[Group Assignment] [Assignment:-02] [Professional Communication]

Unidentified Flying
Objects:

A
lthough sightings of
unusual phenomena
in the sky have been
reported since ancient times, an
extraordinary outburst of such
sightings in the late 1940s and
over the next two decades
created a sharp scientific
controversy, centered in the
U.S., which extended around the
globe. The term UFO, short for
"unidentified flying object," was
introduced in 1953 by the U.S.
Air Force. An earlier term,
"flying saucer," is still widely
History
used in Australia, South
America, and Europe, while in A series of radar detections
the Soviet Union the Russian coincident with visual sightings
equivalent of "flying sickle" is near the National Airport in
used. The term UFO is not Washington, D.C., in July, 1952,
restricted to saucer-shaped led the U.S. government to
objects nor even to objects in the establish a panel of scientists
sky, and in general refers simply headed by H.P. Robertson, a
to any sighting the observer physicist of the California
could not understand, even Institute of Technology, and
though it may have been later including engineers,
identified. meteorologists, physicists, and
an astronomer. The thrust of
public and governmental
concern was indicated by the
fact that the panel was organized

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by the Central Intelligence the report, which covered

Agency (CIA) and was briefed investigations of 59 UFO
on U.S. military activities and sightings in detail, analyzed
intelligence, and that its report public-opinion polls, and
was originally classified Secret. reviewed the capabilities of
Later declassified, the report radar and photography.
revealed that 90 percent of UFO
Condon's own "Conclusions and
sightings could be readily
Recommendations" firmly
identified with astronomical and
rejected "ETH" - the
meteorological phenomena
extraterrestrial hypothesis - and
(bright planets, meteors, auroras,
declared that no further
ion clouds) or with aircraft,
investigation was needed.
birds, balloons, searchlights, hot
gases, and other terrestrial
This left a wide variety of
phenomena, sometimes
opinions on UFOs. A large
complicated by unusual
fraction of the U.S. public, and a
meteorological conditions.
few scientists and engineers,
continued to support ETH.
A total of 37 scientists wrote
chapters or parts of chapters for

Reported UFO Sightings and as "identified" with a known

Events astronomical, atmospheric, or
artificial phenomenon, or as
Official Records:
"unidentified," including cases
in which information was
In 1948 the U.S. Air Force
insufficient. In 1969, following
began to maintain a file of UFO
the Condon report, Project Blue
reports called “Project Blue
Book was discontinued. The
Book”. By 1969 the project had
only other official and fairly
recorded reports of 12,618
complete records of UFO
sightings or events, each of
sightings were maintained in
which was ultimately classified
Canada, where they were

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transferred in 1968 from the supervision of Peter Millman, a

Canadian Department of meteorologist. The Canadian
National Defense to the records totaled about 750 in
Canadian National Research 1969.
Council and placed under the

rapid climb toward it; the other

two fighter pilots remained
Example of daytime sightings:
behind and lost radio contact
with the first just after he
reported that he would climb to
20,000 feet altitude. He had no
oxygen equipment and was
killed when his plane crashed
without further communication
half an hour later. The first
USAF investigation concluded
Louisville, Kentucky, Jan. 7, that the pilot saw Venus, which
1948. was in the direction of his
sighting, but later discussion
At 1:15 pm the State Highway suggests that it was a 100-foot
Patrol, "Skyhook" balloon being tested
by the U.S. Navy. (This
uncertainty is typical of early
UFO identifications, and led to
reported a flying saucer to the greater USAF effort in Blue
Godman Air Force Base, where Book.
the base commander and several
other persons saw the object. A
group of four USAF F-51
Example of Night-time
aircraft arrived at the base and
Sightings:
three were directed by the
control tower toward the UFO.
One pilot saw it and started a

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it. They estimated the closest

approach to be less than a mile.
Authorities concluded that the
object was probably a distant
meteor.

Examples of radar sightings:

Montgomery, Alabama, July 24,
Colorado Springs, Colorado,
1948, 2:45 am.
May 13, 1967, 3:40 pm.

A pilot and copilot in the

cockpit of an airline passenger
The weather was overcast with
scattered rain and sleet showers
plane at 5,000 feet altitude, en
and gusty winds. As an airliner
route from Houston to Boston,
came in for a landing, the
saw a dull-red object
ground radar detected an object
approaching on a collision
beyond it at about twice the
course. During the next ten
range. As the plane landed, the
seconds it veered slightly to the
object pulled to the east and
right, passed the plane on the
passed low over the airport (at
right at high speed, then seemed
200 feet altitude, about 1.5 miles
to pull up, and disappeared in
from the control tower). The
the clouds overhead. One
tower operators, alerted by the
passenger on the right side of
radar operation, saw and heard
the plane glimpsed the bright
nothing. The pilot of another
light as it flashed by. There was
aircraft, three miles behind the
no disturbance of the plane. The
first, saw nothing when asked to
pilots described the object as
look.
cigar-shaped, about 100 feet
long, with two rows of lighted
windows, a dark blue glow
underneath, and a red-orange jet Examples of close encounters
flame about 50 feet long behind or physical evidence:

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Southern New Hampshire, Sept. study; and groups in other

19, 1961, 11 pm to 2 am. countries are continuing their
studies of UFOs. These studies
A couple returning to Boston are of three types:
via Lancaster and Concord saw
a large disk-shaped object and
felt obliged to stop and walk
1. Detailed analysis of reported
over to it. Their stories, recorded
cases similar to the examples
separately under hypnosis by a
cited above, often called "soft
psychiatrist in Boston in 1964,
data" because they depend on
were consistent and told of their
the reliability of witnesses. The
being taken aboard the flying
goal is to identify new physical
saucer, undressed, and examined
phenomena or to confirm the
by a group of humanoids. Later,
extraterrestrial hypothesis.
psychologists concluded that
2. Systematic collection of "hard
this widely publicized case was
data" by networks of cameras, or
a hallucination by the woman,
radar sets or other instruments
transmitted to her husband so
that cover a broad area nearly
thoroughly that he
100 percent of the time without
"remembered" it as real, even
the questionable reliability of
under hypnosis.
eyewitnesses. The goal is often
associated with studies of
Counting Activities:
meteors, auroras, or other

In accordance with the atmospheric phenomena.

3. Statistical studies of past
conclusions and
reports to establish definite
recommendations from the 1969
psychological and sociological
Condon Report, the U.S. Air
patterns. The duration of the
Force terminated its Project
UFO phenomenon over 20
Blue Book study of UFOs in
years-puzzles psychologists
December 1969. Several groups
because mass hysteria has never
of American scientists claim,
been so long enduring or so
nevertheless, that the UFO
widespread.
phenomenon warrants further

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Instrumental developments: studies: "all-sky" camera

networks and TV cameras in
There are at least two artificial satellites. Single all-sky
instrumental developments that cameras, photographing about
can provide hard data for type 2 80 degrees down from the zenith
on all sides, are used for

broad sky-brightness measures but do not have sufficient resolution to

detect UFOs.

Other optical satellites used for astronomical observations look outward

and have a very small chance of detecting small objects.

Conclusion:

After a lot of analysis on the topic, by going through its history to

present; we can say that UFO’s are those unknown things to whom we
have not interpreted yet. Many “sightings” which are being later
interpreted are no longer UFO.

Word Count: - 1,292

References:

1. http://www.labnews.co.uk/cms_images/Image/news/UFO.jpg
2. http://lauramartinez.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/ufos1.jpg
3. http://www.science-explorer.de/bilder/ufo-05.jpg

4. http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Sections/Newsweek/Comp
o

5. http://www.ufopictures.net/details.php?image_id=400

6. http://www.ufopictures.net/details.php?image_id=405

7. http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc1627.htm

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8. http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc2008.htm
9. http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc602.htm
10. http://www.iiaf.net/stories/warstories/s8.html

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