“This is the West, sir.  When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” – From The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Artesia Wells, TX – Elements of the anti-fracking movement wasted no time in capitalizing on a January 13 report in the San Antonio Express News in which oilfield workers near Artesia Wells in the Eagle Ford Shale region report seeing “unidentified lights in the night skies” and even captured blurry video footage of one of them.  The association of the UFO phenomenon with hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” as it has come to be known, created an immediate sensation throughout the anti-fracking community.

… Ok, ok, in case your sarcasm meter isn’t working today, it’s time I pointed out that the above is merely parody, not an actual news story.  Well, everything except for the bit about the report in the San Antonio Express News about oilfield workers in the Eagle Ford Shale apparently seeing lights in the sky that they couldn’t explain – that part is real.  And I’m not making fun of those guys, since I grew up in the Eagle Ford region of Texas, and know first hand that reports of such strange lights in the night sky have been a regular part of life down there for decades.