just an insignificant question about human perception and the manifestions of the unknown

please do't pay too much attention to this post, it has no pretention whatsoever. it's nothing but a personal musing on things. it probably gets riddled with typos as i'm writing this post on a tablet.

while i will not reject the probability ofnthings like flying discs or et's, it would be fair to say i'm pretty sceptical about a lot of stuff others claim wiht strong affirmation (hence the abuse of the word "prove" here on ats).

here is the question:

why is it that the images our human brain comes up with when dealing with stuff like ufo's tend to be in sync with the dominant cultural visual tendencies, tendencies that evolve. why did we see a lot of round shaped stuff with chrome on tope of it in eras in which we produced cars that had features like that? same goes for the sharp shapes: once our cars had such a design, suddenly a lot of observations dealt with vehicles that were no longer rounded but had sharp shapes?

one explanation is not acceptqble to me: ET's don't adjust hte shape of their vehicle to match our temporary preferences.

reply to post by NeverSleepingEyes


A disk or sphere of light is the only real alien craft IMO, and they are recorded in art and writing that reach several thousand years old. They don't change. I have a strong suspicion the triangle craft are secret military craft.

reply to post by NeverSleepingEyes


I have wondered the same thing, of course my views may be a little different than yours so anything I am about to say is just that-my view
There are stories out there of people seeing all different types of ufos in many different periods of history. I think that what we see has alot to do with what the individual can comprehend can comprehend. I am also of the belief that there are many different types ETs visiting us, and I dont expect them to always be in a "flying saucer" everytime they appear. Why were there so many flying saucers seen in the last 50 years? Its a question that could have many answers. Maybe they were the closest species around the time the atomic bombs were dropped, who knows really?

I would suspect that we filter out what we cannot or will not understand. Once flying discs got a certain amount of credibility, then reports of those shapes got press exposure. Reports of other shapes that people were unfamiliar with either got cast aside as lunacy or were otherwise explained away as "swamp gas" or whatever.

The weird part for me is that I strongly believe that there must be abundant life elsewhere in the universe and can't figure out why we have not had more concrete evidence or contact. It puzzles and somewhat frustrates me that we are still having to contend with confusing, shaky and highly suspect "evidence" -- more like lack of evidence.

Nice comment Never, Just my opinion, but I agree with Strawberry, people see what people see, I understand that the world we see in our lives plays and amazing influence on our imagination (don't get me wrong now I'm a believer), but I can see were you are going.
My thoughts are- as we change throughout the years so do others, and there are many different autos that are used for many different tasks, they advance, we advance, our cars/trucks/planes/boats change with time so do theres.
Thats just my thoughts to the matter.

reply to post by NeverSleepingEyes


There are two arguments to your question. The first one is the physical argument. UFOs, our automobiles, modern buildings and even your can-opener are such because. when the machine age started there was little tools but hammers, anvils and fire for fabrication. As mechanical devices and their tools for creating them became more and more complex, so were the possibilities of design. Compound curves were the result. A machine could slam into a flat piece of steel and prestro! a second later there was a compound curved door for a Lexus! Years before, that was impossible. And so it goes from the meeting the simple desires of the eye to the more complex.

Then, if we move beyond the whims of the public and the designers, there is the obvious truth in believing that the human eye/mind likes curved things and symetry. I suspect that the female form has a lot to do with this inclination. Soft curves--or, rather, curves seen as soft--are alluring to both males and females. Beauty is related so curves, straight lines, the opposite, are often referred to as "stark" and that ain't no accident. It makes for a nice change when we an over abundance of curves.

On the higher level of your question, you may want to investigate the work of Dr. Carl Jung. In his book Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky--yes, it is a real book--he discusses just your question. It is a poor book in explaining away purely physical UFOs, but it could have a bearing on the shape of the phenomena if not many of the more less physical reports over the decades. His basic premise is that the round shape, a circle is basic to the human mind and his theories about arch-typeal constructs and why mandalas are so important, etc.. Frankly, it is my own bias, but I would work it further back and a far less mysterious origin to a cradled-in-the-mother's-arms -infantile affixation to the ever-present, all-giving breast hovering above.

reply to post by NeverSleepingEyes


In talking about his 'flying machines," Tesla stated that they would need to be disc shaped or cigar shaped to be able to shift into hyper/sub-space. I think it's more a matter of physical consideration than a human perceptual creation,

Originally posted by coyotepoet
reply to post by NeverSleepingEyes

 

In talking about his 'flying machines," Tesla stated that they would need to be disc shaped or cigar shaped to be able to shift into hyper/sub-space. I think it's more a matter of physical consideration than a human perceptual creation,

I've never heard that before about Tesla. Totally fascinating if accurate, Could you provide a reference?

Just my opinion, as I found your question interesting.

They say that "if a hammer is all you have, everything looks like a nail" and I tend to agree. From the point of view of human perception, we tend to focus our attention on what we expect to see. If you ever went searching for seashells on a beach, you probably noticed that after a while you only see seashells; you can stumble on a gold nugget the size of your fist and wouldn't notice it. I think people see the forms they expect to see, and ignore everything else, until whatever else is out there become too obvious.

From the point of view of UFO's, I think that the round shape is the classical, original one, witnessed all through our history. My personal opinion is that the rest of them may be improvements or modifications dictated by the earth atmosphere, gravitation, air density and whatever other considerations might be there. Or they may have different purposes; short or long distance spaceships, anti-gravitational, for traveling through water or ice or earth, for studies or for protection, and so on. After all, who knows how different they really are.

I found myself often thinking about UFOs also, and it's a pity we only have our imagination to answer the countless questions they arise.
Nice topic, S&F.

reply to post by The GUT

I've never heard that before about Tesla. Totally fascinating if accurate, Could you provide a reference?

www.youtube.com...

fuel-efficient-vehicles.org...

I want to thank all who commented on my OP for sharing their thoughts and/or suggesting authors & ideas. Perhaps this is why I like ATS.
thanks again.