History of UFO

An unidentified flying object, or UFO, is any real or apparent flying object which cannot be identified by the observer and which remains unidentified after investigation. The shape of a UFO can vary between a defined shape (sphere, equilateral triangle, or diamond shaped) and an undefined shape (black mass, moving lights). Through the study of UFO's (called Ufology), various methods have been created to categorize the sightings.

Dr. J. Allen Hynek developed a commonly used system of description. He divided sightings into six distinct categories which separates the sightings based on proximity up to 500 feet. The sightings are then divided into subcategories based on viewing conditions. The three distinct sighting categories are Nocturnal Lights, Daylight Discs, and objects seen simultaneously by eye and radar.

Jacques Vallee devised a different UFO classification system which is preferred by many UFO investigators over Hynek's system as it is considerably more descriptive. The Valle method divides the sightings into six categories with varying subcategories for each. The five main categories are based on the shape of the UFO as well as its position, or movement through the sky (whether stationary or moving).

Where were the first UFO's seen?

Throughout history there have been numerous sightings of UFO's. In fact the ancient Hindu Ramayana described the use of complicated flying machines. In Sumerian culture the word annunaki means "those who came from heaven to earth." Annunaki is found in the ancients Sumerian myths, and some believe that the annunaki were visitors from the stars. Zecharia Sitchin claims that the anunnaki were extra-terrestrials who came to earth in its infancy, and tampered with the genetic makeup of primitive mankind. The evidence of this according to Sitchin is the fact that there are 223 non-human genes found within the human genome. Scientists believe these genes were horizontally inserted into the human genome by bacteria. However, Sitchin believes that "...these 223 genes were horizontally inserted into the human genome by alien visitors, not bacteria."

The Mayans thought that their gods came from the star system "Pleiades." Inca ruins have been found at 13,000 feet, with one stone weighing 20,000 tons. There is an ancient Mayan legend which says that spaceships descended from the stars. There are some who believe that the stone could only have been put there with the help of extra-terrestrials.

In Egypt during the reign of Pharoah Thutmose III around 1450 B.C. there is a description of many "circles of fire" brighter than the sun and around 5 meters in size. The Egyptians wrote that these UFO's appeared over multiple days and finally disappeared after ascending higher into the sky.

A sighting was recorded by Julias Obsequens, a Roman writer in 99 BCE, "in Tarquinia towards sunset, a round object, like a globe, a round or circular shield, took its path in the sky from west to east." On September 24th, 1235 General Yoritsune and his army observed globes of light flying in odd patterns in the night sky near Kyoto, Japan. Fearing for his army, Yoritsune asked his advisors what was happening. His advisors explained to him that there was nothing to worry about - it was just wind causing the stars to sway.

The next recorded sighting was on April 14th, 1561 in the skies over Nuremberg, Germany. There was a report that the skies were filled with a multitude of objects engaged in an aerial battle. Small spheres were described as having emerged from large cylinders. Another historical sighting of a UFO happened in the July of 1868. The investigators of this UFO define the first modern documented sighting as having happened in Copiapo City, Chile.

Theories of Extraterrestrial Life

There are multiple theories about the existence of extra-terrestrials. The two main theories are called the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis and the Interdimensional Hypothesis of unidentified flying objects. The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis, or ETH, states that UFO's are best explained as being creatures visiting earth from other planets using spacecraft. In 1969 physicist Edward Condon defined ETH as the "idea that some UFOs may be spacecraft sent to Earth from another civilization, or on a planet associated with a more distant star." The Interdimensional Hypothesis of unidentified flying objects, also known as IH, holds that these phenomena are visitations from other universes or dimensions that coexist separately alongside our own. It further proposes that they are a modern manifestation of entities or phenomena which have appeared throughout and possibly before recorded history, and which were previously explained as mythological or supernatural creatures. IH was advanced by the astrophysicist Jacques Vallee, the same man who thought up of the Vallee method of categorization.

In ufology, the psychosocial or psychocultural hypothesis (PSH or PCH) argues that at least some UFO reports are best explained by psychological or social means. Carl Jung, the famous psychologist, also theorized that UFOs might have a primarily spiritual and psychological basis. In his 1959 book Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky, he pointed out that the round shape of most saucers corresponds to a mandala, a type of archetypal shape seen in religious images. Thus the saucers might reflect a projection of the internal desires of viewers to see them. However, he did not out rightly label them a delusion or hallucination.

What happen in Roswell

June 14, 1947, 70 miles from Roswell, farmer William "Mac" Brazel noticed some strange debris on the Foster ranch. It was about three weeks later, on July 4, that he returned with his wife and daughter to collect some of the wreckage. A couple days later, after hearing rumors of "flying discs," Brazel told Sheriff George Wilcox about the debris he had found, after which Wilcox then contacted the Roswell Army.

A press release from the Roswell Army Air Field on July 8, 1947 that stated that the military had salvaged a crashed "flying disc." It was later that same day the Commanding General of the 8th Air Force reported that the object they had picked up was really a weather balloon. The images that accompany the second press release confirmed the government's account and the case remained dormant for the next thirty years.

In 1978, ufologist Stanton T. Friedman interviewed Major Jesse Marcel, who had been involved in the 1947 Roswell recovery. The major may have been the person responsible for the first press release at that time, and believed that the military was covering up the retrieval of an alien spacecraft, not a weather balloon of a military project.

The National Enquirer interviewed Maj. Marcel in February 1980. The interview resulted in further details in the following years, such as claims that there was a military force dedicated to the recovery of aliens and their spacecrafts. This was followed by a personal report by former mortician Glenn Davis who spoke of alien autopsies performed in Roswell. Books were written about the event, starting with The Roswell Incident where the authors claimed to have interview over ninety witnesses as well changes in the timeline of when Brazel found the debris and suggesting a cover-up on the remains of crash by the military. Other books were written in the early 90s, adding new witness accounts, but changing the timeline slightly.

The General Accounting Office launched an inquiry after such reports and books, directing the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force to conduct the investigation. They responded with two reports: one in 1995 that stated that the recovered debris in 1947 were from a secret government program Project Mogul, and one in 1997 that asserted that the recovered "alien bodies" were really memories of military accidents coupled with the retrieval of anthromorphic dummies from another military program in the 1950s. Some ufologists supported the reports while others still believe in the myth.

In 2002 a dig at the Brazel site was sponsored to find any debris of 1947 that may have been missed by the military. The dig turned up nothing, but the archeological team from the University of New Mexico did find soil disruptions that witnesses have stated seeing. In early 2005 ABC supported the Air Force's explanation of the Roswell incident while later that year, former President Bill Clinton stated that the incident has been looked at, but he doubted that a flying disc crashed to earth. Recently an anonymous informant claiming to be from the Defense Intelligence Agency began releasing information about a Project Serpo. It allegedly reports that there were two UFO that had crashed at the Roswell site, and that there was one surviving alien that died five years later.

The Roswell UFO Incident has become quite popular in today's society. On American television, science-fiction shows such as The X-Files and Roswell alludes to the myth, as well as the movies like Independence Day and Signs. Videos games, such as Area 51 and Deus Ex, also make reference to Roswell, this time in combat situations.