The Effects of UFO's on People
Almost every civilization in history that has kept a written history has recorded the
sightings of strange objects and lights in the skies. These objects have been described
as glowing wheels, colored balls of light, and disk shaped objects. Today unexplained
aerial phenomena are generally referred to as unidentified flying objects (UFO's) or
flying saucers.
The effects of extra terrestrial sightings can have an adverse effect on people if
influenced the wrong way. No solid proof has shown that UFO's are real, but many
sightings cannot be proven otherwise. The media, stories, or one's own experience may
often influence what one believes. The government once stated that they had captured
extra terrestrials. (60 minutes, CBS) On the contrary, most scientists now agree that
almost all sightings and stories of extra terrestrials are not authentic.
The United States government has records of thousands of UFO sightings since 1948,
including photos of alleged UFOs and interviews with people who claim to have seen them.
Since UFOs were considered a potential security risk, the report on these sightings was
originally classified as secret. (Craig, 917) When the report was later declassified it
showed that 90 percent of all UFO sightings could be easily explained. Most of the
sightings turned out to be celestial objects, such as stars or bright planets like Venus,
or atmospheric events such as auroras or meteors falling through the atmosphere. Many
other sightings turned out to be objects such as weather balloons, satellites, aircraft
lights, or formations of birds. Often these sightings were accompanied by unusual
weather conditions. Only 5.6 percent of these cases were not explained.
Testimonies by people are often very inaccurate and dramatized. People have the tendency
to explain everything they see, which is not usually completely accurate. The unaided
human eye can be tricked into hallucination and has an inaccurate depth perception.
Reflections from windows and eyeglasses can provide an optical illusion of a UFO. Radar
is much more reliable to identify objects, but it cannot detect many characteristics that
separate natural phenomena and physical objects. Radar often picks up ionized gas, rain,
or thermal discontinuities. Electronic interference is also a frequent problem. Either
way, scientists are left with many unanswered questions.
There are many mysteries about UFO's with many indefinite answers. Many investigators
have tried to solve some peculiar questions about UFO's, but many of their conclusions
cannot be proven. In 1968 the United States Air Force asked Edward U. Condon, a physicist
at the University of Colorado, to head a panel studying the claims of extraterrestrial
crafts. (Unidentified Flying Objects, Encarta encyclopedia) The committee's final report
was reviewed by a special committee of the National Academy of Sciences and released in
early 1969. The 37 scientists who contributed to the report interviewed UFO witnesses
and studied physical and photographic evidence. The report, also known as the Condon
Report, concluded that not only was there no evidence of extraterrestrial control of UFOs
but also that no further UFO studies were needed. Their advice was accepted by the
United States, but for other independent laboratories it was not enough.
Whether or not a person believes UFO's are, in fact, real or not is probably because of
influence from the media. For instance, the smash hit movie Independence Day was a movie
about aliens attacking Earth so they can keep it for themselves. The company that made
the movie, FOX, has been promoting extra terrestrial ideas to bring media attention to
UFO's. The company bought the stretch of highway 375 outside the mysterious secret
military base named Area 51, which plays an important part in the movie. In it, several
aliens were captured and stored along with their aircraft. In fact, the government has
announced that it has captured aliens and their aircraft, but that was later denied.
(Woolward, 912) This has been said to be the cause of the vast amount of UFO reports
since 1948. The government also denied that Area 51 even existed for several years, even
though it had been photographed many times. Today, the military base is thought to be a
very heavily guarded test sight for many stealth planes in development for the military,
including some possible "flying saucers". This sight is responsible for several of the
military's top planes used today. Local residents persist that they have never seen any
UFO's that couldn't be explained by the military's aerial experiments. Tourists swear
they have seen several UFO's that couldn't be anything else but extra terrestrial. Many
magazines and tabloids visit the area to report about such sightings and print there own
far-fetched ideas.
People interpret these articles in many different ways. Because there is no true proof
of any extra terrestrial crafts, people are forced to make their own decisions about
reality. For instance, in March 1997, thirty-nine people committed suicide to join with
"Ti and Do", two "UFO forces". Printed on their page on the Internet, it stated, "Our 22
years of classroom here on planet Earth is finally coming to conclusion - 'graduation'
from the Human Evolutionary Level. We are happily prepared to leave 'this world' and go
with Ti's crew." (Heaven's Gate, WWW) Such cases like these are extreme, but recent
studies have shown that fifty percent of America does believe that there is life on other
planets that may be trying to visit us. However, the majority of these people do not
worry about any unwelcome situation.
Opinions may vary, but until any conclusive evidence can be shown that life is visiting
Earth from somewhere out in space, it is safe to say that humans are alone in their home
planet. It is possible that this theorem will be proved wrong in the future, but until
then all any person can do is guess, hope, and wait. What the future holds for Earth may
not be what is expected, but until then scientists will be examining all the evidence to
help provide a better future for the home to life as we now know it.
Works Cited
"Unidentified Flying Objects" World Book Encyclopedia, 1992. Page 19, volume U-V, 1992
Craig, Pat. "On Nevada's Extra Terrestrial Highway." Tribune News Service August 19,
1996: Page 819 from InfoTrack/Super Tom+. On CD-ROM. Foster City, CA: Information
access, 1997
"Unidentified Flying Objects" Groiler's Encyclopedia, 1994. Page 17, volume U-V, 1994
Woolard, John. "UFO Investigators Scoff at Abduction Claims." Tribune News Service,
September 12, 1996. Page 912 from InfoTrack/Super Tom+. On CD-ROM. Foster City, CA:
Information Access, 1997
60 Minutes, CBS Television Network. April 4, 1997
Heaven's Gate Home Page, http://www.aeok.com/heavensgate/index.htm
Steve Edwards, 1
|