Astronomers don't see UFO's ?

Just how professionsal is professional?

My astronomy professor was teaching it, but he often looked at the sky as if he was an amatuer, lol..after all, he did it for the class.

Well it is like this. U.F.Os are not like clouds or celestial bodies just floating in the sky or space aimlessly. They travel through space but they don't just float around. If their was a suspect location such as Mars or the Moon, You would be garaunteed to catch something sometimes. Their has to be a suspect point of activity to find one. I'm sure amateur astronomers see U.F.Os when they look into space but it makes no sense mentioning you have seen one with no proof. I mean I seen a U.F.O. chaniging brilliant colors around 5:45 this morning but what claim is worth making with no photos? It's a waste of investigater and interviewer time. But the difficulty of spotting one simply by star-gazing is rather tough. Even on Earth most U.F.Os fly relatively close to the Earth. So gazing in space won't help you find a U.F.O. hovering just above a barn in Kentucky. It's like this, if your looking at direction in space and your peripheral view is limited as well the rest of space is being over looked. Not only that but the altitude of what your looking for is too high to find U.F.Os as U.F.Os usually persue life such farm animals humans or moving vehicles. Also at certain distances, it is hard to distinguish a U.F.O. from Jetliners for some. Look at U.F.Os as stealthy special operation vehicles rather than free floating balloons to get an idea of them.

[edit on 5-2-2005 by Asia Minor]

Someone mentioned earlier on a point I agree with.

Spotting a ufo with a telescope is like trying to watch a metor shower with a telescope.

Both move very quickly unless hovering over a barn in Kentucky lol.

I had my own experiance, I had just bought a telescope and after my brother and I got done looking in neighbors windows with it ( just kidding) we took it out to our grandparents house (small town little light pollution ) and began setting up the telescope.

We were looking up to find a suitable target to aim the telescope at when we saw what we originally thought was a falling star till it broke into two pieces and shoot away from each other at a 90 degree angle, flew for several hundred feet (could have been several thousand feet hard to tell distance with no point of refrance and not knowing exact altitude) then made another 90 degree turn back on itself (diamond flight pattern).

When the two points of light came back togeather there was a bright flash of light as they rejoined and shot straight up at a very high speed and disapeared.

Obiously we would have been unable to trake it with a telescope but it was very cool at any rate.



[edit on 5-2-2005 by bpletcj]

Of course astronomers see UFOs.

Tombaugh, the astronomer who discovered the planet Pluto, reported seeing a UFO.

They did a survey of astronomers (professional ones) and some 12% reported seeing objects they simply could not explain or knew what they were.

The more educated a person is, the harder it is to explain a sighting.

In fact professional astronomers tend to not sight UFOs, even tho the number of reports of ufo sightings would indicate that there are very large numbers of them. Their sometimes automated operating telescopes or various types also tend to not record ufos.

Tho, thats not particularly relvant I suspect since they'd normally be focusing at a point far removed from the atmosphere.

Of course, that brings up the question, why don't they see UFOs traveling in open space?

Originally posted by Nygdan
In fact professional astronomers tend to not sight UFOs, even tho the number of reports of ufo sightings would indicate that there are very large numbers of them. Their sometimes automated operating telescopes or various types also tend to not record ufos.

Tho, thats not particularly relvant I suspect since they'd normally be focusing at a point far removed from the atmosphere.

Of course, that brings up the question, why don't they see UFOs traveling in open space?

Who is to say they dont? You didnt read my post. 12% said they have seen flying objects they could not explain.

The distinction here is SEE. Many people have SEEN UFOs, but never made a report. The more prominent and respected a person is, the less likely they will be to report a UFO, because they have much to lose. Reporting a UFO subjects a person to scorn, ridicule, and in the case of scientists, possible rejection and censure from your peers. The scientific community still treats UFO reports with scorn.

And as far as UFOs in space, do you have any idea how big space is, and how much time it takes a telescope to focus and zoom on one spot. When you consider how small a giant like Saturn looks in a telescope, or how small megastars look, do you think a spaceship light years from earth is gonna show up? Thats like thinking the astronauts are gonna notice you driving a shiny ford home.

Report on a Survey of the Membership of the American Astronomical Society Concerning the UFO Phenomenon:
30 year old poll taken by Dr. Peter Sturrock who sent a UFO survey to 2,611 professional astronomers:
www.ufoevidence.org...

Selected UFO cases - Sightings by Astronomers:
www.ufoevidence.org...

Great posts

Other:

Hyneck interview 1977:



A List of sightings by astronomers:
www.xdream.freeserve.co.uk...


Astronomers and UFOs:
www.bufora.org.uk...
And:
www.topblogarea.com...


1964 NICAP publication containing reports by professional astronomers:
www.nicap.org...


Clyde Tombaugh:
en.wikipedia.org...


More:
www.google.com...


More:
www.ufo.se...

"Astromers don't believe in alien UFOs" (aka the ET hypothesis)
"Astronomers don't see UFOs"
are both common memes often repeated by people who have done little or no research.

Originally posted by sdrumrunner
Now imagine, instead of observing the entire sky above your head, you're only examining 1/1,000,000th of the visible sky. What's the likelihood your going to have something fly through your field of view?

Well given enough time, the odds are fairly decent, and some of the best astrophotos have exposure times of 40 hours or more. You'd be surprised how many satellites amateurs accidentally capture in their images, and the hot new thing in astrophotography is wide field imaging. Gobbling up as much of the sky as possible onto your CCD is all the rage. Personally I'm more of a narrow-field kind of astrophotographer, but while my scope is recording light I can't look through it anyway, so I spend that time looking up and enjoying the night sky with my naked eye.