UFOs Essay, Research Paper
UFOs: ?What are they??
In the past fifty years, UFO sightings have shot up in numbers. Now that there are
enough witnesses, we can try to find out what or who these UFOs really are. When asked
about the incidents, the government would make something up for an explanation instead
of telling the truth. It?s up to people like you and me to find out what really happened.
The number of sightings of UFOs in the United States alone is phenomenal. Even
though it has been determined that many photographs of flying objects, discs, and lights at
night have been hoaxes, modern video footage taken by several different people is
considered to be authentic. At a Texas airshow, many spectators got video of what was
believed to be a UFO in broad daylight (Omni 54).
The states where UFO sightings are most prominent are California, Texas,
Washington, Oregon, the Gulf Coast States, and some New England States (Ritchie 220).
An interesting fact about these areas is that they are on or near the ocean or some other
body of water. Although the area is not near a major body of water, the desert in the
western states (mainly Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico) seems to be a leading area in
sightings. In Nevada?s desert, the government is supposedly housing a crashed UFO in a
place called Area 51, which may explain some of the sightings.
UFOs sighted have many different shapes and sizes according to witnesses. The
Adamski Saucer, referring to George Adamski?s drawing from a personal experience, is
described as a round disk with portholes around the circumference of a dome in the center
and three-ball landing gear (Ritchie 3). Another type of spacecraft commonly described is
the Saturn Shape. The Saturn Shape has a round circular body bisected by a disk in the
middle (Ritchie 183).
Hundreds of people around the world have also encountered UFOs. The countries
where sightings are commonly reported are Australia, several Asian countries, Great
Britain, Germany, and many other European countries (Ritchie 221). UFOs have even
been sighted in space by astronauts. NASA?s code name for UFOs is Santa Claus.
There are many different types of beings encountered in abductions and sightings.
The majority of abductees claim to have seen a humanoid type alien with a large
egg-shaped head, long, skinny arms and legs, large blackeyes, and slit-like mouths and
nostrils. Characteristics of other aliens are insect-like features, clothed or unclothed, and
hairless bodies.
There are a number of documented UFO incidents ranging from abductions to
crashes. The following are three well-known incidents in the UFO community: In Roswell,
New Mexico, on the evening of July 2, 1947, many witnessed a large lit object streak
across the sky and disappear just outside of Roswell. The next day, a local man was
driving near town and sighted a huge wreckage. When local authorities arrived, they
contacted the federal government. Within days, the wreckage was cleaned up and those
who saw it were told to keep quiet, or else. After the media questioned the government as
to what it was, the government replied that it was a weather balloon that had crashed.
Many years later, eyewitnesses gave descriptions of the wreckage. They said that the
material the craft was made of was like that they had never seen before. Some of it looked
like tin-foil but would not tear or permanently crease. Other material had what resembled
hieroglyphics written along the side. Along with the wreckage were three or four small
alien bodies. They were completely hairless and were wearing tight-fitting, gray outfits.
The pieces of the craft and the bodies were supposedly transported to an army base in
Michigan that has very high security. The government?s clean up and cover up of the
incident was done in a matter of two weeks (Ritchie 178).
Albert Bender, a supervisor at an industrial firm in Bridgeport, Connecticut, has
been abducted several times. He said that he can communicate with the aliens using
telepathy. The aliens supposedly gave him a dis
holding the object, they told him to say the word ?Kazik? while his radio was on. By doing
this, he could contact the aliens at any time. Bender also said the alien beings have a huge
cavern of ice in Antarctica. When he was taken there, he met a being called the ?exalted
one? who was neither male nor female. Again Bender was able to communicate
telepathically with the alien. He asked the ?exalted one? many questions, some related to
God and spirituality. When asked if God was real, the being replied that God is just
something thought up by man, and Christ was just a man who was a follower of this idea.
(Ritchie 27.) The ?exalted one?s? hostility toward our God may suggest that the so-called
aliens are really demonic creatures trying to deceive humankind. After Bender?s alleged
abductions, he was returned home with the sensation of extreme cold and the smell of
burning sulfur.
Another incident took place near Levelland, Texas, on November 2, 1957. Several
people saw what they described to be an egg-shaped craft illuminated by bright lights fly
across the sky and land. Some witnesses encountered the craft while driving. Their radios
would cut out and the car?s engines would shut off. Then the people would see the craft
lift off the ground and take off across the sky. The car engines would then start up again
and the radios worked just fine. The ship was estimated to be two hundred feet long
(Omni 47).
Hundreds of people have reported being abducted by aliens and experimented on
or questioned. One of those people is Betty Andreasson. She claims she has been abducted
several times. One of the first times she was visited, she witnessed the alien beings pass
through a wall uninhibited. They took her to another world where she saw a huge area
filled with green vegetation and a palace made of crystal. Andreasson also says she saw
different types of stalks with no heads and small, pale bodies. She was also physically
probed and examined. Andreasson would then find herself back in her home slightly dazed
(Time Life 9).
Travis Walton and about six other men were driving out of the woods one night
after a day of cutting lumber. They all saw a light glowing behind the trees. When they
reached it, it was a large craft hovering in the air. Travis was drawn to it and he started
walking toward it. When he stopped, the craft shot a beam of light at him, and he flew
backward. The other men took off, but when they went back for him, he was gone. Eight
days later, they found him naked and curled up outside a gas station. Travis said they
examined him and took him to a hangar-like room full of capsules with bodies in them.
The aliens then left him naked and in the rain until someone found him (Time Life 23). In
so many of the abduction cases, people say they were examined and probed by the aliens.
What are they trying to learn about humans?
To get detailed descriptions of alien abductions, UFO investigators are using
hypnosis to recover the memories of the abductee (Time Life 27). Centuries ago,
magicians used hypnosis to amaze and amuse crowds. Now hypnosis is used in crime
investigations, therapy, scientific experimentation, and recovering lost memories. Due to
the fact that a person under hypnosis is susceptible to suggestion, that person?s account of
what happened may be a fanciful dillusion, which makes some people unsure of hypnosis?
credibility. (Ritchie 107).
In 1969, the U.S. Air Force ceased investigation of UFOs and related phenomena.
Now it is up to individual people to search on their own without the government?s help.
When choosing a case to investigate, people usually look for one that has been witnessed
by more than one person and has been reported in local media (Omni 48). If a good
present-day case can?t be found, look for one that took place in the past but has not been
solved (Omni 52). Although many books have been written on UFOs, and the
phenomenon has been investigated, no one has answered the question ?Who or what are
they?? yet.