U F O s  -  A   R e a l i t y ?
By Chris Herring

  For over fifty years now, one of the greatest controversies of our time has been the subject of UFOs and aliens. While the media does little to cover the hundreds of reported sightings, there is a growing number of people who feel that the subject is worthy of scientific investigation. Over the years, a number of credible and respectable individuals have switched professions and dedicated their lives to investigating a phenomenon that they feel hasn't gotten the attention it so readily deserves. While most of the governments of the world deny their involvement in this subject, the percentage of the populace that is taking this subject more seriously, grows every day. Claims of UFO sightings have been made by folks of nearly every profession, and no common link can be found between those individuals that do see UFOs and those that don't. It would appear that anyone can have a sighting, no matter their personal beliefs towards the subject. This is one of the main factors that has turned many individuals from a skeptic to a true believer, when their own beliefs wouldn't allow them to accept such a possible reality otherwise.

  Besides the controversy over whether UFOs are in fact a real phenomenon, there also exist many different views concerning the nature of such objects. Probably the most common view among believers is that they are crafts that are intelligently controlled by beings from another planet, solar system, dimension or time, that are visiting our reality and interacting with humans on some level. Another religiously connected belief is that aliens and UFOs are real but that they are demons or the servants of Satan that are here to lure humans from the true path of God, in the time before the second coming. And yet another popular idea is that perhaps UFOs are the product of some currently unknown natural phenomenon, that science has yet to explain or discover. A lot of people also entertain the idea that UFOs are really some new technology that our governments periodically test long before the public has any knowledge of such crafts existence. Although there are many other ideas in relation to the true nature of the UFO phenomenon, the last one I feel worth mentioning is the theory that UFOs and aliens are in fact humans from a distance future, traveling in some form of time-traveling devices, back to our time to observe or correct some aspect of the history of the human existence. Perhaps one day we will discover that more then just one of the above ideas has some basis in reality.

  Probably one of the best arguments on the side of the skeptic is the absence of concrete physical evidence. Most skeptics will tell you that there is absolutely no physical evidence to substantiate any of the claims of UFO sightings and especially alien abduction and visitations. Now on the surface, this would appear true, but to the keen observer, this may not be the case at all. For the most part, there are countless cases where the witnesses have been very credible and seemingly sincere individuals who have nothing to gain from the telling of such an unbelievable experience. There have also been many accounts where UFOs have been confirmed visually and on radar. When a sighting is reported, then confirmed visually by authorities, and still yet confirmed on radar, it is hard to discount the event as a hallucination, misidentification or some brightly illuminated heavenly body or star. Although radar confirmations are sometimes explained away as temperature inversions, a study conducted by the Air Force Environmental Technical Applications in 1969 found that the conditions needed to produce such a UFO mirage, can't exist in the Earth's atmosphere. While most experienced radar operators can tell the difference between the weather and something solid, it is likely that a radar operator can be fooled or that the average observer can be fooled, but it's less likely that both would be fooled at the same time, about the same event. In some cases military aircraft have been launched in response to such radar/visual confirmations and it is then again confirmed by the pilots.

  UFOs have been seen entering and exiting large bodies of water, hovering just above the ground, and playing what seem like games with military aircrafts. Most people speculate that if UFOs are visiting earth then they must be landing somewhere which would leave some type of trace or physical evidence. In fact, there are several cases where UFOs have supposedly landed and investigators where able to arrive on the scene in time to study and evaluate such physical traces. A prime example of this would be the 1964 Socorro, New Mexico case involving policeman Lonnie Zamora. In this case, the officer was pursuing a speeding vehical when he caught a bright flash out of the corner of his eye. Thinking that there might have been an accident connected with a local place known to have explosives, he left the speeding vehical and turned towards the direction of the flash. Upon approach, he saw two humanoids standing outside of an egg-shape craft on legs. As he got out of his car and tried to get closer, the beings became startled by his presence and entered their craft and flew off. Policeman Zamora was then joined by a police sergeant who also witnessed the craft flying away. When the area where the craft had landed was investigated, charred grass and imprints from the craft were discovered.

  One of the most amazing, while at the same time, most damaging aspects of the alien/UFO phenomenon is the photographic and video evidence. With our current technology, we can fake almost anything on video or film, to the point that it cannot be determined if the evidence in question is genuine or not. While there exist numerous conspiracy theories that support the idea that certain governments have obtained UFO technology, no example of it has ever been released to the public or scientific community. We must rely heavily on the video and photographic evidence when we try to get an idea of the physical appearance and other aspects of these crafts. There are also rumors of dis-information efforts to throw off the people who take this subject seriously. The main groups often stated as being behind such efforts are the government agencies and in some instances, the aliens themselves. It's too easy for the skeptic to discount this type of evidence when so much of it remains undetermined. It is true that much of the evidence in question has been determined as fraudulent, but a large amount of it cannot be proven one way or the other. A lot of skeptics have contacted me over the last few years and stated that nobody can prove that UFOs exist. Then I am often reminded that I cannot prove that they don't exist either. I am reminded that I can no more prove the existence of aliens then I can prove the existence of a god, yet millions of people believe in such a being. At present, it would seem that no one particular type of evidence by itself, has enough foundation to qualify it as absolute, concrete proof, but take it all as a whole and the data would seem to indicate that there is at the very least, enough to demand serious attention and scientific study.

  One must also remember that just because an object is labeled as a UFO or an Unidentified Flying Object, that this does not necessarily mean that the object is of alien origin. For this to even be considered, the object in question must first show characteristics unlike those of any known aircrafts of the modern era. Thanks to video recordings, many unknown or unexplainable objects have been recorded while in flight. Some of the best footage of such objects, display abilities far beyond those of any current human technology. UFOs often perform maneuvers that would otherwise kill a normal human being. 90 degree turns and speeds that are almost above the range of the naked eyes ability to keep up with, are just the beginning. Some video footage of supposed UFOs also show an ability to change shape and appearance while in flight. This is probably one of the most shocking aspects noticed when viewing such footage. Another unusual characteristic of some UFOs is their the ability to "wink out". This is one of the two ways most often described by witnesses that UFOs disappear and/or travel. The common account will often mention that the UFO took off at a tremendous rate of speed, until out of sight. "Winking out" is something different. This is when the light or glow of a UFO suddenly closes in on itself, much like the closing of an eye, or the way a door might open and close in some futuristic sci-fi movie. A UFO might "wink out" at one point, only to re-appear some place else, if at all, but the object is not seen moving from point A to point B. From this, ufologists have speculated that perhaps some of these objects have the capability of inter-dimensional travel. The other main aspect noticed in video recordings is the "hazing effect". This is the disturbance noticed in the atmosphere around the UFO. Many folks will point out that a large amount of the photographs and video seem fuzzy or out of focus in the area immediately surrounding a UFO. It's assumed that this may have something to do with the type of propulsion systems they use, or perhaps they have the ability to exist in multiple dimensions at any given time and this is just an effect on the immediate space and time around the object. Some of the video evidence also shows signs of a vapor trail of some sort. I have even considered the idea that if UFOs didn't want to be noticed and were unable to remain hidden from humans while they go about their business, then perhaps they would disguise themselves as modern aircrafts, as far as lighting arrangements and radar goes anyway.

  Another problem with investigating this phenomenon is the amount of cases that go unreported. A large percentage of the truly unexplainable experiences go unreported due to the fact that most people don't know what to do when they have a sighting or unusual experience. After all, there is no 911 for paranormal experiences. The other reason so many sightings remain unknown is that so many people feel that they would be ridiculed or harassed if they came forward. Nobody wants their friends to suddenly start thinking that they are crazy or lying. Society as a whole seems to reflect the view of the skeptic for the most part and throughout history you can find many instances where tragedies where brought on by no more than a simple idea that differed from the normally accepted view. Prime examples of such cases might be Socrates, Galileo, or even the Salem Witch Trials. One must also take into account the strange aspect of memory tampering associated with UFO abductions. If there is some reality to the abduction phenomenon and the beings behind it have the technology to alter human memory, then what might be the extent of this memory tampering? Could man at one time have had knowledge of worldly visitors, as so many ancient texts would seem to indicate? Have we somehow lost or forgotten this knowledge and are just now re-discovering it? Are some of the tales told in the bible, tales of encounters with such visitors, as some people suggests? Hopefully, someday we will have some of these answers, but for now each of us must draw our own conclusions as it is unlikely that any one person has all the knowledge and the qualifications necessary to give us all of these answers. And until somebody brings forward some form of undeniable proof, this subject will most likely remain one of the greatest controversies of our time. As some have said, it would take aliens landing on the White House lawn to convince them that aliens exist.