(Lake Forest, California - USA) Images of dark anomalous objects previously described as UFOs observed in the skies over the active volcano, Mt. Popocatépetl in Mexico, are now believed to be nothing more than flying insects, according to the webmaster of iwasabducted.com - a website specializing in alien abduction, UFO sighting, and crop circle phenomena. 

Photographs taken in March and April from the Cenapred live web camera indicate that these UFOs might actually have legs and wings.

"We have been obtaining most of our Mt. Popo UFO pictures from Spyman," reports iwasabducted.com. Spyman, whose own website ironically titled Look No Wings primarily features the Cenapred images, sent pictures of the objects to iwasabducted.com from approximately October 2001 through April 2002. 

"Our website visitors started monitoring UFO activity over the volcano on their own and sent us their photos," iwasabducted.com continues. "When we learned of the frequency in which UFO sightings were being made, we became curious and decided to investigate for ourselves. We were understandably skeptical - Spyman reports taking 'a few thousand' Cenapred UFO pictures."  He recently furnished the website with one such photo from 1998.

Some photographs of the anomalous objects were taken on days when visibility was poor and Mt. Popo was obscured with a thick layer of clouds. These pictures suggest that the objects are much closer to the camera than they appeared to be in pictures that were taken on a clear day. Comparisons from close ups of objects photographed on a clear day prove to be remarkably similar to those photographed on cloudy days. This information indicates that the objects are not actually hovering over Mt. Popo at all, rather, they are insects - buzzing just inches away from the web cam.

The Cenapred live cam is a basic web camera mounted indoors that photographs the volcano through a window. This could allow for some image distortion, color refraction, and light flares from the glass window pane. Additionally, web cameras typically have slow shutter speeds and lack an adjustable f-stop. Objects less than 12 inches from the lens usually appear blurry. These limitations of the web cam make it nearly impossible to photograph the wings of a flying insect.

iwasabducted.com believes that extraterrestrial activity may occur at Mount Popo. "Continuing reports of other craft, and photographs such as one depicting a vapor trail following a ball of light suggest that there is indeed something happening there," says their webmaster.

On April 20, 2002, information regarding the recent conclusions drawn about the questionable Cenapred images was presented to Spyman and iwasabducted.com member Sapphire, both of whom have photographed the objects through the web cam.

Sapphire reports, "Actually, I was relieved in hearing what you had to say because I came to the same conclusion a short while ago after watching the live web cam for a few days in a row. The black spots/shapes are too numerous for one to think that they would all be UFOs, and so a measure of common sense and healthy skepticism is needed to view these objects. I've seen the live web cam capture many insects where previously black dots were prevalent. As you say, there are many angles at which the web camera cannot pick up the true shape of these objects and therefore leaves us with blurry and distorted shapes. In the short while that I've been looking at the Mount Popo live web cam I have formed the opinion, as you have, that many of the objects depicted are indeed insects, spots on the camera lens, or even debris flying about the terrain."

Sapphire had also recently contacted an Albertan UFO study group and presented them with some of her Cenapred images. The following is an excerpt of the study group's reaction to an image she caught through the Cenapred camera on March 14:

"It's strange that even though everything else is clear in the image such as the mountain and the clouds, this object is really fuzzy as if it is out of the focal zone of the camera. Since there is one picture, which shows the "object" in front of the mountain, I know that the object is not that far away. So, how do you get an object to appear that blurry within that kind of distance...it may be something very small but extremely close to the camera lens and thereby be out of focus."

The comments of the Albertan UFO study group concur with the explanation offered by iwasabducted.com. "It is unlikely that Cenapred's camera is set up to photograph close-ups. If the camera has a focus control, Cenapred would most likely have set the adjustment to infinity to focus on the volcano.  As a result, close objects will appear to be out of focus," continues the webmaster, "One should keep in mind that the camera's primary purpose is to monitor volcanic activity at Mt. Popo."

Cenapred, the Mexican National Center for the Prevention of Disasters, operates the live camera from atop Mount Ixtaccíhuatl, approximately 10 miles from Mount Popo.  Cenapred monitors the volcano to warn local citizens of possible volcanic eruptions.

Spyman declined to comment by the time this article was published.