Why Believe in UFOs and Aliens?
Making the Case for the Biggest Cover Up in the Universe
Update: On December 22nd, 2017, the New York Times published an article stating that the Pentagon funded a modern-day top-secret UFO research program, and revealed that many government officials believe that the origin of UFOs are alien.
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"When the long-awaited solution to the UFO problem comes, I believe that it will prove to be not merely the next small step in the march of science, but a mighty and totally unexpected quantum leap... we had a job to do, whether right or wrong, to keep the public from getting excited."
Dr J Allen Hynek, director of the US Air Force's Project Blue Book
Dr J Allen Hynek, director of the US Air Force's Project Blue Book
Is extra terrestrial life out there?
We might daydream of a future where our children shrug “can you believe our parents thought they were so rare?”
UFOs are UFOs - with or without aliens. But it’s worth examining the likelihood that advanced extra terrestrial life is out there, and occasionally dropping by our our planet for a look-see.
What if life was everywhere?
Okay, so assuming ET life is out here – intelligent ET life, that is, could it visit us? It’s an impossible question. We don’t know what life outside of Earth would be like, we don’t know how that life would get around the Cosmos (time travel, worm holes, speedy spaceships?), and we don’t know how it'd interact with our planet if it did get around to us.
However, we do know that we walked on the moon a mere 50 years after we first took flight.
UFOs are UFOs - with or without aliens. But it’s worth examining the likelihood that advanced extra terrestrial life is out there, and occasionally dropping by our our planet for a look-see.
What if life was everywhere?
- Scientists estimate the universe is populated with a trillion galaxies, each providing a home to billions of stars. (If life on Earth is like winning the lotto, then there are a billion Earths, a billion lottery wins, out there!) Remember, the greater the distances of space and time, the greater chance it is that there are races out there who've mastered both.
- One sun-like star we know about, HD 10180, has more planets than our sun. Another planet we recently spotted, Kepler 22B, has all the right ingredients for life.
- We have barely discovered 20% of life here on our own planet – one recent discovery was of a relatively intelligent and large primate.
- Life exists on Earth where it shouldn’t - we don't fully understanding the building blocks of it (1, 2).
- Mars was, and could still be, flowing with water, a fact disputed by skeptics for years - despite the evidence, direct from NASA.
- NASA discovered life on Mars back in the 1970s. Really.
- Buzz Aldrin claims there’s a curious monolith on Mars’ moon.
Okay, so assuming ET life is out here – intelligent ET life, that is, could it visit us? It’s an impossible question. We don’t know what life outside of Earth would be like, we don’t know how that life would get around the Cosmos (time travel, worm holes, speedy spaceships?), and we don’t know how it'd interact with our planet if it did get around to us.
However, we do know that we walked on the moon a mere 50 years after we first took flight.
History of UFOs
Roswell is not where it all started. UFOs show in up in ancient cave drawings and renaissance art, and documented sightings go back to the 1800s. They buzzed fighter jets in World War II, hung out at the White House in the 50s, and apparently abducted Betty and Barney Hill in the 60s.
The US government, as well as other governments across the globe, acknowledge the phenomenon and take it quite seriously; investigating UFO reports used to be an official thing, and President Clinton was openly curious about the topic. The father of ufology was actually a member of the government's “Project Blue Book," a UFO investigative group – he concluded that a percentage, though small, of UFO sightings were real, and that “Project Blue Book” was more concerned with debunking and undermining these sightings than investigating them.
The US government, as well as other governments across the globe, acknowledge the phenomenon and take it quite seriously; investigating UFO reports used to be an official thing, and President Clinton was openly curious about the topic. The father of ufology was actually a member of the government's “Project Blue Book," a UFO investigative group – he concluded that a percentage, though small, of UFO sightings were real, and that “Project Blue Book” was more concerned with debunking and undermining these sightings than investigating them.
Who Are the Believers?
Believers may be in the minority, but they're in good company - astronauts and presidents have all gone on record about their belief in UFOs.
- Edgar Mitchell, NASA astronaut: "I've talked with people of stature-of military and government credentials and position-and heard their stories, and their desire to tell their stories openly to the public. And that got my attention very, very rapidly.... The first hand experiences of these credible witnesses that, now in advanced years are anxious to tell their story, we can't deny that, and the evidence points to the fact that Roswell was a real incident, and that indeed an alien craft did crash, and that material was recovered from that crash site."
- Gordon Cooper, NASA astronaut: “I believe that these extraterrestrial vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets—which obviously are a little more technically advanced than we are here on earth.”
- Scott Carpenter, NASA astronaut: "At no time, when the astronauts were in space were they alone: there was a constant surveillance by UFOs."
- Eugene Cemen, NASA astronaut: "I've been asked (about UFOs) and I've said publicly I thought they were somebody else, some other civilization"
- Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter Director, CIA: "Unknown objects are operating under intelligent control... It is imperative that we learn where UFO's come from and what their purpose is..."
- Brian O'Leory, NASA astronaut
- Dr J Allen Hynek, director of the US Air Force's Project Blue Book
- Roscoe H Hillenkoetter, CIA director: "Behind the scenes, high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense."
- James McDivitt, NASA astronaut
- Cady Coleman, NASA astronaut: "Mission control, we have a UFO pacing our position, request instructions."
- Buzz Aldrin, NASA astronaut
- Clark McClelland, retired NASA mission specialist
- Michio Kaku, celebrity physicist
- President Harry Truman: “I can assure you that, given they exist, these flying saucers are made by no power on this Earth.”
- FBI Director J Edgar Hoover: "We must insist upon full access to discs recovered. In the LA case the Army grabbed it and would not let us have it for cursory examination."
- Nick Pope, head of the UK's UFO Project
- President Ronald Reagan
- President Jimmy Carter
- Paul Hellyer, former Canadian defense minister
- Donald Keyhoe, investigated military intelligence
- Stanton Friedman, nuclear physicist
- Former adviser to President Obama, current campaigner for Hillary Clinton
Best UFO Cases
UFO sightings with photo and video evidence are reported around the clock. Amazing stories hit local airwaves, YouTube, Twitter, and message boards weekly.
Sightings are so prevalent, that they are thoroughly classified:
Sightings are so prevalent, that they are thoroughly classified:
Read also:
- About.com's UFO expert chimes in with a throng of famous cases
- A blogger shares their top 100