October 14, 2006

Scientists debate their existence, believers are ready to swear that they are a reality, sceptics think they are a figment of imagination or hoaxes by bored individuals looking for publicity, and governments wave them aside as non-existent. But the UFO phenomenon is here to stay.

It has been the subject of study and discussion among level-headed scientists and researchers for decades and now an interesting event has forced us to rethink the possibility of their existence. A symposium held by Mufon (the Mutual UFO Network) in Denver, Colorado, USA, held in July this year was attended by a large number of researchers, scientists, sceptics and die-hard UFO believers.

The title of the event was: “Unconventional Flying Objects: The Best Evidence”. The three-day conference discussed and examined the reports of UFO crashes, extraterrestrial visitation and alien abductions. “We see no drop in UFO reports,” said John Schuessler, who is the international director for Mufon.

According to Schuessler, the Mufon’s objective is to examine evidence seriously and realistically answer the UFO question for the public. “Mufon is working diligently to improve the data collection process, train workers in the field, and improve the credibility of documented evidence. We have approximately 350 volunteer consultants and research specialists with good scientific credentials. At the present time we have more than 450 trained field investigators throughout the US and have another 800-plus in the training process. That is pretty good for an all-volunteer cadre,” Schuessler told SPACE.com.

He said there were some issues that needed to be sorted out as far as UFO sightings were concerned. Many times, the opinion given by people regarding seeing these queer objects in the sky were not always based on serious study or unbiased thinking. He remarked: “We have found that a lot of the scientific-sounding responses given to cases in this field are nothing more than opinion by well-credentialed individuals who have actually done no field work. They give their answers in a way that makes them look like they actually know what they are talking about when in fact they are doing nothing but debunking based on their own beliefs. That happens on a regular basis and many people believe them. Science is not well-served when that happens.”

Not all UFO reports can be discarded as nonsense just as not all of the sightings can be attributed to alien intelligence. “The matter has to be viewed in its right perspective with a clear and open-minded attitude, addressed in a scientific and unbiased manner. Today, the public is more aware of the fact that the possibility of extraterrestrial life is not just the reign of science fiction but a very real probability. “Each day as our methods of scientific study and observation techniques improve due to state-of-the-art technology, we are faced with the mind-boggling reality that the universe is not that easy to understand, that life is much more complex than we thought and that the existence of life beyond Earth is not such a far-fetched notion.”

But whether intelligent life on some other planet is trying to contact earthlings or surveying our planet for reasons unknown is what researchers are trying to determine. UFO investigator Don Berliner, who is an independent aviation and science writer and also the chairman for the Fund for UFO Research in Alexandria, Virginia, believes the UFO mystery has something potentially important about it.

The mystery is two-fold, according to him. Detailed descriptions given by airline and military pilots of unidentified objects seen in broad daylight pose puzzling questions. “These were said to have been solid, metallic-looking objects with sharp edges and simple geometric shapes that were completely unlike any known aero-spacecraft, and displayed performance — extreme speed within the atmosphere, violent manoeuvres and spectacular acceleration — that was even further from the norm,” stated Berliner.

The second most interesting thing regarding this puzzle is the “excessive zeal”, as Berliner says, by the United States Air Force in regarding this matter as being solved. “Statistics were manipulated, intelligent adult witnesses were treated like naive children, explanations were fabricated, scientific theories were twisted to fit, information known to have been false was released to Congress and the public, and portions of witnesses’ testimony were ignored when they clashed with prepared explanations,” points out Berliner.

He further states that these claims can be proved with official documents, letters and reports given out by the US Air Force. On the other hand, he admits that there are many reports that have an explanation firmly pointed towards earthly ground. “Most reasonable people, no matter what their conclusion, agree that the great majority of UFO reports are easily explained as misidentified conventional phenomenon. It is the remaining five or 10 per cent of the events that help keep the mystery and controversy alive,” explained Berliner.

A daunting task

George Knapp has been investigating the UFO phenomenon for almost 20 years. He is an investigative reporter for KLAS-TV in Las Vegas and feels that the whole matter is worthy of further investigation.

In answer to whether we are any closer to solving the mystery, he says: “No, not at all, not even close. UFO researchers have compiled a vast treasure trove of information, including photos, videos, eye-witness statements, government documents and physical traces from alleged landing sites, along with radar reports and a lot more. Much of this evidence is compelling and has withstood the knee-jerk, almost perfunctory and unscientific explanations that are routinely tossed about by a small but reliable cadre of die-hard debunkers.” But the nagging question remains. Even after more than half a century of research those involved agree on the all-important aspect. How will we ever get to the answers, if at all? If capable and reliable scientists and researchers who are experts in their fields cannot unravel this mystery, is mankind to wait for aliens to announce their arrival on international television? Quite like the dramatic sci-fi flicks?

So, what is it going to take to find out what this phenomenon actually is? According to Knapp, there are certain factors that might lead us to the right path.

One of them is the fact that when the present generation of scientists dies out, there might be some researchers who bring a fresh perspective to the table and outdated old ideas are challenged. He calls this “time and death”.

The next is the hope that since the unstoppable growth of independent media is taking over the civilised world, the power of the few mainstream organisations will be dimmed and more and more outlets and sources of independent news will be available on channels and networks that do not have to worry about sounding frivolous or get influenced by the other more powerful networks.

His last observation is about “political change”. Although he feels that this is the most unlikely outcome, it might be the most important one. If more and more serious and respected individuals in their fields and scientists get involved in the UFO question, then politicians might not shy away from the idea and join in the investigations.

For all those trying to get conclusive answers, it is a most difficult task. The huge size of the information, reports, evidence and the sorting out of the five or ten per cent of the unexplainable data is a real challenge for scientists. Pick up any sci-fi flick on aliens and one finds them either friendly, deadly, curious or simply someone who is lost.

“Unproven theories abound. We are pretty sure the visitors are ETs…or inter-dimensionals…or time travellers from our future… or manifestations of our collective consciousness. We also know they are benevolent guardians, evil reptilians, harvesters of souls or genetic materials, angels from heaven, demons from hell, or maybe androids dispatched by incomprehensible super beings. It’s a proven fact that they are here to help us, teach us, or eat us or mate with us or mess with our heads, or save their own species while they carve up our livestock, doodle in our wheat fields, and befuddle our most sophisticated technology,” claims Knapp.

Not the whole truth

Sceptics have always refuted claims of UFO sightings, saying no such alien craft are visiting or have visited our planet. The whole thing started in 1947 when nine unidentified craft were seeing flying over Mount Rainer, Washington.

Kenneth Arnold reported that he saw nice crescent-shaped discs flying overhead and ones that would skip across water like saucers would. Newspaper reporters called them flying saucers when actually they were not shaped like saucers to begin with. Then there is the most famous Roswell incident in which an alien spacecraft is supposed to have crashed near Roswell in New Mexico. Many books have been written and several movies have been made on the intriguing subject in which alien bodies were recovered from the crash site.

Sceptics scoff at the idea and state that it was a top-secret spy weather balloon sent up by the United States government which had crashed. The recovery of alien bodies is just a lot of humbug.

Claims of people being abducted by aliens and having been the subject of physical examinations, quite painful at times, and of having been subjected to implants in the brain through the nose cavity and other parts of the body, are again brushed aside as being the result of sleep paralysis or some such psychological disorder.

Furthermore, other claims of crop circles, cattle mutilations, and the face on Mars are all thought to be figments of imagination or the invention of people looking for publicity. With all these claims of alien intervention in our lives, there are many who believe that there is something definitely going on that does not match up to the present technology on Earth. Moreover, when scientists on Earth are divided in their opinion on whether a rocky body in our own solar system deserves the status of a planet or not, what hope do we have of getting to the answers to difficult questions regarding UFOs?

The writer is a freelance contributor

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