As Chinese residents have filed more patent applications, fireball meteor sightings have increased worldwide, a correlation of 0.988 that connects Chinese innovation to celestial pyrotechnics with the cosmic confidence of a chart that does not distinguish between intellectual property and atmospheric entry. The patent is filed, the meteor burns, and both events are recorded by institutions that have gotten much better at counting things during the same decade.
Chinese patent applications grew from about 300,000 to over 1.5 million per year between 2010 and 2021. Fireball sightings grew from about 1,500 to over 5,000 as the American Meteor Society's online reporting tools made submissions easy. Both trends are partly real growth and partly improved detection: China files more patents because it invests more in R&D, fireballs are reported more because reporting is easier. Twelve data points of two growing trends produce a high coefficient.
Twelve years of Chinese patents and fireball sightings is a correlation between two forms of improved detection: better innovation counting in China and better meteor counting worldwide. Both numbers went up because both systems got better at recording what was already happening. The patent office processes, the reporting tool uploads, and the chart captures both improvements as a single rising line.
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Want to learn more about why correlations like “Fireball meteor sightings reported” vs “China resident patent applications” don't prove causation? Read our guide to statistical thinking.
