It can explain some sightings, but simply doesn’t explain many others recorded by credible observers and analyzed by scientifically knowledgeable people.
Hynek suggested it once as a possible explanation for *some* perceived ‘ufos’; but the press ran with that and it became a ridiculous ‘meme’ to people who had seriously studied the data from many sightings.
(Another misconception is that Kenneth Arnold saw ‘saucer-shaped’ objects near Mt. Rainier. He never said that. He saw somewhat ‘wedge’-shaped objects, apparently curved on one edge, that MOVED as a saucer might, if skipped over water. But, the notion of ‘flying saucers’ became embedded in the ‘lore’.)
Wow....more to the story. The guy that ran the program recently retired. He requested 2 other videos be released...they have not been so far.
‘The videos, all taken from cockpit cameras, show pilots struggling to lock their radars on oval-shaped vessels that, on screen, look vaguely like giant flying Tic Tacs. The strange aircraft - no claims are made about their possible origins or makeup - appear to hover briefly before sprinting away at speeds that elicit gasps and shouts from the pilots.’
http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/article190228164.html