Unidentified flying object

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See also: Extraterrestrial intelligence

Unidentified flying objects, commonly called UFOs or U.F.O.s, are any aerial phenomena that cannot be identified. UFOs that are later identified are called Identified Flying Objects or IFOs. The process of ruling out a UFO thereby making it an IFO is standard practice of UFO investigators. Approximately 90 to 95 percent of UFO reports are IFOs, according to the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS).

About 90%-95% of all UFO reports prove to be IFOs, after an examination of the evidence by a trained investigator. People report natural or conventional objects as UFOs because they do not recognize them as such, due to unusual environmental conditions, ignorance, or the rarity of a natural event. For example, people have reported the planet Venus as a UFO, unaware of how bright the planet can appear at certain times of the year. Stars near the horizon are sometimes reported as UFOs because atmospheric turbulence and thermals (columns of warm air) cause them to twinkle rapidly in red and blue colors. Stars may also appear to dart back and forth because of autokinesis. This is a psychological phenomenon in which a person's eye movements create the illusion that a bright object seen in the dark without a frame of reference is moving. 

Investigation Methods

UFO investigators may or may not receive training. Mutual of UFO Network (MUFON) investigators are required to study the MUFON Field Investigator's Manual (Fourth Edition) and pass an open book test. Most MUFON investigators work with a seasoned investigator learning how to investigate UFO reports.

An older edition of the MUFON investigators manul gives tips on how to conduct an investigation. Some of the information in the manual includes: Necessary Equipment MUFON Identification Card Camera and film MUFON Questionnaire Forms Sample Containers (plastic bags) Investigator's Manual Tape measure, Ruler Compass (good quality) Flashlight (extra batteries) Clipboard or 3-ring notebook Farmers Almanac Area maps Magnifying Glass Paper String Pencils, pen Knife Star finder Tweezers Desirable Equipment Audio tape recorder and tape Supply of tent stakes Color chart Small garden trowel Elevation indicator Shovel Arc indicator Boots Binoculars Disposable polyethylene glove 100-foot steel tape Insect repellent Several 100-foot chalk lines First aid kit Camera flash attachment Personal business or MUFON calling cards Paraffin or Plaster of Paris Detailed Almanac Optional Equipment Geiger counter Video camera and videotape Pocket spectroscope Camera light meter Scintillation spectrometer Camera tripod Magnetometer UFO radiometer Set of topographical maps Camera with diffraction grating Set of aerial maps Police radiomonitor (where legally permitted.) Rangefinder

MUFON investigators will interview the reporting witness, search for other witnesses, contact other agencies such as police departments, airport tower, military personnel to verify if there was any known aircraft in the area. Investigators will also check with the National Weather Service to find out what the weather was during the reported sighting.

UFO investigators will interview the UFO witness at their home or site of the UFO sighting, if possible. At the location UFO investigators will note what is found in the natural environment.

As part of the interview process, UFO investigators will note the witness's hearing and vision. In other words, it will be noted if the witness is nearsighted or hearing impaired.

Heavens Above.com may also be used to rule out a possible UFO. Heavens Above offers information about satellite locations, the International Space Station (ISS) and star charts.

Everything possible is done to determine what the witness observed.

Witness Credibility

Although tens of thousands of UFOs have been reported over the past forty years, less than 1% have been shown to be hoaxes. For the most part, competent UFO investigators have been able to recognize hoaxes almost immediately. The most common type of UFO hoax is a prank balloon, which involves tying a flare or candle to a helium-filled balloon. On rare occasions elaborate hoaxes have been perpetrated, necessitating a more extensive investigation. 

UFO Classifications

Hynek's Classification

Dr. J. Allen Hynek was the chairman of astronomy at Northwestern University and offered technical assistance for the United States Air Force Project Bluebbok. He was a UFO skeptic but went onto to believe in the UFO phenomena. He later founded the Center for UFO Studies in Chicago, Illinois.

• • Nocturnal Disks:  Objects seen in the night sky. This is the most commonly reported UFO sighting.
  • Daylight Disks:  UFOs that could be seen flying high in the sky or close to the ground. Oval or round disks are commonly seen with this type of UFO sighting.
  • Radar Visual:  UFOs that are seen on radar screens while also being visually confirmed by eyewitnesses on the ground.
  • (not listed in classification, but radar-only would seem needed)
• Behavioral aspects
  • Close Encounter of the First Kind:  UFOs that are seen within 200 yards of the witness. There is no interaction between the witness and the UFO.
  • Close Encounter of the Second Kind: Electrical equipment such as a car ignition may operate strangely. Other electrical equipment may malfunction while the UFO is present. Other forms of interaction may include physical effects to plants, animals or human beings. There could be traces of burned grass for example in a Close Encounter of the Second Kind.
  • Close Encounter of the Third Kind: Seeing humanoid like creatures associated with the UFO. There is usually no interaction between the human witness and the humanoid. In some reports there have been interactions reported between the UFO witness and the humanoids.
  • Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: Interaction between the UFO witness and abduction by humanoid entities.

Jacques Vallée's UFO Classification

Jacques F. Vallee is an astronomer who was born in France. He received a B.S. in mathematics at the Sorbonne and an M.S. in astrophysics at Lille University. He later received a doctorate in computer science at Northwestern University.Vallée co-developed the first computerized mapping of Mars for NASA and helped create ARPANET the forerunner of the Internet. Vallée was mentored by Hynek and they both studied the UFO phenomena for many years.

• AN1:  Viewing anomalous lights or explosions in the sky that do not affect the witness or the environment.
• AN2:  Reports that show lasting effects such as flattened grass, poltergeist activity or anomalous photographs.
• AN3:  Cases that include entities. This could include ghosts, yetis (Abominable Snowman), elves, spirits and cryptozoology.
• AN4:  The witness reports interaction with the entities within the reality of the entities themselves. This type of experience could include near-death experiences, religious visions and out-of-body experiences (OBEs).
• MA1:  A UFO that drops, maneuvers, loops.
• MA2:  A UFO that includes a physical interaction with the environment while performing drops, maneuvers or loops. An example of this would be seeing a UFO near a power plant.
• MA3:  Witnessing entities on board a UFO while performing the above mentioned maneuvers.
• MA4:  The UFO witness observes the listed actions and goes through a transformational experience during the event.
• MA5:  The UFO witness suffers serious or injury as a result of seeing a UFO in the sky.

UFO shapes

UFOs have been reported in varying shapes and colors. According to the National UFO Reporting Center statistics, 12,023 lights were reported, 6,020 triangles were reported, 5,181 circles and 4,784 disks were reported as of July 2010. Reports in the database are transcriptions of witness self-reports and are are cross-indexed. Reports that are obvious hoaxes are noted in the database by Peter Davenport. He is the director for the National UFO Reporting Center.

History

Sightings increased greatly following the Second World War, and the U.S. government began study, often classified, in 1947.   Throughout the world, they have been conflated with so-called "flying saucers" or other vehicles that might be directed by extraterrestrial intelligences either from other planets in this Solar System or from other stars.

There is, however, a distinct difference between unidentified aerial objects and these theoretical constructs.  All mainstream investigators and scientists readily concede that the explanation of some aerial sightings remains unidentified even after the most intense examination.  Most, or perhaps close to all of them, however, dismiss the notion that there is any concrete evidence that Earth is being, or has been, visited by creatures from other worlds.

Since the advent of aviation, there have been both instrumental and visual detections of things that could not be explained at the time. The term "gremlin" was used to describe, among other electronic phenomena, unexplained readings from World War II radar systems. There are also many misidentifications, such as the interpretation of the radar detection of the incoming Japanese force at the Battle of Pearl Harbor as incoming friendly B-17 bombers.

When the AN/FPS-50 early warning radar, part of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS), went into service in 1960, it soon reported a massive Soviet missile attack on the U.S., which proved to be due to unexpected reflections of the radar beam from the Moon.

Arnold's sighting

UFOs also became popularly known as flying saucers after Associated Press reporter Bill Bequette that the objects behaved like a rock or saucer. This was in reference to airplane pilot Kenneth Arnold's 1947 UFO sighting. A headline writer coined the term Flying Saucer and the name stuck. The objects Arnold reported were crescent, not saucer, shaped but the name Flying Saucer was used to describe them.  According to the Mutual UFO Network, there is conflict about both the UFO and flying saucer terms.

(U.S. Air Force) Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt says unequivocally that "UFO is the official term that I created to replace the words 'flying saucers'" . Presumably, this would have been sometime between 1951, when Ruppelt took over Project Grudge, later renamed Blue Book, and September of 1953, when he left the agency and the Air Force. Elsewhere in the same book, however, Ruppelt says of Project Grudge's final 600-page report, released in December of 1949, that it was "officially titled 'Unidentified Flying Objects - Project Grudge, Technical Report No. 102-AC-49/15-100. But it was widely referred to as the Grudge Report." This would mean that some long forgotten anonymous Air Force staffer coined the phrase at least two years before Ruppelt did. But perhaps Ruppelt is only claiming credit for the coinage of the acronym itself? "

Arnold self-published reports of the incident, which have been called hysteria by an affiliate of the Skeptical Inquirer.

Roswell incident

In July 1947, there were reports of a flying saucer crash at Roswell, New Mexico. Some reports suggest it was a classified, balloon-borne sensor, developed by the U.S., and intended to gather intelligence on Soviet nuclear weapons. Others, however, believe there was evidence of extraterrestrial origin, and possible government coverups.  

On September 8, 1994, the Secretary of the Air Force, Sheila Widnall, announced that the United States Air Force had completed its study to locate records relating to the Roswell incident. "Pro-UFO researchers claim that an extraterrestrial spacecraft and its alien occupants were recovered near Roswell in July of 1947, and that this fact was kept from the public."

"At the request of Congressman Steven H. Schiff (R-NM), the General Accounting Office (GAO) initiated an audit in February of 1994, to locate all records relating to the "Roswell Incident" and to determine if such records were properly handled. The GAO audit was completed and the results published by the Headquarters, U.S. Air Force in 1995. The publication is entitled "The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert." This publication may be obtained from most U.S. Government Depository Library. The call number is ISBN 0-16- 048023-X....Prior to the interviews, Secretary Widnall released those persons from any previous security obligations that may have restricted their statements.

"The Air Force research did not locate or develop any information that the "Roswell Incident" was a UFO event nor was there any indication of a "cover-up" by the Government. Information obtained through exhaustive records searches and interviews indicated that the materials recovered near Roswell was consistent with a balloon devise of the type used in a then classified project. No records indicated or even hinted that the recovery of "alien" bodies or extraterrestrial materials."

Reports also indicate that a govenment task force, called Majestic-12, may have been formed to manage the alien information. The Majestic code, however, has also been associated with classified continuity of government, or "shadow government", programs that were confirmed in the Eisenhower Administration and may have existed in the Truman Administration.

Government investigation

After the Second World War, the U.S. and other government investigated UFO reports. 

Project BLUE BOOK

The major U.S. Air Force activity was called Project Blue Book, and was in existence between 1947 and 1967. It was terminated after a study called the Condon Report, coordinated by the University of Colorado, entitled, "Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects;" a review of the University of Colorado's report by the National Academy of Sciences; and  past UFO studies and Air Force experience investigating UFO reports during the 40s, '50s, and '60s, led the Secretary of the Air Force to determine there was no national security value to continuing investigations.

"From 1947 to 1969, a total of 12,618 sightings were reported to Project BLUE BOOK. Of these 701 remain "Unidentified." The project was headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, whose personnel no longer receive, document or investigate UFO reports. Note below that the CIA studied until 1990.

Records of the project are in the U.S. National Archives.The National Archives searched for Majestic-12, and one document, a "Memorandum for General Twining, from Robert Cutler, Special Assistant to the President, Subject: "NCS/MJ-12 Special Studies Project" dated July 14, 1954. The memorandum, one page, refers to a briefing to take place on July 16. The memorandum does not identify MJ-12 or the purpose of the briefing." Nathan Twining was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. There has been some speculation, by the Federation of American Scientists and others, that this may have some relationship to what has also been called the "Eisenhower 10" continuity of government project.

The National Archives, however, found several inconsistencies regarding the NCS/MJ-12 Project document. Cutler was out of the country on the date marked on the document. It does not bear a registration number appropriate to the record series, it is not on a letterhead and is on a type of carbon paper not used for any of Cutler's other documents, and it bears a classification marking not in use until the Nixon Administration.

Another Air Force report was issued in 1997. The J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) (see below) disputes the Air Force report on the incident.

Central Intelligence Agency

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) documents indicate that the agency monitoried the UFO situation starting in 1952.

Early CIA interest

Although it had monitored UFO reports for at least three years, CIA reacted to the new rash of sightings, in 1952, by forming a special study group within the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI) and the Office of Current Intelligence (OCI) to review the situation.  Edward Tauss, acting chief of OSI's Weapons and Equipment Division, reported for the group that most UFO sightings could be easily explained.  Nevertheless, he recommended that the Agency continue monitoring the problem, in coordination with the Air Force Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC).  He also urged that CIA conceal its interest from the media and the public, "in view of their probable alarmist tendencies" to accept such interest as confirming the existence of UFOs.

Upon receiving the report, Deputy Director for Intelligence (DDI) Robert Amory, Jr. assigned responsibility for the UFO investigations to OSI's Physics and Electronics Division, with A. Ray Gordon as the officer in charge.   Each branch in the division was to contribute to the investigation, and Gordon was to coordinate closely with ATIC. Amory, who asked the group to focus on the national security implications of UFOs, was relaying DCI Walter Bedell Smith's concerns. Smith wanted to know whether or not the Air Force investigation of flying saucers was sufficiently objective and how much more money and manpower would be necessary to determine the cause of the small percentage of unexplained flying saucers.  Smith believed "there was only one chance in 10,000 that the phenomenon posed a threat to the security of the country, but even that chance could not be taken."  According to Smith, it was CIA's responsibility by statute to coordinate the intelligence effort required to solve the problem. Smith also wanted to know what use could be made of the UFO phenomenon in connection with US psychological warfare efforts.

Air Force contract team meeting with NPIC's Art Lindahl

In 1967, the Air Force issued a contract, to the University of Colorado, for the study of unidentified flying objects. BG Edward B. Gillers, USAF, was the contract monitor, Dr. Thomas Rachford was the senior Air Force Scientist on the project, and the principal investigator from the University was Dr. E.U. Condon.

"On 20 February 1967 at 0915 Dr. Condon and four members of his investigative team visited NPIC. With Dr. Condon were Dr. Richard Love, University of Colorado, Dr. David Saunders, University of Colorado, Dr. William Price, Executive Director of APRST, and Dr. Rachford, USAF. The purpose of this visit was to familiarize Dr. Condon and members of his team with selected photogrammetric and photographic analysis capabilities of the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC). Art Lundahl, the dean of photographic interpretation met with the investigators.

The meeting was allowed to discuss classified material through the SECRET level. NPIC established ground rules:

"Any work performed by NPIC to assist Dr. Condon in his investigation will not be identified as work accomplished by CIA. Dr. Condon was advised by Mr. Lundahl to  make no reference to CIA in regard to this work effort. Dr. Condon stated that if he felt it necessary to obtain an official CIA comment he would make a separate distinct entry into CIA not related to contacts he has with NPIC.

"NPIC will not prepare any written comments, will not analyze information with the intent of drawing a conclusion, nor prepare written reports. NPIC personnel will be available to assist Dr. Condon by performing work of photogrammetric nature, such as attempting to measure objects imaged on photographs that may be part of Dr. Condon's analysis. Work performed by NPIC will be strictly of a technical nature using services and equipment generally not available elsewhere."

In summary, "At about 1235 the group adjourned to lunch and following lunch they left NPIC for a meeting with Brig.Gen Gillers at the Pentagon.

"Most all the discussion during the morning was of an unclassified nature dealing with primary basic fundamentals of photogrammetry, photographic analysis and problems related to the acquiring of enough information to conduct meaningful analyses."

Condon and the same group met again in May 1967 at NPIC to hear an analysis of UFO photographs taken at Zanesville, Ohio.  The analysis debunked that sighting. The committee was again impressed with the technical work performed, and Condon remarked that for the first time a scientific analysis of a UFO would stand up to investigation.

UFO Classification

Several groups interested in UFOs, however, have made efforts to catalog information on reports of them.  In the United States, there are two major and well known UFO groups in the United States. They are the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) founded by J. Allen Hynek, who was the chairman of astronomy at Northwestern University; and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) lead by Allen Utke, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Wisconsin State University. There is also work by a French researcher, Jacques Vallee.

Hynek originally doubted that the reports had any substance, but later changed his mind about UFOs during his research with Project Bluebook. . CUFOS collects UFO reports, maintains a UFO research library, and offers two publications concerning the UFO phenomena. One of the publications is a scholarly review and is called the Journal of UFO Studies. Hynek appointed Dr. Mark Rodeghier to head CUFOS. MUFON collects UFO reports, sponsors a yearly UFO symposium and offers a monthly journal called The MUFON UFO Journal. MUFON has written and published a recognized UFO investigation manual. MUFON field investigators are required to study the MUFON Field Investigator's Manual and pass a test before they can investigate UFO reports.

There are two major systems for classifying the reports, first based on  shape and other visually observed characteristics, movement, and  interaction with the environment or possible entities.

Certain of these classifications, however, specifically assume not only an object that could not be explained, but also indications of a nonhuman intelligence, either extraterrestrial or terrestrial but paranormal. While mainstream science does work in a Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, its focus has been on intelligently generated radio signals, not physical visitation.

Hynek's Classification

Dr. J. Allen Hynek was the chairman of astronomy at Northwestern University and offered technical assistance for the United States Air Force Project Bluebbok. He was a UFO skeptic but went onto to believe in the UFO phenomena. He later founded the Center for UFO Studies in Chicago, Illinois.

• Observational aspects
  • Nocturnal Disks:  Objects seen in the night sky. This is the most commonly reported UFO sighting.
  • Daylight Disks:  UFOs that could be seen flying high in the sky or close to the ground. Oval or round disks are commonly seen with this type of UFO sighting.
  • Radar Visual:  UFOs that are seen on radar screens while also being visually confirmed by eyewitnesses on the ground.
  • (not listed in classification, but radar-only would seem needed)
• Behavioral aspects
  • Close Encounter of the First Kind:  UFOs that are seen within 200 yards of the witness. There is no interaction between the witness and the UFO.
  • Close Encounter of the Second Kind: Electrical equipment such as a car ignition may operate strangely. Other electrical equipment may malfunction while the UFO is present. Other forms of interaction may include physical effects to plants, animals or human beings. There could be traces of burned grass for example in a Close Encounter of the Second Kind.
  • Close Encounter of the Third Kind: Seeing humanoid like creatures associated with the UFO. There is usually no interaction between the human witness and the humanoid. In some reports there have been interactions reported between the UFO witness and the humanoids.
  • Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: Interaction between the UFO witness and abduction by humanoid entities.

Jacques Vallée's UFO Classification

Jacques F. Vallee is an astronomer who was born in France. He received a B.S. in mathematics at the Sorbonne and an M.S. in astrophysics at Lille University. He later received a doctorate in computer science at Northwestern University.Vallée co-developed the first computerized mapping of Mars for NASA and helped create ARPANET the forerunner of the Internet. Vallée was mentored by Hynek and they both studied the UFO phenomena for many years.

The character of Claude Lacombe, played by François Truffaut in Steven Spielberg’s 1977 film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was patterned after Vallee.

• AN1:  Viewing anomalous lights or explosions in the sky that do not affect the witness or the environment.
• AN2:  Reports that show lasting effects such as flattened grass, poltergeist activity or anomalous photographs.
• AN3:  Cases that include entities. This could include ghosts, yetis (Abominable Snowman), elves, spirits and cryptozoology.
• AN4:  The witness reports interaction with the entities within the reality of the entities themselves. This type of experience could include near-death experiences, religious visions and out-of-body experiences (OBEs).
• MA1:  A UFO that drops, maneuvers, loops.
• MA2:  A UFO that includes a physical interaction with the environment while performing drops, maneuvers or loops. An example of this would be seeing a UFO near a power plant.
• MA3:  Witnessing entities on board a UFO while performing the above mentioned maneuvers.
• MA4:  The UFO witness observes the listed actions and goes through a transformational experience during the event.
• MA5:  The UFO witness suffers serious or injury as a result of seeing a UFO in the sky.

UFO shapes

UFOs have been reported in varying shapes and colors. According to the National UFO Reporting Center statistics, 12,023 lights were reported, 6,020 triangles were reported, 5,181 circles and 4,784 disks were reported as of July 2010. Reports in the database are transcriptions of witness self-reports and are not cross-indexed, correlated, or evaluated.

Categorizing shapes is considered a challenging problem in both visual perceptual psychology and computer vision.

To recognize a previously seen object, the visual system must overcome the variability in the object's

appearance caused by factors such as illumination and pose. Developments in computer vision suggest that it may be possible to counter the in£uence of these factors, by learning to interpolate between stored views of the target object, taken under representative combinations of viewing conditions. Daily life situations, however, typically require categorization, rather than recognition, of objects. Due to the open-ended character of both natural and arti¢cial categories, categorization cannot rely on interpolation between

stored examples.

Note that the cited study deals with recognition of previously seen objects. The categorization of objects of a type never before encountered is more difficult.

The home page of the National UFO Reporting Center notes

Events across the United States and Canada on the evening of Sunday, July 04, 2010

Over the last 48 hours, NUFORC has received almost 100 similar reports of very peculiar events, which have been witnessed across the U. S. and Canada on July 4th, and perhaps on July 3rd, as well.  The sightings are a phenomenon for which we have no ready explanation.  Many of the reports from both days have been submitted by seemingly serious-minded individuals, many of whom apparently witnessed the events with multiple other witnesses present.

To date, we have received reports of the phenomenon from the following U. S. states and Canadian provinces:  California; Connecticut; Washington, D.C.; Florida; Georgia; Illinois; Indiana; Kentucky; Massachusetts; Manitoba; Michigan; Minnesota; Missouri; North Dakota; Nebraska; New Jersey; New York; Ohio; Oklahoma; Pennsylvania; Tennessee; Texas; Virginia; Vermont; and Washington State.

The reports are similar, in that the witnesses have described seeing strange red, orange, or yellow “fireballs,” which have been seen either to hover in the night sky, or to streak overhead, sometimes individually, and on some occasions in clusters.  In some instances, the objects were observed against a clear, cloudless sky, and in other cases, they were observed below solid or broken overcast. 

The center did not plot the events by time, by location, or correlate appearance and movement versus time or observer position.  It can be noted that on the nights of July 4 in the United States, there routinely is a high incidence of unusual lights in the sky.  Indeed, an exceptionally high incidence of lights in the sky was reported on July 4, 2009, by the Mutual UFO Network.

It should be noted that bright lights of normal origin, against a dark sky, can produce visual afterimages of substantial duration. Point sources can appear to have trails of light.

This is not to suggest, however, that there were no unexplainable reports among these. It is, however, extremely difficult to correlate among the witness reports. The U.S. is not covered by precision radar and there may be no other non-visual sensors. Air Traffic Control uses transponder, not radar, tracking.

Skeptics

• Carl Sagan:  Sagan thought scientists should study the UFO phenomena and some interest in the subject. In fact, Sagan had several conversations with Vallee concerning UFOs. He thought the chances of an extraterrestrial visitation as extremely small. Sagan also believed in the  Drake Equation, which argues for extraterrestrial intelligence, and the Fermi Paradox.