The reason why the subject of UFO's is not taken seriously outside of fringe groups.

So, I've been doing a thorough research on this subject for the past few months (on my spare time, of course), and I've come across some very intriguing cases. Of course, 95% of cases can be explained away by natural phenomenon (swamp gas, sun dogs, the planet Venus, etc) and others by conventional phenomenon (weather balloons, airplanes and jets, flares, etc). However, there is a remaining 5% of cases that still remain unexplained and are classified as "unknown". These are the cases where pilots, police officers, and people in the military report seeing strange objects that either approximate the shape of a disk, a cigar, or a triangular prism. These objects can range from reported sizes to as small as a meter in radius, to as a large as a diameter of a mile. Some of these cases that I've looked into for quite a while and still intrigue me are: The Rendelsham Forest UFO, Japan Airlines 1628 incident, 1976 Tehran UFO incident, the Phoenix Lights of 1997, and a few others. The fact credible witnesses such as former government officials, former high ranking military and air force officials, scientists, and police officers have all reported seeing and investigating these crafts is also interesting, but still falls under anecdotal evidence. Here's the thing: In many of these cases, these crafts have been tracked on radar, especially one case where a UFO reached a speed of 7000 miles per hour, nearly 10 times the speed of sound in air.

Then there is the COMETA report, a French study conducted by group composed of high ranking military officers, government officials, physicists and astronomers. They went through some of the most famous cases involving UFO's across the world, analysed radar and trace evidence, and interviewed credible eye witnesses. Although they could explain away 95% of the cases as a result of natural or man made phenomenon, 5% were completely of unknown origin and they concluded the best explanation for these "crafts" is extraterrestrial hypothesis. The British government concluded something similar when its ministry of Defense did a study for a number of years, except their conclusion was these things are of unknown origin and did not include the extraterrestrial hypothesis.

Despite the evidence of these things existing in our air space and accomplishing feats that are light years ahead of our most advanced propulsive capabilities, the U.S government has concluded there is nothing to the UFO phenomenon and that these crafts really do not exist at all, and closed Project Blue Book back in 1969 and there hasn't been any agency to investigate UFO sightings ever since. The reason why there isn't a serious scientific investigation is because of the fringe elements within the field (crackpots) who embrace everything and push it as fact. Ridiculous conspiracy theories such as the American government reverse engineering UFO's and having secret UFO technology, aliens abducting people and probing them, the aliens come from Zeta Reticuli, crackpots that claim to channel the aliens, etc. Until the UFO community decides to remove these crackpots who only discredit the field even more with their concocted ridiculousness they call "theories", the field will never be taken seriously, which is unfortunate. There really are unexplainable things out there in our air space that needs to be thoroughly investigated with transparency, similar to the COMETA Report. Whether these things are top secret military projects that don't show up on any budget or these things do not originate on this planet, no one can know for sure. However, there does need to be an investigation, whether that includes reviving Project Blue Book or setting up a different investigative branch.

The UFO field is not taken seriously because although there is a lot of evidence, nobody can figure out what it's evidence of. Aliens? Hardly. Ghosts and demons? Whatever those are supposed to be. Secret government projects? They ain't saying. Time travelers? Impossible.

Study UFOs and it ultimately gets you exactly nowhere.

Unexplained Flying Objects = UFO's is a serious subject. The speculation as to what exactly those unexplained objects are gets a little hairy sometimes. Couple that with hoaxer and ardent deniers now you have a recipe for claims and counter claims.

Could they be Aliens, time travelers, military craft, natural phenomena etc etc etc?

Yes.

How probable though?

While it may be true that most authority figures will exhibit jovial skepticism about alien UFOs I find that most ordinary people are now intensely interested in the subject

When entertaining a wide variety of guests indoors, perusing my vast library of video media, the most popular genre that keeps people of all ages and demographics diligently watching is: good UFO documentaries

Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; truth isn't.
--Mark Twain

Its not taking seriously by the shills and black ops and all those programmed to believe and propagate LIES!

UFOS = ET. I know personally. Enough Said!

Star and Flag, OP.

Unfortunately, I don't think you will ever be able to get rid of that element. There will always be those that don't have the intellectual capacity to objectively view their own experiences, let alone other peoples.

If there is indeed some kind of government coverup then they probably -love- this element in the community. They do their job for them. Just let their imaginations run wild and they will discredit themselves.

I made a similar thread discussing the same problems within the Paranormal Research community. So long as flea market palm readers, people like Sylvia Browne, and 14 year old's who want to be X-Men exist the people who believe in the paranormal will automatically be associated with the crackpots, no matter how logically and objectively they approach the subject.

The reason why there isn't a serious scientific investigation is because of the fringe elements within the field (crackpots) who embrace everything and push it as fact. Ridiculous conspiracy theories such as the American government reverse engineering UFO's and having secret UFO technology, aliens abducting people and probing them, the aliens come from Zeta Reticuli, crackpots that claim to channel the aliens, etc. Until the UFO community decides to remove these crackpots who only discredit the field even more with their concocted ridiculousness they call "theories", the field will never be taken seriously, which is unfortunate.

Perhaps these "crackpots" are symptomatic of the ENTIRE phenomena, meaning that the entire phenomena is geared and created to produce such people who are very loudly preaching the coming of their "creators" and "saviours". Afterall, the media is the world's biggest and most influential pulpit so they have a very large audience. This should raise a red flag with you, and demonstrate that 'ufology' has become a religion, particularly among the descendants of Christian forefathers. That should raise alarm bells.

reply to post by WhoKnows100


Actually I'm one who believes anyone who is not awake on this issue, especially if they are researched in any way, or go online, is on agenda. Working to suppress info.

We're far beyond this kind of thread, in the year of 2012, there are millions of SANE, people who are experiencers or have sighted crafts, both ours and theirs. SANE and its CRIMINAL and PSYCHOPATHIC to discredit and abuse them. The proof is all around and beyond a reasonable doubt, and even more would be had if they weren't covering and used regression on the experiencers and medical exams for implants.

SO I see threads like this and just itemize the ones sold out to the dark side, personally, and recommend they make U-Turns.

When the pencils go down on the final exam, the bill is handed to people with interest if they're not trying to be Love.

Originally posted by Unity_99
Its not taking seriously by the shills and black ops and all those programmed to believe and propagate LIES!

UFOS = ET. I know personally. Enough Said!

edit on 6-7-2012 by Unity_99 because: (no reason given)

Originally posted by Diablos
So, I've been doing a thorough research on this subject for the past few months (on my spare time, of course), and I've come across some very intriguing cases. Of course, 95% of cases can be explained away by natural phenomenon (swamp gas, sun dogs, the planet Venus, etc) and others by conventional phenomenon (weather balloons, airplanes and jets, flares, etc).

I disagree that we have any idea about what percentage of UFO cases can be "explained away by natural phenomenon". I would guess most sightings haven't been investigated at all.

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by Diablos
So, I've been doing a thorough research on this subject for the past few months (on my spare time, of course), and I've come across some very intriguing cases. Of course, 95% of cases can be explained away by natural phenomenon (swamp gas, sun dogs, the planet Venus, etc) and others by conventional phenomenon (weather balloons, airplanes and jets, flares, etc).

I disagree that we have any idea about what percentage of UFO cases can be "explained away by natural phenomenon". I would guess most sightings haven't been investigated at all.

We are talking about reported UFO's, as the unreported ones aren't of any significant interest since they cannot be investigated. All reported UFO's have been more or less been investigated, and while the vast majority of cases can be explained by natural or man made phenomenon and a small percent cannot be explained, the remaining percentage has been dismissed due to hoaxes, insufficient information, or psychological aberrations (hallucinations).

Originally posted by Unity_99
Its not taking seriously by the shills and black ops and all those programmed to believe and propagate LIES!

UFOS = ET. I know personally. Enough Said!

edit on 6-7-2012 by Unity_99 because: (no reason given)

You have absolutely no evidence to support your claims. Why should any rational thinking person believe anything that you have to say?

Prime example right here of what is wrong with the UFO community and what exactly needs to be purged.

Originally posted by Diablos

Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by Diablos
So, I've been doing a thorough research on this subject for the past few months (on my spare time, of course), and I've come across some very intriguing cases. Of course, 95% of cases can be explained away by natural phenomenon (swamp gas, sun dogs, the planet Venus, etc) and others by conventional phenomenon (weather balloons, airplanes and jets, flares, etc).

I disagree that we have any idea about what percentage of UFO cases can be "explained away by natural phenomenon". I would guess most sightings haven't been investigated at all.

We are talking about reported UFO's, as the unreported ones aren't of any significant interest since they cannot be investigated. All reported UFO's have been more or less been investigated, and while the vast majority of cases can be explained by natural or man made phenomenon and a small percent cannot be explained, the remaining percentage has been dismissed due to hoaxes, insufficient information, or psychological aberrations (hallucinations).

No, I believe the vast majority of reported cases are rationalized, not investigated. It's pretty sickening to read a witness describe something bizarre and spectacular, only to see the "investigator's" conclusion being something as absurd as "swamp gas". The percentage you mentioned is a typical percentage often quoted in UFO documentaries, and interviews, but I don't believe it is at all close to accurate.

Just skipping through most ATS threads should give you an example of why some people don't believe in the possibility than extraterrestrials could have been seen around earth, it's of micmac of religious beliefs mixed up with new age bs and people claiming as a fact what they felt or have seen.

So yeah, I'm with you Diablos, if people were more sceptical maybe that "deny ignorance" motto would have more sense ; because the interesting ones here are the guys who want to believe but still can put their mind on the right tracks when they see a picture, a video or an interview and give their best to debunk it.

Because this is the only way you can determine if a case is worthy of interest : when you can't think of anything else that could explain the phenomenon.

Originally posted by trystsNo, I believe the vast majority of reported cases are rationalized, not investigated. It's pretty sickening to read a witness describe something bizarre and spectacular, only to see the "investigator's" conclusion being something as absurd as "swamp gas". The percentage you mentioned is a typical percentage often quoted in UFO documentaries, and interviews, but I don't believe it is at all close to accurate.

Why would an investigator have any reason to lie? What would they gain from it? Most people are not trained in observing phenomenon in the sky, and many exotic phenomenon such as swamp gas can behave in ways that would mimic a flying object. However, your average Joe won't know that. A lot of the time, the credibility of these people should be taken into question as well since many witnesses of these and "alien abduction" stories also have a history of mental illness.

If investigators are willing to "rationalize" these reports by your logic, then 100% of them would be explained by natural or man made phenomenon, but yet they have come across cases they can naturally not explain at all despite all the evidence and classify as "completely unknown". These are specific cases where credible witnesses have observed unidentified crafts of unknown origin.

Originally posted by Diablos

Originally posted by trystsNo, I believe the vast majority of reported cases are rationalized, not investigated. It's pretty sickening to read a witness describe something bizarre and spectacular, only to see the "investigator's" conclusion being something as absurd as "swamp gas". The percentage you mentioned is a typical percentage often quoted in UFO documentaries, and interviews, but I don't believe it is at all close to accurate.

Why would an investigator have any reason to lie? What would they gain from it? Most people are not trained in observing phenomenon in the sky, and many exotic phenomenon such as swamp gas can behave in ways that would mimic a flying object. However, your average Joe won't know that. A lot of the time, the credibility of these people should be taken into question as well since many witnesses of these and "alien abduction" stories also have a history of mental illness.

If investigators are willing to "rationalize" these reports by your logic, then 100% of them would be explained by natural or man made phenomenon, but yet they have come across cases they can naturally not explain at all despite all the evidence and classify as "completely unknown". These are specific cases where credible witnesses have observed unidentified crafts of unknown origin.

One of the main "investigators" of Project Blue Book, Hynek was his name I believe, said that the military wanted him to debunk UFOs. So, whenever he had an unexplainable case, Hynek would just rationalize with things like "swamp gas".

I think that you would find that many of these well known "Crack-Pots" are employed by the US government.

Originally posted by trystsOne of the main "investigators" of Project Blue Book, Hynek was his name I believe, said that the military wanted him to debunk UFOs. So, whenever he had an unexplainable case, Hynek would just rationalize with things like "swamp gas".

U.S government and military aside, what about investigators from other countries that have no bias when investigating these phenomenon? Such as the COMETA group, for example? They looked into cases that spanned over 70 years, and explained away 95% of the cases that had sufficient information, while dismissing the rest either on insufficient data, hearsay, hoaxes, or hallucinations. Of course, the group did not investigate all reported UFO cases, but they investigate some of the most significant. The British government as well has investigated all of the reports and also posted similar statistics of 95% of the cases with sufficient information being explained away by known phenomenon, while the remaining 5% could not be explained. So, if both COMETA and the British government are posting similar numbers to the U.S military in terms of unknowns, then I am inclined to think the U.S military is doing something correct and your accusations are off-base.

Originally posted by Blue Shift
The UFO field is not taken seriously because although there is a lot of evidence, nobody can figure out what it's evidence of. Aliens? Hardly. Ghosts and demons? Whatever those are supposed to be. Secret government projects? They ain't saying. Time travelers? Impossible.

Study UFOs and it ultimately gets you exactly nowhere.

Spot on, unfortunately.