UFOs: Not Dead Yet
R. Lee
April 22, 2006
I?ve been following the articles and related threads on-line that insist UFOlogy is dead. Dead, dead, dead. UFO sightings are down. Barely any reports of UFOs come in anymore. Interest in the topic has waned; no one cares. UFO reporting bureaus have shut down, publications have ceased, and it?s all due to one thing: no more UFOs. Nothing to speak of anyway, not worth a mention.
The most recent of these is Whatever happened to . . . UFOs? The implication in its very title is that UFOs have gone forever.
Have UFOs gone away, simply vanished from our skies, as well as our minds? As hard as they (you know, ?them,?) might try to convince us of this, the reality is very different.
The local media in my area doesn?t report on UFO sightings. They used to, many years ago. A couple of years ago, I interviewed a local UFO witness who had caught the object on video. He took photographs of it as well, and there were a handful of witnesses. The witness -- who was unfamiliar with UFOlogy -- contacted our local television news programs, as well as the newspaper. Despite other witnesses, photos, and video, no one was interested. Only one news program said they?d meet with this witness; yet they said the sighting wasn?t newsworthy and didn?t air anything on it. I am in contact with several individuals here in Oregon and elsewhere, who, on a weekly basis, share with me not only sightings of UFOs, but encounters of entities that seem to be connected with these UFOs as well. These UFO sightings are ongoing; they were active decades ago, they were active last week.
There is an interesting thread of photos and comments on things unidentified found on Google satellite images, National UFO Reporting Center, receives reports of UFOs daily. They are ?severely overworked? and obviously this is due to the amount of UFO reports that come in. (And, sadly, the amount of prank calls they receive.) There are MUFON chapters in just about every state. Filer?s Files lists reports from all over the world, thanks to MUFON and George A. Filer. UFO magazine, which went from publishing an issue once a month, to only once every two months, is now back to a once a month schedule. The UFO Database (an amazing resource) is updated frequently and clearly shows that UFOs are as present as ever.
There have been UFO ?flaps? throughout the decades, and sightings may be more prevalent during some times than others. This is not the same thing as the belief that there are no longer UFOs that have ceased to exist. Nor does it mean that UFOs are ?old hat,? as one ?randi-bot? commented on a forum awhile ago. UFOs are not old fashioned, out of date, or boring, all astounding comments made by skeptics of varying stripes on various forums the past couple of years. What?s worrisome about these unfounded opinions is that they trickle down to the general public, who are already suspended in an ambivalent state when it comes to UFOs.
They?ll still here. Not only are they still here, entities are still being seen, people are still reporting abduction events, and high strangeness is still occurring in connection with UFOs. These sightings are not limited to the United States. There is UFO activity in every country, including sightings of non-human creatures, and other general weirdness.
It?s too easy to say that this persistent little ?there are hardly any UFOs left? meme is some sort of disinformation campaign perpetuated by various governmental agencies. Too easy and too paranoid. Yet it?s no secret that the United States, Britain, and other countries have engaged in purposeful anti-UFO debunking and disinformation campaigns since the 1940s, if not before. With the contemporary Black Triangle sightings and alien abduction encounters, for example, it is naive to think these efforts at squelching UFO interests have stopped.
Officially, the public face our government has put on their interest in UFOs has been one of indifference. Surely no one seriously believes that is the case. If it is the case, we are in deep trouble. During the 1997 Phoenix Lights UFO sightings, various government agencies were disconcertingly uninterested -- but more to the point, seemingly inept in their responses -- to UFOs. Yet it is difficult to believe that this was actually the reality. Behind the scenes, our government-military agencies are working in mysterious ways in responding to the UFO phenomenon.
This combination of the mini-flood of ?UFOs are dead? articles, and public government disinterest lulls us into a sense of amnesia and complacency. What UFOs? is the response, with a shrug, because after all, who cares anyway?
The reality is clear; UFOs are here, now, right now. They didn?t just start with Kenneth Arnold, and they just didn?t end there either. The UFO phenomenon is intensely complex, its history ancient, and its ramifications certainly stupendous.
And maybe that last reason is why we hear, every few weeks, that ?UFOs are dead.?
The most recent of these is Whatever happened to . . . UFOs? The implication in its very title is that UFOs have gone forever.
Have UFOs gone away, simply vanished from our skies, as well as our minds? As hard as they (you know, ?them,?) might try to convince us of this, the reality is very different.
The local media in my area doesn?t report on UFO sightings. They used to, many years ago. A couple of years ago, I interviewed a local UFO witness who had caught the object on video. He took photographs of it as well, and there were a handful of witnesses. The witness -- who was unfamiliar with UFOlogy -- contacted our local television news programs, as well as the newspaper. Despite other witnesses, photos, and video, no one was interested. Only one news program said they?d meet with this witness; yet they said the sighting wasn?t newsworthy and didn?t air anything on it. I am in contact with several individuals here in Oregon and elsewhere, who, on a weekly basis, share with me not only sightings of UFOs, but encounters of entities that seem to be connected with these UFOs as well. These UFO sightings are ongoing; they were active decades ago, they were active last week.
There is an interesting thread of photos and comments on things unidentified found on Google satellite images, National UFO Reporting Center, receives reports of UFOs daily. They are ?severely overworked? and obviously this is due to the amount of UFO reports that come in. (And, sadly, the amount of prank calls they receive.) There are MUFON chapters in just about every state. Filer?s Files lists reports from all over the world, thanks to MUFON and George A. Filer. UFO magazine, which went from publishing an issue once a month, to only once every two months, is now back to a once a month schedule. The UFO Database (an amazing resource) is updated frequently and clearly shows that UFOs are as present as ever.
There have been UFO ?flaps? throughout the decades, and sightings may be more prevalent during some times than others. This is not the same thing as the belief that there are no longer UFOs that have ceased to exist. Nor does it mean that UFOs are ?old hat,? as one ?randi-bot? commented on a forum awhile ago. UFOs are not old fashioned, out of date, or boring, all astounding comments made by skeptics of varying stripes on various forums the past couple of years. What?s worrisome about these unfounded opinions is that they trickle down to the general public, who are already suspended in an ambivalent state when it comes to UFOs.
They?ll still here. Not only are they still here, entities are still being seen, people are still reporting abduction events, and high strangeness is still occurring in connection with UFOs. These sightings are not limited to the United States. There is UFO activity in every country, including sightings of non-human creatures, and other general weirdness.
It?s too easy to say that this persistent little ?there are hardly any UFOs left? meme is some sort of disinformation campaign perpetuated by various governmental agencies. Too easy and too paranoid. Yet it?s no secret that the United States, Britain, and other countries have engaged in purposeful anti-UFO debunking and disinformation campaigns since the 1940s, if not before. With the contemporary Black Triangle sightings and alien abduction encounters, for example, it is naive to think these efforts at squelching UFO interests have stopped.
Officially, the public face our government has put on their interest in UFOs has been one of indifference. Surely no one seriously believes that is the case. If it is the case, we are in deep trouble. During the 1997 Phoenix Lights UFO sightings, various government agencies were disconcertingly uninterested -- but more to the point, seemingly inept in their responses -- to UFOs. Yet it is difficult to believe that this was actually the reality. Behind the scenes, our government-military agencies are working in mysterious ways in responding to the UFO phenomenon.
This combination of the mini-flood of ?UFOs are dead? articles, and public government disinterest lulls us into a sense of amnesia and complacency. What UFOs? is the response, with a shrug, because after all, who cares anyway?
The reality is clear; UFOs are here, now, right now. They didn?t just start with Kenneth Arnold, and they just didn?t end there either. The UFO phenomenon is intensely complex, its history ancient, and its ramifications certainly stupendous.
And maybe that last reason is why we hear, every few weeks, that ?UFOs are dead.?
Print
Email
