When unidentified flying objects began being spotted over the US and Canada, there was quite a stir among amateur ufologists. UFO discussion forums lit up with theories about the origins and purpose of these floating entities – were they sent by intelligent lifeforms from outer space or was there an explanation closer to home? Now experts have said the UK could be about to see a wave of sightings in its skies too, thanks to this renewed interest in extraterrestrial contact. Four flying objects, of vastly different shapes and sizes, have been shot down by US authorities in less than two weeks and, while one is confirmed to be a Chinese balloon, authorities are in the dark on the other three. Until analysis is done on the recovered pieces, the US air force general tasked with safeguarding US airspace, Glen VanHerck, said the military would be unable to identify what the three most recent objects were, how they stayed aloft, or where they had come from. Asked whether he had ruled out extraterrestrials, VanHerck said: “I’ll let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figure that out. I haven’t ruled out anything.” Joe McGonagle, one of the UK’s foremost amateur UFO researchers, and an authority on apparent sightings on that side of the Atlantic, said the story had provoked a reaction on UFO social media in the UK, with many inclined to believe something otherworldly is going on. “There’s a spectrum of belief, if you like, from people with thoughts similar to my own, to people who think that this is a wave of aliens coming in,” said McGonagle. He does not believe little green men have visited, although nor does he think humans are alone in the universe. “I don’t doubt extraterrestrial life exists,” he said. “I think statistically there’s a very high probability that it does. But I do doubt very much that it’s actually visiting Earth.” McGonagle has spent decades poring over formerly classified Ministry of Defence documents in the National Archives to find out what the government knows about suspected alien visitations, which he used to believe were being kept secret from the public. “But I eventually came to the conclusion basically that people like myself actually know more about them than the authorities do,” he said. After studying many unexplained sightings, he said some things were destined to remain a mystery, even if it was human nature to fill in the blanks. “There are things which on the face of it can’t be explained immediately. But there’s still a thousand and one possibilities of what they could be, not just alien spaceships.” But even evidence to the contrary is often not enough to deter the hardiest of alien-hunters from their belief there is a conspiracy to keep them secret. “I think in all probability these are balloons of some kind, operated by someone, but when the US authorities turn round and say that, there are going to be elements [of the UFO-curious community] who will not believe it anyway. They’re gonna say, ‘oh, it’s just a cover-up’.” And people are likely to report a wave of UFO sightings as a result of these cases, he said. “I’d expect a rash of UFO reports from people who don’t normally look at the sky suddenly looking at the sky and seeing things they don’t recognise, and reporting them.” The British UFO Research Association told the Guardian there had been a slight increase in people getting in touch with sightings but both it and McGonagle said the real increase would probably come in the next few weeks. McGonagle said press coverage caused more people to look out for sightings and the process repeaed in a cycle. “And suddenly you’ve got an alien invasion.”