UFO Report

By now, many of you have read the reports released yesterday by the government under the Freedom of Information Act. These reports document UFO sightings since 1947, which is the date the federal government began to document these events. There are other reports that date back to the beginning of recorded history. One of the earliest by a reliable witness was from a Chinese official named Shen Kuo about 1050 A.D. He stated that the object he saw was like a large pearl that radiated a bright light. There are other records that date much further into antiquity, mostly consisting of paintings by medieval artist, and stone carvings that show human-like figures with a circle around their head, having a resemblance to the helmet of a space suit.

UFO enthusiasts are taking an ‘I told you so,’ attitude about the reports. These files mostly consist of documents from various military and government agencies sent to the FBI. Accompanying these reports are some photographs that show cigar and saucer shaped objects aloft. Most of the pictures are indistinct and were made from a great distance. There are others showing small human-like creatures that were purported to have been taken from three UFOs that crashed in New Mexico in 1947. If you discount the hoaxes, the sightings of familiar objects under doubtful conditions, you still have from 5 to 20% of them that can’t be readily explained.

A report in 1960 by the Brookings Institute speculates about the nature of the sightings, and suggests that the reluctance of the Federal Government to support their own evidence might have a cultural explanation. Proponents of the ‘Young Earth Theory’ find no reason to support assumptions that might challenge their current religious beliefs. Vatican scientists have wisely advanced the possibility that their might be civilizations in other solar systems. There is also a supposition by some physicists who believe that parallel universes might exist, requiring the inhabitants to cross through a nearby ‘portal’ to enter our world.

Regardless of how these reports or the various theories fit into your current beliefs, it will be interesting to see how this develops in the coming months and years. Government files maintained by the various investigative agencies of the federal government contain what is called ‘raw information,’ the product of cramming every piece of paper into the current filing system and keeping it there forever. Some of it consists of unsubstantiated reports full of rumors, gossip, and well thought out lies. It requires experts with a well-developed sense of what is, or is not, plausible. Sloppy techniques can result in a debacle like we had during the run up of the Iraq invasion.

So what do you think? Are UFOs real, and if they are, who are these creatures that are invading our world, and what are their intentions? Are they benevolent creatures, spiritual perhaps, or are they mercenaries like the ones in science fiction? If Orson Wells was still around he would have a field day with this.