A Lifeline The U.S. government and military have devoted decades to debunking UFOs and UFO study, painting reasonable believers not simply as crackpots, but as persons of no consequence. That’s the ultimate, scarily metaphysical insult: because UFOlogists don’t matter, their ideas are non-ideas. Washington, the armed services, and other Beltway players remain ready to dismiss … Read more
The State of UFOlogy The vistas offered by the Worldwide Web were unimagined during Blue Book’s day—a time of land lines, typewriters, scratch pads, the U.S. mail, and in-person interviews. Now, UFOlogists and the merely curious can locate each other with simple keystrokes. UFO-related news, such as the apparent discovery of Planet Nine, flashes around … Read more
Many, perhaps most, of the documents are marked by physical redactions: black bars designed to obscure certain words, phrases, and sections. The documents have been declassified for a long time because declassification posed no general danger. But even declassified government papers may contain information that, even many years later, should not be released. In 1995, … Read more
Here Comes Planet X A January 20, 2016, Washington Post story began this way: Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology announced Wednesday that they have found new evidence of a giant icy planet lurking in the darkness of our solar system far beyond the orbit of Pluto. They are calling it “Planet Nine.” Besides … Read more
UFO Spotter’s Checklist Witness Name Gender Age Present occupation Occupational/professional training Address Eyeglasses Contact lenses Prescription medication Non-prescription medication Sole sighting to date One of multiple sightings When and where were others? Your physical state immediately prior (ill, well, tired, etc.) Your distance from object How you arrived at the scene (automobile, motorcycle, boat, walking, … Read more
UFO Spotter’s Checklist Few experiences are as remarkable as an encounter with a UFO, from a distance or close up. Although your sense of wonder will be stimulated, it is important that you note and recall as much about your experience as possible. Memory- training exercises have applications in everyday life, and are particularly useful … Read more
Getting to Where the UFOs Are Grab Your UFO Spotter’s Checklist and Go UFO literature makes clear that sightings are routinely made across the globe. Besides pondering the objects’ origins, UFOlogists wonder why certain parts of the world are more prone to sightings than others. The UFO-heavy site may be as small as a single … Read more
Selected UFO Sightings, 1970–1999 As hoaxers go about their business, other people experience honest UFO sightings. Here are some intriguing ones from a recent thirty-year span. August 30, 1970 A seven-year-old Vincennes, Indiana, girl spies a UFO at 11:30 a.m. and fetches her father, who examines the object with binoculars. The man later describes the … Read more
A Saucer a Day The Internet overflows with more UFO videos than anybody could watch in half a lifetime. More—probably hundreds—are added every day; one site, iUFOsightings, posts a fresh video daily, 365 times a year. How can that be possible? Hint: it can’t. Makers of UFO videos coax viewers with such adjectives as ultimate, … Read more
The Trouble with Theft Serious UFO study demands time and dedication, financial support, and an ability to distinguish fact from fancy. Because of that, and because of the particular nature of creative people, a man who retitles another person’s UFO documentary or lecture and offers it for unauthorized sale on the Web perpetrates a hoax, … Read more
