Unidentified Flying Object (UFO)

The acronym UFO, Unidentified Flying Object, refers to any real or apparent flying object which cannot be identified by the observer and which remains unidentified after investigation. If a UFO is identified as a known object (for example an aircraft or weather balloon), it ceases to be a UFO and becomes an identified object. In such cases it is inaccurate to continue to use the acronym UFO to describe the object.

Sightings of unusual aerial phenomena date back to ancient times, but reports of UFO sightings only became fashionable after the first widely publicized U.S. sighting in 1947. Many thousands of such claimed observations have since been reported worldwide. Often UFO's are linked to extraterrestrials, alien's in control of flying saucers being the most popular explanation for UFOs. However, many researchers into the phenomena point out that the term UFO's only refers to any object of unknown origin.

File:PurportedNJUFO1952.jpg

This is a 1952 UFO over Passaic, New Jersey. It is derived from an FBI document with no information establishing its authenticity or falsity.

Description

Although there are hundreds of different types of UFOs observed all over the world, a majority of sitings can be grouped into five common categories:

• Saucer, toy-top, or disk-shaped “craft” without visible or audible propulsion. (day and night)
• Rapidly-moving lights or lights with apparent ability to rapidly change direction.
• Large triangular “craft” or triangular light pattern
• Cigar-shaped “craft” with lighted windows (Meteor fireballs are sometimes reported this way).
• Other: chevrons, equilateral triangles, spheres, domes, diamonds, shapeless black masses, eggs, and cylinders.

Although different in appearance, these crafts usually share similarly unusual characteristics. UFOs are often said to be able to go from a dead stop to high velocities and maneuver in ways that defy the known laws of physics, which is one reason that certain reports are ruled out as manned air craft. Some have reported that UFOs interfere with the local electro-magnetic field, interrupting electrical devices in close contact to the UFO, and are also said to give off heat and possibly radiation. All evidence in support of these claims is at best circumstantial, but are popular in reports.

History

Ancient accounts

Unusual aerial phenomena have been reported throughout history. Some of these strange apparitions may have been astronomical phenomena such as comets or bright meteors, or atmospheric optical phenomena such as parhelia. These sightings were usually treated as supernatural portents, angels, and other religious omens. Some contemporary investigators believe them to be the ancient equivalent of modern UFO reports. Ancient Chinese and Indian texts talk of flying vehicles that are driven by either deities or people from far off lands. Some researchers even believe that sections of the Bible, such as the pillar of fire that leads the Jewish exodus out of Egypt and the vision of God the prophet Ezekeil, fit the description of modern day UFOs. Such ideas are difficult to verify; while every ancient society does report mysterious phenomena that appears to be concurrent with modern day reports, it must be taken into account that the ancients had a drastically different outlook on life than contemporary times; more often than not, metaphorical and supernatural explanations were given to occurrences that contemporary science has explained. Much of the speculation regarding the UFO connection to ancient times comes from Erich Von Daniken's 1968 book, Chariots of the Gods?, in which it was argued that aliens, using UFOs as their transportation, had been visiting and influencing the evolution of Earth for centuries. However, it has been proven that much of Von Daniken's work was inaccurate and too broad.

There is however some compelling artistic evidence. Several cave paintings by tribal groups, such as the Native Americans of the United States and the Aborigines of Australia, produced works that seem similar to the popular conception of what grey aliens look like. Several Renaissance paintings, show what appears to be small crafts flying in the background sky, deliberately made by the artist.

UFOs In the Modern Era

Photo of a UFO taken in New Hampshire in 1870

Before the terms “flying saucer” and “UFO” were coined, there were a number of reports of strange, unidentified aerial phenomena. These reports date from the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century, and range from farmers in Europe, to whole cities in California, and the entire Northeastern region in the early twentieth century. During World War II, both Axis and Allied airplanes reported strange lights that would trail them during flight. These lights were later given the name Foo Fighters. As widespread, and unsettling as these reports were, there was no widespread context to place them into until 1947. The post World War II UFO phase in the United States began with a reported sighting by American businessman Kenneth Arnold on June 24, 1947 while flying his private plane near Mount Rainier, Washington. He reported seeing nine brilliantly bright objects flying across the face of Rainier towards nearby Mount Adams, which he calculated as traveling at at least 1200 miles per hour by timing their travel between Rainier and Adams. His sighting subsequently received significant media and public attention. Arnold’s reported descriptions caught the media’s and the public’s fancy and gave rise to the terms flying saucer and flying disk.

The next major event in the UFO phenomenon happened less than a month later in Roswell, New Mexico, in which a farmer discovered fragments of what some claimed to be pieces of a crashed UFO. Once word broke, the attention of the entire world focused on Roswell, only to have the U.S. military claim later that the sensation was mislead; the wreck was that of a weather balloon. The Roswell Incident as it has come to be known, is perhaps the genesis of many aspects of the current beliefs in UFOs. It marks the first direct involvement of the U.S. government and military with UFOs, aliens and is one of the earliest believed cover-ups and conspiracies in U.S. history. It also marks the first time out of literature that UFOs are defined as extraterrestrial space crafts.

Current Developments

One of the more unusual area that UFOs have seeped into is spirituality. UFO religions commonly believe that alien beings exist;UFO religions have predominantly developed in technologically advanced societies, particularly the United States, but also in Canada, France and the United Kingdom. They have often emerged at times of particular social and cultural stress. The UFO phenomenon took on new dimensions in the later part of the twentieth century. that they have played, or are still playing, a key role in human history; and that at some point in the future, humanity will become part of a wider galactic community. The arrival or rediscovery of alien civilizations, technologies and spirituality will enable humans to overcome their current ecological, spiritual and social problems. Issues such as hatred, war, bigotry, poverty and so on are said to be resolvable through the use of superior alien technology and spiritual abilities. Such belief systems have often been described as millenarian in their outlook. The Aetherius Society is a group founded in the United Kingdom in the 1950s. Its founder, George King, claimed to have been contacted telepathically by an alien intelligence called Aetherius, who represented an "Interplanetary Parliament." According to Aetherians, their Society acts as a vehicle through which "Cosmic Transmissions" can be disseminated to the rest of humanity. The Heaven's Gate group achieved notoriety in 1997 when one of its founders convinced 38 followers to commit mass suicide. Members reportedly believed themselves to be aliens, awaiting a spaceship that would arrive with Comet Hale-Bopp. The suicide was undertaken in the apparent belief that their souls would be transported onto the spaceship, which they thought was hiding behind the comet. They underwent elaborate preparations for their trip; for a time, group members lived in a darkened house where they would simulate the experience they expected to have during their long journey in outer space. Heaven's Gate surfaced again in 2006 with another group of converts entitled "Heaven's Gate: The New Generation".

The development of the highly controversial alien abductions is perhaps the most bizarre phenomenon to spin off of the UFO culture. The incident in New Hampshire in 1961, involving Betty and Barney Hill was the first reported abduction of humans by extraterrestrials for the purpose of medical experiments and testing. Thetenacity of the couple, their desire to keep the incident a secret and the recognition of their psychologist that something traumatic had happened to them all lent a sense of credibility to their story when it was revealed some years later. Since then, thousands of people around the world have made similar claims. Usually the individual has no idea they have been abducted, but begin to experience a series of psychological symptoms, such as nightmares, amnesia, gaps of time unaccountable, sudden flashes of images and unexplained anxiety. Eventually, memories began to surface of an abduction that had occurred, but had either been so traumatic the person had forcibly forgotten it, or, as some claim, the memory was removed by the aliens. Some people claim to have only had one experience, while other's say they have been abducted periodically throughout their whole lives. Beyond firsthand testimony and some strange scaring on a few abductees, there remains no evidence to support such claims. Yet, many in the psychology field, such as Bob Hopkins, claim that the very real psychological damage these people suffer is proof enough.

Crop Circles and Cattle Mutilations are two other very different phenomenon to be attributed to UFOs in the latter part of the twentieth century. The large, intricately geometric patterns, caused by the bending of crop stalks, has been happening since the mid-twentieth century, as is often attributed to the work of UFOs by those who claim that the patterns are too large and complicated for a human hoaxer to pull off. Some also point out that the patterns contain mathematically precise messages encoded in the design. However, this phenomena has remained at the center of controversy since it has been proven that hoaxes are responsible for some patterns. Likewise, the mutilation of cattle and other domesticated stock has gotten some attention recently. The animals are seemingly killed at night, without noise, the blood drained from their bodies, the tongue and genitalia removed with a precision that appears unworldly. Yet, beyond the dead animal, there is no evidence that UFOs are in any way involved. Nevertheless, it has become an essential part to the UFO lore. $Insertformulahere$

Pop Culture

UFOs have become so prevalent in the collective conscious, that the subject could easily be considered a sub-culture in itself. The flying saucer has reached an almost iconic significance, while the aliens that allegedly fly them appear in everything from TV and movies, to commercial products. What makes this even more interesting is the interconnection of belief, skepticism, commercialism, literature, hoaxes, the occult; separating the truth from fiction is difficult, in that modern culture will never allow the question of UFOs to be determined so long as they remain integral in pop culture. UFOs have become a staple in the Science Fiction genres of TV, movies and literature, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., The X-Files, and Fire in the Sky to name a few.

Ufology

Since the mid twentieth centuries there have been many individuals who have spent their time researching the many different aspects of the UFO phenomenon. Over the years, the term Ufology has been used as an umbrella term for sociologists, journalists, physicists, psychologists, amateur investigators and anyone else who spend time investigating physical evidence, talking to eyewitnesses, and evaluating photographs and videotapes claiming to have captured images of UFOs.

While many ufologists strive for legitimacy, and some are respected scientists in other fields, ufology has never been fully embraced by the scientific community, for a number of reasons. Despite involvement of some respected scientists, the field has seen very little attention from mainstream science. Most critics still consider ufology a pseudoscience or a protoscience. Some argue this rejection by mainstream science is part of the problem: anyone can declare themselves a "UFO researcher," and completely bypass the sorts of consensus building and peer review that otherwise shape and influence scientific paradigms. This has allowed many to stake out territory and disseminate claims, information and analysis of widely varying rigor and quality.

Some of the most influential and authoritative groups include National Investigators on Aerial Phenomenon - NICAP, International Committee of UFO Research - ICUR and Fund For UFO Research - FUFOR, all of which seek to scientifically answer the UFO question.

Governments have even occasionally joined the investigation. While the U.S. government may have denied the retrieval of a UFO at Roswell, it could not deny what was happening in the U.S. and around the world. In 1947, as a response, the U.S. Air Force began investigating the phenomena under Project Blue Book, which lasted until 1968, and investigated over 12,000 reports. Most of the investigations were concluded as hoaxes or misidentification, however several hundreds were left unexplained. While most governments deny such investigations, it has been alleged that the KGB of Russia had detailed files on UFOs, as well as Britain and France, while only one other country, Belgium, has publicly acknowledged their interest in UFOs.

Explanations

The terms skeptic and believer, which is often used in regards to UFOs, is somewhat misleading. Those that would be called believers do not necessarily agree on what UFOs actual are, but rather agree that people are actually seeing something, as opposed to those classified under skeptics, who range from those who dismiss the idea outright as ridiculous and hoaxes to those who consider sightings to be psychologically originated. Listed below is some of the most popular theories, from both believers and skeptics.

The advanced human aircraft hypothesis

This is a theory that all or some UFO sightings are advanced, secret or experimental aircraft of earthly origin. During the 1980s, there were reports of "black triangle" UFOs. Some of these could have been the at the time secret F-117 Nighthawk, B1 Stealth Fighter, or B2 Stealth Bomber. One theory proposes that the government created these and other advanced craft from recovered UFOs. While such planes may account for certain UFO observations, it is doubtful they account for every UFO ever seen. It is also unlikely that man made aircraft are capable of maneuvering in the ways attributed to UFOs.

The Interdimensional Hypothesis

Some have argued that, since it is unlikely that any craft could successfully navigate the vast and dangerous vacuum of space, UFOs are more likely from parallel dimensions or universes. Quantum physics has for a while suggested the existence of alternate dimensions, and some theorists think it a more likely origin for UFOs. The theory, related to the Psychosocial Hypothesis, that angelic, demonic and other supernatural manifestations down the centuries were caused by aliens trying to control human destiny, and that or some UFO sightings are part of this process. (This overlaps considerably with the Staging Hypothesis.)

Natural Occurrences

Some skeptics have often claimed that certain events of nature, meteoritess, meteors, comets, stars and planets, ball lightning, the Aurora Borealis, cloud formations, even the release of methane from swamps igniting in the air have been cited as possible causes for UFO sightings. While some maintain that human's misinterpreting of such phenomenon, injunction with overactive imaginations and the sub-conscious knowledge of UFO sub-culture, this theory falls short of explaining a wide range of sightings.

Hoaxes

When dealing with paranormal occurrences, it is common to run across hoaxes, as is the case with UFOs. Most often, hoaxes come in the form of photographic evidence, which is the easiest to fake (and subsequently, the easiest to debunk). Often times, UFO sightings are faked in order to receive public attention; sometimes books are written and documentaries are made, claiming to have certain incontrovertible evidence that has been manufactured in order to help the product's sales. However, since UFO sightings exist over such a long expanse of time, geography and culture, it is unlikely that even a considerable amount of sightings are hoaxes.

Psychosocial Hypothesis

Carl Jung, the famous psychologist, theorized that UFOs might have a primarily spiritual and psychological basis. In his 1959 book "Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen In The Sky," he pointed out that the round shape of most saucers corresponds to a mandala, a type of archetypal shape seen in religious images. Thus the saucers might reflect a projection of the internal desires of viewers to see them. However, he did not out rightly label them a delusion or hallucination; it was more in the nature of a shared spiritual experience.

Vallee, a French UFO researcher, has noted an almost exact parallel between UFO and "Alien" visitations and stories from folklore of Fairies and similar creatures. This was documented in his 1969 book "Passport to Magonia" and explored further in his later works. The significance of these parallels is disputed between mainstream scientists, who contend that they show both to be fanciful, and between Vallee and others who feel that some underlying, poorly understood, phenomenon is actually interacting with humans to cause both kinds of sightings.

Hallucinations

Some have suggested that UFOs are mere tricks of the mind,hallucinations that may be distortions of real object. Reasons for these wrong perceptions include mental illness, food shortages forcing people to eat moldy food, where the mold fungus had made hallucinogenic chemicals, non-alcoholic delirium tremens caused by chronic magnesium deficiency, the brain being affected by electric effects caused by ball lightning, exposure to hallucinogenic drugs, Dreams confused with reality, following the area's general local belief, Delirium caused by heat and dehydration, false or implanted memory The route followed by these misperceptions can be influenced by the environment that the perceiver was brought up in as a child: fairy stories, or one or other religion, or science fiction, or whatever: for example, one perceiver may see fairies where another sees Greys.

Sources

• Sergey Litsak, Explanatory UFO Dictionary with Equivalents in Russian, English and German. ETS Publishing House and Polyglossum, Inc; ISBN 5-86455-063-9. Dictionary contains 853 articles.
• Roth, Christopher F., "Ufology as Anthropology: Race, Extraterrestrials, and the Occult." In E.T. Culture: Anthropology in Outerspaces, ed. by Debbora Battaglia. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2005.
• Peter A. Sturrock; The UFO Enigma: A New Review of the Physical Evidence; Warner Books, 1999; ISBN 0-446-52565-0
• Jerome Eden; "The Desert Makers," Careywood, Idaho, PPCC, 1981, available from Flatlandbooks.
• Jerome Eden; "Scavengers From Space," Careywood, Idaho, PPCC, 1989, at present time out of print.

Further Reading

General

• Thomas E. Bullard, “UFOs: Lost in the Myths,” pages 141-191 in “UFOs, the Military, and the Early Cold War Era,” pages 82-121 in “UFOs and Abductions: Challenging the Borders of Knowledge” David M. Jacobs, editor; 2000, University Press of Kansas, ISBN 0-7006-1032-4
• Jerome Clark, The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial, 1998, Visible Ink Press, ISBN 1-57859-029-9. Many classic cases and UFO history provided in great detail; highly documented.
• Douglas Curran, In Advance of the Landing: Folk Concepts of Outer Space, 2001 (revised edition), Abbeville Press, ISBN 0-7892-0708-7. Non-sensational but fair treament of contemporary UFO legend and lore in N. America, including the so-called “contactee cults.” The author traveled the United States with his camera and tape recorder and directly interviewed many individuals.
• Richard H. Hall, editor, The UFO Evidence: Volume 1, 1964, NICAP, reissued 1997, Barnes & Noble Books, ISBN 0-7607-0627-1. Well-organized, exhaustive summary and analysis of 746 unexplained NICAP cases out of 5000 total cases — a classic.
• Richard H. Hall, The UFO Evidence: A Thirty-Year Report, 2001, Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0-8108-3881-8. Another exhaustive case study, more recent UFO reports.
• Alan Hendry, The UFO Handbook: A Guide to Investigating, Evaluating, and Reporting UFO Sightings, 1979, Doubleday & Co., ISBN 0-385-14348-6. Skeptical but balanced analysis of 1300 CUFOS UFO cases.
• J. Allen Hynek, The UFO Experience: A scientific inquiry, 1972, Henry Regnery Co.
• J. Allen Hynek, The Hynek UFO Report, 1997 (new edition), Barnes & Noble Books, ISBN 0-7607-0429-5. Analysis of 640 high-quality cases through 1969 by UFO legend Hynek.
• Carl Sagan & Thornton Page, editors, UFO's: A Scientific Debate, 1972, Cornell University Press, 1996, Barnes & Noble Books, ISBN 0-7607-0192-2. Pro and con articles by scientists, mostly to the skeptical side.
• Peter A. Sturrock (1999). The UFO Enigma: A New Review of the Physical Evidence. New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-52565-0

Debunkery

• Philip Plait (2002). Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing “Hoax”. John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-471-40976-6. (Chapter 20: Misidentified Flying Objects: UFOs and Illusions of the Mind and Eye.)
• Michael A. Seeds. (1995). Horizons: Exploring the Universe, Wadsworth Publishing, ISBN 0-534-24889-6 and ISBN 0-534-24890-X. (Appendix A)
• A Short List of DISCREDITED UFO SIGHTINGS. *U* UFO DATABASE (June 2006). Retrieved 2006-08-19.

Psychology

• Carl G. Jung, “Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies” (translated by R.F.C. Hull); 1979, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-01822-7

Histories

• Richard M. Dolan, UFOs and the National Security State: An Unclassified History, Volume One: 1941-1973, 2000, Keyhole Publishing, ISBN 0-9666885-0-3. Dolan is a professional historian.
• Downes, Jonathan Rising of the Moon. 2nd ed. Bangor: Xiphos, 2005.
• Lawrence Fawcett & Barry J. Greenwood, The UFO Cover-Up (Originally Clear Intent), 1992, Fireside Books (Simon & Schuster), ISBN 0-671-76555-8. Many UFO documents.
• Timothy Good, Above Top Secret, 1988, William Morrow & Co., ISBN 0-688-09202-0. Many UFO documents.
• Kevin Randle, Project Blue Book Exposed, 1997, Marlowe & Company, ISBN 1-56924-746-3
• Edward J. Ruppelt, The Report On Unidentified Flying Objects, 1956, Doubleday & Co. online. A UFO classic by insider Ruppelt, the first head of the USAF Project Blue Book

Technology

• Paul R. Hill, Unconventional Flying Objects: a scientific analysis, 1995, Hampton Roads Publishing Co., ISBN 1-57174-027-9. Analysis of UFO technology by pioneering NACA/NASA aerospace engineer.
• James M. McCampbell, Ufology: A Major Breakthrough in the Scientific Understanding of Unidentified Flying Objects, 1973, 1976, Celestial Arts, ISBN 0-89087-144-2 online. Another analysis by former NASA and nuclear engineer.

External links

• National Aviation Reporting Center on anomalous phenomena
• part 1 of 2 (59min 230MB) and *part 2 of 2 (1hr 240MB).
• Claimed physical evidence related to UFO reports, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Workshop Proceedings, New York, Oct-1997
• Flying saucers are real Full-text of Major Donald Keyhoe's 1953 book
• Lt Col Wendelle C Stevens, US Air Force (Ret) video interview (7min, 18MB) about USAF monitoring operations of UFOs over the Arctic in 1947 (very poor video quality). Earlier video interview by the same.
• UFO sightings at ICBM sites and nuclear weapons storage areas by R. Hastings, NICAP
• BBC article on Mexican Air-force videotape
• Project Blue Book Archive Online version of USAF Project Blue
• UFO Pictures Database
• Inertial Engine
• CIA educational summary on UFO
• Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP)
• Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS)
• www.earthfiles.com - Linda Moulton Howe's website
• The Coalition for Freedom of Information
• NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts
• National Institute for Discovery Science
• Homepage of UFO Casebook
• www.unknowncountry.com - Whitley Strieber's website.
• ufoskeptic.org — a non-commercial website directed to scientists, hosted by an astronomer.
• UFO websites
• www.breakingufonews.com Latest UFO related news
• www.alienadvice.com: Advisory and support group for those claiming a UFO/Alien experience
• UFO Pictures Database
• Free on-line Explanatory UFOlogy Dictionary With Equivalents inRussian, English and German

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