The State of UFO Research

Whilst the topic of UFOs garners more media exposure than before, actual new research and discoveries within the subject have been severely limited in recent years. The image of conventions involving extraterrestrials evokes an image of an eccentric audience with prosthetic makeup to resemble their favorite fictional Star Trek characters, but on UFO conventions the focus on dubious individuals has historically been on those on the stage rather than those attending; the authors. Stanton Friedman is arguably the best known 'face' for the UFO matter - he and many others, naturally, are aware of how precious the commodity of integrity is in this field -- which explains his vehement dismissals of individuals like Robert Lazar -- but a memory that I'll never let pass is seeing him at a book signing at one of these conventions in where he responded to a question regarding an incident he spoke of earlier on stage by saying "I'll tell you if you buy my book" with a wry smile. This attitude could be dictated by greed or it could be a consequence of just how little material there is to write books on, and so people like Stanton have to do more marketing - or selling - of their version of the accounts; for the state of the topic is so saturated that the discussion is citing another hypothesis on incident A, because incident A is pretty much all they have to write about. The Roswell story was reintroduced into the public domain in the 80's but it wasn't till the 90's where the extraterritorial hypothesis took popular traction, with the image of the 'Grays' leading to define the topic for a generation to come in pop culture.

Read On

This is perhaps arguably reflected by the threads here - very few actually cite debate let alone interest. It's usually involving videos of dots of light, and so I get the feeling - at least from my perspective - that, well, it is getting a little too repetitive and uninteresting



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Yep.

Ufology is going through a rough patch.

Lots of old stories get rehashed, with little or no new evidence. Lots of hearsay and rumour. Lots of folk try to make a quid just by presenting old evidence in a new way.

Any new stories that have photographic evidence are rapidly debunked as CGI hoaxes, or mundane, atmospheric objects (often rightly so). Any new stories without photographic evidence are rapidly discarded as BS, because the more skeptical people can't understand why anybody wouldn't have a camera on them 24 hours a day.

Where do we go from here? I dunno

I'm also getting rather frustrated by the subject, although as a witness, will always have an interest. I'd rather read the science news about exoplanets or astrobiology. I think that future discoveries in these fields are probably the key to real disclosure. Maybe tptb are waiting for life outside of our biosphere to be proved beyond doubt before being really honest. Or maybe tptb are just as in the dark as us. Who knows?

Laze.

reply to post by lazernation


Yea I don't think they know anymore than the rest of us do. Simple fact is that the belief in aliens or ufo's is being regulated to movies and tv. More kids now associate that stuff with like you said, Star Trek, or Transformers and not the weird stories alot of older folk grew up with.

Unless something new happens I don't know what's gonna happen to this field of study. Certainly after all these years and total lack of anything solid in terms of evidence it does kind of make one wonder if there is anything out there visiting us or not.

This sounds more like the capabilities of a researcher than the research potential that is available. There is a lot available on the internet, but if you are waiting for some mainstream personality to spoon feed you may be waiting for a while. A lot that is out there does get quite mind bending, which should not come as a surprise if we are dealing with other intelligent entities. Here is a good heads up if you are interesting in researching rather than waiting for the next celebrity head. montalk.net...

Whatever the situation is it is complex, use your own discernment in sorting out the facts from the fiction and good luck.

Jeeezz.

Straight after replying to this thread, I notice another rehash of old news. Although this time it is from MSM. These cases were interesting the first, and maybe second time they did the rounds, but now? Yawn, yawn, yawn.. Heard it all before.

www.abovetopsecret.com...



I need a drink

reply to post by kwakakev


Discernment...lol, if any UFO believers had an ounce of discerning ability they would quickly come to the conclusion, as have many experts that even if life existed elsewhere in the cosmos it would be impossible for them to get here, hence the creation of wormholes.

You do realize there exists not one shred of evidence that orbs of light witnessed in our skies originate from outside our atmosphere, have you ever really tried to investigate where the idea of aliens flying around our skies originated?

reply to post by lestweforget


Here are the conclusions from some research on the subject www.kwakakev.com...

As for space/time travel, it is impossible to confirm or reject such possibilities until a unified theory of our physical world is completed.

reply to post by Shino


Unfortunately nowadays it is not possible to discuss UFO activity sensibly here, so many of the experienced and informative members of this subject have jumped shipped to another forum (no I am not going to tell you which one, so please don't U2U me) nowadays all we get here on the subject are grainy youtube videos. I believe Zorgon is the only guy in the know that sticks around these boards to discuss UFO activity but even then he keeps a lot to himself here.

I personally, over the last 4 years have learned much from different members about this subject and have learned that UFO and EBE's are only a small portion of this entire chapter and the deeper you dig the murkier it becomes.

To ever get to the bottom of it all you would need several lifetimes.

The problem with UFOlogy - if there is a problem - is that at one point or another it ran into a wall.

Back in the days, researchers such as Jaques Vallée were optimistic that they were doing groundbreaking research. But the tangible results - that which a scientist needs to convince skeptical colleagues, did not materialize (a part from odd potholes and increased radiation in some UFO 'landing' cases). The phenomenon kept being illusive, so Vallée turned to the hypothesis that the phenomenon wasn't entirely "material".

Other researchers found other angles to cover, such as the historical aspects of UFOs (Erich Von Däniken's ancient astronaut theories), or "What does the Government know that it is not telling us?" research, very popular in the US.

Today, you can put out another UFO phenomenon book if you want, well-doumented with very credible sources, such as Leslie Kean's "UFOs", but it can stlll only take it so far. We know something's going on, but we've got little to show for it, which is embarrassing.

reply to post by Shino


I don't get it. You come on here saying that there is a problem with Ufology, and point out people that seek to make a paycheck from it and are possibly attention seeking whores, trying disparately to "heard" others to their websites and point of view. And in doing so, you copy and past something from a useless and opinionated BLOG, then attempt to use ATS traffic to direct people there through your SHAMELESS link in your OP.

Why couldn't you have just copy and pasted the entire thing" Huh? Your motives are transparent and your a complete hypocrite.

Is this something you wrote, why didn't you put it in the typical outside material brackets that is required when copying and pasting outside content? If this is something you wrote, then if your not interested in being an attention seeking whore why didn't you just post your entire article here and not even bother to direct people to your stereotypical blog. And if this isn't your material, then you should have laid the OP out entirely different.

And to think, someone like you has an opinion about this subject, and even contradicts themselves in the very manner in which they express it. Sad, just sad. And I am a die hard, government paid disinfo agent (ask around) and the last person that would be mentioning this about someone who I agree with (and I do agree with you), but your delivery method is hollow and transparent even to me.

+1 ^

I wiil ask this again, if they were doing it all for money, frm the many cases WHY ARE SOME AFRAID TO SPEAK AND WANT TO HIDE FROM CAMERA? Maybe because some people do know secrets not to be revelead? Ok it is official, you who think this is all liers, disinfo agents all do it for money, etc are dump, it's official now.

Take the trouble to read the subtitles on these group of three videos,
very informative as regards where ufology is right now,
straight from a renowned German astrophysicist.

Illobrand von Ludwiger

I personally have a library of books relating to the subject which fills a rather large bookcase. The truth is, I own more books on UFOs than 90% of the population of Britain own books in total, full stop. In fact, many people would refuse to live in such a house as mine because of the books as it offends their sense of style. Now, you can make of that what you will and it is, to some extent, a sad indictment of our society and shows how other forms of entertainment have become far far more important.

To suggest there is a paucity of cases to write books about is just utter rubbish. One could easily suggest their are a lack of cases that are *sexy* enough to find a publisher in a contracting market and you'd probably be right. Problem is that damn word sexy. There are a veritable plethora of cases that have , to anyone with half a brain, a truly interesting kernel about them. That can be from being able to cross reference to other sightings to those that are just plain weird.

The problem lies not with the cases themselves as with the idea that there has to be an answer written in simple language that even the most challenged can grasp. Well imagine that was how we we went about particle physics or the study of DNA.

"O'm sorry Doctor XYX, as much as your work is indeed worthy, we won't be publishing it because, no-one is killed, there are no real conspiracies and your average Jo wouldn't have a clue past page 1.And there lies the rub, Ufology is about the interface of human experience with a science that as yet eludes us, whatever that science may be.

It is hardly helped when the climate is such that, you talk to some *name* scientist about it and they conclude by saying "Don't mention me by name please as I don't want the adverse publicity that goes with it".

That is, if the scientists feel they cannot approach the subject without their livelihoods being threatened, then they can hardly scream foul if the "amateurs" get involved.

The there is another problem. The vast majority of scientists in the world today are specialists. Outside of their own narrow field they haven't a clue about other scientists fields. Not only that, many in their own particular fields might know all the basics but cannot get their heads round the cutting edge concepts any more than jo public. Things like Brane theory leave many scientists struggling to even conceptualise the theories being proposed let alone understand them, so they do what humans do and just ignore them and the implication therein.. The basic battle lines being drawn up around the idea...

"Oh i can;t measure that so I'm just ignoring it" against the "One has to conceptualsie then seek evidence in order to move on as the numbers actually don't add up".


I remember when they sent the probe to study Halley's comet They had a live TV show as the probe approached with a panel of the great and good of science there and a token schoolkid. When they lost telemetry from the part of the probe they all went into a kerfuffle and there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth. The 13 year old kid pipes up. "Well i believe it is probably small pieces of come debris that have hit the probe and probably knocked out of line a couple of the arrays, thus we are receiving some telemetry and not other parts"...

The great and good rolled their eyes, sucked their teeth and generally were their usual condescending selves towards the young man...yes yes young man,.... now let's return to discussing the real reasons...

30 minutes later the kid turns out to be 100% right. and only about 10% of the great and good even had the decency to congratulate him and admit they had got it totally wrong, let alone apologise to him.

Those who have been in the field for some time know the following all too well.

You are some social gathering the conversation turns to UFOs someone pipes up with

Wll of course no case have ever included this or that information..

Well actually that's not true... the xyz case and the yysz cases both included such information and it is fully documented

Well yes, but no case have ever seen this or that..

Well no part from the NMH case in and the JJH case in including exactly that sort of information..

Well yes all well and good but its just stupid really I wouldn't waste my time on it all accompanied by large guffaws and inane remarks about "little green men" and how they only appear to eejits and hillybillys never to *sensible* peple.

Well what about the cases involving ... him and her and that person who is a high ranking military officer?

And the you realise it's virtually exactly the same on every last form on the subject on the web,. The ignorant demanding information which, if they got off their lazy butts is already out there

The world is full of glorified lab assistants who think a white coat in oil extraction from shale beds, gives them the right to laud it over anyone without a science degree. The web is full of people who are brilliant at using google but haven;t a clue of the actual context of the information they are spouting as if they discovered it themselves.

You want east answers and not to have to think too hard, simple don;t get involved with UFOs. You don;t mind your very core systems being challenged by the evidence that has been stacking up over time, fine dive in and DO IT FOR YOURSELF..

In short quit bellyaching when the people who know their stuff about UFOs turn around and say.. In the end I have theories, we know the phenomenon is real, everything else is up for grabs.Because that is the ONLY truth about the subject as we stand right now.

What i will say is this. All the best UFO researchers, be they published or not, agree on one thing. To understand this phenomenon will push humanities understanding of the multi verse on by not just a step, rather probably a huge leap and that leap might involve us as a whole race having to reassess just how *clever* we really are and just "important" we really are. There lies your problem, people of all persuasions, religious scientific etc etc... really don;t like facing that idea so would rather just walk away from it and belittle those who choose to face up to it.

As someone so aptly once said.... "There is nothing to fear, save fear itself"..never was so hackneyed a line so appropriate to a field of study.

Actually, The # of pertinant, credible ufo sightings in general have not changed much over the years. Only the myriad of hoaxers adding their deluge to the mix, due to the wide availability of video equipment and advanced editing software, is making it seem as if the only ufo sightings are ridiculous sightings. There are still very solid cases occuring - for example, in Texas.

Also, imo the face of UFOlogy hasn't changed much to Joe Public. I doubt 95% of the population notices any change at all, except to hear about the false cases a bit more often than used to be the case. But to most people, aliens in paticular are heard about most often.. in the movies. I DO think that with the advent of finding more signs of possible life even in our own solar system, the increase of possible habitable planets "close by," and the increase in entertainment media, that more of the public in the past, believes the phenemona may well be real.

Research itself will never advance much, until there is actual solid evidence to work with.

Wow! Talk about a great deal hidden from plain sight. What a soap opera!

Originally posted by MasterOfSparkz
Wow! Talk about a great deal hidden from plain sight. What a soap opera!

Well i have personally never met a belligerent and vocal sceptic yet who, despite all the evidence being to the contrary, doesn't think the Universe revolves around them.

1. MSM and the "giggle factor" they imbue discourages serious researchers from approaching them or even agreeing to be interviewed.

2. There is not enough evidence (real, tangible evidence -not grainy you-boob lights in the sky) for serious researchers to examine and study.

3. There is no funding available in academia to pursue the subject so there are no serious researchers at the institutional level.

4. Despite recent 'advancements' world governments continue to expound 'Plausible Denial' as official policy, thus serious researchers are perpetually ridiculed and thwarted by their own governments.

5. Those professional, educated, serious researchers that remain have long since jumped ship and are now disguising themselves as Astrobiologists, Exobiologists, and similar "accepted" sciences from which they can earn a reputable living -as long as they never utter the words "UFO", "Aliens", or ET/EBE in the context of a conspiracy. Check out NASA's site for a perfect example of this research "in disguise". Your ET/Alien "disclosure" announcement likely will come from here, if ever.

In the meantime, keep searching, and keep looking up!

reply to post by MainLineThis


p.s. Agreed: The OP seems to merely be "advertising" his blog. Quotes himself, then links to himself, offers little of substance to support a premise.

MainLineThis is probably closest to the truth on this one...

Originally posted by FireMoon

Originally posted by MasterOfSparkz
Wow! Talk about a great deal hidden from plain sight. What a soap opera!

Well i have personally never met a belligerent and vocal sceptic yet who, despite all the evidence being to the contrary, doesn't think the Universe revolves around them.

I have met others, and am myself, a very skeptical UFO enthusiast who does not feel that they are the center of the universe. Sometimes, adopting a MUCH more discerning and critical perspective, concerning a topic that is shrouded in utter mystery, is just a basic healthy indication of a matured intellect. One who has been around the block.

I agree with you that those who adopt a one sided, vehemently narrow minded skeptical approach to the the UFO subject, are NO BETTER than the "true believer" variety. If truth be known, they are primarily the polarized result of the process responsible for basic fanaticism and religious zealots, bearing identical instinctual motives in either camp from the very start. The psychology itself results in fanatical, and indeed irrational, allied transferal in which both diametrically opposing group's instinctual alignment is facilitated by their preferred security blanket.

The TRUE skeptic does not deny possibility based on previous experience or knowledge, because they have been around long enough to understand what is "scientific revision", but rather insists on substantiation prior to accepting specified claims of extraordinary accounts.

Being a skeptic means that you naturally doubt the incredulous until the incredulous is the new substantiated norm. One can certainly remain healthily entertained by all the incredulous accounts, I do all the time without committing to acceptance or denial.

I just think it's absolutely immature and in fact, repulsive, to run around posting cartoonish nonsense without the least bit of critical substantiation. This forum is FILLED with this sort of child like foolishness, but there are many here that make it quite worthwhile to return. One of those people would be you.

I personally think this is going to be the height of UFO research next to when the aliens operations were in full and actually witnessing it. It is because 30 years is the time fame for government to release UFO information. Hence 1980 Roswell, now the FBI is releasing files from the 70s.