NCCC Professor Wants UFOs Studied.

reply to post by jritzmann



Jritzmann, I know SEPRA (formerly GEPAN) conducted a scientific study on the UFO subject but I do agree about the need to bring different scientific disciplines to bear on the objective analysis of data - sorry to keep posting articles by Dr Hynek but he does seem to echo your thoughts on the subject.

The Emerging Picture of the UFO Problem

By Joseph Allen Hynek
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois
Presented at the AIAA 13th Aerospace Sciences Meeting Pasadena, Calif., January 20-22, 1975.

This paper intends to present the elements of the UFO problem, today. Truly unidentified reports of events in the air, and close to the ground, exist, events worldwide in origin and appearing to fit a relatively small number of patterns.
The data, amenable to study of an interdisciplinary nature, involving a number of scientific disciplines and probably necessitating new departures in methodology, have been imperfectly studied in the past and have been virtually ignored by science.
An increasing interest in, and open-mindedness about the UFO phenomenon, whatever its cause, on the part of established scientists and the educated public exists, and there has been created a Center for UFO Studies, whose activities are guided by a scientific board of established scientists in their respective disciplines.
The outstanding objective of the attack on the UFO problem is the formulation of a hypothesis - or hypotheses - that encompasses the established parameters of the UFO phenomenon - no matter how far beyond the boundaries of present day science it may have to be.

Link

Cheers.

reply to post by cripmeister


Well thats the thing isnt it . One cannot be objective if one is skeptical of any evidence which comes to light. Skepticism is fine in of itself , but skepticism in the face of evidence is not skepticism, its having ones eyes closed while looking down a microscope!

Originally posted by TrueBrit
Well thats the thing isnt it . One cannot be objective if one is skeptical of any evidence which comes to light...

TrueBrit -here's a handy UFO evidence evaluator.

Link

Interesting UPN News report about scientists studying the UFO subject.




Review of Peter Sturrock's 'The UFO Enigma'


[edit on 02/10/08 by karl 12]

I would not call myself a UFO believer, but I think the study of the UFO phenomena deserves serious scholarly attention. There is a ton of scholarship out there on all sorts of subjects, why not UFO's?

If anything, I would criticize this professor for not having enough expertise to study the entire phenomenon we call UFO's. Part of the entire phenomenon has to do with the science of objects people see or claim to see in the sky. Someone will need a background in physics to describe how and why people observe these objects.

Part of the phenomenon has to do with the culture and sociology of UFO's. There is some question as to why people perpetrate hoaxes and why some people believe in UFO's while others do not. Furthermore, there is room for investigation as how people's perception of UFO's are shaped by influences like the media and culture. One would need a background in sociology or some other related area to research this part of the phenomenon.

reply to post by hotpinkurinalmint


Hotpinkurinalmint, thanks for the reply (great name BTW ) - whilst I agree with other folks that there are many unanswered questions about the UFO subject, I think it has to be said there are some very intelligent people involved in serious study and research who have produced some extremely interesting reports - Francis Ridge from NICAP makes a good summation below and there are also some interesting proposals from the late Richard Hall.



Francis Ridge:

“The following is what makes Ufology worth pursuing - we already have:

1) Millions of sightings worldwide and a hundred-thousand-plus sightings are on computer (UFOCAT).



2) 3,000-plus sightings from aircraft (Dr. Richard Haines).



3) 489 radar cases, many radar/visual (Dominique Weinstein); 363 radar cases, 76 as R/V (USAF records alone).



4) 5600 trace cases documented, 4104 involving UFO visual sightings (CUFOS).



5) Over 500 cases of E-M effects associated with UFO sightings (CUFOS) and 185 E-M cases documented involving UFOs near aircraft (Dr. Richard Haines).



6) Hundreds, if not thousands, of excellent close encounters by credible observers whose testimony in court would be taken at face value.



7) About 4,000 (701 originally) UNKNOWNS listed in Project Blue Book files.”

Link

Richard Hall:

WHAT SCIENCE COULD DO:


Aside from the potentially fertile fields of study that UFOs offer to scholars in sociology, history, psychology, history and sociology of science, anthropology, and political science, the ways that the physical and biological sciences COULD meaningfully study these reports is limited only by two lacks: lack of imagination and lack of funding. The following suggestions merely scratch the surface:

* Have multidisciplinary teams on standby to go to the scene of a close encounter UFO sighting with reported physical or physiological evidence, systematically gather data, and conduct all appropriate laboratory analyses. Apply forensic science investigative techniques very much like those used at an accident site or crime scene. In the case of physiological effects on witnesses, conduct appropriate medical tests. For vehicles that have experienced E-M effects, make notes on the age and condition of the engine, document the ignition system and lights, and check vehicle for magnetic signature.


* Develop an instrumentation package to transport quickly to areas where UFO sightings persist for a period of time (there are numerous precedents for this). Include sophisticated tracking cameras and special films, diffraction gratings or other light spectrum analyzers, broad-spectrum electromagnetic energy detectors, and tape recorders with sensitive directional microphones for recording sound.


* Compile a computer data base of all cases that meet a certain minimum set of standards geared toward potential evidential value. Conduct statistical analyses of geophysical associations. Systematically study the data relevant to propulsion clues and UFO physics.


* Compile historical evidence on radar-visual UFO sightings, encourage current reporting of radar-visual cases to a central agency, and analyze these cases in terms of known radar imagery and the particular radar set capabilities.


* Compile historical catalogues of all known physical and physiological evidence cases and systematically acquire all extant analysis reports. Encourage current reporting of similar cases to a central agency. This would include E-M effects on vehicles and effects on humans and animals, as well as physical trace evidence.


* Encourage reputable witnesses who are willing to swear an affidavit about their still photographs or motion picture/videotape films, use a selective process to determine which films potentially have probative value, and submit the selected films to expert photoanalysis.


* Establish a refereed scientific journal that will entertain articles reporting on case investigations, physical and physiological evidence, and analysis reports and promote thorough peer review of all scientific studies.

Link

Cheers.

[edit on 02/10/08 by karl 12]

The same 'credible' media that told you about

mythical WMDs in Iraq endlessly,

Marjah a "city of 80,000" that in fact wasn't even a village,

A fraudulent video about ACORN,

wants to tell you UFOs that have been seen by thousands are a laughing matter?

I think the corporate media is the laughing matter.

What a bunch of plastic, airhead liars.

It is both frightening & funny as hell.

[edit on 22-4-2010 by slank]

reply to post by slank


Slank, thanks for the post and I certainly agree with your comments about the corporate media - I don't know if you've seen this film but it doesn't paint a pretty picture - as for the treatment the UFO subject receives in the corporate media, Terry Hansen makes some very good points in the presentation below:

Google Video Link

"A mesmerizing account of his investigation into whether some of America's most influential news organizations, many having maintained close ties to the U.S. intelligence community, have willingly suppressed full and accurate news coverage of extraterrestrial related phenomena for a variety of "national-security" reasons. Hansen reveals the remarkable and persistent difference in UFO-related news coverage exhibited by local and national news organizations and reviews the history of censorship and propaganda during the twentieth century and the evidence for media-government collusion over the course of the half-century-long UFO controversy.

Thread

Cheers.

[edit on 02/10/08 by karl 12]

Originally posted by drew hempel
reply to post by karl 12

 

Karl12 I'm always "anti-copyright" -- fair use -- no permission needed! haha.

Drew, sorry I completely missed your post - shall I post your opinions about the objects being plasma (or man made) on the relevant threads then?

reply to post by karl 12


If you want ANY information on the internet that you want to share with others the you can do so as long as there is not a disclaimer stating that ANY reproduction of that information is not allowed due to copyright. Most copyright allows FAIR USE reproduction for education of significant excerpts from any work and all of the work if it is not too long. On the internet this has been extended to people uploading most ALL work of others leading to various attempts to stop piracy -- even though it's NOT FOR SALE - it's FREE distribution. Piracy is if you are trying to sell someone's work. The only thing required is to give credit or show the author, etc. which is required as per ATS rules as well.

reply to post by drew hempel


Hi Drew -I was just suggesting that if these UFO cases (which have puzzled quite a lot of people for quite a long time) have obvious explanations as you suggest then maybe it would be a good idea to post your opinions in the relevant threads for everyone to look at and examine.

If you don't want to post them there yourself then I can and it's no problem.

Cheers.





[edit on 02/10/08 by karl 12]

reply to post by karl 12


Right Karl -- I really don't have much to say. There's not a lot known about plasma balls nor military craft. I, myself, had a close encounter with a big black triangle -- equilateral -- no fuselage. It was military. There was a mass sighting of this craft in 1978 in our area accompanied by cattle mutilations and a lady claiming she was abducted into the craft since she had missing time and then was hypnotized to remember it. I say that was all military as well -- the journalist who gave me the local news clippings for the 1978 said we live in a "military test flight corridor" -- indeed I had sonic booms the other day as jets went by. My sighting was in the summer of 1997.

Originally posted by drew hempel
Right Karl -- I really don't have much to say. There's not a lot known about plasma balls nor military craft. I, myself, had a close encounter with a big black triangle -- equilateral -- no fuselage. It was military..

Drew, not to worry - and thanks for sharing your account, there are plenty of black triangle sightings out there (as I'm sure you well know) and I think some of the more famous incidents centered around the Hudson Valley area of upstate New York - Kandinsky has made a mighty fine thread about it below:


Map:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6881c529bc0b.jpg[/atsimg]

....The heaviest period was between the end of 1982 and 1986, when more than five thousand people reported seeing the object.

Sometimes called the “Westchester Boomerang” because some of the earliest reports came from Westchester County in New York State, it was huge and often flew close to the ground, so low that gray superstructure could be seen linking numerous multi-colored lights.

Numerous sightings were also reported in neighboring New York counties as well as in nearby Connecticut.

link

Hudson Valley: Lights, Triangles and Boomerangs