Why do UFO shapes change and evolve over time?

I am pretty sure there must be a TON of such threads already, but isn't it odd?

Where is the classic, saucer-shaped UFO?

If there is a sighting these days, of course its mostly lights, then there are triangles...or other "new" shapes...and basically zero of the "classic" UFO shapes as we still had back in the 70s. (As far as i remember).

This is just odd.

Vallee and other authors pointed this out already how the UFOs *and* the aliens seem to change and adapt to the current cultures. Why is that?

Military crafts, changes as new technology is available. I do not believe in UFO's so that's just my opinion.

Because aircraft, toys, household objects and software change.

This one is easy. The aliens get tired of their out-dated model ufo's and upgrade to the newer nicer ones. Nothing is better than that new ufo scent.

Your statement is not correct. There are still many saucer shaped UFO sightings even today. Please visit the MUFON archives and read the reports.

However the number of non saucer shapes seems to be increasing - that's true. There are many thinkable factors why this might be the case. First, there might be some military craft which are mistaken as UFOs - if by UFO you mean an alien space ship which is not really what the word means anyway.

It's also very well thinkable that the number of species visiting this planet is increasing over time. We are getting more and more evolved and the intrest of other beings might increase along with this development.
Why should they all have the same standard "saucer" shaped craft? Different races might very well have different crafts. And you could imagine that their advancement levels in technology might also be very different. We could also be visited by other things than just manned space ships. There might be all sorts of drones, interdimensional ships and even living creatures we have never seen before. Maybe some of the objects are even unknown natural forces or other unknown things.

UFO just means = unidentified flying object. Personally I would go one step further and say: (currently) UNIDENTIFIABLE flying object. The saucer shape has been taken as a symbol for extraterrestrial visitation - that doesn't mean that other forms of ships / objects do not exists or have not existed before. In fact they do exist and have existed ever since the dawn of this phenomenon.

The problem is that our mainstream science does not consider to find out what is going on in our skies mostly due to the massive ridicule stigma which has been installed decades ago and which is in place ever since. This topic is a taboo and most people have an opinion merely based on prejudice without even knowning the facts that are out there to be known. It's sad.

reply to post by flexy123


Actually, the first uforeported was not a saucer, the man that reproted said that the object moved like a saucer skips on a water surface.

The Kenneth Arnold Sighting - first UFO report Introduction On June 24, 1947, Kenneth Arnold saw something that would not only change his life forever, but his experience also served as a catalyst for our modern UFO craze. His report after seeing nine unidentified flying objects, is generally considered to be the first widely reported UFO sighting in the United States. Kenneth Arnold Sighting Arnold, a recreational private pilot, was returning home from a flight in Wyoming when he received a radio signal requesting assistance in the Yakima, Washington area. It seems there was a missing troop transport and a aerial search party was being assembled. At 3:00 p.m., flying at 9,000 feet, a bright flash of light caught Arnold's attention. Turning to look our of the side window of his airplane, Arnold was amazed to see 9 saucer shaped objects flying in formation. Thinking they were some sort of military aircraft, he watched them intently as they bobbed, weaved, and darted about flying at an amazingly high rate of speed. What fascinated Arnold the most was the fact that the flying objects had no tail, but rather were round, saucer shaped, metallic and highly polished.

Here's the link for the full article. I did a google quick search, but i'm sure that this is debated elsewhere in this forum.

LINK

reply to post by flexy123


I too have wondered this on a few occasions. I have read of the effect you speak of being referred to as "cultural tracking" in some older books.

In my opinion this is evidence of a psychological aspect to the UFO phenomenon. As you look at past reports it seems to me that people were seeing what they thought was futuristic at the time.

I'm not saying the UFO phenomenon is just in the mind, but I have come to believe that when faced with such an event as a close encounter our minds are so overwhelmed with what is being presented that we mentally shoe-horn it all into context using our only frame of reference, our life and the world around us, so the event can be dealt with rationally.

Can we ever be sure of what we are seeing? I believe there is more to all this than meets the eye. Perhaps it is all psychological and something is playing with us on that level rather than the physical. If that is the case (and I hope not) we may never get to the bottom of the enigma.

Now this doesn't account for sightings corroborated by physical evidence and radar traces etc. These tell us there is at least some kind of physical aspect there. There are also a wealth of UFO cases which do not follow the rule so to speak, therefore we cannot be sure of anything.

Perhaps it all depends on the mind of the individual?

S&F.

Ok here is a scenario.......

How much has our black ops tech devoloped in the last 60yrs and what craft shapes have been produced and thier power source?

If and no doubt there may have been and still is visitors and drones to our planet on the odd occasions from all sides of the universe, the craft shapes would varie some what dont you think.

All modes of transport change shape over time....look at the car for example....question answered

Of the 3 UFO sightings I have witnessed, none of them were a saucer shape........

The first one I saw in 1978 was a cigar shape.....

The second one I saw in 1981 was a large rectangle, larger than a couple of soccer pitches which flew above my head....

The third one I saw in about 1986 was a white light, then four other bright white lights came from the main object and circled it and occasionally stopped at four corners to place it within a square. Then the four objects disappeared back into main bright light and then it shot off into the distance.....

So on that basis then I have seen seven UFO''s, none of which was a saucer shape......

I saw a motor bike...a car...a lorry and a bus... neither of them were tank shaped....think out side the box.

reply to post by flexy123
I think the argument about changing shapes was fuelled by gents like Vallee to undercut the ETH. In my opinion, some of the argument is valid and some is exaggerated

Taken broadly, the same shapes seem to have been around since the 50s. The first triangle I can think of was reported at Operation Mainbrace by a Danish captain in 1952. Disc-shaped craft reports seem to have peaked in the 50s and 60s and trickled down since the 80s. A memorably recent one came in this time last year by a BBC journalist. Still, it's curious that within the typical shapes reported (disc, sphere, triangle, cigar) they usually are described as being distinctively different.

A lot of people will throw down some certainties regarding these differences. The difference *proves* they're a hoax, or *proves* they can't be ETI. When really, we don't know enough to do much more than scratch heads about it. Some could be similar to a visionary experience and yet we're then stuck explaining away multiple witness incidents. Or radar/visuals. I can understand the concept of pop culture influencing people too, but people weren't reporting vampire sightings in recent years (Twilight etc)...or seeing their favourite boy band in the garden. In the Cold War, people weren't generating a lot of reports of incoming bombs either.

I know a couple of people who've seen classic saucers and have to say I'm very envious. Given the chance, I'd be one of the guys who'd throw a rock at it because knowing whether it was solid, non-solid or illusory would rule out a few other hypotheses. Otherwise, like the BBC reporter...seeing something unusual doesn't tell you very much.

reply to post by flexy123

If UFOs turned out to be extra terrestrial and not secret military crafts then I would think that just as our technology has progressed and improved it seems logical that theirs would as well.

I mean really, look at how different our own technology is now compared to as recently as 20 years ago. What makes you think that if aliens exist they would not keep advancing their technologies as well?

reply to post by flexy123


Why do they change? Think of the first airplane ever built, take a look of how it was built and its strict flying capabilities. Now in the year 2012 take a look at what we have now. The fighter jets of today's military are greatly more advanced than the first plane built. Technology is always changing, and evolving into more powerful aircraft. The aircraft you dont know about will blow your mind..Im talking about the "classified" aircraft people see every now and then. UFO sightings? some of those are simple classified military projects we arent supposed to know about, or see.

A question that may want to be asked in parallel to this question is: out of these reports of different shapes, which ones can be identified as mistaken identity of known phenomenon, or the potential result of psychological phenomenon compared to an actual unknown?

From a psychological standpoint regarding misidentification exacerbated by psycho-social influences in parallel with the extremely poor ability for most people to accurately relate a true accounting due the human lack of ability for accurately interpreting foreign events, or more the overwhelming ability for the human mind to try making sense of something not understood by embroidering the raw facts; a number of changes are certainly simply the result of modern social consciousness and susceptibility to influences in the media and social peer groups.

This isn't to say that all reports are the result of misidentified phenomenon coupled with a personalized psycho-social spin.

It is, however, interesting, where over time, we see more 'popular' reports of seemingly obvious nut-and-bolts type craft evolving over time with social consciousness driven through media coupled with our own understandings and advancements in technology.

Certainly any alien civilization thousands of years, or greater in advancement to our own technology would have worked out all the contact scenario kinks with their craft by now and settled on tried and true vehicle platforms.

Changes in shapes reported over time on par with our own development and perceptual understanding coupled with media and social influence supports psycho-social-media influences as playing a part in the phenomenon.

Once again, this isn't to say that ALL reports are the result of this.
The majority however, quite possibly yes.

maybe because there are different spices of aliens.
coming from different places.

just look at our craft compared to the ufos.
big difference.

Originally posted by Rubicant13
This one is easy. The aliens get tired of their out-dated model ufo's and upgrade to the newer nicer ones. Nothing is better than that new ufo scent.

And every now and then they'll take the old saucer for a spin, just like the old guy down the block taking out his old antique car for a drive....

It would be weirder if they didn't upgrade their flying crafts.

reply to post by flexy123


This seems obvious to me, I mean I don't have any evidence but just think about it. We change technology all the time. Are planes from the 50's aren't the same as the planes we use today. Why would an alien civilization be any different? Just because they can traverse fast distances of space doesn't mean they never want to upgrade their vehicles. Either that or perhaps they are different alien races, each with it's own vehicle design. It's rather hard to say. There is also the possibility that UFO's are somehow man made craft and I imagine if that's the case then we would also change the design from time to time.