MANILA, Philippines — The same week that the Pentagon declassified historical videos of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), Pasig residents could have sworn that a tiny aircraft hovering around the city, emitting ominous red and white beams of light, was a telltale sign of an ongoing alien invasion.
It’s just another day in 2020 after all.
But it turned out that the so-called “UFO” was one of the disinfection drones procured by the Pasig City government back in March to combat the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.
Maraming salamat Pasig Drone Team sa pag-didisinfect sa aming barangay! ????#BeatCovid19 pic.twitter.com/IovQevOsMQ
— DJ ???? (@djmnciano) May 1, 2020
awit kay mayor vico, nag disinfect ng gabi napaglamalang ufo yung drone hahahaha #EIGHT_D2
— cal // okay, BANG! (@hoeaena) May 3, 2020
Thankyou sa pagpapa'disinfect ng buong Pasig Mayor @VicoSotto ?????? Love Love ?? pic.twitter.com/yahik9HWF6
— irene muico (@ayenmuico) May 6, 2020
“Mayor Vico, next time wag naman po sa gabi kayo mag disinfect, akala tuloy nung iba sinusugod na tayo ng mga UFO...bigla na lang kase lumilitaw (Mayor Vico, next time don’t disinfect at night, others thought that we were being invaded by UFOs),” a Facebook user joked in a viral post that featured a photo and video of the drone during its night shift.
Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto has since apologized in good humor for the alien scare.
"Sorry sa mga natakot (Apologies to those who were scared)," the local chief executive said with crying-laughing emojis in an Instagram story.
The drones at daytime are significantly less frightening as seen in the following clip.
Global interest in UFOs only peaked the last week of April entering May and has since dropped.