What's up with UFOs these days?

[TBRS1]

Back in the 60s, UFOs were real.

Then, for 50 years, they weren't real.

Now, they seem to be real again.

What's up with that?

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

I don't think it's aliens. It wouldn't be that obvious. If they could get from their own solar system, through every belt of asteroids, radiation, gas, etc, they wouldn't just let themselves be visible to our relatively paleolithic technology.

In the 60s, didn't it turn out that we were testing new aircraft, including rockets for space travel? My father's family used to go out into the desert to watch the atomic bomb tests.

When I was a child, we lived near many high desert military air stations. Regularly, I would be playing outside, and all of a sudden "BOOOOM"! An aircraft would break the sound barrier. A couple years later, they unveiled the B2 Spirit stealth bomber. But we, in the desert, had already seen the weird jet, as everyone was calling it.

I'm gonna be a realist, and say that my hypothesis is that rather than aliens, it's new aircraft capable of flying at higher latitudes. Probably uses AI for navigation. But I really have no idea. It's just a guess.

 

[Outdated]

I believe in not just the possibility but in the probability of other planets evolving in a similar fashion to ours, but most people don't seem to understand time on a geological scale.

In closer to the centre of the universe there will be planets that evolved, lasted for millions of years, and then died out again. Further out towards the edges of the universe are much younger planets and it's quite likely that some of them will form the same carbon bondings that are the beginnings of life.

But for any to be within travel distance of us and to exist at the same time as us, the odds of that are very low.

 

[Outdated]

I'm gonna be a realist, and say that my hypothesis is that rather than aliens, it's new aircraft capable of flying at higher latitudes. Probably uses AI for navigation. But I really have no idea. It's just a guess.

Satellites too:

Identified flying objects over North Queensland sign of space race gone 'bonkers', says expert

Lights in the night sky have startled some sky watchers this week, but to a University of Queensland academic they're undesirable, not unidentified, flying objects.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Progster]

UFO = Unidentified Flying Object.
UFOs are real and numerous.

 

[Outdated]

UFO = Unidentified Flying Object.

Or as that news story calls them - Undesirable flying objects.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Satellites too:

Identified flying objects over North Queensland sign of space race gone 'bonkers', says expert

Lights in the night sky have startled some sky watchers this week, but to a University of Queensland academic they're undesirable, not unidentified, flying objects.

www.abc.net.au

Oh yeah! This reminds me of the Starlink Satellites. They go by some nights, all in a row. It's really pretty to watch. My daughter and I get so excited when we see satellites or the space station go by. If we read online that they will be visible, we are sure to go outside to watch and wait.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Well if you saw the Congressional hearings on this topic it would appear that likely more than one species of extraterrestrial have been around. There appears to be probes, those ultra fast, ultra maneuverable “tic tak” looking objects juking our military aircraft out of their shorts. Then there are those that have been shot down or crashed with “non human biologicals” aboard. There may be an explanation why the Pentagon is unable to pass an audit. There appears to be “black ops” sites where even those with top secret clearance are unable to gain access. All of this was made part of the public record a few weeks ago.

 

[Outdated]

There's an Australian Aboriginal legend has often been referred to as a record of a visit by aliens, the sory of The Lightning Brothers:

I went on a boat trip up the Nitmuluk Gorge in Katherine and the tour guide was one of the traditional owners of that land. He told us the story of The Lightning Brothers.

-----

They came one day. They had funny big heads shaped like melons, and lightning came out of their heads. This was how they communicated.

They fought each other, and they fought and they fought, but no matter how brave and cunning they were neither one managed to hurt the other one. This was how you could tell they were brothers.

They came, they fought a lot, then they left again.

-----

The guide said his people are the only people in the world to have an extraterrestrial visitation like that and not make up a whole heap of religious mumbo jumbo about it. They just tell you what happened.

 

[LadyS]

They're called UAP's now - Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon. Because most humans can only think within the context of our own timelines and reasoning (i.e. "Until WE find evidence, they can't possibly exist" *cue eyeroll*, "We wouldn't do that so why would aliens do this, it makes no sense", etc), and then add in government cover up because they don't believe people are ready to know the truth yet (for above reasons). It's not really far-fetched if you're able to see past how much Hollywood/media has influenced everyone about conspiracies and aliens, and how much the scientific community has stigmatized unexplained phenomenon.

Now with advancements in technology and increased communication through social media, it makes sense why the idea is now more openly discussed than before. World is getting smaller and it's getting harder to deny certain things.

 

[elgat0verde]

I do believe that there is life in other planets since the universe is very vast.

Now, those creatures trying to make contact with us? Not so much

I saw a video once with Neil Degrasse Tyson (probably butchured that) saying something amongst the lines of:

"A more advanced society would look at us as we look down on ants, uninterested" and I do believe it.

 

[LadyS]

"A more advanced society would look at us as we look down on ants, uninterested" and I do believe it.

Entomologists would disagree .

 

[GrownupGirl]

Maybe people are secretly hoping space aliens will take over Earth. After all, it's not like humans have been doing such a great job ruling over it.

 

[TBRS1]

The

Well if you saw the Congressional hearings on this topic it would appear that likely more than one species of extraterrestrial have been around. There appears to be probes, those ultra fast, ultra maneuverable “tic tak” looking objects juking our military aircraft out of their shorts. Then there are those that have been shot down or crashed with “non human biologicals” aboard. There may be an explanation why the Pentagon is unable to pass an audit. There appears to be “black ops” sites where even those with top secret clearance are unable to gain access. All of this was made part of the public record a few weeks ago.

"Non human biologicals" really caught my attention - if this is actually TRUE, it is a thing that is beyond interesting.

I don't doubt that there is other life out there, but the distances are so enormous that traveling to them seems impossible.

If they are able to visit us... Well, very interesting.

 

[TBRS1]

I don't think it's aliens. It wouldn't be that obvious. If they could get from their own solar system, through every belt of asteroids, radiation, gas, etc, they wouldn't just let themselves be visible to our relatively paleolithic technology.

In the 60s, didn't it turn out that we were testing new aircraft, including rockets for space travel? My father's family used to go out into the desert to watch the atomic bomb tests.

When I was a child, we lived near many high desert military air stations. Regularly, I would be playing outside, and all of a sudden "BOOOOM"! An aircraft would break the sound barrier. A couple years later, they unveiled the B2 Spirit stealth bomber. But we, in the desert, had already seen the weird jet, as everyone was calling it.

I'm gonna be a realist, and say that my hypothesis is that rather than aliens, it's new aircraft capable of flying at higher latitudes. Probably uses AI for navigation. But I really have no idea. It's just a guess.

When I was young, I lived in Detroit. Detroit is far enough south that the Northern Lights are never visible (clearly). My parents woke me up one night, and the most incredible display of the Lights was going on - full 3D multicolor curtain effect.

Turns out that this display was created by Project Fishbowl (Starfish Prime - Wikipedia), a nuclear test in earth's high atmosphere that triggered the light show.

 

[Outdated]

and the most incredible display of the Lights was going on - full 3D multicolor curtain effect.

The magnetic poles have been swinging a bit wider than they usually do recently and people in Tasmania and some parts of the Australian mainland have been seeing good displays too. (aurora australis)

 

[Shevek]

I really get a laugh out of all the SF accounts of meeting aliens just the way Europeans met indigenous people. If I had a UFO, I'd radio ahead for landing clearance if I wanted to make an official visit. I suspect that we are being treated the same way we treat uncontacted stone-age tribes in the Amazon. Some ships may carry anthropologists, while other groups are more into sensational films of a species in chaos. Others may be waiting to invoke the interplanetary salvage laws by snatching the nukes from the air if we ever launch ICBMs.

 

[Princess Viola]

As I feel I've said before, with how vast the universe is, there's virtually no doubt that there exists life (both intelligent and unintelligent) out there in the cosmos and there is a likelihood that there are examples of life more advanced than humanity as well.

But considering the vastness of space, even putting aside the inherent difficulties in travelling those distance (reminder that the farthest any humans have travelled from Earth is 400,171 kilometers away, which is just 1.335 light seconds from Earth and the farthest man-made object, Voyager 1, is a mere 23.969 billion km [160.221 AU or just 22.2 light hours away]), Earth isn't particularly special. I feel most of the 'aliens are real and have visited us' just comes from people who, understandably, can't come to terms with the notion that Earth, as a whole, is not a particularly special planet and there's likely little to no reason for extraterrestrial life to visit us (even if they had the technological capabilities to do so)

At the end of the day though, I feel most UFOs or UAPs seen are not alien life but rather just military aircraft being tested or even experimental civilian aircraft.

And to add to the topic of those Congressional hearings, I should say that David Grusch - the person whistleblowing about how the US Government has extraterrestrial aircraft and the bodies of their dead pilots in their possession - has not provided an actual single shred of actual evidence in regards to his claims, such as a photograph of these alleged extraterrestrial aircraft and astronomers and scientists pretty much all uniformly reject his claims on that basis, with one of them saying that all Grusch has an appeal to authority (he's a former USAF officer and intelligence agent, therefore he must be listened to because of this, right?) and that, until he (or anyone else) provides evidence to the contrary, his stories should just be taken as stories.

I mean the fact that not a single person from the scientific community was part of these hearings definitely says something about the veracity of Grusch's claims, if you ask me. (And you can't go 'Well I bet the scientists would want to cover it up. If they discovered 100% verifiable evidence of extraterrestrial life, astronomers and other scientists would 100% be celebrating and wanting that information to be made public because 'Oh my God, life exists outside of planet Earth, this is the biggest scientific discovery of all time'. We've been searching for evidence of extraterrestrial life for decades and they openly report nearly every time there's some possibility of life being found off-world, why would they suddenly decide to cover it up if they find proof of this?)

 

[Progster]

"Non human biologicals" really caught my attention - if this is actually TRUE, it is a thing that is beyond interesting.

"Non-human biologicals" doesn't really mean a lot in itself... that would also include DNA or biologicals from animals, plants, insects. Unidentifiable biologicals would be really interesting.

I feel most of the 'aliens are real and have visited us' just comes from people who, understandably, can't come to terms with the notion that Earth, as a whole, is not a particularly special planet and there's likely little to no reason for extraterrestrial life to visit us (even if they had the technological capabilities to do so)

It's not necessarily the case that Earth wouldn't be special. If we were to somehow discover evidence of life on another planet, wouldn't that be special? If Earth were the first planet they discovered, it might be special to them. If they had already discovered thousands of other similar planets, then Earth would be just one of many and not particularly special.

I agree that the distances are so vast as to make it very difficult for interstellar travel to happen. It's a huge technological challenge to overcome. Not entirely impossible, just highly unlikely.

 

[LadyS]

We've been searching for evidence of extraterrestrial life for decades and they openly report nearly every time there's some possibility of life being found off-world, why would they suddenly decide to cover it up if they find proof of this?

I think it's because the idea of some microbial lifeform existing on another distant planet is less threatening than an intelligent humanoid species with advanced capabilities beyond our current understanding. You really have to think about the cultural and psychological impacts such a discovery would make on a species who can barely trust their own kind, let alone a whole other. Not to mention with much of the planet being tied to religion, the impacts of such a discovery would inevitably be negative to those who cannot perceive outside their dogma.

Undoubtedly there could be violent reactions, mass suicides and cultural upheavals. Humans have demonstrated throughout history how discoveries and advancements created pushback, violence, and unpredictability of human behavior. No one wants their little worlds to be disturbed, psychological studies have proven this. We are still very psychologically and egostically vulnerable.

Thus it makes sense that instead of one big reveal of a giant truth bomb, exercising the intellect in baby steps, slowly preparing and smaller reveals makes it easier to consider and accept and have a less defensive reaction. Carl Sagan's Contact is a good example.
Potential cultural impact of extraterrestrial contact - Wikipedia