UFO sightings have been on the rise in Southeast Asia. For clues as to why, some UFO enthusiasts in Asia are taking the advice Deep Throat once gave to Bob Woodward: follow the money.

According to UFO enthusiasts in southeast Asia, alien visits have increased drastically in Asia in the last three years, mostly due to the aliens sensing the region’s increasing importance on the world economic scene.

The Wall Street Journal reports today that “Trackers in Colorado at the Mutual UFO Network, one of the oldest unidentified-flying-object research organizations in this world, say that since the slump of the Western banking system in 2008, UFO sightings among Asia’s fast-growing economies have accelerated.”

“Aliens have been coming to Asia for decades, but now they sense a change,” says Debhanom Muangman, one of Thailand’s leading UFO enthusiasts. “This is where the progressive countries are, so they are coming here much more often now.”

Of course, Western scientists aren’t buying it. A senior astronomer at the SETI institute says, “I ascribe this simply to two things. The greater reach of TV, which means that more people have seen television specials dealing with UFOs, and the widespread availability of the Internet, which allows people who would formerly describe strange sightings to their neighbors to now send me an email.”

Whether or not the aliens are particularly drawn to economic power or whether increasing economic power spurs human fantasies about extraterrestrials is perhaps even less interesting than what the individual alien sightings say about us.

“The aliens that Thai researchers say they have encountered bear little resemblance to the typical creatures depicted in Hollywood films…following Buddhist precepts such as reincarnation and greeting one another by cupping their hands together in the shape of a lotus flower.”

One of the more prominent alien visitors to Thailand is apparently named Kai, the Thai word for chicken. Kai has allegedly presented himself as “Eddie” to American scientists at Area 51 and as “Ivan” to Russian officials.

Just as we like to think that god made us in his image, it appears we have made aliens in our own image—complete with names and strong interest in exchange rates.

[via WSJ]