Case file · Sighting
'Cylinder' entering Popocatépetl
On 25 October 2012 a monitoring webcam on Popocatépetl recorded a bright elongated streak that seemed to drop into the volcano's crater; the clip spread worldwide as a 'mile-long UFO'.
2012 CE · 19.02, -98.62 · status: explained
The account
Mexico's disaster-prevention centre CENAPRED, which runs the cameras, issued a note on 30 October 2012 calling the object a probable meteor. The volcano, active again since December 1994, has since produced many more webcam 'UFOs'.
The sceptical view
Webcam frames compress fast streaks into solid shapes; the trajectory, brightness and duration match a meteor seen in line with the crater.