Its president Ahmad Jamaludin said he was convinced that such a relationship existed after studying the pattern of sightings in Malaysia prior to eight earthquakes in Sumatra between 1967 and 1999.
He compared the pattern of earthquakes between April 12, 1967 and Sept 21, 1999 with 30 sightings reported in the peninsula between 16 and 87 days before the earthquakes took place.
For example, he said, 87 days before an earthquake shook Sumatra on April 12 in 1967, four people had reported seeing UFOs in Alor Star, Penang, Sungai Petani and Gombak between Jan 15 and Jan 18.
He was further convinced of his hypothesis after studying a recent sighting recorded by V. Paramasivam, a technician with The Star, who had caught two objects on video on Jan 25 at 11.45pm.
Ahmad, who is involved in a study on UFO waves (seasons of sightings) and the search for the relationship between the sightings and earthquakes said Paramasivam's sighting was 'an indicator' for a Sumatran earthquake on Feb 15.
"I am convinced what he saw was not a lantern due to the sudden jump in altitude of about 600m to 900m in a split second by the second object to intercept a third object,'' he said.
Universiti Sains Malaysia's Astronomy Club adviser Dr Chong Hon Yew said Ahmad should check on the statistical correlation between the earthquakes and the magnitude with the sightings since 1967.
"If his statistical correlation is better than the statistical average, then his hypothesis warrants an investigation,'' he said.
Malay UFO Group Probes UFO-Earthquake Link
PENANG: The Malaysian UFO Network is investigating the relationship between sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in Malaysia and earthquakes which occur within a 300km radius of the peninsula. [Original headline: Group probes UFO-quake link]
The Star, Petaling Jaya / Malaysia | By Tunku Shahariah and Sira Habibu - February 26 2001
