UFO "Effects" & Pollution: Correlation vs Causation

A claimed physiological effect and alleged UFO sighting reports both climb together across locations — a correlation strong enough to look causal at a glance. This simulator generates both from a shared, measured cause: local pollution. Pollution alone drives up both the physiological score and the sighting rate, with no direct link between them at all. Watch the raw correlation coefficient stay stubbornly high while the partial correlation — the same relationship after mathematically controlling for pollution — collapses toward zero. It's a live, adjustable demonstration of why "X and Y are correlated" is never enough to conclude "X causes Y," and why checking for a lurking confound is the first move in any real causal analysis.