An Examination of UFOs: Fact or Fiction

Are humans really the only living creature in this vast universe? Are they

indeed alone? Unfortunately, neither of the answers don’t feel right. The idea of

being alone in this vast universe is a lonely aspect. On the contrary, if humans are

not the only existing creature, and there is someone or some “thing” more

powerful out there, that too is terrifying.

Enigmatic lights, ominous saucers, and alien abductions. Do these things

ring a bell? Well, these are termed as UFOs or Unidentified Flying Objects.

According to the Wikipedia, it’s the popular term for any aerial phenomenon that

cannot immediately be identified and it is widely used for claimed observations

of extraterrestrial spacecraft. CBC/Radio-Canada (2019) also states that it is first

known as flying saucers because many sightings described floating, disc-shaped

objects. UFO sightings have continuously reported all over the recorded history

and in different parts of the world, raising questions about possibility of life on other

planets and whether extraterrestrials have visited the planet Earth which became

a focus of interest over the past few years.

Meanwhile, Luis Elizondo, who ran a small team at U.S. Department of

Defense, together with his team describe objects that appeared to be

intelligently controlled, possessing aerodynamic capabilities that far surpass any

currently known aircraft technology. But what does UFO exactly look like? As

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Elizondo and his team continued to gather eyewitnesses, the Navy fighter pilots,

radar operators and other witnesses from the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group

incident reported: ‘It’s white. It has no wings. It has no rotors.’, ‘It didn’t fly like an

aircraft. It was so unpredictable – high g, rapid velocity, rapid acceleration.’, ‘I

didn’t see a trail.’, and ‘It was going 70-plus knots underwater.’

As a result, Elizondo brought together a list of bizarre characteristics that

are frequently linked to aerial sightings and named those as the “five

observables”. First, anti-gravity lift wherein these objects overcame the Earth’s

gravity with no visible means of propulsion despite the absence of any flight

surfaces, such as wings. Second, sudden and instantaneous acceleration. The

objects accelerate or change direction rapidly that no human pilot could do.

David Fravor, Black Aces squadron commander and Nimitz-based fighter pilot,

was sent to interrupt one of the objects, capturing its rapid side-to-side

movements on infrared video. Later on, radar operators on the USS Princeton

traced the object accelerating from a standing position to 60 miles per minute –

an unbelievable 3,600 miles an hour thrice the speed of the F/A Super Hornet

fighter jet, which is 1,200 miles an hour. Third, hypersonic velocities without

signatures meaning if an aircraft travels quicker than the speed of sound, it usually

leaves “signatures” like vapor trails and sonic booms where UFOs do not possess.

Fourth, low observability, or cloaking. There are no clear and detailed view of

UFOs until now. The believed characteristics of these objects were mostly based

on witnesses where they could only see a glow or haze. Lastly, trans-medium

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travel. Some objects have been caught moving easily in different environments,

such as space, Earth’s atmosphere, and even water. Witnesses in an incident

defined UFO gliding just under the ocean’s calm surface assuming that another

object had entered the water. Gary Vorhees, USS Princeton radar operator,

declared that the object underwater was moving faster than 70 knots, twice the

speed of nuclear submarines. Looks like these traits from Elizondo alone can prove

that UFOs aren’t real because obviously they are far from normal. In addition, no

one has gotten close to these objects that display such traits, hence, until now

their origins remain mysterious.

During the Middle Ages there were already interpreted as disc-shaped

flying objects. Before the UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) it is first termed as “flying

saucer” to describe a meteor in Texas and Oklahoma on June 17, 1930. The

Associated Press stated: ‘Some who saw the weird light described it as a huge

comet, a flaming flying saucer, a great red glow, a ball of fire.’ (1930, p. 28) Also,

Dayton Herald says that ‘the term “flying saucer” had been in use since 1890 to

describe a clay pigeon shooting target.’ (Herald, 1890, p.4) that can be similar to

a UFO’s shape.

The first revealed UFO sighting took place in the 20th century by Kenneth

Arnold in exactly June 24, 1947 that caused the popularity of the term “flying

saucers” though Arnold never exactly used it, he was quoted saying that the

object he saw was shaped like a “saucer”, “disk”, or “pie-plate”. So what

happens in the very first reported UFO sighting? Well, while Kenneth Arnold, a

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civilian pilot, is flying his small aircraft near Washington’s Mount Rainier in June 24,

1947, Arnold claimed to have seen nine (9) blue, glowing objects flying fast—at

an estimated 1,700 mph—in a “V” formation. At first, he believed the objects to

be some sort of new military aircraft but the military confirmed there were no tests

being steered near Mount Rainier that day. Arnold described the crafts' motion

as “a saucer if you skip it across water,” The government never had a reliable

description for the sightings. It simply claimed that Arnold had seen an illusion or

was hallucinating.

After the reported incident by Kenneth Arnold, another sighting occurred

which was alleged to be the mother of all sightings but here’s the catch, there

was no object that was actually observed flying in the Roswell sighting. This

happened in the summer of 1947 when a rancher named William “Mac” Brazel

discovered unusual and unrecognizable debris in his sheep pasture outside

Roswell, New Mexico. Even though Air Force officials affirmed that it was a

crashed weather balloon, many people were still convinced that it was the

remains of an extraterrestrial flying saucer or the UFO. Since then, conspiracy

theorists have been working hard to prove that the debris was really from the UFO.

As it turns out, the government was actually covering something up but it wasn’t

aliens. In fact, the crashed weather balloon was part of a top-secret atomic

reconnaissance called Project Mogul, which released high-altitude balloons

carrying equipment used to distinguish Soviet nuclear tests. The Air Force officials

provided proof in a 231-page report released in 1997 called “Case Closed: Final

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Report on the Roswell Crash.” Although the mystery has been methodically

exposed, many people still embrace the UFO theory, and hundreds of curious

minds visit Roswell and the crash site very year. In fact, the town is home to

the International UFO Museum and Research Center and an annual UFO festival

was held each summer.

Third incident took place on the evening of August 25, 1951 in Lubbock,

Texas which entitle as the” Lubbock Lights”. While the three science professors

from Texas Tech were enjoying an evening outdoors in Lubbock they saw

semicircle of lights flying above them at a high speed. Few days passed by, lots

of reports flooded in from across town—Texas Tech freshman Carl Hart Jr., even

took photos of the Lubbock Lights phenomenon, which were published in

newspapers across the country and magazines. As the events were studied by

experts, Project Blue Book, which steered the Air Force inquiries into UFOs,

concluded that the lights were actually birds reflecting the luminescence from

Lubbock’s new street lamps. However, many people who witnessed the lights

refused to accept this explanation because the lights were flying too fast.

The fourth reported incident became an inspiration in the film “The Close

Encounters of the Third Kind” where there’s a famous scene in which a UFO makes

the electronics in a car go haywire. The real-life incident was happened in 1957

when loads of reports from citizens of Levelland, Texas individually reported seeing

a rocket or strange lights that destroyed their vehicles: Engines died, lights

shut. Nevertheless, the police originally thought the reports were a hoax, they, too,

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saw the mysterious lights, as they assessed the situation. Project Blue Book was

allotted to investigate the case and they found out that it was an electrical

tempest and ball lightning that triggered the lights and the mechanical

malfunctions regardless of the fact that there were no reported thunderstorms in

the area that night.

Fifth incident wasn’t different from the fourth, citizens from Tehran, Iran were

also reporting the bright light in the sky which they witnessed in September 19,

1976. As an F-4 fighter jet was sent out to go near the object and investigate, its

devices shut, forcing the pilot to return to base. After a while, a second F-4 took

its place, and as it goes near the unfamiliar light, it experienced radar lock. But

according to the pilot, the UFO released a glowing object which assumed to be

a missile directed for him. As he set to fight back, the pilot experienced

malfunctions with his devices and witnessed another bright object released that

headed towards the ground. Fortunately, he safely returned to base, in spite of

the defective equipment. After the incident, Iran sought help from United States

in the investigation. An uncategorized memo by U.S. Air Force section chief

Lieutenant Colonel Olin Mooy detailed the events of the night: First, the bright light

witnessed by the civilians and pilots might be the planet Jupiter which was evident

in the sky that night. Second, as author Brian Dunning noted that the second F-4

jet had a long history of electrical problems, meaning the devices might have

failed anyway of possible UFO interference. It also could explain the radar lock

that might purely a malfunction. The first F-4, says Dunning, was never turned in for

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maintenance following the incident, so there’s no official indication that its

devices failed. And lastly, there was a meteor shower that night which could easily

mistaken as the “alien missiles”.

Sixth incident happened in the RAF Bentwaters base near Rendlesham

Forest, Suffolk where a believed alien interference with US nuclear weapons site

took place. In December 1980, U.S. Air Force members posted at two British Royal

Air Force bases, Woodbridge and Bentwaters, described seeing strange and

vibrant lights above Rendlesham Forest, roughly 100 miles northeast of London. A

man who entered the forest to examine claimed to have seen some sort of

spacecraft there, and the next day, others confirmed destruction to nearby trees

and a higher level of radiation at the site. Few days later, more sightings were

reported. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt documented his observations through

an audio tape as he watched the lights, theorists consider this the strongest

evidence of the events. However, the UK’s Ministry of Defence, who supervised

reports of UFO incidents until the early 2000s, didn't find any risk to the nation, and

didn't continue investigations further. Like at the Roswell, UFO tourism is

widespread in Rendlesham Forest, and there’s even an official Rendlesham UFO

trail that visitors can trek.

Last incident happened in the 20th century but is the most widely-known

incident named as the “Belgium Wave” because around 13,500 people

witnessed this sighting. In November 1989, people of Belgium reported seeing a

large, triangular UFO flying in the sky but there was no evidence found in any

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UFO’s existence. Several months later, in March 1990, Two F-16 fighter jets were

sent out to investigate the anomalies because of the multiple reports. Though the

pilots could not see anything, they were able to lock onto their targets with radar

but the UFOs stirred rapidly that the pilots ended up losing them. The Belgian Air

Force had no rational explanation for the incident but it was acknowledged that

an unknown activity had taken place in the air.

The number of UFO sightings continued to increase rapidly as years pass by.

Below are the five (5) most credible UFO sightings of the 21st century:

First was “The Lights above the New Jersey”. On July 14, 2001, for

around 15 minutes just after midnight, motorists on the New Jersey Turnpike

spotted a strange orange-and-yellow lights in a V formation over the Arthur

Kill Waterway between Staten Island, New York, and Carteret, New

Jersey. Carteret Police Department’s Lt. Daniel Tarrant and other as other

metro-area residents from the Throgs Neck Bridge on Long Island and Fort

Lee, New Jersey near the George Washington Bridge. Air-traffic regulators

constantly denied that airplanes, military jets or space flights could have

caused the strange lights but a group known as the New York Strange

Phenomena Investigators (NY-SPI) claimed to obtain FAA radar data that

validated the UFO sightings from that night.

Second encounter would be the USS Nimitz Encounter that took place

at the coast of San Diego in November 14, 2004 wherein the USS Princeton

noted an unfamiliar craft on radar 100 miles off the coast of San Diego. As

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the two FA-18F fighter jets from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz reached the

area, they first saw what seemed to be churning water - a shadow of an oval

shape underneath the surface. Afterwards, a white Tic Tac-shaped object

appeared just above the water and it had no obvious markings to indicate

an engine, wings or windows, and infrared monitors didn't reveal any use.

Black Aces Commander David Fravor and Lt. Commander Jim Slaight of

Strike Fighter Squadron 41 attempt to intercept the craft but it raced away,

appearing on radar 60 miles away. The craft moved three times the speed

of sound and thrice the speed of the fighter jets.

Third encounter appeared in November 7, 2006 and took place at

O’Hare International Airport where a total of 12 united employees —and a

few witnesses outside the airport—witnessed the saucer-shaped craft

around 4:15 p.m. when flight 446 was getting prepared to travel to North

Carolina from Chicago. The witnesses described it as a dark grey metallic

craft hovered for about five minutes before going upward. When news

report were released it became the most-read story on The Chicago

Tribune’s website. Unfortunately, because the UFO was not visible on radar,

the FAA called it a “weather phenomenon” and declined to inspect.

In a small town of Stephenville, Texas, 100 miles southwest of Dallas,

appeared the fourth sighting which is “The Stephenville Sightings”. In the

evening of January 8, 2008, lots of its citizens viewed somethi ng strange in

the sky. They reported seeing white lights above Highway 67, in a single

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horizontal arc and then in vertical parallel lines. Local pilot Steve Allen

estimated that The strobe lights were said to be “spanned about a mile long

and a half mile wide,” traveling about 3,000 miles per hour by the local pilot,

Steve Allen and there was no sound reported. Weeks later, the U.SS Air Force

revealed that F-16s were hovering in the Brownwood Military Operating

Areas just southwest of Stephenville. Citizens were not convinced enough,

still believing what they witnessed was too technologically advanced.

The last famous incident for the 21 st century leaked in 2017 but actually

happened in 2014-2015 was a video of aerial encounter, showing clips of

UFOs. Lt. Danny Accoin, one of the Navy pilots, described the object had

“no distinct tail, wings, and exhaust plume” and it was termed as “Go Fast”.

He said that “It seemed like they were aware of our presence, because they

would actively move around us.” According to Lt. Accoin, when an unusual

reading appeared for the first time it is possible to conclude it as false alarm,

he also noted that “but then when you start to get multiple sensors reading

the exact same thing, and then you get to see a display, that solidifies it for

me.” Still no strong evidence to prove the sighting because he was unable

to capture them.

To sum up, UFO incidents of the 20 th century and 21 st century were truly

flabbergasting and attention-grabbing, but it doesn’t end there. These

sightings continued to expand and branch out into alien abductions. In 1896,

more than sixty years before abduction claims become known, two people

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were almost abducted in the town of Lodi, California. According to Colonel

H.G. Shaw and his friend Camille, they were travelling by horse to Stockton

when their horse froze all of a sudden. They described the three beings as

“tall with small delicate hands and spindly arms. They had light fuzz all over

their bodies, large eyes, and small ears and nose.” (“Attempted Alien

Abduction-Lodi, California, 1896”).

They added that each being carried a bag attached to a hose which

served as their device to breathe and a glowing egg-shaped lamp. Those

beings were communicating in strange chants before to trying abduct them.

Their attempts were unsuccessful and suddenly they quickly moved towards

a bridge to get into the craft which is possible to be the UFO. It was cigar-

like in shape and quickly sped away but hovered quietly over the water.

Moreover, the first highly publicized alien abduction took place in the

night of September 1961. Betty and Barney Hill reported that as they drove

down the empty winding country road in New Hampshire’s White Mountains,

they were being chased by a strange light in the sky. When they finally

arrived in their home safely at dawn, they were relieved. After all, who

wouldn’t? Suddenly, strange things happened to them, they felt filthy, their

watches stopped working. Barney’s shoes were scratched and Betty’s dress

was torn. Neither one of them could remember the two hour drive. What had

happened?

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 With the assistance of a psychiatrist under hypnosis, the traumatized

couple eventually exposed a very ‘detailed’ story: Grey creatures with big

eyes had walked them into a metallic disc as wide as her house, Betty said.

The moment they were inside, the couple were being examined by the

creatures: Their clothes were being removed by the creatures, plucked

strands of their hair, took clippings of their nails, scraped their skin, long

needles were inserted in Betty’s belly which served as a pregnancy test, and

eventually, ‘erased their memories’. Confusion rises as Investigator Robert

Sheaffer, author of “UFO Sightings: The Evidence”, wrote “I was present at

the National UFO Conference in New York City in 1980, at which Betty

presented some of the UFO photos she had taken. She showed what must

have been well over two hundred slides, mostly of blips, blurs, and blobs

against a dark background. These were supposed to be UFOs coming in

close, chasing her car, landing, etc… After her talk had exceeded about

twice its allotted time, Betty was literally jeered off th e stage by what had

been at first a very sympathetic audience. This incident, witnessed by many

of UFOlogy’s leaders and top activists, removed any lingering doubts about

Betty’s credibility – she had none. In the oft-repeated words of one UFOlogist

who accompanied Betty on a UFO vigil in 1977, she was ‘unable to

distinguish between landed UFO and a streetlight.’ In 1995, Betty Hill wrote

self-published book, A Common Sense Approach to UFOs. It is filled with

obviously delusional stories, such as seeing entire squadron of UFOs in flight

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and a truck levitating above freeway.” He also noted that the area is

populated as he examined the path that the couple claimed to be pursued

by the UFO. Sheaffer also stated, “It seems impossible that nobody would

have noticed a car madly speeding down Route 3, screeching around

corners and running stop signs and traffic signals with a low-level UFO in close

pursuit.” The incident became an inspiration of how stories were expressed

and interpreted until now. Debate were still ongoing whether the couple

were deceivers, fantasists, or just psychos who later recovered completely.

The creation of God, the universe, is truly magnificent, even though

there are still unique events that are continuously occurring that science

couldn’t explain or prove also. The question now is do unusual creatures like

aliens really exist together with UFOs? Based on the reported incident

discussed above, the alleged evidence were not strong enough to prove

that these strange things really exist in this vast universe. Scientifically, the

answer is no but it may be really exist for people who witnessed and

supported the incidents.

For an additional fact, did you know that every 2 nd of July were

celebrated as the World UFO Day, it is a good time for the society to refresh

the fact that humans in this vast universe were never alone.

This topic is worthy of focus of interest and study. If there are really

extraterrestrial objects visiting the planet Earth, it would be a great

advantage to research about them, including their nature and intention.

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Besides, this would serve as an opportunity for mankind, expanding and

advancing knowledge and technology would be the main purpose and not

for selfish intentions. This would also be for reshaping the understanding of

humans in the one and only universe.

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https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/what-exactly-ar-ufos

Dunning, B. (2008). Betty and Barney Hill: the original UFO abduction. Retrieved

from https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4124

Flying saucer. (2019) Retrieved from

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_saucer#

Identified Flying Object. (2019). Retrieved from

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unidentified_flying_object

Lacina, L. (2019). The first alien-abduction account described a medical exam

with a crude pregnancy test. Retrieved from

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/news/first-alien-

abduction-account-barney-betty-hill

Radford, B. (2009). Alien abduction: looking back at America’s first case.

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https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.livescience.com/amp/3530-alien-

abduction-america-case.html

Sullivan, M., & Daugherty, G. (2019) These 5 UFO traits, seen by navy fighters, defy

explanation. Retrieved from

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sightings-speed-appearance-movement

Ultius. (2016). Short essay on the history of UFOs in the United States. Retrieved from

https://www.ultius.com/ultius-blog/entry/short-essay-on-the-history-of-ufos-

in-the-united-states.html

Waldek, S. (2019). History’s most infamous UFO sightings of the modern era.

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Weisberger, M. (2019). ‘Fleet of UFOs’ followed US aircraft, navy pilot says.

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