UFOs
Strange Phenomena: UFOs
Created 12/22/2000 - Updated 4/23/2007
The Reasonable Person's Guide to Strange Ideas next examines the curious subject of unidentified flying objects, or UFOs. "There is nothing so powerful as truth,--and often nothing so strange." - Daniel Webster
UFOs: News | Strange Ideas | Article
What do YOU believe?
1. Mundane Explanations | 2. Man Made Hoaxes | 3. Man Made UFOs | 4. Only Military? | 5. Balloons | 6. German W.W.II UFOs | 7. Pre-Modern Sightings | 8. History of UFOs | 9. Alien Hypothesis | 10. ET Probes | 11. Time Travel | 12. Ancient Civilizations | 13. Conclusion | 14. References
From years of UFO investigations we know that many ordinary things are mistaken for UFOs. They may be broken down into general categories (adapted from a cufon.org list).
A. Errors in perception: after images of bright light sources, astigmatisms, failure to wear glasses, hallucinations, myopia, optical illusions, reflection from glasses, reflection of sun off of planes, reflections from windows, reflections of search lights, retinal defects, vitreous humor.
B. Misidentification of man made objects: airplane lights, artificial satellites, blimps, cigarettes tossed away, contrails, fireworks, ionosphere experiments, kites, magnesium flares, parachutes, rocket firings, satellite reentry, sky-hook balloons, weather balloons
C. Illusions in which objects on the ground seem to be in the sky: automobile headlights, domed roofs, icebergs, lighthouses, lightning rods, oil refineries, radio astronomy antennas
D. Natural Phenomena: auroral phenomena, ball lightning, birds, bright planets, dust devils, feathers, fires, insect swarms, leaves, meteors, milkweed seeds, soap bubbles, St. Elmo's Fire, strange clouds, swamp gas, tumbleweeds.
If you take away all of the above, is anything left? Yes.
Many UFOs are also deliberate hoaxes. For hoax information, search Google for UFO kits. There are
kites, glowing Frisbees, balloons and many other things. One of my favorite UFO hoax tricks is this: buy a triangular kite and attach a light weight flashlight to the bottom. There are many sites about flying kites at night.
I have to confess to doing this on more than one occasion. It works really well on the 4th of July, when there is a large crowd of people already watching the sky. If the wind is right, you can hold the kite as well as walk around the people and listen to their comments. Because they assume the light is far away, it seems to "defy the known laws of physics," making sharp turns, etc. I gave this up years ago when my invisible thread hit someone in the throat and the became understandably quite angry.
This last Christmas I received a remote controlled battery powered UFO with lights. I've been too busy to experiment with it, but I hope to get some good photos of it for this article one of these days.
We humans are impressive inventors and UFOs have sparked imaginations for many years. It is a logical assumption, therefore, that many different people have constructed many different working models of flying circular winged or lenticular aircraft. Search Google for man made UFOs.
Below is an example of a man-made jet-engine-powered flying saucer from fifty years ago ( 1955 ) by a French aerospace designer. This preliminary wood (if you say so, looks like metal) 3/5th scale jet powered prototype in the Couzinet factory at Levallois-Perret supposedly never lifted off the ground. Really? The photos show Couzinet's "Multiple wing aircraft" RC-360 with the wings rotating.
Couzinet's flying saucer was 27 feet in diameter. Cufon.org says his larger improved version of the craft was powered by six Lycoming engines (180 hp each): 1,080 hp, and one Marcel Dassault Viper turbojet: 1,639 pounds thrust.
If this, or any circular aircraft worked, where are they today? According to Henry Stevens, Couzinet died in a sudden auto accident shortly after his story and the above photos appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer (11) on July 5, 1955. It was also referenced in the NY Times. (10) The above is just one example. There are many patents for UFO type craft. ( I've heard you don't have to have a working model to get a patent, however. )
Perhaps Couzinet's saucer did not fly, but this one certainly has: "On May 10, 1989 Dr. Moller flew the M200X for the International Press. Since then the M200X has made over 200 successful flights." In "1983 Dr. Paul S. Moller moved his team into a newly built 35,000-sq. ft. facility in Davis, CA."
Has one and only one human in the last 100 years accomplished stable flight with a circular aircraft? I wouldn't bet on that.
Are UFOs Secret Military Craft?
Some are: One expects that our military and those of other countries have a variety of secret aircraft with astonishing capabilities.
In September 1954, the Model 1031 Hiller platform made successful test flights. It was a steel- and aluminum tube platform on a fiberglass duct. Philip T. Johnston, made the first test flights tethered to a high wire suspended between two towers.
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"The Model 1031 proved relatively stable and easy to handle when hovering. In horizontal flight, the vehicle exhibited an automatic, self-righting tendency. This occurred because the leading edge lip of the duct generated more lift than the trailing edge, causing an upward pitching moment. This force worked to balance the pilot's weight as he shifted the platform in the direction he wanted to fly. This effect made the platform almost impossible to topple. Unfortunately, it also limited the forward speed to a mere 26 kph (16 mph) and caused erratic handling in windy conditions." - National Air and Space Museum
Watch the video, it's amazing. Notice that they say the Office of Naval Research conducted tests of several different "Buck Rogers" like concepts. What are the other ones still classified?
We know now, for example, that the strangely shaped US B2 bomber flying wing and others were secretly flown before the public became aware of them.
There is no public evidence that our military currently has saucer shaped craft, but the newly developed "EKIP" airplane resembles a typical "UFO" and this craft will be purchased from Russia and used by the US Air Force. 12 We also know from newspaper articles of new efforts to develop Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, some of which may be responsible for UFO reports. Years before these stories, there were claims by Bob Lazar about saucer shaped craft at the Area 51 military base.
The picture above from fulldisklosure looks like it might be a man-made triangular aircraft ... doesn't it? Perhaps military? I don't see any aliens on the ground around it, but the figures are blurry. Also, I suppose the aliens could be wearing "human masks" or human body suits to hide their appearance.
More than 9,000 Japanese "Fu-go" balloon bombs were launched from three sites on the Honshu Island. Between 500 and 1,000 reached North America. One Fugo bomb exploded in Chico, CA. A local newspaper story said the attack was hushed up. Another Fugo killed 5 people near Bly, Oregon on May 6, 1945. 14 One source says American raids disrupted the supply of hydrogen and the Japanese stopped using the bombs after April 1945. 13. In August 1945, a few months later, President Truman made the decision to drop two atomic bombs on Japan. This little known fact may explain some sightings from the time ( late 40s ) and why some people claim balloons explain the Roswell Incident.
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"Each balloon carried five or six incendiary bombs and one conventional bomb. They were equipped with up to 30 six pound sandbags for ballast. These sandbags were released one at a time by an aneroid barometer trigger each time the balloon dipped below 30,000 feet. Once the last sandbag was released, the designers figured that the balloon would be over the U.S. and an onboard battery lit a series of fuses to release the bombs. Finally, a demolition charge was set off to destroy any evidence of the balloon's existence." 18 These things carry dangerous explosives. Obviously, if one landed at Roswell, it was wise to keep the public from panicing by announcing that Japanese bombs were landing in the middle of the country... and could land anywhere. This would also explain for the Roswell incident why the military sealed the area and checked it for radation. ( What doesn't fit with this theory is the fact that a person I trust says her husband's father saw the bodies. Alien bodies. )
UFO researchers will eventually see poor photos of several different saucer shaped craft ( V-7, Vril, Haunebu ) with German insignia and even mounted guns taken from German tanks. What's more, there are names of scientists: Schriever, Habermohl, Miethe, Belluzzo, locations of creation in Germany, and so on.
One site claims that the Vril 1 was built as early as 1934. The detail on this angle is remarkable. In addition to saucers, there are also flying wing designs, such as the Horten Ho 13a, cigar shapes, and the infamous orb shaped Foo Fighters. How much of the German hypothesis is true? We know for certain that the US after the war harvested top German technology. A NASA site talks about Project Paperclip. "Von Braun and about 125 other German rocket specialists reached this country ... All together, Paperclip brought nearly 500 aeronautical and rocket scientists, engineers, and technicians to the United States." UFO reports going way back to the 1940's and 50's may be due to the work of German scientists in the US and in other countries. In his book, Henry Stevens includes a copy of Report No. 00-W-27452 which says that George Klein, a German engineer, stated "flying saucers" were in planning as early as 1941 and flew in Prague on Feb 14, 1945. Other documents with the same numbering format related to UFOs are found on the web: ( 1, 2 )
So, is that it? There is more to the story.
But Not All: Some claim governments encourage the belief in the extraterrestrial origins of UFOs (See Alien Hypothesis ) to keep people from investigating super secret aircraft. This may happen, or it may not, but it does not explain the following mystery:
UFO sightings were documented before ANY kind of manned flight was possible. How long before? The first recorded manned hot air balloon flight took place in Paris, France in on November 21, 1783. The first airplane flew on December 17, 1903. How does one explain multiple UFOs of various shapes seen on April 4, 1561 UFOs in Nuremberg, Germany and August 7, 1566 in Basel, Switzerland, hundreds of years before the first manned balloon flight? (Also see newsoftheodd article).
A wood carving (click to view -different from the one below) shows the huge UFO air battle and even shows people on the ground observing a crash! "These all started to fight among themselves ... thereafter, the globes in the small and large rods flew into the sun. Besides, the globes flew back and forth among themselves for over an hour ... they eventually wasted away on the earth with immense smoke." Did two different entire towns have the same mass hallucination five years apart due to ergot poisoning? That explanation seems unlikely, since in the 1950’s French ergot poisoning victims reported a much more physical experience: ‘being chased or attacked by horrible beasts’, ‘terror of dark’ and ‘feeling that my body was not mine’ with burning sensations (AKA St. Anthony’s fire ) in the extremities & the scalp. 1
If the posted histories (e.g. 1, 2 ) are correct, UFOs existed before any military aircraft. There are claims of UFOs in the skies hundreds, even thousands of years ago. Examples:
1,500 BC, in Egypt, the Pharaoh Thutmose III sees silent, foul-smelling circles of fire and flying discs in the sky. 9
329 BC- Alexander the Great is told of two objects that repeatedly dived at his army as they attempted to cross a river. The objects were described as "great silver shields, spitting fire around the rims". 8
There is some controversy about the two above, but I read an account from the 1800s of shooting stars that turned which were seen by many people. Shooting stars to not change course and it is doubtful that controlled rockets (manned or unmanned) existed at that time.
If any such very old accounts are accurate, there must be some other explanation. Such as ....
This theory says UFOs are vehicles of visitors, such as the grey aliens, who come from other planets. Betty and Barney Hill may have been the first to describe the Grey Aliens. Their abduction supposedly happened on September 19, 1961 According to dreaman.org, "The entities were described by the Hills as '....bald-headed alien beings, about five foot tall, with greyish skin, pear shaped heads and slanting cat-like eyes.'-- This was the very first mention in UFO folklore of the so-called 'greys.'" Critics have said The 1953 movie, 'Invaders from Mars' or an episode of 'Outer Limits' shown less than two weeks before one of Barney's hypnosis appointments was the source of the alien description. ( Alien image from ufo.it ) According to aliens-ufos.com, "Very interestingly, the 509th Bomb Wing, although uninvolved in the Hill's case were then stationed at Pease AFB in 1961. In 1947, when the famous 'Roswell Incident' took place the home of the 509th was Roswell AAFB. "
Are aliens the answer? Perhaps some non-grey alien? Various culprits have been named: Nordic, Reptilians, Arcturians, Pleiadians, etc. Is one the truth? All of them? Is the entire alien hypothesis a carefully crafted self-perpetuating distraction? Perhaps the real aliens aren't as frightening as they would like to be. They may be too small to make a powerful appearance in public.
Consider the little insectoid creature found alive in the Southern Chilean city of Concepcion on Oct 1, 2002. The child who found it in some bushes claims it stayed alive for about eight days, and sometimes opened its eyes. "It has a relatively large head, two arms with long fingers, and two legs." It is hard to see the legs in the pictures.
According to paranormalnews, Arturo Mann, a veterinarian and professor of the University of Santo Tomas said it is the creole marsupial known as "monito de monte". If so, it would have to be a deformed one.
How would people react if the above was real alien life, a creature highly advanced and intelligent, with technology, language and culture that surpassed our own? What if ET resembles a bug? Would our government hide it from the people and make deals to obtain technology? This creature may have nothing to do with UFOs., but given the location, we wonder if it could be a baby Chupacabra?
This theory says UFOs are unmanned probes sent by distant and highly intelligent extraterrestrials to monitor progress on Earth. I first heard this idea from: Larry Hatch.
Pro: We've now sent our own intelligent probes to Mars and other planets. Probes are a logical first step to space exploration.
Con: There sure are a lot of them! A lot of different shapes and sizes too. Why are they so shy? Where exactly do they come from? What about the creatures sighted and the accounts of abductions?
This theory is way out, but so are smelly disks of fire and silver shields in the ancient sky. Are UFOs human craft coming back from the future? Do time paradoxes work like antigravity to create clouds of unknowableness, so even if they wanted to, the travelers could not make direct contact?
Con: As far as we know, time travel is impossible for physical objects with mass.
This idea says that UFOs for thousands of years have been flown by ancient civilizations. There was an ancient war, and they have now retreated to hidden locations on or in the Earth.
Believers cite the following as evidence: 1. The Abydos carvings which they claim depict ancient aircraft such as a helicopter and a jet. Egyptologist critics say the carvings are the result of older glyphs being carved over, creating odd and meaningless shapes. The temple was built for Seti I, father of Ramses II, constructed around 1350 BC.
2. The Vedic literature of India describes flying machines generally called vimanas (pronounced "vimans" in Sanskrit) which fall into two categories: A. manmade craft that resemble airplanes, and B. unstreamlined structures which fly in a mysterious manner. Type B are described in ancient works such as the Rg Veda, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Puranas.
"Ramayana describes a Vimana as a double-deck, circular (cylindrical) aircraft with portholes and a dome. It flew with the speed of the wind and gave forth a melodious sound (a humming noise?)." etcontact.net The Ramayana (Sanskrit for Vehicle of Rama) is part of the Hindu Smriti ("what is remembered"), written by Valmiki (c.250 BC).
The Mahabharata, (containing 100,000+ verses) is four times longer than the Christian Bible. It speaks of "wondrous airborne chariots by the thousands." According to wikipedia, the word Mahabharata is used in Panini's grammar dated to 450 BC, showing that the Mahabharata is at was substantially complete by that time.
Are these ancient epics history (fact), folklore (fiction), or a mix of both? At the very least we know that real or imagined flying vehicles resembling today's UFOs were described before 450 BC.
A reasonable person can conclude that 1. many people mistake ordinary things for UFOs, 2. that men have by now built flying circular craft of several designs, 3. that some may be military, evolved from German WWII technology, 4. that some UFO reports predate all known flight, 5. that sightings continue to this day. Reasonable questions are: "Ours, or theirs?" and "Who are they?" The answer is up in the air until we have better evidence.
Now here.
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