Why are UFOs still Mystery - Essay Example

? Why Are UFOs still a Mystery? There has always been a sense of mystery about UFOs. As a culture we’re fascinated about the potential for life in other parts of the Universe and the UFO phenomenon is an example of that fascination. As earthbound inhabitants, we have always been drawn to the lights in the sky, and unexplained lights or objects have the potential to fuel the imagination. When people see lights moving in a way that suggests something other than an airplane, the intriguing prospect that something extraterrestrial is up there moves us to create in our minds the possibility of space ships and alien beings. Of course not all strange lights in the sky can be attributed to space ships. Weather balloons and aircraft have been mistaken for UFOs. “An unidentified flying object was spotted in Barron County about a month ago. But was it something extra-terrestrial or can a weather tool give us the answer? Scott Doering, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service says it's possible the UFO could have been a weather balloon.”1 Poor reporting, government cover-ups, conspiracies and faulty eye witness accounts are also fuel for the fire surrounding UFOs; and television and film have increased our speculation and fascination about UFOs. It may also simply be that flying saucers don’t exist, being figments of our imagination or they could be stories created to obscure real life military secrets. Inconsistent records from eye witnesses could account for one reason why people do not believe in UFOs. When an object is seen by several people travelling at high speed, it’s likely that there will be different interpretations of the event. Another theory that discredits the existence of UFOs is a government cover-up. Perhaps we have been visited by aliens and the government, fearful about public reaction, obfuscates the truth. Yet another theory is that the military is in fact using UFO stories to hide new technologies and highly classified secret aircraft. “Area 51, also known as Groom Lake, is a secret military facility about 90 miles north of Las Vegas. The number refers to a 6-by-10-mile block of land, at the center of which is a large air base the government will not discuss…”2 There is undoubtedly life in other parts of the galaxy and the Universe. We would be arrogant to assume that one tiny planet in the vast network of stars could be the only one to contain life. The question is whether or not other beings have the ability to travel here. Given the distance between stars and the amount of time it would take to travel between them, even at the speed of light, it would seem unlikely that voyage would be possible. “Chemical-based rockets get terrible fuel efficiency, achieving very little thrust per kilogram of propellant used, and their exhaust velocity can’t exceed 5,000 meters per second. Using these tools, Lozano adds, it would take at least nine months to get to Mars...”3 Or would it? We have a limited view based on our experience. Space travel for human beings has only been in place for the past 50 years, and we’ve only travelled as far as the moon. Probes such as Voyager have certainly exited our solar system, but their slow speed means that data returned to us takes years. Based on what we know, flying to another planet is impossible. Yet, reports of UFOs persist. Sightings could be attributed to dreams or hallucinations, but there have been reports from credible sources such as the military and police where sightings have been distinct and over prolonged periods of time. In a “Summary Report on Observations 30-31 March 1990” from the Belgium Air Force, W. de Brouwer Kol Vl SBH stated “…the head of the police of WAVRE had alerted 4 other police stations in the area. All four, separated +- 10 NM from each other, confirmed the visual observations [of unidentified flying objects].”4 This particular sighting came during a period where both average citizens and the military also viewed these craft. When members of a police department or military report sighting UFOs it lends credibility to the consideration that we are being visited by something. Whether that “something” is a secret military project or aliens remains in question. As for the theory of secret military aircraft, we have to assume that governments have the ability to design machinery that defies known human capabilities. One thought is that the military, in fact does have possession of UFO technology and has reverse-engineered these new aircraft from that alien equipment. “… in as much as the reverse engineering of UFO is highly classified, it must be noted that the physics associated with the function of UFO must also be classified, as it would be impossible to keep one secret without the other being classified in a similar manner. If the physics associated with the function of UFO were commonly known a process allowing for gravity control would be academic.”5 Fabrications about unidentified flying objects would be useful: to deceive the public and hide military hardware. If the government denies the existence of secret aircraft, and dismisses the existence of UFOs as extraterrestrial, we are left to believe that the lights and craft that are reported by so many people in so many places are hallucinations, some kind of natural phenomena or weather balloons. However, the reports from convincing witnesses points to the idea that these events are real: weather balloons may be responsible in some accounts but not all. The same can be said for natural events and the likelihood of mass hallucinations: it’s simply not plausible, especially when multiple observers are capturing the occurrences on video. Video documentation of UFO sightings adds credence that these occurrences are real and the craft involved are real as well. The mystery of flying saucers and aliens has fascinated people for many years; reports of UFOs persist in the face of alternative explanations. The potential for government cover-ups exists, but seems unlikely: aliens with the potential to travel here would have the ability to show their existence in ways no government could deny. Simon Conway Morris in a lecture on aliens said, "Extra-terrestrials … won't be splodges of glue … they could be disturbingly like us, and that might not be a good thing – we don't have a great record."6 Secret military aircraft are a possibility, but do we have the capability to invent these aircraft? The reports from people with credible backgrounds continue to lend believability to the existence of some kind of extraterrestrial visitation. We continue to look to the lights in the sky as the cave-dwellers did so many millennia ago. We continue to explore space and the discoveries we make will continue to add to the questions we have about our place in the Universe. And we will continue to speculate at the probability that we are not alone. Read More