UFO`s Essay, Research Paper
UFO`s
Do You Believe
or Not?
?
Presented to Mr. Klinck
From Jordan Foster
March 7, 1998
Unidentified flying objects or in short, UFO`s are any object or light, reportedly sighted in the sky, that cannot be immediately explained by the observer.
Sightings of strange aerial phenomena dates back to the ancient times. Medieval monks saw them as signs of wonder or works of Satan but UFO`s really only became widely discussed after the first widely publicized U.S. sighting in 1947.
Today there is an average of over one hundred sightings per night which equals out to be 36, 500 sightings a year and the numbers are increasing. These sightings take place around the world. Ninety percent end up being IFO`s which are identified flying objects. The objects that are usually mistaken for UFO`s are aircraft, kites, flares, bright planets, lights, meteors, satellites, stars, weather balloons or funny looking clouds. But it`s the ones that are not identified that keep the UFO phenomenon continuing.
Most UFO sightings take place during the night when there are fewer people to observe them. Most UFO sightings never get reported. Only thirteen percent of people who see a UFO report it. The reason for this low percentage of reports is people are anxious to tell someone of their weird experience but then who can you actually tell and who will believe you?
No scientific evidence has ever been validated to support the belief that UFO`s exist. The United States Air Force has concluded that there has never been a threat to national security from any reported sighting of a UFO. Since 1969 there has been no active group assigned by the government to actively study claimed UFO sightings. It is believed by many scientists and government officials that of all sightings reported, they can all be identified as conventional objects and the remaining ten percent that can`t, are just mistaken sightings or very inaccurate reports.
There has never been a convincing, valid photo of a UFO ever produced. People can be easily fooled by the touch up to a photo. Most photos produced have found to be forged or of bad quality blurred prints, where the accuracy is just not there. Other convincing evidence such as physical remains like debris from the crash of an alien craft or physical marks on the ground like burn marks, produced by an alien craft landing
on our earth,have never been made public.
The phenomenon of the belief in UFO?s is on the same line as the phenomenon of the belief in the Loch Ness Monster. In both cases, there?s lots of talk and many claims, but no physical evidence has ever been produced to support either. You would think that after half a century of UFO`s being reported there would be one shred of creditable physical evidence found, but nothing has never been confirmed.
It is also interesting to note that UFO`s are usually observed by untrained people and almost never by professional astronomers. The people who spend hardly any amounts of time observing the sky, by chance one day see a UFO, while many professionals spend hours daily watching the sky above and see virtually nothing.
An article I read by an astronomer made a really good conclusion. He was very open to the possibility that their are aliens out there, but if they do exist, where are they? These aliens are supposed to possess an advanced technology and able to travel interstellar distances in little time and with advanced space craft. He questions that if they are so beyond us, why would they be afraid of us. If they did not want us to discover their existence, then why would they try to play games with us and show themselves to just a few.
In spite of the so called lack of evidence, there are still people that continue to be UFO enthusiasts. They claim to have personally seen a UFO and some claim to have been abducted and even taken aboard an alien spacecraft. These firm believers have been labeled as UFOlogists. They do not accept the government reports that claim that there is no evidence of alien`s contact with earth. They say that there is proof that
alien`s exist.
UFOlogists bel
One of the most widely reported UFO alien contacts with earth happened in 1947 and became known as the Roswell incident. During a terrible thunder storm it is believed that an alien spacecraft was struck by lightning and crashed on a ranch near Roswell,New Mexico. The rancher and his neighbors claim to have found very strange looking metallic debris covering a large area on the ranch field. The fragments that were picked up were of material foreign to earth. The metal was extremely thin, it couldn`t be cut with a knife, it could not be burnt with matches and it could be folded and come back to its original shape. They also found pieces that looked like plastic and some very light weight beams, inscribed with purple colored hieroglyphic like symbols.
The military was called in, to investigate the material found and they even issued a statement to the press, that they had a flying saucer in their possession. But within twenty-four hours the military withdrew their statement, confiscated all found material, put the ranch off limits to non military people and claimed they had made a big mistake. They said what they thought was a flying saucer was just a downed weather balloon. Days following, more news was leaked out. Apparently the spacecraft just touched the ground and lost parts and crash landed further west. It is there that other people claimed to have found a damaged craft with bodies of dead aliens inside. The military hushed all reports and put top secret security around the whole incident. At that time when the military said not to talk, you didn`t. Everything was kept under tight security for years.
But, this incident has never really disappeared. People continue to talk about it and try to investigate it. Unfortunately many of the people involved in this incident are now dead and few are left to try to recall
what really happened. Many were children at the time and their memories are very sketchy.
There have been other incidents since the Roswell one. They also seem to show evidence of contact with extraterrestrial. Several were involved with the space program and once again the military put the material under top secret. In all cases after several years, the military denies the existence of any recorded film or other evidence. An example of this was seen in the launching of the Atlas rocket nicked named Buzzing-Bee in September 1964. While filming the launch and trajectory the team of scientists also filmed a three dimensional intellectual, flying devise. It sent out a beam of energy causing a malfunction in the rocket.
Even though it was recorded on tape, it was later confiscated by the military and later denied ever being recorded.
The discussion of the mysteries and controversy over UFO`s will continue forever as long as no concrete evidence is provided. When some people see something that they cannot rationally identify or explain, then they are going to say that UFO`s exist. Others will put it down to human error or mistaken identity. Until you have experienced an unexplained incident yourself, you probably tend to be more skeptical.
I personally have mixed feelings on whether aliens have made contact with humans. Part of me doesn`t believe because of the lack of evidence produced over the last century, even with all the scientific studies and investigations done. But there is also that part of me that does because of the many recordings of unexplained phenomena and the government mixup and cover-up of sightings by civilians.
Probably most scientists will not disagree on this point. Extraterrestrial civilizations may exist somewhere else in the universe. Whether they have contacted earth to this date, is the controversy.
Bibliography
A Field Guide To UFO`s by Philip J. Class
Internet
The Big Sur UFO An Identified Flying Object by Kingston A.George
The Roswell Incident by Charles Berlitz & William L. Moore
UFO The Complete Sightings by Peter Brookesmith
50 Years After Roswell by Don Stover