaked in 2017 along with news of the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program (AATIP), a secret U.S. government organization investigating UFOs. Most UFO sightings have rational explanations. Even the famous Roswell Incident was proven to be debris from a surveillance program the U.S. military used to spy on the Soviet Union. But there’s something to be said about how a UFO sighting makes us look up at the night sky and wonder if we’re not alone.

THE RENDLESHAM FOREST INCIDENT Things got weird at a Royal Air Force military base in England on Dec. 26, 1980. At around 3 a.m., two Air Force members saw odd lights falling into the nearby Rendlesham Forest. They reported finding a metallic object giving off lights and still moving. The object was gone when police arrived, but they found unusual markings at the site. A few days later, more servicemen went into the forest where they spotted three mysterious bright lights in the sky that shone for hours. EAST COAST GO FAST VIDEO In 2015, a U.S. Navy Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter captured video of a bizarre, fast-moving object that had no

REASONS FOR SPEEDING

WHY COMMON EXCUSES FALL FLAT

It’s one of the most embarrassing, nerve-wracking moments in a driver’s career: watching the red and blue lights flash in your side mirror as the officer slowly walks towards your rig. Rolling down your window, you scramble to find something to say — grasping for anything that could justify why you were going over the speed limit. But chances are, the officer has heard it all before. Here are the three most common speeding excuses, and why they fall flat.

all the time — and it never works. Much like admitting you don’t know the speed limit, blaming a hill only makes you look worse. Either you weren’t using your breaks, or there’s something wrong with them. This excuse can quickly turn into an equipment inspection if you aren’t careful. I’M LATE This is probably the most honest reason why most of us speed. But no matter how important your delivery is or how time sensitive your payload, the officer will not be sympathetic. “You should have planned better,” they’ll tell you. It’s almost always better to be a little late and go the speed limit than be extremely late because of a speeding ticket. So, is there no hope of justifying your speed? The truth is there are plenty of legally sound defenses for speeding, but these arguments are best saved for the traffic court judge. By consulting a professional team of dedicated traffic lawyers, you stand the best chance of keeping your driving record clean.

I DIDN’T KNOW THE SPEED LIMIT This is an incredibly common justification used by speeders, despite being the weakest. Just like any other crime, being ignorant is not a defense. In fact, admitting you don’t know the speed limit may suggest to the officer that you’re an inattentive driver. It’s best to be polite, sign the citation, and call us!

I WAS GOING DOWN HILL Having the Grapevine in our own backyard, Kern County officers hear this excuse from truckers

2 | www.bakersfieldtraffictickets.com

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