posted on Sep, 11 2004 @ 02:14 PM
The economic motive $$$ is a factor that has to be considered in all ufo studies. Undoubtedly many books are un-critical of facts or exaggerate facts
simply to create a salable product.
When discussing ufos, I always tell people that whether they are "real" or not, ufos are a most fascinating SOCIOLOGICAL subject.
To study ufos, some of the areas that must be considered:
People lying or exaggerating for the economic motive
People lying or exaggerating for the social attention
People misunderstanding natural phenomena
People suffering from mental illness
People suffering unknown cognative effects, such as sleep paralysis, seizure, or exposure to strong em fields
People seeing classified military tech
People spreading disinfo to hide the truth
Phenomena of an occult nature such as thought forms, remote viewing, or manifestations of other dimensions
Religious interpretations such as angels or demons
Scientific dogmatism that means well but is not open to new ideas
New-agers who seem psychologically eager to latch onto anything having to do with Atlantis or aliens
Well meaning people who look at ambiguous data (usually photos) and think they see something remarkable (like Rorschach inkblot test)
The paranoia of a society that knows its government keeps secrets
Military actually promoting idea of ufos to hide its own technology
The difficulty and the fascination of trying to iterpret ancient archaeological
evidence
The fact that most people who know real information work very hard at keeping it secret
Then of course there is the possibility that we are actually being visited by aliens
What a tangle to sort out! If you try, you may never learn the secrets of ufos, but you will definitely learn a thing or two about human nature.