UFO's

by zeb 21 Replies latest forum announcements

zeb

I have seen ufo's in broad daylight.

What is the party line of the wts on UFO's?please

anyone else seen these things?
konceptual99

It's the demons innit.
konceptual99

or perhaps Smurfs.
2+2=5

Satan and his demons obviously. What other reasonable explanation could there be?

I am pretty sure I remember a comparison of Satan and the Demons with UFOs and aliens in an Awake mag. The celebrated Watchtower scholars did a tremendous job of highlighting the freakish similarities.

The similarities are undeniable. Case closed.
Found Sheep

and tell us details?
Bangalore

*** g90 11/8 pp. 4-7 UFO’s—Ancient and Modern ***

UFO’s—Ancient and Modern

From the most ancient of times, men have reported seeing strange objects in the sky. A Pharaoh was supposed to have seen fiery circles in the heavens, and American Indians have legends of flying canoes. The early Romans reported seeing flying shields. According to some interpretations of Aztec carvings, the god Quetzalcoatl supposedly arrived on earth wearing a beaked space helmet and in a serpentlike airship.

In 1561 and 1566, according to ancient accounts, “multitudes” of inhabitants of Basel, Switzerland, and Nuremberg, Germany, reportedly saw unusual sights in the sky. However, during 1896 and 1897, a most extraordinary thing happened in the United States. People throughout the country reported seeing an airship cruising overhead. It was said: “America had never before experienced anything quite like the excitement generated by the mystery airship.” These sightings occurred at major cities as well as at villages across the United States, beginning in California. The interesting point is, says the book The Great Airship Mystery, that “the known history of flight contains nothing about a wide-ranging dirigible in the United States in the late 1890s.”

One of the most elaborate and widely published stories came from a small town in Kansas, U.S.A., in 1897. The account relates how a citizen of the area, Alexander Hamilton, described an airship that came down in his cow lot. When the ship finally took off, the crew took along one of the heifers. Later on, three or four miles [5 or 6 km] down the road, a neighbor “found the hide, legs and head in his field.” However, many years later, the story was reprinted and was exposed as a hoax.

Accounts such as the above, whether fabricated or supposedly real, have been reprinted in recent books on the subject. Many of the reports from that period prior to the turn of the 20th century might have been forgotten in dusty newspaper files except for some striking parallel events that began happening over 40 years later. Then it was that people began to recall and research these earlier events and began noting marked similarities.

UFO’s in Modern Times

The subject was revived in more modern times during World War II when Allied bomber pilots reported that they saw “strange balls of light and disc-shaped objects [that] followed them as they flew over Germany and Japan.” The American pilots called them foo-fighters, a term that was derived from the French word feu, for “fire.” Although World War II (1939-45) came to an end and along with it the foo-fighters, stories of strange sights continued to be related.

In Western Europe and the Scandinavian countries, wingless craft called ghost rockets were reportedly seen. They were often described as trailing flames across the sky. In response to these reports, even the United States “felt compelled to send two top intelligence experts to Sweden.” The above stories were only the beginning. The account that seemed to startle the world and that initiated the flying saucer era was told by Kenneth Arnold, a private pilot and a businessman. On June 24, 1947, it was reported that he saw “a chain of nine peculiar aircraft approaching Mt. Rainier [Washington State, U.S.A.].” They were described as “saucer-like things” and as being “flat like a pie pan and so shiny they reflected the sun like a mirror.” He was reported to have clocked their speed “at about 1,200 miles an hour [1,900 km/hr].” This was much faster than jet aircraft flew at that time.

The use of the word “saucer” caught the imagination of the press and resulted in the now common term “flying saucer.” After this account was published worldwide, many who had seen strange objects in the sky began to tell their varied stories. This, along with other sightings, caught the attention of military authorities.

United States Government Investigates

Apparently at the recommendation of a high-ranking military officer, UFO’s eventually received official attention by the U.S. government. The result was the setting up of Project Sign, which began work on January 22, 1948. This investigative group was assigned to carry out work under the direction of the Air Technical Intelligence Command, located near Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A. The project had hardly begun when tragedy struck. Captain Thomas Mantell, a military pilot, lost his life in a plane crash while in pursuit of a then unidentified object. He could have become unconscious while going too high without the benefit of supplementary oxygen. Later, it was learned that he may have been pursuing a Skyhook research balloon.

However, a new sighting by two Eastern Airlines pilots, coupled with the death of that Air Force pilot, further fueled the growing concern with UFO’s. According to the report, an Eastern Airlines plane had left Houston, Texas, and was headed for Atlanta, Georgia, when suddenly the pilot was compelled to take quick evasive action in order to miss a “wingless B-29 fuselage” that passed him on his right. A passenger and several ground-based observers seemed to add credibility to the story.

The Project Sign group finally issued a report that disappointed some. Later, some staff members who were sympathetic to the viewpoint that UFO’s were real were replaced, and a new title, “Project Grudge,” was given to the project. However, during this period, belief in the existence of UFO’s reached a new high when retired major Donald E. Keyhoe wrote an article entitled “The Flying Saucers Are Real.” The account was published in the January 1950 issue of True magazine, and the issue enjoyed wide circulation. Then, to add to the already wide interest, True published a further article by Navy commander R. B. McLaughlin. This article was entitled “How Scientists Tracked the Flying Saucers.” The enthusiasm was short-lived—other magazines, Cosmopolitan and Time, published articles debunking UFO’s. With these new articles and a lull in sightings, interest subsided. Then came 1952, a remarkable year in UFO history.

1952—The Year of UFO’s

The greatest number of UFO sightings received by the U.S. Air Technical Intelligence Command was recorded in 1952: 1,501. Early in March 1952, with increased numbers of sightings, the U.S. Air Force decided to create a separate organization called Project Blue Book. During that year of intense UFO activity, the sightings were diverse and many.

One of a series of especially notable sightings began over Washington, D.C., during the midnight hours of July 19 and 20. It was reported that “a group of unidentified flying objects appeared on two radarscopes at the Air Route Traffic Control Center at Washington National Airport. The objects moved slowly at first . . . then shot away at ‘fantastic speeds.’” The visual sightings corresponded with the radar returns. It was further reported that an interception was attempted, but “the objects disappeared as the jets neared.”

In 1966 Gerald R. Ford, then congressman from Michigan, was credited with calling for another federal investigation of UFO’s. This was in response to a number of UFO sightings in his state. The result was that another study was set up at the University of Colorado. Dr. Edward U. Condon, a prominent physicist, assumed oversight of the work. In 1969, at the conclusion of the study, the Condon Report was issued. Among other things, it said that “nothing has come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 years that has added to scientific knowledge . . . that further extensive study of UFOs probably cannot be justified in the expectation that science will be advanced thereby.”

This ended the official involvement of the U.S. government in the study of UFO’s and, in addition, tended to cool public curiosity. It did not, however, end the UFO controversy, nor was it the end of UFO sightings. According to one report, “20 percent of the ninety-five cases discussed in the document remained ‘unexplained.’”

Interest in UFO’s seemed to rise and fall along with waves of sightings. Outstanding were the years 1973 and 1974, when UFO’s were observed. With the arrival of the 1980’s, reports were again in the news. But what have scientists and other experts concluded in more recent years?

Bangalore
Bangalore

*** g70 2/8 pp. 5-9 What the “Saucers” Proved to Be ***

What the “Saucers” Proved to Be

WITH so much speculation over the “flying saucers,” the United States government was pressed into starting an official inquiry. Since the government’s concern was to keep unfriendly aircraft out of the country, the task was assigned to the Air Force. A project first called “Sign,” then “Grudge,” and finally “Blue Book,” was headed by an officer whose duty it was to receive the reports and to ask for such investigations as seemed justified.

More than 10,000 cases were filed during eighteen years. Of these, they decided that 94 percent could be explained through natural causes. And in respect to their direct responsibility, they said that the other 6 percent represented no threat to national security.

So the Air Force considered its duty fulfilled. But the 6 percent of cases not explained were understood by some to be unexplainable, and were presented by those who fostered the idea of visitors from other planets as proof of their theories. And it had to be admitted that, logically, 600 people—or even six, for that matter—who might have seen a real “flying saucer” could not be proved wrong because 9,400 other people had seen something else that they mistook for a “flying saucer.”

A More Thorough Investigation

This situation continued until 1966, when a research contract was given to the University of Colorado to make a scientific study of the UFO’s. This project was headed by Dr. Edward U. Condon, a highly respected physicist who was formerly chief of the Bureau of Standards and has served as president of the American Physical Society and of the American Association for Advancement of Science. Enough scientists were persuaded to join a staff of experts to handle the various phases of the study, and half a million dollars was allocated to the project during a two-year period.

The report of the Colorado project was released early in 1969 in a 965-page volume. It is replete with scientific information bearing on every angle of the observations and theories of “flying saucers.”

Fifty-nine cases were investigated by staff members, including some of the more sensational cases studied previously under the Blue Book project. This study yielded convincing evidence that the overwhelming majority, if not all, of the “flying saucer” stories were based on mistaken identification of known objects.

Stars and Planets

Many persons, especially among those who have always lived in cities, are unfamiliar with the stars. Some do not realize that the stars rise and set, like the sun and moon. Venus, our nearest planetary neighbor, is alternately an evening star, setting after the sun, and a morning star, rising before dawn. It is so bright that most of the time it can be seen in broad daylight. During a spate of “flying saucer” reports, it has not been uncommon to see groups of people gathered on street corners to stare at a tiny white spot in the sky. Most of them did not realize that it was the planet Venus they were watching, and that it had been there all their lives.

When Venus is rising or setting during a quiet night, still layers of warm and cool air can cause a mirage, magnifying the image of the bright planet and even diffracting the light into various colors. And with what results?

A Colorado farmer in 1967 reported seeing a “flying saucer” land repeatedly in the early evening a few miles west of his house. Through binoculars he could see the dome-shaped structure, large as a two-story house, with rows of lighted windows.

In a southern town later that year, reports of a UFO taking off early in the morning from beyond the river east of town spurred a cruising police car to investigate. They spotted the mysterious intruder and gave chase, but it reportedly fled and easily outdistanced them. When they gave up and were returning to town, they said, the UFO turned and followed them, finally approaching within 500 feet of the car and lighting it up so bright that they could read their watches. On succeeding mornings, police cars in neighboring towns joined the hunt, and even an airplane pilot tried to catch the elusive visitor, all without success.

And what did the investigation reveal? That all these reports, embellished, to be sure, with exciting details supplied by imagination, were based on seeing the planet Venus, keeping steadfastly in its orbit more than 30 million miles away. Jupiter, Saturn, and some of the brighter fixed stars have also been involved in UFO stories.

Balloons, Airplanes, Birds

The United States Weather Bureau releases about 100,000 neoprene balloons a year to measure wind velocities aloft. Visible to an altitude of 20,000 feet, these are often reported as UFO’s. Also, larger polyethylene balloons, called “skyhooks,” are used to carry telescopes and cosmic-ray counters to above 100,000 feet. They are 100 to 400 feet in diameter, easily visible from the ground, and they become very prominent in the early twilight, when they reflect the bright sunlight against a darkening sky.

In 1948 the existence and use of these balloons were not widely known, and it is believed that the pilot in Kentucky was following a “skyhook,” little realizing the impossibility of reaching the extreme altitude of his target. In the excitement of the chase he evidently went too high, lost consciousness in the rarefied atmosphere, and his plane crashed out of control.

Another kind of UFO sighting is of airplanes following flight patterns that are not familiar to the observer. Especially at night, with their landing lights on, and far enough downwind that the motors are not heard, they may not be identified. If a plane is descending toward the viewer, the light may appear stationary, then suddenly it moves off rapidly as the plane turns toward the airport. Practice operations of refueling at night near an air base in California started persistent rumors of UFO’s among nearby residents.

Even birds, if not recognized, can be classed as UFO’s, as happened in the movies taken at Tremonton.

Meteors and Satellites

Fireballs are produced when large meteorites in space enter the earth’s atmosphere, break apart and burn up. A cluster of such objects passed over Ontario and the eastern United States on February 9, 1913, causing a spectacular display. People within fifty miles of its path saw groups of bright lights pass slowly overhead. Many thought that the lights were attached to a giant airship. The variance in accounts, the gross underestimates of altitude and speed, and the imaginary structures enclosing the lights were very like many of today’s “flying saucer” descriptions.

Man-made fireballs have been produced in recent years when satellites or the rockets used to put them in orbit fall into the atmosphere and burn up. A notable case was the reentry, on March 3, 1968, of a Russian satellite that failed to lift out of its parking orbit. This was witnessed by hundreds of people from Kentucky to Pennsylvania. They saw the pieces of the satellite, following along in the same path, burning as they met the atmosphere eighty miles high. But what they said they saw proves how easy it is to imagine a structure connecting or enclosing a string of lights, and how far wrong estimates of distance and speed can be. Of the scores of people who reported it as a UFO, many identified the series of lights as windows in a wingless airplane fuselage or in a saucer-shaped body. Some thought the object was only 3,000 to 5,000 feet high; others said it was just above the treetops. Airplane pilots estimated the altitude as 30,000 to 60,000 feet.

Such reports show the limitations of human perception. When we see in the sky a moving object that we cannot identify, we just cannot tell how large it is, how far away it is, or how fast it is traveling. A six-inch pie plate seen 500 feet away looks the same size as a 100-foot balloon at 100,000 feet. A satellite traveling 18,000 miles per hour at a height of 100 miles across the sky may seem to be going as fast as a 180-mile-per-hour airplane at 5,000 feet. If we have no idea how big the object is, any estimate we make of its distance or speed is worthless.

Radar Reports and Photographs

Many sightings of UFO’s have been made by radar operators. But a study of these unexpected echoes shows that blips may be produced on the screen by a great variety of real objects. Besides airplanes, there are balloons, birds and insects, rain and hail, meteor trails and others. Spurious echoes may also be caused by reflections and mirages, for radio waves are bent through layers of heated air just as light waves are. Malfunctions of the equipment can also enter in. Even with all these possible causes of UFO reports, the fact that there are still cases on record that have not been explained suggests that radar sometimes behaves in ways that are not completely understood. But this is not any reason to imagine that a spaceship is behind every false echo.

Some of the most widely publicized stories of “flying saucers” have included photographs as the key evidence. At first thought we might consider a photograph the best possible kind of proof. But in the case of UFO’s this has not turned out to be true.

In almost every instance where the photographer has been willing to provide the negatives for study it has turned out that they do not back up the story. In some of the not-too-impressive pictures, blobs of light on the film were caused by reflections in the lens; others resulted from defects in the film or in the developing.

On the other hand, most of the likely looking pictures turned out to be hoaxes. It is simple to hang some kind of disk in front of a camera with a fine thread that does not show in the picture. Or a disk may be thrown in front of the camera just as the shutter is snapped. One clue to such falsification is the sharpness of focus of the disk compared with things at various distances in the picture. Another is the contrast, which is greater for objects close to the camera than for distant objects. Lighting and shade may not be consistent. For example, in a famous photo from Brazil a “saucer” is seen lighted from the left side, but the trees below are lighted from the right. Often a series of photos is offered to document the rapid passage of a UFO. But when the serial numbers of the frames on the edge of the film are not in the order in which it was said the pictures were taken, or when shifting shadows show that hours elapsed between one picture and another, the authenticity of the pictures must be rejected.

Conclusions

After two years of scientific study of the UFO’s by a staff of experts, what conclusions can be drawn? First, the great majority of all the reports have their origin in the same kinds of things that Project Blue Book named: Planets, airplanes, balloons, meteorites, mirages.

The more thorough investigation has clarified the part played by physical and psychological distortions. It has explained how ordinary objects, seen in the sky by persons who do not recognize them under the perhaps unusual circumstances, can be misconstrued in perception, magnified in the telling, further exaggerated in the newspapers, and end up as spaceships landing little green men from Mars. Further, the technical analysis of photographs that were previously considered not explainable has brought some of the most notorious UFO’s to earth. Finally, the residue of unexplained reports was shown to consist largely of unconfirmed rumors and vague accounts that were not worth running down.

In summary, probable or certain explanations in natural causes were found for all but a handful of the cases examined. Even those that continue to defy analysis do not offer any basis for the theory that we are being watched by people from other planets. A useful by-product of the study has been to systematize our knowledge of many atmospheric phenomena, common and uncommon, while furnishing a sidelight on the frailties of human perception and reporting.

As for the future, it was not advocated, as scientists often do at the end of a report, that the study be continued. The fact is that the “flying saucer” episode was mainly a psychological affair, which took root and flourished in the soil of man’s deep-felt insecurity in these critical days. It offered a temporary diversion and escape from the real problems that overwhelm mankind. But now it is clear that the “flying saucers” present neither a threat of annihilation nor a messianic hope for salvation.

Many persons followed with keen interest the numerous reports about the “flying saucers.” Really, though, how much more important it is individually to look into and realize the significance of the events now taking place throughout the earth—the increasing lawlessness, the moral breakdown, the frequency of earthquakes, the general rebelliousness and earth-wide unrest. Why? Because those who have done thorough research into the prophecies of the Holy Bible are convinced of this: That the incredible events that have unfolded in great detail since the outbreak of World War I are a fulfillment of Bible prophecy, indicating we are in the “last days” of this system of things, and that there are tremendous worldwide changes at hand.—Matt. 24:3-21; 2 Tim. 3:1-5.

This is no figment of human imagination. All creation testifies to the existence of a purposeful Creator. And his Word, the Bible, testifies to his purpose to end wickedness forever, and to bring in a righteous new order. (2 Pet. 3:13; Jude 14, 15) Bible prophecy is not something to be lightly cast aside as rumor or imagination; it has never failed. Would it not be the course of wisdom to look with interest into this matter that so directly affects your life and hope for eternal happiness? Jehovah’s witnesses will be glad to assist you to make this personal investigation.

Bangalore
Bangalore

*** g70 2/8 pp. 5-9 What the “Saucers” Proved to Be ***

What the “Saucers” Proved to Be

WITH so much speculation over the “flying saucers,” the United States government was pressed into starting an official inquiry. Since the government’s concern was to keep unfriendly aircraft out of the country, the task was assigned to the Air Force. A project first called “Sign,” then “Grudge,” and finally “Blue Book,” was headed by an officer whose duty it was to receive the reports and to ask for such investigations as seemed justified.

More than 10,000 cases were filed during eighteen years. Of these, they decided that 94 percent could be explained through natural causes. And in respect to their direct responsibility, they said that the other 6 percent represented no threat to national security.

So the Air Force considered its duty fulfilled. But the 6 percent of cases not explained were understood by some to be unexplainable, and were presented by those who fostered the idea of visitors from other planets as proof of their theories. And it had to be admitted that, logically, 600 people—or even six, for that matter—who might have seen a real “flying saucer” could not be proved wrong because 9,400 other people had seen something else that they mistook for a “flying saucer.”

A More Thorough Investigation

This situation continued until 1966, when a research contract was given to the University of Colorado to make a scientific study of the UFO’s. This project was headed by Dr. Edward U. Condon, a highly respected physicist who was formerly chief of the Bureau of Standards and has served as president of the American Physical Society and of the American Association for Advancement of Science. Enough scientists were persuaded to join a staff of experts to handle the various phases of the study, and half a million dollars was allocated to the project during a two-year period.

The report of the Colorado project was released early in 1969 in a 965-page volume. It is replete with scientific information bearing on every angle of the observations and theories of “flying saucers.”

Fifty-nine cases were investigated by staff members, including some of the more sensational cases studied previously under the Blue Book project. This study yielded convincing evidence that the overwhelming majority, if not all, of the “flying saucer” stories were based on mistaken identification of known objects.

Stars and Planets

Many persons, especially among those who have always lived in cities, are unfamiliar with the stars. Some do not realize that the stars rise and set, like the sun and moon. Venus, our nearest planetary neighbor, is alternately an evening star, setting after the sun, and a morning star, rising before dawn. It is so bright that most of the time it can be seen in broad daylight. During a spate of “flying saucer” reports, it has not been uncommon to see groups of people gathered on street corners to stare at a tiny white spot in the sky. Most of them did not realize that it was the planet Venus they were watching, and that it had been there all their lives.

When Venus is rising or setting during a quiet night, still layers of warm and cool air can cause a mirage, magnifying the image of the bright planet and even diffracting the light into various colors. And with what results?

A Colorado farmer in 1967 reported seeing a “flying saucer” land repeatedly in the early evening a few miles west of his house. Through binoculars he could see the dome-shaped structure, large as a two-story house, with rows of lighted windows.

In a southern town later that year, reports of a UFO taking off early in the morning from beyond the river east of town spurred a cruising police car to investigate. They spotted the mysterious intruder and gave chase, but it reportedly fled and easily outdistanced them. When they gave up and were returning to town, they said, the UFO turned and followed them, finally approaching within 500 feet of the car and lighting it up so bright that they could read their watches. On succeeding mornings, police cars in neighboring towns joined the hunt, and even an airplane pilot tried to catch the elusive visitor, all without success.

And what did the investigation reveal? That all these reports, embellished, to be sure, with exciting details supplied by imagination, were based on seeing the planet Venus, keeping steadfastly in its orbit more than 30 million miles away. Jupiter, Saturn, and some of the brighter fixed stars have also been involved in UFO stories.

Balloons, Airplanes, Birds

The United States Weather Bureau releases about 100,000 neoprene balloons a year to measure wind velocities aloft. Visible to an altitude of 20,000 feet, these are often reported as UFO’s. Also, larger polyethylene balloons, called “skyhooks,” are used to carry telescopes and cosmic-ray counters to above 100,000 feet. They are 100 to 400 feet in diameter, easily visible from the ground, and they become very prominent in the early twilight, when they reflect the bright sunlight against a darkening sky.

In 1948 the existence and use of these balloons were not widely known, and it is believed that the pilot in Kentucky was following a “skyhook,” little realizing the impossibility of reaching the extreme altitude of his target. In the excitement of the chase he evidently went too high, lost consciousness in the rarefied atmosphere, and his plane crashed out of control.

Another kind of UFO sighting is of airplanes following flight patterns that are not familiar to the observer. Especially at night, with their landing lights on, and far enough downwind that the motors are not heard, they may not be identified. If a plane is descending toward the viewer, the light may appear stationary, then suddenly it moves off rapidly as the plane turns toward the airport. Practice operations of refueling at night near an air base in California started persistent rumors of UFO’s among nearby residents.

Even birds, if not recognized, can be classed as UFO’s, as happened in the movies taken at Tremonton.

Meteors and Satellites

Fireballs are produced when large meteorites in space enter the earth’s atmosphere, break apart and burn up. A cluster of such objects passed over Ontario and the eastern United States on February 9, 1913, causing a spectacular display. People within fifty miles of its path saw groups of bright lights pass slowly overhead. Many thought that the lights were attached to a giant airship. The variance in accounts, the gross underestimates of altitude and speed, and the imaginary structures enclosing the lights were very like many of today’s “flying saucer” descriptions.

Man-made fireballs have been produced in recent years when satellites or the rockets used to put them in orbit fall into the atmosphere and burn up. A notable case was the reentry, on March 3, 1968, of a Russian satellite that failed to lift out of its parking orbit. This was witnessed by hundreds of people from Kentucky to Pennsylvania. They saw the pieces of the satellite, following along in the same path, burning as they met the atmosphere eighty miles high. But what they said they saw proves how easy it is to imagine a structure connecting or enclosing a string of lights, and how far wrong estimates of distance and speed can be. Of the scores of people who reported it as a UFO, many identified the series of lights as windows in a wingless airplane fuselage or in a saucer-shaped body. Some thought the object was only 3,000 to 5,000 feet high; others said it was just above the treetops. Airplane pilots estimated the altitude as 30,000 to 60,000 feet.

Such reports show the limitations of human perception. When we see in the sky a moving object that we cannot identify, we just cannot tell how large it is, how far away it is, or how fast it is traveling. A six-inch pie plate seen 500 feet away looks the same size as a 100-foot balloon at 100,000 feet. A satellite traveling 18,000 miles per hour at a height of 100 miles across the sky may seem to be going as fast as a 180-mile-per-hour airplane at 5,000 feet. If we have no idea how big the object is, any estimate we make of its distance or speed is worthless.

Radar Reports and Photographs

Many sightings of UFO’s have been made by radar operators. But a study of these unexpected echoes shows that blips may be produced on the screen by a great variety of real objects. Besides airplanes, there are balloons, birds and insects, rain and hail, meteor trails and others. Spurious echoes may also be caused by reflections and mirages, for radio waves are bent through layers of heated air just as light waves are. Malfunctions of the equipment can also enter in. Even with all these possible causes of UFO reports, the fact that there are still cases on record that have not been explained suggests that radar sometimes behaves in ways that are not completely understood. But this is not any reason to imagine that a spaceship is behind every false echo.

Some of the most widely publicized stories of “flying saucers” have included photographs as the key evidence. At first thought we might consider a photograph the best possible kind of proof. But in the case of UFO’s this has not turned out to be true.

In almost every instance where the photographer has been willing to provide the negatives for study it has turned out that they do not back up the story. In some of the not-too-impressive pictures, blobs of light on the film were caused by reflections in the lens; others resulted from defects in the film or in the developing.

On the other hand, most of the likely looking pictures turned out to be hoaxes. It is simple to hang some kind of disk in front of a camera with a fine thread that does not show in the picture. Or a disk may be thrown in front of the camera just as the shutter is snapped. One clue to such falsification is the sharpness of focus of the disk compared with things at various distances in the picture. Another is the contrast, which is greater for objects close to the camera than for distant objects. Lighting and shade may not be consistent. For example, in a famous photo from Brazil a “saucer” is seen lighted from the left side, but the trees below are lighted from the right. Often a series of photos is offered to document the rapid passage of a UFO. But when the serial numbers of the frames on the edge of the film are not in the order in which it was said the pictures were taken, or when shifting shadows show that hours elapsed between one picture and another, the authenticity of the pictures must be rejected.

Conclusions

After two years of scientific study of the UFO’s by a staff of experts, what conclusions can be drawn? First, the great majority of all the reports have their origin in the same kinds of things that Project Blue Book named: Planets, airplanes, balloons, meteorites, mirages.

The more thorough investigation has clarified the part played by physical and psychological distortions. It has explained how ordinary objects, seen in the sky by persons who do not recognize them under the perhaps unusual circumstances, can be misconstrued in perception, magnified in the telling, further exaggerated in the newspapers, and end up as spaceships landing little green men from Mars. Further, the technical analysis of photographs that were previously considered not explainable has brought some of the most notorious UFO’s to earth. Finally, the residue of unexplained reports was shown to consist largely of unconfirmed rumors and vague accounts that were not worth running down.

In summary, probable or certain explanations in natural causes were found for all but a handful of the cases examined. Even those that continue to defy analysis do not offer any basis for the theory that we are being watched by people from other planets. A useful by-product of the study has been to systematize our knowledge of many atmospheric phenomena, common and uncommon, while furnishing a sidelight on the frailties of human perception and reporting.

As for the future, it was not advocated, as scientists often do at the end of a report, that the study be continued. The fact is that the “flying saucer” episode was mainly a psychological affair, which took root and flourished in the soil of man’s deep-felt insecurity in these critical days. It offered a temporary diversion and escape from the real problems that overwhelm mankind. But now it is clear that the “flying saucers” present neither a threat of annihilation nor a messianic hope for salvation.

Many persons followed with keen interest the numerous reports about the “flying saucers.” Really, though, how much more important it is individually to look into and realize the significance of the events now taking place throughout the earth—the increasing lawlessness, the moral breakdown, the frequency of earthquakes, the general rebelliousness and earth-wide unrest. Why? Because those who have done thorough research into the prophecies of the Holy Bible are convinced of this: That the incredible events that have unfolded in great detail since the outbreak of World War I are a fulfillment of Bible prophecy, indicating we are in the “last days” of this system of things, and that there are tremendous worldwide changes at hand.—Matt. 24:3-21; 2 Tim. 3:1-5.

This is no figment of human imagination. All creation testifies to the existence of a purposeful Creator. And his Word, the Bible, testifies to his purpose to end wickedness forever, and to bring in a righteous new order. (2 Pet. 3:13; Jude 14, 15) Bible prophecy is not something to be lightly cast aside as rumor or imagination; it has never failed. Would it not be the course of wisdom to look with interest into this matter that so directly affects your life and hope for eternal happiness? Jehovah’s witnesses will be glad to assist you to make this personal investigation.

Bangalore
Witness My Fury

Lots of people see UFOs, because that is by definition what they are, unidentified flying objects.

Just because you dont know for sure what you saw, it doesnt mean that other people usually experts in the field wont know what it was.

I remember laying down in the sun on a hot day and just looking up in the sky about 20 years ago, I was at least 10 miles in land so not near the coast. Suddenly directly overhead a saucer shaped silver almost white object silently whizzed across the blue sky, it was about the size of my fully extended thumb at arms length. I lept up to see if I could see it again as it had passed out of sight, but it had gone.

Any guesses what it was? .... the clue is in the details I gave.
NeonMadman

A frisbee?

UFO's

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