On the observations and observers
The difficulty of correctly identifying the strange aerial phenomena of unidentified flying objects, has always been the argument used by experts to discredit and even ridicule the observations produced by neophytes in the art.
Where a layman sees a blinding light at high speed, a degree in atmospheric sciences would be a spherical beam; where a civilian sees a strange flying machine, an engineer of the Air Force would see a free prototype; where a farmer sees a stiff cigar-shaped cloud, an expert meteorologist not see a tornado that touched down. And so it could go a long series of comparative dualities.
The conclusion is that specialists in science and technology, to an unknown aerial phenomenon, believe they must always have an answer, although it is not consistent with the observed reality and to the descriptions of the non-specialist observers, only apply the criterion that they, by not having appropriate knowledge, their observations should be automatically disqualified and void.
Since the beginning of the UFO phenomenon terminology was "unidentified flying object", which spread to all languages.
When the USAF issued a report known as the Final Report of the Project Sign in 1949, in which it stated that:
"Project Sign's final report, published in early 1949, while some UFOs stated that appeared to current aircraft represent were there not enough data to determine their origin.
However, prior to the end of this report, the Project Sign officially argued that were UFOs likely of extraterrestrial origin, and most of the project's personnel meat to please the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis."
Project Sign declared that: of the cases investigated is concluded that the observed objects respond to man-made features and the best explanation correspond to vehicles targeted by intelligent beings and would be alien craft.
So researchers from the serious to the irresponsible, they took that opportunity and took it as valid. Then he goes brewing was the "contactees" that ended up giving the coup de grace to the emerging "ufology" which could never be considered as incipient science, whatever it was, that would achieve discover.
From the Final Report of the Project Sign to public opinion, to speak of "unidentified flying object" or "alien craft" it was equivalent.
Since recent years to change that trend, governments around the world (such as commissions of the air forces of several countries), began using a different terminology: the "anomalous aerial phenomena".
Therefore, new results have been achieved in the sense that the concept of: unknown manmade objects, has been changed to: unknown natural phenomena.
Despite the above, it is undeniable that in the sky over all countries, continue to occur unexplained phenomena, and thus may be from natural disasters to alien ships. Everything is possible, depending on the perspective that you look and anyone who looks at it.
The decade of the '70s marked in the history of the UFO phenomenon the definitive establishment of the so-called "Extraterrestrial Hypothesis" in the UFO community it became an indisputable dogma and belief. Therefore the world public opinion taken as valid and also considered as final settlement of the enigmatic phenomenon. To that end this negative feedback came from ideas, with the appearance of scientific truth in the popular ideology, which led to the main ufologists worldwide to raise, which for them was a ...
Axiom, which read: "You should investigate the cases and no the witnesses."
During this decade there was the best or worst wave of UFO history, depending on your point of view, believer or skeptic, was called the "Wave of Humanoids". In the same proliferated dramatically since the repetitive cases, as copied, even the most bizarre; no one could put in doubt the statements of witnesses, because permanently and continuously applied the mentioned axiom, therefore witnesses or alleged witnesses of "strange and anomalous" cases could declare what they wanted or believed freely and researchers without hesitation accept their statements with complete credulity.
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Total Aerospace Control
During the 70s the target representing total control of air space and aerospace, in the most technologically advanced countries such as the USA, USSR, France and Britain, due to the progress obtained in very large scale integration of reached semiconductor pushed permanently to sciences such as electronics and computers. Therefore, the branches of electronics such as radar and satellite tracking and achieved complete mapping continuously and in real time what was happening in the airspace around the globe. Nothing from outer space could enter our atmosphere without being detected, which had been the technological deficit of the previous decades and the strongest argument used by the defenders of the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis. |
This decade was the auction of UFOlogy, it is believed the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis or was regarded as a heretic; the most prominent ufologists, those who wrote dozens of books, each of them, giving hundreds of lectures and appeared on thousands of mass media boosted him to the point that it became a great own business and were so skilled that they wanted and managed to confuse and mislead public opinion, showing themselves as "scientific" investigators because they appointed UFOlogy as science.
The mistake of regarding Ufology as a science, was from the premeditated principle led to the situation that it does not succeed and consider the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis as the only valid solution, eventually led to the loss of decades of useless research, logically from the scientific point of view, but incredibly lucrative.
The sensationalist journalistic diffusion of cases of flying saucers sighted as those of Lubbock and Tremonton, crashed as Roswell and Aztec; the cases of contactees such as Adamski and Menger, as well as the abductees Hill and Travis; they have generated a whole culture on the UFO subject, from the most intransigent beliefs in the extraterrestrials to the pseudoreligions.
The most important thing is that it is not about "Beliefs", but rather it is about "Sciences". For cases such as those, really are "stories", that UFOlogy never be a science, it's even become a pseudoscience because they became really in mythology.
Humanity throughout history has developed mythologies that were generated based on their beliefs, culture and society. Thus in the Ancient Age it was believed in the existence of the centaurs, sirens and gorgons; in the Middle Age of the elves, fairies and goblins; as in the Contemporary Age began to believe in the greys, nordics and reptilians. Each time of history has its mythologies, so in such a way in the "Future Age" will surely appear a new mythology composed of new mythological beings.
It was not for nothing scientific to dismiss out of hand all psychological hypotheses raised in the '50s and '60s, and even less with the implementation of the above mentioned axiom.
If it had considered both the Psychosociological Hypothesis and Extraterrestrial Hypothesis as the same level from the beginning, the story would have been different about investigation of the UFO phenomenon.
And if you doubt, to find the correct explanation, there is a whole set of assumptions available. This set would contain the following elements:
Extraterrestrial Hypothesis, Intraterrestrial Hypothesis, Underwater Hypothesis, Paranormal Hypothesis, Control System Hypothesis, Interdimensional Hypothesis, Intertemporal Hypothesis, Geophysical Hypothesis, Psychosociological Hypothesis, Militaristic Hypothesis, Parallel Universes Hypothesis, etc.
And besides, you can use the most convenient, though, these assumptions allowed be used in single or in combination, for the benefit of the researcher. Because when we talk about serious researchers should talk, actually, about impartial scientists and researchers.
The old fight between believers and skeptics just not is a scientific subject, because the scientists must be impartials and objectives; and study all hypothesis at the same level. But when a hypothesis as Extraterrestrial Hypothesis demostrates nothing, and have no proves, in seventy years, then it is time to take a step to others hypothesis, for example the Psycosociological Hypothesis, and the Militaristic Hypothesis also. This is accordingly to the last studies and investigations in such field that demostrate ninety per cent of sightings must be experimental aircrafts, secrets prototypes and spy planes.
In general, this is conclusive, the wide range of strange atmospheric phenomena, are not all unidentified flying objects; and in the same sense, the wide range of unidentified flying objects, not all objects are of extraterrestrial origin.
This is a most important concept, because the public the general public opinion, ie, believes the opposite. Since the beginning of the UFO phenomenon talk about flying saucers, UFOs and aliens seem to be the same.
In the end, surely if we investigate case by case conveniently without preconceptions and prejudices, some of these hypotheses and decide each case fully and finally.
The only requirement is applied, without omission inevitably, the Scientific Method.
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Hypotheses about UFOs
Copyright Dr. Willy Smith (1992)
In perhaps happier times, when all that were of interest in the UFO phenomenon we were friends, things were much simpler. What was then it debated the existence of flying saucers, and those who refused simply ignored gracefully "believers" friendly, but rarely attacking them verbally.
The hypothesis developed over the years have evolved from this situation with the difference that today dominate the passions, and the proponents of different ideas do not appear willing to open and rational debate. Instead of analyzing the casuistry, case selection is determined by the ideas that are believed correct, but rather to present arguments in favor of them, the authors focus on bitterly attacking the explanations of others.
The net result of all this is considerable confusion, and even those who are supposed to be knowledgeable sometimes betray their ignorance of what they write, revealing their personal preferences. The assumptions with which they disagree, do not exist.
The basic difficulties
Two problems have contaminated ufology since its inception, namely:
(1) The lack of a precise definition acceptable to all the UFO phenomenon. Numerous definitions of what are UFOs have been proposed by some researchers. and as expected, heavily criticized by everyone else.
Of course, to study any phenomenon is essential to properly define it, in order to collect a representative sample thereof.
In the case of UNICAT Project, the definition used is the one proposed by Dr. Hynek:
"A report of perception, in the sky or on the ground, an object or a light whose appearance, trajectory, dynamic behavior and luminous aspects not only not suggest conventional and logical explanation to the witnesses, but remains unidentified when technically qualified individuals examine all available information."
In a recent work, Dr. Vallée has pointed out one of the limitations of this definition that in principle postulates the existence of a technical group with the wisdom to separate the wheat (UFOs) straw (IFOs). Vallée seems to doubt that this group can exist, but if so, the review stresses the need to create, and does not invalidate the more precise definition we have.
(2) The second problem is the tendency of ufologists to make assumptions without studying the information, selecting the cases according to preconceptions. Reversing the order of the scientific process, the explanations are proposed first, and cases that are selected retrospectively favor. Perhaps this is because most people who are interested in the UFO phenomenon are dilettantes without scientific training. Interestingly, ufology is an activity in which, as in politics, no prior preparation is considered necessary.
This does not mean that academic credentials or degrees are a prerequisite for ufology pursue requirement. But it is undeniable that as a result of preparing a scientist acquires not only knowledge, but a mental attitude that prevails in their contacts with the surrounding environment. This is not unique to science, but applies to all professions: the police think like a cop 24 hours a day (in English, is "street wise"), and the lawyer or doctor analyze the facts according to professional experiences. This varnish acquire different professions it is something that can not be improvised, except of course in ufology.
Either way, the proponent of a hypothesis should explicitly establish the basis of it, indicating the casuistry used, and the rules that determine whether a case is included or not. As will be seen below, this is rarely enforced.
It is worth mentioning here the three classic aspects of the UFO phenomenon:
1) existence; 2) origin; 3) purpose.
These facets are independent, and must be elucidated in this order.
As we said Dr. Hynek: "the UFO phenomenon is characterized by the persistence of consistent reporting, the content and validity must be studied independently of the hypotheses about its origin, however, such has not historically been the case, and popular imagination, flying saucers still identify themselves as alien spacecraft".
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NOTE
The new scientific paradigm, resulting from the theories of the past decade, 2000 to 2010, refers to the existence of Parallel Universes, the Multiverse and Multidimensional Universes.
Theories adhere world-renowned scientists and leading exponents of Theoretical Physics and Cosmology, such as:
Brian Greene, Stephen Hawking, Max Tegmark, Lee Smolin, Steven Weinberg, Andrei Linde, Leonard Susskind, Alex Vilenkin, Aurélien Barreau, David Deutsch, Brian Cox, Michio Kaku, Hugh Everett and Edward Witten.
Theories are studied in prestigious international academic institutions, such as:
CERN, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Princeton University, Stanford University, Berkeley University, New York University, Caltech and MIT.