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Paul Schemm / AP
A stela at the Egyptian museum in Cairo shows Pharaoh Akhenaten, Queen Nefertiti and their children worshipping the sun in the more natural artistic style of the time. Akhenaten's sighting of a "shining disk" descending from the sky is included on a list of 500 unexplained aerial observations made before the industrial revolution, drawn up by Jacques Vallee and Chris Aubeck.
One of the best-known scientific sleuths of UFO sightings is focusing his search not on today's flying saucers, but on the sky wonders of antiquity.
Jacques Vallee, the French-born computer whiz and venture capitalist who also served as the model for Francois Truffaut's UFO-hunting character in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," says such sightings show that the UFO phenomenon did not start in 1947. He's a co-author of a newly published book, "Wonders in the Sky," that lists 500 unexplained aerial observations dating back as far as 1460 B.C. and going up to the dawn of the industrial age in 1879. (That 500th case involved an unknown "airship" that was sighted over eastern Iowa, where I grew up. Coincidence? I think not.)
Vallee and fellow researcher Chris Aubeck also delve into longstanding UFO legends that they've excluded from their list for various reasons. For example, take the story about Alexander the Great seeing a flying object that shot out a blaster ray. "We traced the story and discovered it was about the use of gunpowder, not an unexplained flying object," Aubeck and Vallee write.
About 90 percent of UFO reports turn out to have perfectly natural explanations, but Vallee says the reports that remain unexplained are provocative enough that they deserve more thoroughgoing study. He stated his case this week during a telephone conversation. By the way, when he points out that the modern flying-saucer era began in my "neck of the woods," he's not talking about eastern Iowa, but about western Washington, where msnbc.com is headquartered. (Coincidence? I think not.)
Here's an edited transcript:
Cosmic Log: It's interesting to see that these sorts of sightings go back into antiquity. It almost makes one feel as though this is a phenomenon that goes along with being human.
Jacques Vallee: It certainly has had an impact on humanity. We're staying away from theories, because we don't think we're ready to have a good hypothesis about this phenomenon. What we're trying to do is ... well, as you know, when you're doing science you want to know how did something begin, and what were the conditions under which it began. So far, if you read most UFO books, they say this started in 1947. In fact, they say it started in your neck of the woods when a pilot named Kenneth Arnold described seeing six objects similar to saucers in flight. The problem with that is, it didn't start in 1947. We have cases just like it earlier in the 20th century, and when you look at the literature of the 19th century, we find experiences of the same kind.
Courtesy of Chris Aubeck
Jacques Vallee and Chris Aubeck, seen here in a 2003 photo, are co-authors of "Wonders in the Sky."
Forty years ago, I published a book called "Passport to Magonia," saying, "Look, this is very similar to ancient folklore, about elves and demons and angels and other types of creatures, leprechauns and so on, who in many cases were also coming from the sky and were doing very similar things." Of course this became folklore, and the question I raised was, are we being faced with the same kind of folklore with modern UFOs? Could there be a real phenomenon underneath all of this that has not been recognized? Whether or not it's extraterrestrial is a different question. Of course, it could be. It's a big universe out there. Many astronomers -- including myself -- strongly believe that there is life throughout the cosmos.
But we still need to know the characteristics of the phenomenon. And thanks to the Internet, now we have the means to look at vast collections of records, from newspapers and books, from museum collections. Chris Aubeck is an Englishman living in Madrid who is very much a scholar of history and languages, and he contacted me about doing this research together. So we merged our databases. He had assembled a remarkable network of people in Russia, Germany, Latin America, the U.S. and so on who were interested in the same kind of research. We started tracking down every case, trying to find original references. It took six years. Nobody got paid. It's very much a labor of love. I think all of us fell in love with the material, it's so rich and so interesting.
Q: How does one approach a study of this sort of thing? The scientific study of these observations, and the assessment of it, is so fraught with difficulty. Some people might say there's a high "giggle factor."
A: We went beyond the giggle factor. Today there are pilots and military people willing to talk openly about what they've seen. The records of many countries have been made available. You know, I'm a member of the expert committee for the aerial phenomena study group of the French equivalent of NASA, CNES. It has been working on this phenomenon officially since 1975 and has a database. I built one of the early databases of sightings. My background is in computer science, so I started looking for patterns. Of course we all know that 90 percent of the reports are explainable, as illusions or airplanes, or meteors or atmospheric phenomena. The second part of our book is all about the cases that we have excluded, and why we did. But you're left with a significant number -- dozens of thousands of cases -- all unexplained. Not only are they unexplained, but they're also very well documented, well enough that scientists can begin to look for patterns in the phenomenon.
That's what I've been doing. That's what my earlier books were about. I've been doing that with a small group of scientists from other parts of the world who are very interested in this phenomenon. Again, I have no firm conclusion, but this certainly behaves like a technology that's very much in the science of our own. I'm interested in the physics of this. There are radar records, visual observations, electromagnetic observations, so there is quite a bit of material that one can begin to work with.
Q: I suppose the fact that these sightings in the sky, at least the small percentage that are unexplained, could be taken as evidence that there are entities that have been around here for a long time. It's not as if someone just showed up in 1947 and said, "We're going to save humanity from themselves." It could suggest that alien visitors have been here for a long time, but there could be other explanations. For example, it could say something about how our mind works ... that this is a purely psychological or mental phenomenon.
A: It's not simply a psychological phenomenon. Many of the cases, both ancient and modern, involve a number of trained people -- sometimes the entire crew of an aircraft. ... There is a database of over 500 reports by pilots in the first person. This is not hearsay, this is not a case of "my nephew told me there was something that a pilot saw." This is first person, and official reports by pilots which in many cases involved near-collisions. So this is serious business, and everybody knows it.
There is a reaction of ridicule simply because we don't know what it is. The tendency is to laugh, and it's probably a healthy tendency. It's a psychological reaction to protect ourselves from things we don't understand. Many of the reports in our book came from professional scientists in the 18th and 19th centuries. Two directors of the Paris Observatory. People who have left their name in the history of science, like Lagrange and Messier. These are not casual observers. These are serious men.
Q: This subject sometimes leads people to say that the government must know more than it's telling, and that there's some kind of global conspiracy going on. I think you've resisted that pull to point to conspiracies. But if it seems as if there's credible evidence, how do you avoid falling into that way of thinking?
A: You know, there is a great difference between having a lot of data and having an explanation for something. For example, we have a lot of data about people dying of cancer every day. We have samples, we have X-rays, we have everything about what happened to them. And we've been applying high technology to this problem for 50 years. But we still don't know how to cure cancer. So there's a big difference between saying "the government must have a lot of data" and saying "the government knows what this is."
Tarcher / Penguin
"Wonders in the Sky" chronicles 500 cases of unexplained aerial objects.
The place where I end up is, parts of the government must have a lot of data that should be turned over to the scientific community. What are they afraid of? The way to approach this is to turn over any data to the scientists, and they can compete to try to explain it. That's the way modern software is created. That's the way the Internet was built. I know that from my professional history. As you know, I was involved in ARPANET as a principal investigator. You do it with small teams, working on a competitive basis for two or three years, and that's how you do science. What's wrong with that?
We know there is data. All of us who have investigated this have spoken to pilots and radar operators who said that after a sighting, a couple of people in blue jeans showed up with some identification from somewhere and confiscated the tapes or the film, and they took it somewhere and no one ever saw it again. There's enough of that now that we know that data went somewhere.
You know how the government works: They accumulate things they never do anything with. I'd certainly love to see that data, and many of my colleagues would love to see it. To that extent, I think there should be more openness, especially from the military. They can strip out anything that's confidential or classified. If it's data that came from a special kind of radar, we don't need to know what type of radar. We should just see what the phenomenon was and go on from there. To that extent, I agree with people who say there should be disclosure. I have no evidence to tell me that the government has a solution to this, but I could be wrong. The government doesn't tell me what it does.
Q: You've worked in this field for decades now. How does it make you feel? Do you feel fearful? For a lot of people, this can get to be scary stuff.
A: Well, first of all, I'm certainly not frustrated. We're making a lot of progress, and this book is an example. We think this is only the beginning. This book will stimulate scholars in other countries to start looking at their records. That's exciting.
We've worked for a long time, and we don't have an answer -- but that's the way it works in science. I've worked at the University of Texas on the structure of galaxies, and we still don't know the structure of galaxies. We are puzzled by dark matter and all those things. There are very few sciences where you have definite answers in your lifetime. You can work on cancer research for decades and see only a marginal improvement in rates of success.
Personally, I've nver been afraid of the phenomenon. I'm occasionally awed by it. One thing that kept us going through the six years of the book project was that the material was so amazing. Here you have Michelangelo observing a triangle in the sky. You have Cassini observing something in the sky, and not publishing anything about it until he saw it a second time, some years later. You're touching upon not only the history of science, but also the history of culture.
Q: If there was anything you could change about the way anomalous phenomena are reported in the media, what would it be? What would be your prescription?
A: If you go out in the streets of Seattle tonight and see something in the sky, where would you report it? If you call the Air Force, they will say, "We're no longer entrusted with this." If you call an observatory, they will laugh at you. If you call the police, they will say, "We've got more important crimes to go after." You have no place to go. So you might call the newspaper, and the newspaper will write a somewhat tongue-in-cheek article about somebody who maybe had a little bit too much to drink. And that's the end of that. You'll never report anything anymore after that.
Why not have a series of small scientific projects with a well-advertised reporting number, where people can be taken seriously? Again, most of those reports will be explained very quickly. People do misunderstand Venus for a spacecraft, they do misinterpret the moon rising through a layer of fog as a flying saucer. Most of these witnesses are really genuinely looking for an ordinary explanation, and if you give it to them, they will be happy. But once in a while you have something that does not have the usual explanation, and then you have to do research.
So I would set up four or five small projects around the country, just looking into this with no preconceived notions, not saying that this is an invasion by E.T. or anything like that. Potentially this is a very important phenomenon.
Jacques Vallee's top-ten list of pre-20th-century unexplained aerial objects:
- July 7, 1015: Objects emerge from "mother stars" over Kyoto, Japan.
- Oct. 2, 1235: Stars are seen circling over Japan. Astrologers say "it is only the wind making the stars sway."
- June 3, 1277: Chinese poet Liu Ying immortalizes flying-saucer sighting in a poem titled "Event Seen at Dawn."
- Nov. 1, 1461: The legal adviser to Philip III, duke of Burgundy, describes a bright object that spirals upward, spins around, rolls over "like a loose watch" and disappears.
- 1513: Michelangelo observes a triangular light with three tails of different colors. He even paints a picture of it, but the painting has not survived.
- March 1638: Puritan settler James Everell and two companions report seeing a bright object appearing in the sky above Massachusetts' Muddy River ... and experiencing the "missing time" phenomenon.
- Sept. 14, 1641: An Armenian chronicler describes the appearance of a light that "revolved like a wheel" in the sky and moved away.
- Jan. 25, 1672: While serving as the director of the Paris Observatory, astronomer Giovanni Cassini spots an object he takes to be a moon of Venus. He announces the discovery after seeing the object again in 1686. But no such moon exists. (The hypothetical moon, which came to be known as Neith, was reported by other astronomers as well. Scientists have speculated that the object was actually an optical illusion or a nearby star.)
- Sept. 7, 1820: Astronomer Francois Arago, director of the Paris Observatory, watches a formation of unknown objects making turns with "military precision" during a lunar eclipse.
- June 18, 1845: Crewmates on the British brig Victoria report seeing "three luminous bodies" rise from the sea between Malta and Turkey.
More on UFOs and aliens:
- UFOs explained, from N.Y. to Texas
- UFOs in China? The tales keep on coming
- Share your UFO stories
- UFO book based on questionable foundation
- Skeptic misses the point behind UFO book
- UFO cases that still generate buzz
- What to do if we find extraterrestrial life
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," Alan's book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Leave a Comment:
The panspermia theory was first proposed five centuries BC. Francis Crick, who discovered DNA, considered directed panspermia, or alien seeding of the Earth and two-time Nobel winner Linus Pauling laid out a plan for an extensive study of UFOs which included alien seeding and ancient alien visitation
http://ufopartisan.blogspot.com/2009/10/linus-pauling-two-time-nobel-winners.html
Linus Pauling also believed in megadoses of Vitamin C and that has been shown time and again to be useless whether you believe it or not.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/12154.php
Wrong . . . . .
Ascorbic acid induces apoptosis in acute myeloid leukemia cells via hydrogen peroxide-mediated mechanisms
The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology
Volume 36, Issue 11, November 2004, Pages 2180-2195
http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/cgi/content/abstract/98/3/805
Blood, 1 August 2001, Vol. 98, No. 3, pp. 805-813
Conclusions: High-dose i.v. ascorbic acid(Vitamin C)was well tolerated but failed to demonstrate anticancer activity when administered to patients with previously treated advanced malignancies. The promise of this approach may lie in combination with cytotoxic or other redox-active molecules.
You're Wrong.....
That's your source? hahahaha
They find Vitamin C doesn't cure advanced malignancies, but shows promise when combined with other options . . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-7XsMS4wEA
There is no doubt in my mind that they have been observing us for quite some time. I don't know who they are, aliens, humans, who knows...but they're there.
Mr Boyle, you really surprised me with this great article. I guess there is hope for you after all. One day people will look back on these articles and everything else studying how it all unfolded. Might be a good idea to look like one of the smart guys of the day. Know what I mean? The edited transcript was actually very insightful! I like this part "We went beyond the giggle factor. Today there are pilots and military people willing to talk openly about what they've seen." Exactly, people are seeing something as real as you and I. One should imagine, imaginary objects don't have radar returns and there is no need in dodging them, right? I'm certain if Mr Valle was pinned to the wall he would tell you that everything points to an alien presence. There is really is no doubt. Look... when these craft manifest themselves in our environment they are nothing but alien. I see a lot of serious, grounded researchers now taking a step back and trying to make the argument... "What else can they be, well nothing..."
First former CIA director on the subject in 1960 "It is time for the truth to be brought out in open Congressional hearings. Behind the scenes, high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about the UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense. To hide the facts, the Air Force has silenced its personnel." That was 50 years ago... The argument against UFOs is actually a false ideology, that alien UFOs don't exist because they can't. The argument based around our technology and understanding in its infancy. Things change, paradigms shift and reality changes to actually reality. So now there are those of us who are waiting. Hopefully, not much longer.
The U.S. Government most likely knows what we know about UFOs, not much. It makes sense to never acknowledge a ufo, if you can't identify a potential threat. In the case, it's not from outer space at all. Also we can't escape the fact that there are great stories, but no concrete evidence. Finally, there would be more whistle blowers, a lot more than the current crop. The distances are too vast, to send ships on a day trip. However, an alien race could potentially send a mechanical device, even if it took millions of years. Bio-mechanics is the ultimate invention and life already figured it all out.
I can't help but feel like you are being incredible short-sighted in analyzing this phenomena. You would be absolutely correct in saying that the distances are too great for a day trip if you continue to make an unreasonable assumption that the technology used is similar to that which we use. Let me give you an example... Chimpanzees have a genetic structure nearly identical to our own. They use tools like hammers for breaking things and sticks for retrieving ants from their nests. We have similar tools for similar tasks although ours are FAR more advanced, but we don't stop there. We also have telephones, computers, planes, monolithic skyscrapers, and countless other items that chimpanzees would NEVER be able to develop on their own. Why is it then unreasonable to think there could be another species, possibly similar to ours, possibly not, that could develop technologies and tools so far beyond the scope of what we are currently capable of making. Do you really think the Benjamin Franklin would have believed that the Large Hadron Collider was possible? Of course not, and that's only over a span of a couple hundred years. What if there is another species that's been evolving for many millions of years longer than us?
just as a point of opinion I personally think that Ben Franklin would be intrigued by the LHC. I think if it were explained to him he could wrap his mind around it, I think he would be able to grasp these kinds of things pretty readily. If I can pick most of it up without a college education (I went to art college) then I figure Ben Franklin would understand it even better than I. I just tend to hold Franklin in high regard and I wouldn't put it past him to be able to understand this stuff. But did he have the knowledge at the time? No. So I agree with JK. There are "aliens". What ever they are and however they look, I don't need to see them or evidence of them to personally believe they exist. And it's not difficult to imagine ways that they could make a day trip to Earth. You just have to believe it's possible. Stop putting limitations on what's possible. If history is any guide then what we think we "know" today will be proven child's play tomorrow. Theoretical physics is a big deal, but in a hundred years (assuming humanity hasn't killed itself yet) we will be leaps and bounds further in our understanding of the natural universe.
The evidence is absolutely insurmountable that there has been an organized cover up. Some people writing in these comments are ridicules for trying to use science as an argument against visitations. Example. There is report of 4 military men at a nuclear site seeing a craft of unknown origin land. The craft was touched, one officer drew a picture of a few unknown symbols on side of the craft. (That appear to be mathematical symbols) This craft shot a "laser beam" into the weapons storage areas, separated into 3 different objects that accelerated away at a high rate of speed...One of the most well known skeptics who investigated the case argument. "These men are not lying, but they mistook a lighthouse for this craft" The same lighthouse these men have been looking at for years! I ask you, since when did science become so dumb? This quote below is from the first former CIA director. We are well beyond the point its more probably that visitations are accruing then everyone is actually lying!
First former CIA director Roscoe Hillenkoetter on the subject in 1960 "It is time for the truth to be brought out in open Congressional hearings. Behind the scenes, high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about the UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense. To hide the facts, the Air Force has silenced its personnel." That was 50 years ago... The argument against UFOs is actually a false ideology, that alien UFOs don't exist because they can't. The argument based around our technology and understanding in its infancy. Things change, paradigms shift and reality changes to actually reality.
@mob: I agree with you about Franklin! I certainly believe that if he were presented with the information in a proper manner and given a certain amount of time to digest it, he would be intrigued and even invigorated by it. It seems that you understood my point but just to be clear, my point was not that he couldn't comprehend the purpose and function of the LHC if presented with it, rather that he never would have been able to develop the technology (or even the idea) because there was too large a gap in understanding of atomic structure to conceive of it at that time.
From where comes this urge of mankind to travel the stars? Some believe mankind has not been genetically manipulated over time, yet mankind is now at the very beginning of genetic manipulation for its own benefit. Just where will this eventually lead? It seems to me that fear of such science is only a temporary condition, as nothing will stop mankind from the course our alien benefcators have placed us on. Fear will not stop curiosity regardless of how many manmade "gods" are created to try and do so.
You are correct Kronos. Simply look at what futurist's like Ray Kurzweil are talking about. For medical purposes alone we will see a meshing of biological and mechanical features. Just take the artificial heart for example. People will keep trying to extend their lives as long as possible and while some hold that mechanical means of accomplishing that goal are "unnatural" and "wrong", it won't stop the progress. The next century will see some very amazing technological advances. I just hope we can survive along side those advances.
Humanity is starting to learn the truth that the governments and religions have been trying to cover up for centuries. Humanity was created by ancient astronauts but thats not all the reason why they try to cover this up is humanity has the ability to have powers through meditation that are way beyond what most people dream possible, and are a major threat to the rulers and those who want to keep us enslaved. Our original gods want for humanity to be free and happy and have these powers. See http://www.joyofsatan.com
Yes, and they carefuly seeded the 100,000-year old beds with false skeletons made to resemble the pre-hominoids that we believe to be our ancestors. Devious, devious.
Wow. how you can openly admit to satanic worship, and still be confused about what these "aliens" really are... I'm waiting for the day when the Nephillim return, and the saints raise up against the army of the prince of the air. Unfortunately alot of people will be fooled; the Lord will allow his plan to be fullfilled at that time.
"T H E Y come from a far country, from the E N D O F H E A V E N, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land (world)".
(Isaiah 13:5)
"Rejoice not thou whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the
serpent's root (Satan) shall come forth a viper (Antichrist), and his fruit shall be a FIERY FLYING SERPENT". (Isaiah 14:29)
"But as the day's of Noah were,so S H A L L A L S O the coming of the Son of man be".
(Matthew 24:37)
The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them: the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown. (Genesis 6)
What?
Nice bible quotes! (I mean that sincerely). There are some very strange sections of the old testament that, apparently, have their roots in ancient Sumeria (the site of the oldest known artifacts of civilization- that is, writing, laws, etc. as opposed to neolithic and "cave man" artifacts). If anyone is interested in reading a free book on the subject of ancient astronauts, specifically in regard to near east and biblical historical documents, check out this e-rendered version of a book called "The Stairway to Heaven."
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sitchin/stairway_heaven/stairway.htm#Contents
It's an older book, published in 1980 if I remember, so some of the more recent discoveries of Sumerian artifacts and writing are not included, but it has some excellent source material for hieroglyphics and artwork depicting what appear to spacecraft and astronauts. I especially liked the chapter on the ruins at Baalbek. There, in Lebanon, a mount has been consistently occupied for religious purposes since the Mesopotamian era. The current ruins, Roman temples to Jupiter and Bacchus, are built atop ruins that were once temples to Mesopotamian gods, and underneath THOSE ruins are massive (and I mean MASSIVE) stones from an even older temple. Those stones, of which some are estimated to weigh over 2000 tons (we don't have any kind of mechanical device that can move these stones even today!), are layered ON TOP of smaller stones building a structure that modern archeologists are still at a loss to explain. The author of the above link suggests that this was some kind of ancient spaceport and that inside (i.e. underneath) the giant stone blocks are remnants of some kind of command structure to aid the flights to and from the "landing place."
Strange stuff, all told. I find the presence of megalithic architecture across the earth to be a fascinating study subject, rants of crazies on-line aside. If anyone's interested, check out the ruins at Baalbek, Puma Puncu, Egyptian temples and pyramids (of course), Pyramids in South America (Mayan and Aztec, plus Machu Pichu--not a pyramid, but amazing nonetheless), and there are some suspected ruins under the sea between England and Ireland, in the carribean and off the coast of Japan.
Now, we can all make one of two assumptions: either that aliens helped us, or created themselves, these megalithic structures or, alternatively, that we created them and forgot how to do so. Either case is phenomenal. On one hand, alien artifacts are present in our own backyard. On the other hand, our ancient ancestors were capable of creating incredible architectural and artistic creations that have lasted unto this day and boggle the minds of the experts studying them!
Remember always, read everything with a grain of salt and don't believe everything you hear-- but don't close your mind to what's possible either... the universe is big enough for all.
Oh wow, Nephilim hunter needs to take that superstitious mumbo jumbo to the tea party blogs where it will almost certainly be embraced with open tentacles. But, since it's here, I'll say this- metaphorically speaking, the bible is an interesting book. But, as far as having any relevance to whether or not we have alien visitors- LOL. And you should be ashamed of yourself for forcing me to resort to that overused acronym, as I find nothing amusing in the reality of the subject at hand.
These phenomenon are real. I've seen it with my own eyes. Along with friends and family members. Most will not speak to anyone about what they've seen because they're afraid of ridicule. I've had family members throughout the past who have witnessed these objects. I'm talking up close and personal as was the same with my encounters. These were unmistakable, unconventional (as for what we're told are conventional) aircraft/objects.
I find it disheartening when people say it's not possible or call people crazy. We need to stop putting limitations on our current understandings. Instead, we should ponder the possibility that maybe these phenomenon really are occurring and maybe they could be of extraterrestrial origin.
People say there is not any hard evidence. Has anyone who makes these claims done any solid research? There's a plethora of evidence. For instance, look at ancient civilizations. Look at paintings throughout history. Especially, paintings that depict the time of Christ. Look into the hundreds of former military personnel testimonials. I'm talking Army, Navy, Airforce, etc. Including all levels of ranks in the military. Not only the U.S. military, but military installations all over the world. There are also pilots, air traffic controllers, and police officers that have claimed witness. Look at all the released UFO documents. There is not only testimonial evidence, but physical evidence of materials that were determined weren't of terrestrial origin by scientists. There are thousands of videos of these objects on the internet. Not saying all are real, but could they really all be hoaxed? I could go on and on. I'm sorry, I do not have a space ship to show.
Think about it, though. Who are we to think that they traveled across the Universe by simply flying? There may be other means of traveling across vast distances in a short time span without actually flying. There's tons of information on these subjects, also.
As we continue to put limitations on our current understandings, how will we ever progress? How will we ever make revolutionary discoveries that could change and help develop mankind? Lets stop discounting what people claim and begin to listen. There are too many people who've attested to these claims. Just think of how many that haven't because they're afraid of ridicule.
Respectfully,
B
Excellent comment!
Stop putting limitations on your understanding people, stop saying "it's impossible"!
I agree mob. In fact, I'll go one step further and say that the ONLY impossibility is that anything is impossible. All things are possible when knowledge advances accompanied by an open mind.
There are more things between heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your wildest philosophy - Hamlet
I do surely believe in UFOs. I have personally seen three. However I wonder if these objects originate from another dimension or one of multiple universes instead of another planetary system within our galaxy.
Because the UFOs are of unknown origin and apparently from many different sources of origin, it could be possible that some could be from alternate realities, alternate dimensions and from planets around stars in our own universe, who knows until they tell us from where they are. To say they are from anywhere without knowing is anyone's guess, but to say they are not real is totally wrong.
Are you kidding me?
This is science? Shame for helping spread this Erich Von Daniken crap. The already science illiterate American public gets just a little dumber.
You're sure proof of dumber, sir
For us to assume we are the only beings in our universe is arrogant and unrealistic.
Poignant post. If I may, I would also claim "narcissistic".
agreed !
I've seen objects in the sky that I can't explain as well...
I try to stop short of trying to explain them myself... but what would you call this:
An August afternoon south-east of York, PA you are looking south and see what appear to be two military jets (by their size, speed, and formation flying) coming towards you and appear to be chasing a metalic object with blinking lights (that are not in the standard red/white/green pattern) the object then suddenly turns east-south-east (towards the Atlantic) and accelerates away leaving the jets in the proverbial dust which then both turn (in formation) to their right and head back south towards Maryland ?!?!?
Sounds like a "UFO" to me. It could be aliens. who knows.
I do just want to remind everyone that the military has a crazy big budget and they DO try and invent the craziest new technologies that we can think of. There is documented evidence out there that the military wants to develop all kinds of configurations of UFO. Even if these are alien craft the military does want to copy what we are seeing in the sky. I have seen quite a few triangle, metal, silent craft in the sky with all the tell tale flight patterns of UFO's. They zig and zag and come to complete stops and go flying off at unimaginable speeds that all seem to be physically impossible under current scientific standards. But I live near a major air force base on the west coast. The military has craft in our skies here all the time. It's not hard to imagine that they have top secret experimental craft here as well.
For Jim's example it could be a military escort for some reason doing odd things. It doesn't make any sense that they would be escorting it in that direction if the goal was to zoom off toward the ocean, but trying to put my logic toward understanding the military is generally a fruitless task. I do believe the military has technology that is way beyond most people's wildest dreams. I do believe aliens visit our planet. I don't think it's an either or. Hell, the "aliens" could be working with the governments of our world. Nothing is impossible.
I saw Bigfoot once. Made a sound I wouldn't want to hear twice.
what is that quote from.. is that from Close encounters?
Got it Right On mob_barley, How ya been lately. See my other, more serious post on page 2. Peace.
I've been well. Still waiting for a really great article to talk about with all the cool people on the vine. Don't get me wrong I'll comment on almost every article in the space section but the really truly great articles don't come along all that often, at least not as often as I'd like. But the space shuttle launch is next week so that'll be fun. And there is always some socialist that thinks everything is a waste of money that I can argue with so that keeps me busy when I should be working. lol
I'm always left with one nagging question, motive. The actions and objects sighted, if "manned", obviously possess technologies far beyond wht we do today. Yet even with these magnificent tools, they cannot seem to find the smarts to make themselves unknown, as it were. They cannot simply turn off the colored lights, they cannot render themselves invisible. They can possibly traverse time and space, but haven't mastered the technology to detect human observers within sighting distance.
Seems that any being advanced enough to observe our planet "in the wild" would also respect the concept of observational concealment so as not to influence the natural actions of the species under investigation. To see how we react? They would seem advanced enough to deduce, or even detect, what our reactive capabilities are.
I've heard a lot of explanations, but none have addressed motive to any degree.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about that same question since my encounter (above). We can't possibly know what they are thinking or what their motives are, however, if it was me I wouldn't want to upset the natives and contaminate my observations of them with my presence.
Which leaves me to consider some possibilities: Take, for example our interactions with animals on our own planet: Some are by trained professionals attempting to study and understand, others are by well-meaning, but untrained, amatures, some are accidental encounters by tourists, and others are by poachers...
Fred/Jim,
There is a really interesting and well written sci-fi series, dang I wish I could remember the name or the author, sorry, I'm old an forget things. But I digress.
This is set in the future (of course) about 500 years out and humans have reached for the stars and have colonized several where major cities and civilizations are built. Old Earth is over-crowded and polluted and pretty much a lost cause. The new colonies are doing better about resource management etc.
They have been searching for alien life and have found evidence of past civilizations but no living creatures EXCEPT another remarkably earthlike planet that has a nearly HUMAN population. This planet is in it's equivalent of it's 19th Industrial age and is also locked in a world wide war. They do not have space travel but apparently do possess some kind of broadcast capability which the starfarers can listen to.
The space travelers have constructed a "blind" and are observing this world. They have not revealed themselves (and here's the point) they occasionally send folks to the surface for close observations and sometimes these folks screw up and get seen, either on the ground or coming and going. This causes an immediate sensation in the press and they monitor the broadcasts while these earthlike human/aliens speculate on the UFO and the "visitors" from space and others poo-poo it as swamp gas, planets, hoaxes etc.
This is really just a brief and often mentioned side-bar to the main plot of these novels but is is mentioned several times and I think it offers an interesting theory as to what we may be experiencing.
Just a thought. It's a good series. DARN I wish I could remember the author or the title of one of the books.
Oh, I think the motive is pretty simple: Alien teenagers taking their mom's spaceship out for a joyride to engage in their own intergalactic version of "cow-tipping". At least, that's the only thing I've been able to come up with that makes sense :P
Don't forget that this may well be an alien species with an alien mind full of alien concepts. Trying to put a human motive on them may prove futile. Maybe they just don't care if we see them. Maybe every ship that we spot is from a different alien planet or culture or civilization. Maybe they want us to see them but not identify them clearly. maybe the want to be identified. I've heard plenty of "abduction" reports where the individual states that the aliens can "read our minds" and that they prefer people with a clear conscience and a peaceful frame of mind. Maybe they are being sighted and someone had a "bad thought". Who knows, it could be as simple as that.
The point is, without actually talking to an alien what use is wondering about the motives? Is it necessary to have "believable" motives to believe they are real or that they are visiting our planet. If they are truly some alien species what is it about us that makes it necessary to "humanify" (for lack of a better term) their actions?
Maybe they just enjoy screwing with the dumb Earth people. ya never know.
Why would they care if they were seen or not? Do you care if ants see you when you walk past an ant hill? Obviously if they did not want us to see them, we would not see them, but if they don't care if we see them, then it is possible we do see them. They are probably in some instances so far advanced to us that they are comparable to comparing ourselves evolutionarily to ants.
Maybe because they aren't so concerned about being noticed. If they are so advanced then they are well aware of the multitude of doubters and the advancement of our own technology that they have nothing to fear.
If your MOTIVE is to make eventual contact with a bunch of ignorant, heavily armed savages: a) you want to be noticed from time to time, and: b) you must do it slowly, over time, to decrease the # of ignorant, heavily armed savages whose heads would explode if the contact occurred suddenly.
Gosh, wouldn't it be neato to see the head explosion scenario played out. Do you think there heads would literally explode? would that be because in order to prove to everyone that aliens do indeed exist they would need to beam their communication directly to every human brain on the planet at once? that would be cool. I bet I could take it without my head exploding.
;-P
seriously though that would be awesome.
What if they regard us as having no significance. Because of our simple technology, we matter not. They can do whatever they want to us and we can't touch them. Spend a weekend and hang out with the stupid earthlings, they are so dumb they are killing their planet and don't even care..
There's an excellent book on the topic of where did the UFO phenomenon come from. Des Hommes, des dieux et des extraterrestres. Ethnologie d'une croyance moderne by Wiktor Stoczkowski. I think it wasn't translated to English but though I'm sure there're lots of books by English authors that cover the subject.
Most people do not know "The Truth", and part of the reason for that is many of them really don't want to know the truth, because it would potentially overthrow their self centered religious faiths, particularly those ET installed terminal religious belief systems known as the Abrahamic religions, which deceive people into believing that they already know the ultimate truth. But we also have our governments to blame for this lack of knowledge, too. They seem to be afraid of people actually knowing "The Truth", perhaps because they are afraid of appearing impotent in the face of this truth. The truth is we live on some of the most valuable celestial real estate in the entire Milky Way galaxy, and a number of regional galactic conflicts have already been fought over the future control of this planet and solar system. Some of our ancestors were privy to these conflicts, since some of them were apparently were carried out very close to our Earth. There are offensive totalitarian ETs who are currently in eminent domain control of our sector of the Milky Way galaxy, who have covertly conspired to one day use their eminent domain rights of military intervention to move in on our extremely valuable celestial real estate and take it over, with the intention of one day completely taking it away. I personally found out about this long range conspiracy of territorial conquest while living at Wright Patterson Air Force base from 1951 to 1953. These same ETs overflew Washington DC for several weeks in 1952, in order to demand the return of the Roswell crash remains. These ETs were reconning our post WWII nuclear facilities in the southwestern United States, as part of a baseline study into our emerging WMD capability. They were very interested in this developing WMD capability, because they had been secretly trying to encourage this development as part of their "End Time" program conspiracy against mankind, which in turn involves the ET installed terminal religious belief systems known as the Abrahamic religions. These corrupt religions are all components of a large ET designed PWMD, or Program Weapon of Mass Destruction, which in turn is designed to crash and explode our emerging human world in a final programmed cataclysm of global war fueled with WMDs, known as the Christian Apocalypse or World War III. Our human world has actually been under growing covert biocybernetic warfare attack for thousands of years already, primarily in the form of these "End Time" terminal religious belief systems known as the Abrahamic religions. These ETs are taking this covert approach at territorial conquest in our Milky Way galaxy, because there are Free Galaxy powers which reside elsewhere in our Milky Way galaxy, who currently stand in the way of overt military conquest on a stellar level. Mankind potentially has millions (if not billions) of years of growth, development and expansion ahead of them, so long as they don't fall for these "End Time" religious belief systems. Please know ahead of time, everyone, that if this ET installed PWMD eventually goes off in an "End Time" way, it will actually be outside offensive totalitarian ETs "coming in the clouds" militarily, while once more masquerading as Divinity toward mankind, this time as the returning Christ or Messiah. - Rick Carter
If you were to tone-down the religious rhetoric a little, what you just described would either be the story-line of a book series that I would love to read, or insight into the greatest coverup the world has ever known.
My response to that whole idea: Either the governments of our world are under the bad guys control or there are no bad guys. If our government was NOT under their control and they DID exist then it would make perfect sense to align humanity under a common threat and work to fight them. But I agree that this all would make a wonderful book. ;-P
If I was in charge of project "Blue Beam" This is exactly the kind of misinformation I would want planted in the media.
Outstanding.
Unfortunately, sounds like we're the underdog even if we don't fall for the ploy.
I mean, we only have one guy who even understands what's going on and he's relegated to writing on Newsvine rather than formulating humanity's counter-attack.
You're right. There are people that are relating incidences in the Bible and what is happening today as "History Repeating Itself"
They've explained the Mary and the Virgin Birth being an example of artificial insemination and even found ancient paintings depicting such.
They've found ancient civilizations that have remains of what could only be a ground zero for nuclear explosions and the explanation for Sodom and Gommorah destruction.
Chariots of Fire and anceint pictures of piloted craft with fire emitted from behind them.
They explain that it would be impossible for Noah to be able to house all the animals in two on a boat, however he could house the DNA of all the animals and the the Ark was a DNA bank.
The Earth and all its fossiils and prehistoric activity for billions of years taking place and our own history here on Earth might just be only 6000 years because we are the alien life forms introduced to this world to colonize it and the UFO's might be from our parent planet checking on how far their colonies have progressed.
I believe in the Abrahamic religions, and the other prominent religions of earth. But the Founder of my religion wrote in the 1860's "that every fix star has it's planets and that every planet has it life, the amount of which no mind can compute". Therefor I believe that the universe is full to the brim with life.
LAHT, would that be 7th day Adventist?
Why are the crackpot looking for attention always start to mutter something if they see in the sky, start screaming UFO or find something they dont understand and start screaming UFO!
Wouldnt you think if UFO or alien exisited since the pharoah times, they would have made themselves known already, stop wasting resources, time and money. on stupid silly thing like this, seriously now.
Article like this only fuel a fire that should have died a long time ago. we are here alone, in this universe.
If there were aliens they would have takened us over long time ago, regardless. as human we are mindless little creature on a planet that has no direction. we fight over money and materialistic needs. so many god to worship its not even laughable. when we should be taking care of each other we are destorying each other. a sad sad sad world, to have to look up to the sky and hope something will come down and save us. when we should be looking in our own backyard.
Unidentified Flying Object does not mean it's from outer space... it means it's unidentified.
Why should they make themselves known? As a species we're still far too young to accept the existence of another sentient race besides ourselves. Most of the people on our planet still believe that a supreme being created them! If they made themselves known to us there would be panic on a global scale that we might not recover from. If ETs exist and they have not made themselves known then they know we couldn't handle it yet.
If we are alone in the universe then the universe is an incredible waste of space.
While I think you do raise important points a statement such as "we are here alone, in this universe." is ridiculous.
Scientific discoveries are made because of the inert human curiosity. If everyone in Europe just said "there is no more world to explore, this is it" then the "New World" would never have been discovered (which may have been good for the native Americans but thats a different argument). The point is you cant prove that we are alone in the universe and like it or not the human curiosity and imagination is one of our greatest drives as a species so we will always continue to push the boundaries.
I know for most it comes down to the show me factor but to think we are alone in this universe is pretty closed minded. You can believe that aliens have never visitede us and to still think there is no life out there seems to me to be impossible. The law of average alone crushes that theory.
I think people could handle the knowledge of ET's existence. I find it infuriating that that excuse still comes up. Sure, some people may not be able to handle it. Heck, some people will commit suicide if their is a comet in the sky hiding a UFO. Some people are idiots. They just are.
But by and large, I feel people could handle it.
Sloppyjoes, you are entitled to your own opinion, as am I and billions of other people on this planet. I believe you are wrong. Billions of other people believe you are wrong also.
mfritz0
Billions of people also believe in all manner of entirely illogical things for no earthly reason.
I don't necessarily agree with Sloppyjoes, but this argument, like all arugments that try to bully people into bandwagon thinking, is invalid.
I agree with you Mob, the idea that knowlegde of an extraterrestrial beings or being vistited by aliens is something that makes the Government Officials feel special about themselfs. Knowledge is power and as long as they keep things to themselves it make them feel like they are important and their arrogance brings them to believe they are more mature about information than the rest of us.
Quite frankly I think our Farmers are better equipped for dealing with extraterrestrial visitors than our idiotic politicians.
AND not one of us here or anywhere is fit to speak for "billions of us". Not one person on this planet is representative of the whole group (or even 1/6th of the whole group).
And no the leader of China does not represent all the people of China either. He may like to think so, but that's simply not the case. Just like Bush, Obama, Cheney, and Al Gore do NOT represent American's. We are all individual's no matter how much one trys to be band-wagoneer or anti-band-wagoneer.
I think the faithful would have a really hard time accepting the existence of aliens. Prophets/leaders would need to convincingly explain how they fit into their respective religious worldview, and fast.
Can you imagine "living every day for Jesus" for 50 years or knowing that your ancestors were persecuted for their beliefs (or that your son killed himself to advance your faith), and then being presented with facts that cannot be reconciled with this belief? That would be too much for many to bear.
Sounds like the Nephilim described in the book of Genesis to me.
Rrrrrrriiiiggghhhhttt........
LOL oh yeah excellent comment. Let's all vote this comment up shall we. ;-P
I once thought that I saw a UFO. Turns out it was just a chicken. I love chicken.
Well I think its logical to argue that perhaps they dont know enough about us to know HOW to hide from us. They dont know enough about our biology, our visible light spectrum, the range in which we can hear, etc...perhaps they are using settings of their technology that work for them but not for us.
Just because they have mastered time and space would not mean they know everything about homo sapien biology
Indeed, who knows, they may have mastered the cloaking device in their wavelength spectrum and are baffled as to why we keep spotting them. They may even be really smart when it comes to space faring but just stupid when it comes to study of biology.
I think it's more along the lines that they know plenty about us to know they have nothing to fear from us but if they made contact, we'd try to capture them and probe and conduct experiments and disect them.
Interesting, well written article. I've read all of Jacques Vallee's books, ever since I checked Passport to Magonia out of the library back in 1970, and read it that night with my hair standing on end. (I was 12.) Since then, I've become an amateur astronomer and spent countless nights out stargazing, and so far, I've only seen one object I couldn't explain. It's easy to become confused and mistake things in the sky, I saw Betelgeuse one windy night...it seemed to be revolving and moving in the sky, causing me a few minutes of yelling OMG! Until I pulled out the trusty binoculars and realized what it was. And I still remember the night a few years ago when my daughter's friend called and told her that there was a HUGE UFO outside, moving back and forth. My daughter and I scrambled out of the house, only to see Venus hanging low in the western sky...I'm sure something has been here to our planet, but I'm not sure how often, and why after all these years they'd keep coming, unless our planet is a "Must-see" in the interplanetary sideshow due to the bizarre behavior our species indulges in.
The phenomena is REAL. UFOs are mentioned in the Bible as well. Ezekiel describes seeing "glowing metal wheels" in the sky and in these wheels are "creatures" with the face of man. Ezekiel goes on to describes the flight characteristics of the wheels. He says they move back and forth like flashes of lightening. Its a CLEAR description of a modern day UFO. The Bible also speaks of fallen angels coming to earth mating with human women creating a hybrid offspring called the Nephilim or Giants. In the book of Noah (part of the Book of Enoch), Angels are described as having skin and hair white as snow. Some modern day extraterrestrials are described as being tall with paper white skin and hair.
I think there are plenty of reasons the governments of the world would keep this secret. The technology alone is dangerous in the wrong hands. Introducing technology thousands of years ahead of us too quick would cause worldwide economic collapse. The oil industry would be affected the most. But the biggest reason for keeping this secret is religion. There may be a truth out there that underminds all our religious beliefs. It has been said by those who had top secret clearance that humans are a product of alien genetic manipulation. That certainly does not fit within the Adam and Eve creation story. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. People who had top positions in NASA and other government agencies have said there are ancient structures on the back side of the moon. Who built them? I don't know but they are there. I think that evidence alone is grounds to rewrite human history.
Very good statment TJ78, it would be nice if it was still there but if you are able to go to the old Navy Clementine satilite site and put the proper Long and Lat peramiters you will see one of those structures that by our understanding should not be there, (and it's big!). They have taken that off and upgraded to the latest version of the Clementine Search Engine where you will not find that structure anymore. Most likely due to the over abundance of youtube videos on the subject. But none the less it is there and I find it hard to believe that for any reason the navy would put a bogus image of a huge structure on the back side of the moon.
look at this.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6QNzH4x1rY
Don't you think they are "making themselves known" as we speak?
If the aliens are real and if people are seeing them, I don't think it's on purpose. My personal opinion is that the ones we are seeing are probably either having some kind of problem with their technology or maybe just 'pressed the wrong button', so to speak. I think there may be others who are the equivalent of our tourists and probably got off the authorized path, and even others who just want to spook the natives.
I don't think so. I think they are our origins and are subtly reminding us that they are there.
In looking at our DNA, we are the product of Aliens. Humans have three extra strands that can't be accounted for and due to the reptilian and mammalian brain, the book of Geniuses which creationist like to regurgitate, doesn't hold water. The only other explanation is that we are nothing more than a science experiment.
As for not seeing Aliens, look at this planet, we are the trailer-park of the universe - I wouldn't show myself either...