Ufology originated in 1950. The name - ufology - was taken from the English “unidentified flying object” (i.e. UFO) - unidentified flying object. In the scientific environment, the word-term “ufology” is not used!
At the current time, it does not seem likely to find the subject, purpose and objectives of ufology. She explores the unknown natural phenomena, all UFO phenomena, the life of aliens, humanoids and are looking for evidence that. So, everyone falls into the field of her actions existing phenomena– from simple deception to technical innovations and psychiatry.
Ufology as a science deals with the following activities:
— collection of data about UFOs and OFOs;
— carrying out research work in places where an extraterrestrial object was seen;
— searching for signs of extraterrestrial life on Earth and abroad;
— organizing telepathic or physical communication with intruders.
As a science, ufology is still in its development stage. Today it occupies the initial stage of accumulation of primary material and the formation of basic theories. Ufology takes its main concepts from basic sciences– chemistry, physics, botany, geology, etc. In the future, this may contribute to the emergence of a new scientific discipline that will study what kind of aircraft they have, etc.
UFO is an unidentified flying object. Most often, these words are used to describe all supernatural phenomena that have become the property of a certain circle of people.
In everyday life, such supernatural phenomena are characterized by the following indicators:
- the appearance in the sky of an aircraft (object, object), the flight path of which does not correspond to the usual idea of the flight path of an airplane or helicopter;
— the presence of a continuous light source in the aircraft, almost completely blocking the view of the structure;
- finding mysterious “traces”, objects, natural anomalies, the explanation of which is beyond science.
Scientific research into the UFO phenomenon is very difficult. Initially, this is explained by the fact that UFOs are more often seen in rural areas or in small towns, and then at night. Cases of UFO sightings in big cities and during the daytime are rare.
Based on materials from the Skeptical Inquirer magazine (USA).
The results of 62 years of mankind’s acquaintance with the phenomenon of “flying saucers” are summed up by Robert Schiffer in the American magazine “Skeptical Investigator”. Note that the magazine is published by the Paranormal Investigation Committee, which has been operating since 1976, and Schiffer is an engineer, a regular contributor to the magazine and the author of two books about UFOs.
Science and life // Illustrations
In 1996, a short “documentary” aired across the world’s television screens, depicting the autopsy of an alien who died in a UFO crash near Roswell.
The lenticular cloud, photographed in the Alps, is quite suitable for the role of a “flying saucer”. Photo from the French magazine La Recherche.
Kenneth Arnold demonstrates his own drawing of one of the objects he encountered. It is clearly visible that its shape has nothing in common with plates, saucers or disks.
UFO Museum building in Roswell.
To begin with, “flying saucers”, aka saucers, are a mistake by journalists. The term comes from a report by American businessman Kenneth Arnold, who on June 24, 1947, while at the controls of his small plane, saw (according to his stories) nine strange objects flying across his course about 23 miles from him. He decided that they were testing some new jet aircraft, and was only surprised that this design was devoid of a tail. Upon landing in the town of Pendleton, Arnold mentioned what he had seen in the mandatory flight report submitted to the airfield commandant. A few days later, local journalists, who were suffering from a summer lull in news, approached him in search of sensations. He told reporters that he saw something like boomerangs that seemed to float in the sky, swaying slightly, like a light saucer floating along the flow of a calm river. The city newspaper said: "The pilot saw nine flying objects in the shape of saucers." A few days later, the regional newspaper reprinted the article, and from its submission, central publications became interested in the news. And by the end of July, the American press had received more than 850 similar reports about something saucer-shaped flying in the sky. Waves began to spread from every note of this kind picked up by the national press. Major spikes in UFO reports occurred in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1957, 1965-1967 and 1973. There have been no more noticeable epidemics of this kind in the United States since then.
Why? As Schiffer suggests, the public was simply tired of the topic. After a quarter of a century, sensational information about mysterious flying objects, mainly of a “saucer” shape, came from different parts of the world, but no real facts, clear photographs or film footage appeared, no tangible evidence, discoveries, and UFO pilots did not come into contact with scientists, general public interest has waned. And in addition, many sensations were revealed as jokes, practical jokes, disinterested fakes, or simply as observer errors associated with very real and prosaic events.
Some ufologists suggest that guests from other galaxies (or another dimension), having thoroughly studied the Earth for the period from 1947 to 1973, went home. But Schiffer believes the reason is more mundane: By about 1973, almost all American families had acquired color televisions and since then have been looking at the screen more than at the sky. Thus ended the first phase of interest in UFOs in America.
But since 1966, the second phase was already underway - the abduction of respectable citizens by aliens. A “documentary” book, “Interrupted Trip,” was published, telling the story of how rural residents, the Hill couple, driving along a country road at night, were chased by a UFO, and they forgot what happened next. But soon the woman began to have nightmares: she was kidnapped by the crew of a “flying saucer.” And under hypnosis, which restores hidden memory, her husband (who had previously repeatedly heard retellings of his wife’s dreams) spoke about the same thing. There were books, interviews, TV shows and movies on the same theme with variations. It soon became clear that you could be kidnapped not only from a remote forest road, but also directly from an apartment in the center of a metropolis. Aliens enter through a closed window, or even simply through the wall of a skyscraper. Mostly young women were kidnapped, and some of them maintained a telepathic connection with the “world mind” for the rest of their lives, drawing from it “the wisdom of aliens.” Blood, skin and other tissue samples were often taken from abductees. As a rule, there were no scars left.
However, by about 1995, this topic became boring not only to the public, but also to registered ufologists. It became clear that, apart from confused and rather monotonous fantastic stories, the “kidnapped” had nothing to show for proof.
But even before the decline in interest in “kidnappings,” arose new topic: UFO crashes. In 1950, the book “What Lies Behind the Flying Saucers” was published in the United States, in which, based on the stories of two witnesses, presented by the author as an inventor and engineer, a UFO crash was reported in 1948 in New Mexico. However, an investigation undertaken by one journalist showed that the “witnesses” were well-known swindlers who had already had troubles with the law, and the “UFO part” they were demonstrating, made of an alloy unknown on Earth, was an ordinary piece of aluminum. After this, there was no talk of UFO crashes for several decades.
Only in 1980 did the book “The Roswell Incident” appear by Charles Berlitz, the same one who gave rise to the sensation about Bermuda Triangle. Berlitz and his co-author William Moore talked about the crash of a “flying saucer” near the town of Roswell in the same state of New Mexico in 1947. In their opinion, the military hid the wreckage of the aircraft and the body of the deceased pilot. And in this case, a wave of books, television series, interviews with “eyewitnesses” began, and the unremarkable town of Roswell acquired a UFO museum with very natural-looking models and dummies.
It was only towards the end of the 1990s that information was declassified that in 1947 the CIA carried out Project Mogul - the launch of huge balloons with equipment to detect radioactive isotopes in the upper atmosphere that arise during nuclear weapons testing. The gondola of one of these balloons crashed in New Mexico, and the remains of the secret equipment were hastily hidden at the Roswell airbase (see “Science and Life” No.).
However, whoever wants to believe, believes. A certain Ryan Wood organizes an annual conference on UFO crashes. He claims that there are at least 74 such cases known in the world. Naturally, all of them are classified by the authorities of the respective countries where the unfortunate aliens were lucky to land. In general, conspiracy theories are flourishing around UFOs. So, in 1997, a book was published in the United States claiming that almost all technological achievements since 1947 - transistors, integrated circuits, fiber optics, lasers and others - were not invented by people, but were borrowed from the “saucer” that crashed at Roswell.
Separately, Schiffer discusses photographs and video footage of UFOs. Convincing clear photographs do not exist, although nowadays almost everyone has a digital camera or a cell phone with a camera in their pocket - both of them even allow you to shoot short video clips. Usually blurry spots of light or fuzzy dark figures are published. The footage that wanders from one book about UFOs to another has been exposed as fakes, or as reflections of distant car headlights, or as reflections on clouds of gas torches burning on drilling sites, or as signal flares launched during night army maneuvers, or as photographs of other completely real and completely unmysterious phenomena.
With the advent of Photoshop and similar computer programs, montages made using them began to be published on the Internet. They are usually presented anonymously and without detail, since the authors have no hope, time or desire to construct a story compelling enough to stand up to scrutiny.
What are the prospects for ufology? Although no book about UFOs has hit the bestseller lists for more than twenty years, this social and psychological phenomenon, according to Robert Schiffer, will not die. We should expect another wave of interest in “flying saucers,” but it is impossible to predict what it will be. In any case, it is clear that new sensations will, as the public craves, excite interest, a little frighten, and awaken the imagination, and simply entertain - over the past six decades, stories about UFOs have successfully coped with these tasks.
UFO - unidentified flying object (UFO). Most full definition UFO was given by the famous explorer of the unknown Joseph Allen Hynek: “the perception of an object or light visible in the sky or space or above the earth's surface; a phenomenon, a ghost, a trajectory, the general dynamics and character of the glow of which does not find a logical, generally accepted explanation, is a mystery not only for eyewitnesses, but also remains unexplained even after a close study of all available evidence by specialists who are able, if possible, to identify the phenomenon from the point of view common sense."
In other words, if there is a message about the observation of any strange phenomenon above the earth, the case has not been identified with any meteorological or astronomical phenomenon known to science, and no evidence of a hoax has been established, then they say that we are talking about an unidentified flying object, about UFO. If an explanation for the phenomenon is found, then they talk about identified flying objects (IFO). Most flying objects still find an explanation and become OLO. Of all reports of obscure flying objects, only 5-10% remain unidentified. Some objects remain unidentified only because of a lack of information about them.
Since some of the documented sightings of flying objects have failed to identify some, the greatest skepticism is usually caused not by reports of sightings of something unidentified, but by statements about the alien origin of the objects.
In different countries there are many public initiative organizations and enthusiasts involved in recording and analyzing UFO phenomena, including in Russia - Kosmopoisk.
In many countries (including the USA and the USSR), cases of UFO sightings were recorded by authorized military and civilian government agencies, including within the framework of secret special programs (Blue Book/Majestic-12 and ANA).
The attitude of official structures towards UFOs is ambivalent. In a number of cases, when the breadth of observations and publicity among the public and the media leaves no opportunity to keep silent about a phenomenon, authorities and other official organizations recognize the phenomena and provide explanations for their occurrence as man-made causes or unstudied anomalous natural phenomena. In a number of other cases, they deny the very fact of the phenomenon, which arouses suspicion among the public and conspiracy theories about the knowledge of world governments and the secrecy of the facts of manifestations of alien intelligence. The first case of official recognition of the alleged alien origin of a UFO by a senior government official was an official address to the UN General Assembly in 1979 by the President of Grenada. Among the US presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton expressed a relatively soft approach, allowing such a UFO origin theoretically (without confirming any cases).
While supporters of the alien origin of observed UFOs are just not most of scientists, the official scientific community of the world has a broad SETI search program for extraterrestrial intelligence, which assumes the possibility of detecting the activities of extraterrestrial intelligence as part of research into the manifestations of this technical means in deep space. With the development of computer technology and the Internet, the program began to conduct distributed information processing on thousands of simple user computers.
In popular culture, a UFO most often means an unidentified flying object, the appearance of which is associated with a visit to Earth by intelligent beings. Many people, including primarily officials and scientists, are skeptical (or pretend to be convinced) that the UFO phenomenon is an anomalous natural phenomenon. On the contrary, some former officials, military personnel and even astronauts (including those who flew to the moon), after leaving service, become public adherents of the alien origin of UFOs.
Eyewitnesses and UFO declassification
Many reports of UFO sightings are inaccurate; they may not indicate the exact date, location, or characteristics of objects. It is the ufologist’s task to obtain the most detailed information about the incident from an eyewitness. Often, eyewitnesses may base their descriptions on their personal ideas about the nature of UFOs. (Ufologist Jenny Randels quotes an eyewitness who, when asked: “Could it be a cloud?” answered: “Yes, I know it looked like that, but I think it was a UFO disguised as a cloud.”) That’s why Ufologists least value the testimony of single eyewitnesses, not supported either by the testimony of other eyewitnesses or photographs. Ufologists recommend that in the event of a UFO sighting, if there is such an opportunity, first of all, draw the attention of other people to the UFO and photograph it, remember its location. The most reliable are the testimony of pilots and scientists. Some witnesses to this phenomenon claim to have had direct contact with extraterrestrial intelligence.
During contacts with UFOs and after them, some people experience burns, they may suffer from nausea and headaches. During particularly close contacts (see “Classification of contacts with UFOs”), witnesses experienced depression, spatial orientation was disturbed, and increased excitability occurred.
On June 24, 1947, American businessman Kenneth Arnold noticed nine flying objects that looked like saucers. This was the first recorded case of a human sighting of a UFO.
The most popular among the public (including in many books and films) phenomenon of UFOs as alien visits for decades remains the Roswell incident of 1947, which is officially denied as a fact of the phenomenon of alien intelligence, and the so-called “Washington Carousel” of 1952.
In mid-May 2008, the British government opened access to classified materials about “extraterrestrial contacts” from 1978 to 1987. The documents contain eyewitness accounts of “extraterrestrial contacts”, but there is no reliable evidence of this evidence. In addition, the most interesting parts of these documents are almost always shaded; often entire paragraphs are under the shade, and it is quite difficult for an unprepared person to understand what is hidden under the shaded text. Subsequently, new batches of documents were gradually declassified, including a case of combat contact.
In France, the national space agency published similar materials on its website. Among them are police reports, photographs, eyewitness accounts, with the help of which scientists are trying to explain the appearance of mysterious objects in the sky.
Previously closed China, which collected and processed information by the military and scientific structures, first officially published the 1987 UFO footage in December 2008.
Materials about UFOs were made public in 2010 in Brazil and New Zealand
In early April 2011, the FBI declassified documents on the so-called Roswell incident. According to information posted on the FBI website, in 1947, three so-called flying saucers were found in New Mexico. They were round in shape with a raised center, about 15.25 m in diameter. Each of them contained three bodies about 90 cm in height. According to some sources, this document is a well-known fake.
Although materials about UFOs first appeared in the official Soviet press in 1977-1978, widespread publication of this kind of information was only allowed since the time of glasnost. At this time and under post-Soviet democracy, Russian officials did not give an official assessment of the numerous published facts of UFO phenomena.
There is still no officially confirmed evidence that a UFO is in any way connected with alien life.
Classification of contacts with UFOs
Below is a classification of reports of UFO encounters proposed by ufologist Joseph Allen Hynek.
Contacts over long distances
This is the name given to sightings when the eyewitness and the UFO are separated by “hundreds of kilometers and kilometers.” Among them are:
"Night Lights. Clearly visible, well-defined lights of an unknown nature, usually red, orange or white. This group includes the lion’s share of UFO sightings at long distances.”
“Day drives. These are objects observed during the daytime, usually oval or disk-shaped, metallic in appearance. They are recorded high in the sky, close to the ground and are often seen in a state of motionless hovering. Daytime drives can instantly gain tremendous speed.”
"Radar 'blips' on radar screens, especially those coinciding with visual tracking of UFOs, are considered very valuable evidence of the reality of the observed objects."
Close Encounters
Close encounters (CE - Close Encounters) are contacts with a UFO “no further than two hundred meters”. These include:
“Contacts of the first kind (English CE-1). A UFO is observed in the air and, according to the impression, does not interact with environment, animals and eyewitnesses."
“Contacts of the second kind (English CE-2). In these cases, the interaction of the UFO with the environment is recorded in the form of interference in the operation of radio-electronic devices, turning off the ignition systems of cars, the appearance of prints on the ground or traces scorched by fire.” It has been noted that CE-2s often occur among major highways.
“Contacts of the third kind (English CE-3). In this subgroup of messages there are UFO inhabitants - more or less humanoid creatures, now called humanoids, enlonauts or simply aliens... Usually they do not enter into direct contact or negotiations with eyewitnesses, but in last years Inexplicably, reports have become more frequent about the temporary detention of unwary witnesses by enlonauts for the purpose of a “medical” examination.”
“Contacts of the fourth kind (English CE-4).
Absurdity
Some elements of UFO encounters may seem absurd to eyewitnesses or researchers. For example, ufologist John Keel describes a case in which a woman claimed to have seen a UFO on which was written "UFO", there is a known case where the UFO had an image similar to a stylized drawing of lightning on a circle background; Keel also described “wheelless vehicles driving through deserted areas a few inches above the ground,” and mentioned “giant gondola-shaped machines with many rows of windows that hovered over the Kaitatini Mountains in northern New Jersey.” Also in reports about "airships" it was said that half-peeled potatoes were dropped from the UFO, or the UFO could get caught on something with a "metal anchor on a rope" hanging from it, so that someone was forced to descend from the UFO to "rope" that cut... There are also no less ridiculous reports of the landing of unidentified flying objects and the appearance near them of humanoid creatures (enlonauts), coming into contact with eyewitnesses, collecting plants or soil, according to eyewitnesses, “playing” and “walking” near the UFO. In some cases, eyewitnesses noted a certain “childishness” in the behavior of the enlonauts; there is information about their seemingly meaningless behavior.
Some reputable ufologists, such as Allen Hynek or Donald Keyhoe, rarely investigate such cases. However, according to Coral and Jim Lorenzen, leaders of the ufological organization APRO, these aspects of contacts with UFOs are just as much, if not more, in need of comprehensive study, since they are integral components of the “flying saucer” phenomenon and can shed light on their nature. Ufologist Jacques Vallee is famous for collecting, researching and describing such “absurd” phenomena. In his 1959 book Passport to Magonia, Vallee compares such UFO encounters with folklore reports of encounters with mythical creatures. According to D. Keel, the absurd manifestations of the UFO phenomenon are not accidental and are intended to undermine confidence in eyewitness reports. And in the book " A parallel world“Vallée develops the idea that absurd UFO cases are forming a new myth, and the goal of the unknown creators of “flying saucers” is to use this myth to influence the subconscious for thousands of years and implant reflexes and a certain way of thinking in humanity. Valle confirms this hypothesis by the similarity of the replicas of the enlonauts with psychological techniques M. Erickson, the similarity of the abduction scheme with the rite of passage into a secret society. Also, the absurdity in the behavior of a UFO brings it closer to other paranormal phenomena, in particular, to poltergeists.
Types of UFOs
"Solid" objects
Western ufologists often call UFOs that look like “hard objects” solids, that is, in appearance consisting of matter. Some of these objects may even appear to be metal. According to J. Keel, emphatically “hard” objects (“Trojan horses”) are not a real form of UFO, but exist solely to distract people’s attention from the actions of “soft” objects.
Below are the most commonly reported types of "solid" unidentified flying objects. Nevertheless, the possible forms and types of UFOs described in the press, of course, are not limited to them.
1. Disc-shaped objects. Disc-shaped objects can have different sizes. The disks could have something like antennas, stabilizers or windows. The discs could glow brightly or shine like metal. In some cases, disc-shaped UFOs could appear to be made of "metal plates." The most common types:
“Adamski saucer” - a UFO allegedly observed by J. Adamski;
a flat disk with a segment of a sphere (the so-called “dome”) on top, located so that the entire object is radially symmetrical, and the radius of the flat disk exceeds the radius of the maximum section of the segment, which has the shape of a circle;
a “plate” in the shape of Saturn, consisting of a ball and a flat disk so that the flat disk lies together with the great circle of this ball in the same plane (the radius of the disk is much greater than the radius of the great circle of the ball; in general, the object is radially symmetric);
a disk with a truncated cone at the top or at the top and bottom, so that the radius of this cone’s larger base, being smaller than the radius of the disk, is in the same plane with it and inferior in size - radially symmetrical (in the case of two cones, also symmetrical relative to the disk ) an object with a smaller base radius much greater than the height of the entire object;
“mushroom-shaped” objects - “plates” thinning towards the bottom with a relatively long thick cylinder or truncated cone with a generatrix, almost equal height, in the lower part, and radial symmetry is observed.
2. Triangular objects. The most famous triangular UFOs are the so-called “Belgian triangles” - objects capable of abruptly changing the speed and direction of flight, observed in Belgium in 1989 - 1990 and the observation of triangular and boomerang-like objects with lights over highways and over nuclear power plants in Hudson Valley (New York) (it has been suggested that the UFO is explained by a hoax perpetrated by pilots from the Stromfield airfield, located in the same state). A well-documented case of observation of a boomerang-shaped object was also the so-called. Phoenix lights.
3. Spindle-shaped objects - UFOs in the form of two cones with a common base. Such objects were reported to fly with the axis of symmetry perpendicular to the ground, and the presence of certain “wires” was sometimes noted at the top.
4. Egg-shaped objects. See, for example, “The incident in Sokkoro”, hanging in the city of Salavat.
5. Aircraft. In some cases, sightings of unidentified "aircraft" such as airplanes (e.g., "ghost planes"), black helicopters (see "The Case of Cash and Landrums"), airships ("airships"), missiles ("missiles") are reported -ghosts"), either without identification marks, or endowed with properties uncharacteristic of aircraft known to science. For example, on the morning of February 25, 1942, unknown “planes” appeared over Los Angeles, on which the US air defense opened fire from anti-aircraft guns, firing about 1,430 shells at them. One of the objects, according to eyewitnesses, hovered motionless despite shells exploding near it, then moved along the coast between Santa Monica and Long Beach at a speed of about 6 miles per hour. Three people died, not counting the victims of heart attacks.
6. Augers (from the English “shank”, although English name"Flying rod" phenomena - rod-shaped objects from several centimeters to several tens of meters. As a rule, they move along their axis silently and at high speeds - which is why they are inaccessible to human perception, but are quite easily recorded by photo and video equipment. In many cases, augers have a blade-like structure around the rod, like a brace. The flight of certain types of flying insects, birds, rockets, optical effects, etc. is often mistaken for augers. Some details about augers can be found in the article “Rods flew across the sky.” Many examples of this type objects are presented in documentary film"UFO in Russia. The most convincing evidence" (Russia, 2004: scriptwriter Yulia Korobko, directors Konstantin Murashev and Vladimir Andrienkov). The theory that augers are biological species unknown to science is in vogue.
7. UFO in the form of a boomerang. A well-known well-documented case of observation of such an object was the so-called. Lights of Phoenix.
"Soft" objects
“Soft objects” are UFOs that do not give the impression of being made of matter, in particular, a mysterious glow, fog with unusual properties, lights. In the book “UFO: Operation Troyan Horse” J. Keel concludes that unidentified flying objects are of an electromagnetic nature, and their appearance in the form of bunches of light is most consistent with their true appearance. Glowing silhouettes and objects make UFOs and their “inhabitants” related to angels and ghosts materialized in spiritualistic seances, and contacts with UFOs are related to religious visions and mediumistic trance.
UFO sighting sites
IX century BC. There is an opinion that the “chariot of fire” on which Elijah (the prophet) (Bible, Old Testament) was taken to heaven, was an alien aircraft.
592 BC. There is an opinion that the prophet Ezekiel (Bible, Old Testament, Ezekiel 1:1) saw the arrival of an alien aircraft with an alien on board, with whom he had a telepathic conversation, about which the prophet Ezekiel and wrote in the book (Bible, Old Testament, Ezekiel 1:1), giving detailed description the design of an alien aircraft and the content of a telepathic conversation with an alien.
Despite the fact that UFOs are observed everywhere, there are areas where they are observed especially often - the so-called “windows”. The concept of them was introduced by the French ufologist Aimé Michel. Similar “windows” are available in the United States of America (Texas, Florida, northwest Pacific coast, Hudson Valley), Australia (Cairns in Queensland, Kempsey in New South Wales, Nullarbor Plain, Bass Strait), Japan (Hokkaido), France , Great Britain (Lothian, Loose Bay [Scotland], Dyred [Wales], Pennines and Warminster [Wiltshire]) and in Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Spain, Norway, Malaysia, Puerto Rico and the Canary Islands. (No “windows” have been recorded in Africa.) Also, during some periods, UFO reports come more often (“waves” [English flaps]) than others. Thus, in the USA, “windows” operated in 1947, 1950, 1952, 1965, 1967 and 1973, in Japan - in 1958, in the USSR - in 1962 and in 1977-1978. etc.. A pattern has been noted: in sparsely populated areas, UFOs are observed more often.
There is no consensus on “windows”. Some researchers tend to consider the increased brightness of a particular astronomical object during a given period, for example, Mars, as the cause of “waves” of UFO reports. There are opinions that “waves” of such messages arise in states experiencing certain difficulties. (For example, the surge in reports of “flying saucers” in the late 1940s is explained by some as cold war.) Some believe that the public's fascination with new science fiction works (for example, movies) stimulates the emergence of stories about UFO sightings.
In space
Sometimes it was mentioned about the observation by astronomers from Earth of currently unidentified objects in space. In the articles “The Darkened Sun” and “The Forerunners of the “Black Cloud”” (Alexey Arkhipov), which were published in “Technology for Youth” in 1983 (No. 12), cases of this kind were selected.
The Annual Regista for 1766, Volume 9, contains "An Account of a Very Strange Appearance Seen on the Disc of the Sun":
On August 9, 1762, de Rostand, ... measuring the height of the Sun with a quadrant in Lausanne ... noticed that it gave a weak and pale light ... Pointing a fourteen-foot telescope, equipped with a micrometer, at the Sun, he was surprised to find that its eastern edge was obscured ... by the nebula that surrounded some dark body. After about two and a half hours, the southern part of the above-mentioned body separated from the limb of the Sun, but the northern edge of the body, which had the shape of a spindle about three solar fingers wide and nine in length, did not free the solar limb. This spindle retained its shape, moving across the disk of the Sun from east to west at a speed that was no more than half the speed of ordinary sunspots, until it disappeared on September 7 after reaching the western limb of the luminary. Rostand made observations almost every day for a month, using a camera obscura to determine the shape and size of the body... A similar phenomenon on the Sun was observed in the Basel bishopric... Coste, a friend of de Rostand, using an eleven-foot telescope, found a similar spindle-shaped shape in the body, as did de Rostand. Rostand, but not so wide, which could probably be a consequence of the body enlarging and turning near the limit of its visibility. More remarkable is the fact that the position of the body on the Sun did not correspond to that observed from Lausanne: the body, therefore, had significant parallax... This is not a spot: its movement was much slower; the object was also not a planet or comet: its shape proves the opposite.
On July 29, 1878, two astronomers: Lewis Swift, director of the Warner Observatory, and James Watson, director of the University of Michigan Observatory, observed the complete solar eclipse. During the observation, they noticed two unknown red objects near the Sun, slightly smaller than Mercury, astronomers suggested that they had discovered new planets in solar system. A certain Dr. C. H. F. Peters rejected the possibility of discovering new planets, saying that Swift and Watson either observed stars or observed nothing. Astronomer Jessup Morris, repeating Peters' analysis, concluded that the objects were between 2,000 and 20,000 miles from Earth, that the larger and more distant object was more than 1.5 miles in diameter, and the smaller 90% less than it.
Among the astronomical community, numerous cases of observation through telescopes of unidentified people moving along trajectories that are inexplicable for ordinary uncontrolled objects are widely known. celestial bodies, objects in near-Earth space, around the Moon and on its surface, which received common name short-lived anomalous phenomena.
There have also been reports of sightings of UFOs in outer space by astronauts or of UFOs being filmed by artificial satellites. So in June 1965, from the Gemini 4 spacecraft making its 20th orbit in low-Earth orbit, astronaut James McDivitt observed through the window an unidentified object from which “long arms were sticking out.” McDivitt took a photograph of it, but after developing it he could not find the photograph.
The conspiracy counter-theory of the lunar conspiracy states that during the Apollo expeditions, the United States discovered UFO bases and cities on the Moon and then began to hide it, hoping for a monopoly on information.
In the last years of the existence of the USSR during the era of glasnost, huge balls in the Earth’s atmosphere were demonstrated to the public as unidentified UFOs in video footage from the Salyut and Mir orbital stations, as well as in photographs from the Soviet automatic interplanetary station Phobos-2, shadows on On Mars, similar to the contrail of a rocket taking off.
After the appearance of WikiSky, an Internet resource for reviewing the Universe, close to the SETI program, searches for UFOs and other manifestations of extraterrestrial intelligence in space became available not only to astronomers and participants in the SETI program, but also to the general public. At the end of 2010, there was widespread discussion in the media and among the world public about the discovery of suspicious artifacts in WikiSky, which began to be called possible huge alien ships flying towards Earth. Available for constant public observation, these objects have a two-body, cylindrical, round and rod shape.
UFO and science
It is known that among the UFO researchers there were also scientists, even with scientific degrees: for example, Allen Hynek and Donald Menzel were professors of astronomy (Hynek from Ohio University, Menzel from Harvard University). However, most scientists still do not recognize the possibility of the existence of flying objects of an as yet unknown nature - UFOs. A. Hynek in the book “UFO: An Attempt at a Scientific Approach” cites the following incident: “One summer evening in 1968, a reception was held in Victoria (British Columbia) on the occasion of an astronomical symposium. More than one hundred astronomers from different countries gathered in a large restaurant. Suddenly a man entered the hall and announced that unidentified flying objects had appeared in the sky. A light chuckle passed through the tables, but quickly died down and the people returned to their conversations. Not a single scientist went outside to see the mysterious natural phenomenon with his own eyes!”
Hynek continues:
There are two types of scientists who deny UFOs. The first type includes scoffers who do not even try to deal with any specific case of observing a phenomenon. The second type includes scientists who, after verification, are inclined to recognize the reality of UFOs, but only as a purely psychological phenomenon. The position of the second group of scientists still deserves attention, since they have materials for discussion. The views of the first group, on the contrary, do not stimulate discussion, because, in their opinion, since there is no phenomenon, then there is no subject of discussion!
Among the possible reasons why science does not study unidentified flying objects are:
- the inability to predict in advance the location of a UFO, which makes it difficult to study;
- a small amount of high-quality ufological literature, coupled with an abundance of mass and occult literature on this issue, a large number of conscious hoaxes, including those that have crept into conscientiously compiled literature;
- lack of understanding by scientists of the difference between UFOs and OLOs;
- the prevalence of parascientific hypotheses trying to explain the origin of UFOs;
- interest in ufology on the part of religious fanatics and people with mental disorders.
Hypotheses about the origin of UFOs
There are the following hypotheses about the origin of UFOs:
The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis (ETH) is the most common hypothesis declaring UFOs to be alien spaceships. Most ufologists consider only this hypothesis.
Hypotheses about the natural origin of UFOs (eng. The Natural Explanation Hypothesis or Null hypothesis) are based on the belief that all unexplained cases, reports of UFOs, if not hoaxes, then arise from the observation of phenomena already known, described and studied modern science: meteors, flying birds, burning swamp gas. Ufologists who adhere to this point of view are sometimes called “skeptics”. The most famous "skeptic" ufologists are Edward Condon, Philip Klass and Donald Menzel. There is also an assumption by some scientists that many UFOs are ball lightning.
Psychosocial hypotheses of the origin of UFOs - it is known that even C. G. Jung considered reports of UFOs as a modern myth; he noted a possible connection between the disk-shaped shape of a “flying saucer” and the “mandala” - an occult symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, personifying integrity and completeness. Jung explained the great interest in UFOs in the second half of the 20th century by man’s desire for harmony in turbulent times. In Soviet literature, an explanation similar to this of the UFO phenomenon enjoyed a certain popularity.
The version of the anthropogenic origin of UFOs is the assumption that UFOs are aircraft created by man, the existence of which is hidden by the groups that own them (military, government, private corporations), or the groups themselves are secret.
Ultraterrestrial hypotheses of the origin of UFOs - the so-called Ultraterrestrial hypothesis propose the terrestrial origin of UFOs (ufologist John Keel called for “considering UFOs in an terrestrial or ultraterrestrial framework, that is, think of them as your closest neighbors, from whom only a fence separates you”); some develop ideas that “flying saucers” are launched by civilizations living on Earth parallel to the human one, or that UFOs are ... unknown creatures living on Earth.
Live UFO version
Hypotheses for the occurrence of UFOs in parallel worlds
Supernatural (mystical) hypotheses of the origin of UFOs have been in demand throughout the history of mankind, but in the 20th century they had much less popularity than, for example, versions of the extraterrestrial origin of UFOs; though since the 1970s. there is some flourishing of them.
Hypotheses about the nature of UFOs from the point of view of the Orthodox branch of the Christian religion - in his address, Patriarch Kirill says that the essence of the nature of UFOs is the machinations of the devil and UFOs are nothing more than demons, which a person sees in such a form as balls, disks, etc. Confirms his assertion by argument that in the Middle Ages people saw demons in one guise, and with the growth of technology and the development of science, demons and devils are trying to take the form that is most understandable to humans and “logically explainable” from a technical point of view.
Famous UFO Sightings Explained
Identified flying object
Some cases of UFO sightings can be given a more or less reliable explanation. In such cases, they speak of observing an identified flying object. There are cases when the noise around UFOs is the result of misinformation or an ordinary joke.
With all the skepticism with which most scientists and ordinary people regard UFOs, in the US Army, and then in the army Soviet Union special rules of action have appeared when detecting AAI (abnormal atmospheric phenomena- this is what UFOs are called in military documents). In 1978, the USSR began to implement Government program studying the UFO phenomenon. During the implementation of the program over 13 years, about three thousand reports of observations of unusual phenomena were received, of which most of the observed phenomena (more than 90%) were explained by the flights of high-altitude cylinders and rocket launches. One of the important results of the study was also that it was not obtained:
- not a single message about a UFO landing;
- not a single report of contacts with “UFO pilots”;
- not a single report of “UFO” abductions.
Sensational in connection with mass surveillance in the USSR, the so-called. The Petrozavodsk phenomenon (Petrozavodsk miracle) of 1977 was first explained by official organizations as an unstudied natural anomalous phenomenon, and later by the activities of the military and highly classified Plesetsk cosmodrome at that time, however, linking the so-called launch of a launch vehicle to this phenomenon has a number of inconsistencies.
The massive appearance of UFOs in 1978 over Washington became the catalyst for a sharp increase in public interest in such phenomena, up to some discussion of the issue with President Carter and raising the issue at the UN, but in relation to this appearance there were no official or scientific positions, except for the statement of an unclear atmospheric effect , was not expressed.
Shortly after the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, a UFO was spotted in the skies over Washington. It was recorded by a camera from an American TV channel. According to the comments of eyewitnesses, the object did not look like a bird, since visually it was flat and without wings. However, it may have been an ordinary helicopter.
According to researchers, people who claim to have seen a UFO may have mistaken the sprite system for a flying saucer. The "candles" in sprites (visible vertical columns of light) can reach a height of 20 km, and a bunch of such "candles" can have a diameter of up to 70 km.
“Lightning creates an electric field, which creates flash sprites,” says Colin Price, a geophysicist at Tel Aviv University. “We now understand that only certain types of lightning can trigger high-altitude flashes.”
Sprite is a rare type of thunderstorm discharge, a kind of lightning, only striking upward from the clouds. Sprites are difficult to see, but they appear in almost any thunderstorm at an altitude of 55 to 130 kilometers. For comparison, “ordinary” lightning occurs at an altitude of no more than 16 kilometers.
This phenomenon was first recorded in 1989 by accident. Sprites do not hang motionless in the sky, but make “dancing” movements.
Using special equipment, the researchers were able to record sprites at an altitude of 56-129 kilometers from the ground, which is significantly higher than the usual “lightning-fast” level. In addition, sprites are spherical in shape.
Experts' opinion
According to British military intelligence, all "flying saucers" fall under one of four possible explanations, namely:
- astronomical or meteorological phenomenon;
- erroneous identification of a modern aircraft;
- optical illusion or psychological hallucination;
- deliberate fraud.
UFO in culture
UFOs and screen arts
From the very beginning of the “flying saucer” craze, disc-shaped flying objects immediately populated Hollywood movie screens in the early 1950s. In the movie “The War of the Worlds” by D. Pal (1953), the Martians are trying to take over the Earth using greenish-red “flying saucers” that, in addition to red heat rays, emit green crescents that annihilate military equipment. Also popular was the movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951), which was in many ways similar to reports of J. Adamski’s contacts: from an unidentified disk-shaped object that landed, first a robot-like object emerged, and then humanoid figure. The latter introduced himself as a space alien and expressed fears for the fate of humanity, which was discovering nuclear weapons. Such films mainly created anxiety among Americans who were waiting for the Third World War, so on January 16, 1953, at a meeting at the Pentagon, where they were concerned about the abundance of reports of UFO sightings in the United States, they decided:
According to the commission, a large-scale program, combining the efforts of all interested departments, should pursue two goals: education and debunking.
The purpose of the training is to develop skills in identifying unusually illuminated objects (probes, airplanes), as well as natural phenomena (meteors, fireballs, mirages, luminous night clouds)... The training will undoubtedly lead to a reduction in reports as a result of erroneous identification, which causes so much confusion.
Debunking should reduce public interest in “flying saucers”, which today cause a strong psychological reaction...
The basis of such education could be stories, initially mysterious, and later explained. Tricks largely lose their attractiveness as soon as their secret becomes known. The educational program must dispel the gullibility of the public and, consequently, its susceptibility to skillful enemy propaganda.
The Commission further concluded that repeated reports of these phenomena may indeed pose a threat to the orderly activities of protective political authorities in these troubled times... National security agencies should immediately take appropriate measures to deprive unidentified flying objects of the special status accorded to them, and that aura of mystery that they, unfortunately, acquired.
As a result, it was decided to produce entertaining films, also animated ones, ridiculing reports of UFO sightings: this was planned to reduce the dangerous public interest in this issue.
In 1977, S. Spielberg’s film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was released, which tells about the impending contact of humanity with the inhabitants of unidentified flying objects. The film's consultant was professional ufologist J. Allen Hynek, and Spielberg based the film on his book "The UFO expierence." Close Encounters of the Third Kind probably started the trend of making movies based on real cases sightings of UFOs and abductions: for example, the film adaptation of Budd Hopkins’ book “Aliens”, the film “Heavenly Fire”, based on the Walton case, are known. One of the most famous films based on real cases is the television series “The X-Files”.
The main idea of the film "Hangar-18", released in 1978, which was also very widely distributed around the world, was the theme of the US government classifying contacts with an alien UFO, and not disdaining immoral means.
In the 1990s, Hollywood released a film about a UFO’s attempt to enslave the Earth (“Independence Day”), which again caused worldwide resonance and became a blockbuster. The film again features the topic of the American military's secrecy (including from its own president) of contacts, starting with Roswell. The film inspired the satirical parody film Mars Attacks by T. Burton. Also, in the very first episode of the South Park series, “Cartman and the Anal Probe,” stories about contacts with UFOs are ridiculed: according to the plot, E. Cartman is kidnapped and an anal probe is installed on him. In addition, the film touches on the topic of livestock mutilation.
The topic of UFOs, as means of covert or open alien invasion, exploits a huge number of other films and television series.
UFO and faith
A view from a non-Christian perspective
In his book The Modern Myth of 'Signs from Heaven', C. G. Jung wrote in the 1950s that reality, surrounding a person, incurs projections from the collective unconscious. The latter seeks to compensate for the one-sided development of consciousness (for example, excessive rationality in our time or ignoring everything that is not related to faith in the old days) and projects onto the celestial space, if you look at it for a long time, images of sparkling machines (our era) or shining angels (past). Thus, the collective unconscious uses numinous ideas to attract individuals to achieve harmony between consciousness and the unconscious. Related religious and UFO visions can be seen by several individuals at once: the collective unconscious finds an outlet for its images and symbols through a few selected people.
Many sacred religious books talk about unidentified flying objects, such as the biblical (vision of Zechariah, Ezekiel, John the Evangelist, the flights of Elijah in the chariot of fire) and eastern (Tandshur, Kandshur) sacred texts. Some ufologists explain this by saying that UFOs actively contributed to the emergence of some religious teachings.
For example, John Keel’s book “UFO: Operation Trojan Horse,” which was sensational in America around the 1960s, describes: winged creatures flying out of round flying objects, healings by unidentified flying objects and prophecies received from UFOs, which subsequently came true; Such cases are characteristic of antiquity, the 19th and 20th centuries. According to Keel, ultra-beings that caused heavenly visions have since ancient times encouraged people to create religions, inspired and transmitted sacred knowledge. In the old days, ultra-beings supported people’s faith in God, but now, when God has gone out of fashion, they fuel faith in the “Space Brothers” - the helpers of humanity.
After all, since the time of D. Fry, religious UFO cults began to appear around people claiming to receive secret knowledge directly from unidentified flying objects. In most of these cults there is a belief in the imminent appearance large quantity UFO. The most famous of these was the so-called Raelian movement, which originated in France. Named after Rael or Claude Vorilhon, a journalist who claimed that he encountered a UFO on December 13, 1973 and repeatedly communicated with creatures whose appearance was associated with it. Vorilon said that he visited their home planet, he was allegedly told that human race was created by them.
Ufologist Jacques Vallee analyzes religious miracles of the 19th (the vision of the “Virgin” in Knock, Ireland, in 1852) and 20th centuries (the Fatima Visions) in the book “Parallel World” and finds in them many similarities with UFO phenomena. Vallee suspects that the religious experiences of UFO contactees are the result of some unknown influence on human psyche. The manifestations accompanying religious visions often coincide with the phenomena characteristic of the appearance of UFOs.
Attitude to UFOs in Islam
In Islam, the UFO phenomenon is not given special theological studies and treatises. However, at present, many enlightened Muslims believe that UFOs are a manifestation of the life activity of jinn - creatures invisible to the human eye, living parallel to the biological world. This assumption was most popularly expressed by the Islamic theologian Ibrahim Malik in his work “The Parallel World or Much, but Not All, about the Jinn.” According to the Koran, the jinn were created from fire, which Muslims are supporters of this theory, and explain the so often accompanying
edited news RammkindeR - 18-01-2012, 21:19
Many people see unidentified flying objects, although among the seven billion inhabitants of our planet, these are still only a few. But those whom the aliens allegedly abducted (say, from those who returned back) are just some crumbs.
New about UFOs and aliens
The most last news about UFOs are published on our portal. The section includes unique photos, videos and eyewitness accounts.
UFO(unidentified flying object, UFO) is an object at any distance from the earth's surface, the nature of which cannot be explained from the point of view of common sense. Typically, a UFO refers to a phenomenon associated with a compact moving or hovering object that can be glowing or dark, making sounds or remaining silent.
The name UFO appeared as a result direct transfer from English to Russian term UFO(unidentified flying object), which came into use in the early fifties of the 20th century. Activities related to the study of UFOs are called “ufology,” and people who collect and verify information about UFOs are called ufologists.
Versions of the origin of UFOs
At the moment, there are several hypotheses about the origin of UFOs, including hypotheses about the extraterrestrial, natural, psychosocial and supernatural nature of the phenomena. Most ufologists adhere exclusively to the version that aliens from near and distant worlds come to us for visits. Some ufologists believe that UFOs are ball lightning, meteorites, birds, swamp gases and other phenomena that are completely explainable by modern science. Some experts are of the opinion that “flying saucers” are visits to us by earthlings from another time or the result of the activities of completely earthly, but parallel civilizations to us. There is an opinion that UFOs are living objects.
Places of the most frequent encounters with UFOs
UFOs are found in different places on Earth, but there are several areas - “windows” where their appearances are recorded most often. Typically, “windows” are found in sparsely populated areas of the Earth, for example, in the desert regions of the USA and Australia, in the mountainous regions of France and the UK, in Brazil and Argentina.
Ufology news includes numerous evidence of UFO sightings. Their existence is not denied, and most of the controversy surrounding UFOs is about their alien origin.
Note: Statistics are kept in Beta testing mode. Data on UFO sighting activity is updated every hour. If there is no data on the chart, then this is due to the beginning of a new month, but for the current day, data is displayed on the chart. The X axis indicates the date of the current (green) and last (blue) month, the Y axis indicates the activity of UFO sightings (not the number of sightings).
Pulsating object in the night sky over the Black Sea
The Black Sea and especially Crimea, according to ufologists, are under the “cap” of aliens. There are supposedly a lot of underground and even underwater alien bases here, for example, UFOs flying out from under the Bear Mountain of Big Yalta in Crimea are a fairly common occurrence.
Several huge objects spotted near the Sun
To approach the Sun almost closely, or even fly (fly out) into this infinitely hot mass is beyond our understanding. How is this possible? However, UFOs near our Sun, of enormous size, appear periodically.
The British filmed a cylindrical UFO
Cigar-shaped or cylindrical UFOs, along with “flying saucers,” are the most common vehicles attributed to aliens. Although there is such an opinion: these are secret aircraft of the world government, created at US military bases.
Incredible object spotted in the sky over the Canadian city of Kelowna
On December 16, a resident of the Canadian province Theresa R. captured a strange UFO in the sky over the city of Kelowna on her smartphone. Having provided this material to the ufological community, the woman wrote that she was completely perplexed - what is this?
Mysterious objects and phenomena in near-Earth space have always been observed. Without knowing their nature and reasons for their occurrence, man explained them based on his experience and knowledge. In prehistoric times, in the era ancient world and in the Middle Ages, celestial objects and phenomena were generally associated with the divine nature.
The development of science and technology has introduced new ones into existing interpretations. So, in the 19th century. some celestial objects were associated with the appearance of hot air balloons, a little later - with airships, then - with airplanes.
Petrozavodsk phenomenon. Artist's drawing
The dissemination of information about mysterious celestial objects and phenomena was facilitated by the invention and development of telecommunications and the development of the media.
By the middle of the 20th century. A significant part of the Earth's population living in developed countries started talking about celestial objects and phenomena. On the one hand, this is due to the rapid and successful development of aviation and rocket and space technology, as well as the exploration first of the stratosphere, and then of near-Earth space (geocosmos). On the other hand, the high awareness of large groups of the population as a result of improved telecommunications and the media has had an impact.
Rare celestial phenomena began to be called unidentified flying objects (UFOs, or UFOs in English).
Soon the UFO topic became one of the most resonant. Numerous amateurs (a class of ufologists), several military groups in a number of countries, and individual scientists began to study it.
The number of ufologists has multiplied, but the same cannot be said about the results they obtained.
The military came to the conclusion that UFOs did not pose a threat to the security of their countries, and actually stopped researching these objects. However, the possibility cannot be ruled out that the military in a number of countries continues research, classifying their results.
But scientists dealt with the problem sporadically, with little effort and not very effectively. Why did it happen? To answer this question, you need to understand whether there is a subject of discussion at all?
...We want not only to know how nature works (and how natural phenomena occur), but also, if possible, to achieve a chain, perhaps utopian and daring in appearance, - to find out why nature is this way and not another... This is where scientists find their greatest satisfaction. And Einstein.
Principles of the scientific paradigm. The scientific paradigm is based on several well-known principles. Let's list them briefly.
1. Availability of the subject of research.
2. Availability of adequate methods for studying an object or phenomenon.
3. Materiality of manifestations of an object or phenomenon.
4. Reproducibility and repeatability of results.
5. Correspondence (at least partial) of effects and processes to known laws of nature.
Let's look at how these principles relate to the UFO phenomenon.
Subject of study. It is estimated that the total number of UFO sightings around the globe over the past 50 years exceeds 2 million. Experts know that only about 10% of those who observe an event report it to others. Therefore, we can assume that the number of observations actually exceeds 20 million.
Such a number of cases of observation in different parts globe, different persons having different life experience and education can hardly be explained by suggestion, hallucination or hoax. It looks like there is a subject for research.
Research methods. The main method for studying the NGO phenomenon is visual observation, sometimes accompanied by recording on photographic film or magnetic tape. Radar observations are used less frequently, and even less frequently, the study of failures and violations of operating conditions of technical products. The use of special instruments and devices for identifying UFOs should be considered completely exotic.
Thus, the research methods, although with a number of reservations, can be considered adequate. Of course, to study new phenomena, new methods for studying them must also be developed.
Materiality of the phenomenon and its manifestations. UFOs are observed not only visually, but also on radar screens; they can often be photographed or recorded with a video camera. As already mentioned, in a number of cases the presence of UFOs was associated with failures (changes in operating modes) of technical equipment.
This means that the recorded manifestations of UFOs are material.
Reproducibility. Repeatability. It was noted above that over the past 50 years the UFO phenomenon could be observed more than 20 million times. If we take into account the uneven distribution of the population on the earth's land, the area of inhabited territories, and the unevenness of observations by time of day, then the number of manifestations of the phenomenon may be 1-2 orders of magnitude greater, i.e., approach 0.2-2 billion cases. Average expected frequency of manifestations The UFO phenomenon can exceed the value of 0.1*1 event per second.
Enviable repeatability. But this is only so at first glance. This array of observations is not homogeneous. The phenomenon can be explained by dozens of known sources and causes (see below). Even manifestations of a phenomenon caused by the same source can differ significantly depending on the conditions of observation. Some phenomena occur very rarely (on the scale of human life). For example, an object with the energy (mass) of the Tunguska body falling to Earth is expected with an average frequency of one event every 100-200 years. The heterogeneity of the array is not limited to these reasons.
However, with certain reservations, one can agree with the assumption that for some classes of the phenomenon under discussion, repeatability exists.
Compliance with the laws of nature. When explaining natural phenomena, the researcher must rely on existing laws. If it is not possible to interpret all manifestations of a phenomenon based on these laws, a hypothesis is put forward that can explain the mentioned manifestations.
The hypothesis should allow the interpretation of the maximum number of details of the manifestation of the phenomenon. Observation conditions, if possible, are chosen as follows. so that the testability of the formulated hypothesis is comprehensive.
If the hypothesis has been confirmed, researchers try to expand its scope of application and strive to predict and test new phenomena or their manifestations. After establishing the limits of applicability, the hypothesis acquires the right to exist and becomes a theory or its element.
Looking ahead, we can say that experts can explain most of the manifestations of the UFO phenomenon by known reasons. To interpret the remaining small part of the events, about 50 hypotheses have been put forward, of which only 5-10 can be considered scientific.
WHO AND HOW STUDIES THE UFO PHENOMENON?
There are two ways to glide through life without thinking: either to believe in everything, or to doubt everything, both of which free you from the need to think, A Poincaré.
UFOs are being “studyed” by a whole army of amateur ufologists. As a rule, they “know” the nature of UFOs. More often. UFOs are ships (probes) of extraterrestrial civilizations. The main method of study is visual observation of a UFO or its consequences. Favorite tool is a dowser frame or its substitute. Hobbyists also use household appliances (meters background radiation, dosimeters, radios, thermometers, etc.). cameras, film and video cameras, and even try to use statistical analysis. Unfortunately, they usually interpret various fluctuations in instrument readings as effects.
Manifestations of the UFO phenomenon were also studied by a small number of military groups. Such a group was first created in the USA about 50 years ago. It existed for about a quarter of a century.
Events in former USSR developed like this.
The military has repeatedly observed something incomprehensible, both visually and using radar. The corresponding reports went up. There they were not taken seriously. But sooner or later quantity turns into a new quality.
The last straw that overflowed the cup was the excitement around the “Petrozavodsk miracle”, which took place on September 20, 1977 (more on that later). The Scandinavian countries assessed the “miracle” in their own way: they were confident that the USSR had tested a new miracle weapon and began bombarding the USSR Foreign Ministry with notes of protest.
And the grounds for this were It was the USSR that on October 30, 1961, not far from the Scandinavian countries, on Novaya Zemlya, tested the most powerful thermonuclear bomb, the equivalent energy release of which was close to 60 megatons of conventional explosives. (According to the project, it could reach 100 megatons of explosives) It is interesting that the force of the explosion was such that the products of the explosion “broke through” the atmosphere above the epicenter of the explosion, as if raised the atmosphere above it, and then dropped it down. The resulting wave processes in the atmosphere were observed throughout the globe for more than a day. Of course, the explosion was accompanied by many other high-energy physical processes.
In October 1977, on behalf of the country's leadership, a meeting of the scientific and technical council of the Military-Industrial Complex was held in the Kremlin. General B. A. Kiyasov presided. The Council decided to include the study of anomalous phenomena in the state plan of scientific research of the USSR Ministry of Defense for 1978. Soon, a special laboratory was created at the Central Research Institute-22 of the USSR Ministry of Defense to implement the decision.
The main core of the small laboratory were lieutenants-captains-majors who held the positions of engineer or junior researcher. The head of the laboratory, it seems, was a candidate of technical sciences.
The specialists from the laboratory had certain knowledge in the field of electronics, radar, computer science and geophysics. Their role was limited to collecting information coming from military units, its preliminary analysis and developing instructions for the interaction* of military personnel with UFOs when meeting them.
The laboratory existed for more than ten years (until the collapse of the USSR). Its role in systematizing the facts was certainly positive. The range of equipment used to observe the phenomenon has expanded. At the request of the laboratory, a number of institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences created a complex of original equipment for recording UFO manifestations. The measurement results confirmed the materiality of these manifestations.
It is important that a map of the anomalous zones of the Soviet Union was compiled. The number of such zones exceeded several dozen. It is interesting that many of them ended up in the Moscow region, not so far from the Kremlin.
Was it possible to solve the UFO problem with the help of one laboratory? As time has shown, it is impossible.
So what did the scientists do? They should be divided into three groups.
The first of them, the most numerous, was practically not interested in the UFO phenomenon. Its representatives winced as they read (more often than not putting it aside) the latest “sensation” of the writing fraternity.
Another group, relatively small, solved their own problems; UFOs were like a hobby for them. In between, representatives of this group tried to express their attitude towards UFOs.
Finally, the smallest group (a few) studied the manifestations of UFOs. getting paid for it.
Even a very talented candidate of science was unable to solve the UFO problem. The main difficulty was that the UFO phenomenon has natural scientific, philosophical, psychological and social aspects.
The UFO problem is interdisciplinary. To solve it, it would be necessary to create an academic institute, inviting there major scientists, specialists in the field of solar-terrestrial physics, geocosmic physics, geophysics, mathematics, computer science, electronics, medicine, psychology, sociology, etc.
The institute must work in cooperation with other research, scientific and industrial organizations, have solid and stable funding, and first-class equipment.
The institute should be headed by a personality akin to IV. Kurchatov or SP Korolev, with the same powers as the creators of nuclear or missile weapons.
Will the government of at least one of the developed countries of the world agree to this? Hardly. To do this, the government needs to promise something like nuclear bomb or the launch vehicle of this bomb, and the return of scientists should be immediate and promising.
We must not forget that ordinary people and not very conscientious journalists greatly “tarnished” the reputation of the phenomenon under discussion and developed a negative attitude towards it, including among government representatives.
In the meantime, the UFO phenomenon remains the stepchild of science.
It is appropriate to note that until the end of the 20s. of the last century, for example, rocket science was a stepdaughter. Serious physicists did not want (they did not see the point) to deal with complex physical and technical problems, without solving which the creation of a ballistic, and even more so a space rocket, was impossible.
Significant forces and resources were mobilized by a number of states (primarily the USA and the USSR) only after Germany created and used a combat missile.
In the same way, at first there was no rush to develop a uranium bomb. Until the enemy pushed for this.
EXAMPLES OF MANIFESTATIONS OF THE UFO PHENOMENON
The stars are clear, the stars are high! What do you keep inside yourself, what do you hide? S. Yesenin
It was noted above that the UFO problem has been attracting Special attention the general public, including amateurs, military personnel and individual scientists.
The term itself is about the same age. The name UFO is unfortunate. Usually we are talking about anomalous aerodynamic phenomena (AAPP). Moreover, these phenomena most often find an explanation and become normal. Therefore, it would be more accurate to talk about rare or exotic, rather than anomalous, phenomena.
The term exotic aerospace phenomena (EAP) seems convenient. Of course, this term may also have disadvantages. Therefore, the work mainly uses the traditional name - UFO.
The modern history of UFOs began on June 24, 1947, when the American K. Arnold." noticed nine strange objects, one of them resembled a crescent moon with a small dome in the middle, the other eight were flat disks glistening in the sun’s rays.” He “estimated” (I wonder how?) the speed of the objects - about 2700 km/h. Arnold claimed that they moved "like a saucer thrown on the surface of water." No traces of “saucers” could be found later, but the words “saucers” (journalists transformed them into “plates”) firmly entered the vocabulary of authors writing about UFOs.
It is curious that such objects in Ancient Egypt were called “luminous circles”, and in Ancient Rome- “flying shields”.
In subsequent years, the number of UFO sightings and the number of publications about them increased rapidly. Let's look at a number of examples.
1. “Petrozavodsk phenomenon” (Izvestia newspaper, September 23, 1977).
“...On September 20, at about four o’clock in the morning, a huge “star” suddenly flashed in the dark sky, impulsively sending sheaves of light to the earth. This “star” slowly moved towards Petrozavodsk and... spread out over him in the form of a huge “jellyfish”, it hung, showering the city with many thin ray jets that gave the impression of torrential rain. After some time, the radiation glow stopped... The whole phenomenon... lasted 10-12 minutes.”
How did experts explain this phenomenon?
Official authorities and media. Concerned about what had happened, they did not know who to turn to. It seemed to them that the director of the Petrozavodsk hydrometeorological station, Yu Gromov, should know everything about the “sky” due to his duty. He said that “the workers of the Karelia meteorological service have not observed any analogues in nature. What caused this phenomenon, what its nature is, remains a mystery, because no sharp deviations in the atmosphere... were registered... We also know that no technical experiments were carried out in our area at that time... Classify this as a mirage it’s also impossible, because this unusual phenomenon there are many eyewitnesses whose testimonies are identical..."
For now, let us note that the director did not know about all the technical experiments - and could not know, since most of them were strictly secret. Director of the Main Astronomical Observatory V.A. Krat suggested that the observed phenomenon was caused by the passage of a meteor.
The picture shows the Petrozavodsk phenomenon as imagined by the artist.
Hypotheses were put forward of a “breakthrough of stratospheric ozone into the upper layers of the troposphere”, an “electric discharge” of a specific form, etc. But all of them were far from the truth.
2. Global celestial UFO armada. On the night of June 14-15, 1980, a luminous “airship” was observed over the European part of the USSR. One eyewitness wrote: “The NGO was exceptionally similar to that one. which floated over Petrozavodsk on the night of September 20, 1977, although this one turned out to be much larger... It was a truly terrible sight, I immediately realized that the reddish semicircle must be extraterrestrial spaceship, since I studied NGOs for many years...” Please note that the author of this letter is a civil engineer. So he studied UFOs from newspaper reports. The price of such messages is well known.
A UFO was also observed that night in Saratov region“...At 23 hours 50 minutes Moscow time... from the north-west. A comet appeared about 3 above the horizon. The diameter of the comet's head was approximately T. After approximately three minutes, the comet's head split in two - the main part turned to the northeast and, flying at a satellite speed of approximately 60-. disappeared over the horizon. The rest of the comet was bright, but wider...”
An observer from Moscow described the following: “...at exactly 23:55, from the window of an apartment facing north, I saw a bright glow appear in the night sky. Exactly in the north, at a height of 2-3" above the horizon, a luminous and swirling stream of a silvery-yellowish color was visible. At the head of this stream, a bright ball of a bluish tint was visible, entangled in a light stream of silvery glow. The ball moved to the southeast, gradually rising above the horizon " Behind it was a smoky, brightly glowing trail that gradually swelled, keeping pace with the ball. " The effect lasted about 5 minutes.
Photos from optical effects arising after spacecraft launches. The observer believed that it was a UFO taking off from Earth into the stratosphere (altitude no more than 12-15 km). On the same day, an hour later, UFOs raided a number of countries in South America.
3. Altai duet. S. Smolin from Altai observed the following on August 14, 1983: “At 23:54 (local time - author’s note) I saw two large stars flying from northwest to southeast at the speed of a passenger plane. They maintained an interval of 3/4 of the diameter of the Moon between themselves. Most likely, these were the side lights of some object... Above me, both lights slowed down and... stopped... and then went out..."
4. Mysterious fireworks over Europe. This happened on December 2, 1983. The author of this article was returning from work at about 21:45 Moscow time and walking along the long alley of the park. Something caught my attention. Raising my head, I saw that more than 20 brightly glowing objects of all colors (but mainly hot tones) were falling on me directly from above. The angular size of the swarm was 2-3 degrees.
In the first moments, I thought that a nuclear missile war had begun (in those years - the years of the Cold War - this was possible) and multiple warheads were falling on the city of Kharkov. (The author knew how many and what kind of American missiles were aimed at him hometown, approximately how many warheads and what power these missiles should carry).
Why are there so many warheads and why do they glow so brightly? "My experience and knowledge suggested that this should not happen. After a few seconds, I realized that these objects were silently moving in parallel courses from west to east. They flew from the zenith to the horizon in about 1-2 minutes. Each object was accompanied by a whitish tail.
As a physicist, I needed to explain this phenomenon. I found an explanation the next day, when I learned that a similar picture was observed over Poland and Donbass, the cities of Kiev and Rostov-on-Don at approximately the same time (the difference was several minutes). This made it possible to calculate the height and speed of objects. After that everything became clear.
This is what other residents of Ukraine observed.
The pilots saw “a huge plane moving silently below the clouds... It had eight engines, low speed (up to 1000 km/h) and an altitude of up to 10 km. All the portholes were shining brightly...”
A village grandmother saw “a monster that was first on fire and then sat down in her neighbor’s garden.”
It is curious that the driver mistook the swarm of objects for “the interior of a bus with brightly glowing windows.”
In a word, everyone saw it. what I wanted to see... That's how man is made. What he does is the first thing that comes to mind. Profession and life experience leave a serious imprint on the way and style of thinking, on the method of analyzing observed facts.
5. Mysterious evening balls. An amateur astronomer from Tolyatti reported: “On August 17, 1988 ... I saw three bright circles on the southern side of the sky, each slightly larger than the lunar disk. It was 22:15 local time (or 21:15 Moscow time - author's note).. Through a telescope with a 32x eyepiece, it was clear that they were a blue haze, which began to expand and gradually fade away. At the same time, all three spots slowly moved to the east, gradually merged into one cloud and went out. All this happened in 3-8 minutes.” It is important that the balls were observed at a height of 15-20° above the horizon.
This is what was observed that same evening in the area of Novorossiysk. In the northeastern side of the sky at an angle of S-15: above the horizon “on August 17, between 21.10 and 21.30 (Moscow time), four balls appeared in the sky... Each resembled the Moon on a full moon... Reddish-yellow disks formed a quadrangle. Some balls changed color to greenish-blue, others remained the same until they disappeared.”
The media again turned to meteorologists for clarification. The head of the hydrometeorological bureau suggested that this was a mirage; the phenomenon was not similar to those known to her (rainbow, false Suns, crowns and others). And she was not mistaken about the latter.
In the Rostov region, this phenomenon was also observed after 21:00: “...in the eastern outskirts of the sky, quite high, a hot-colored point flashed, instantly grew, as if in the explosion of a flare, to the shape of a regular ball, becoming the size of the full Moon. The color turned to an ominous red, and then a second dot appeared just below. While the first ball changed color to turquoise, then blue, the newly formed dot increased in size. Its final size is the size of a soccer ball... Meanwhile, obliquely, but lower, a third point flared up, grew, changed colors with the same sequence... All this merged into one cloud. The color turned from blue to whitish, and this cloud floated to the south. All this lasted about fifteen minutes.”
The author also observed the described spectacle. And not by chance, but in accordance with his plans scientific work, set, as they said then, by the decision-making bodies of the Soviet Union. For this, more than ten special equipment complexes were used. The picture was colorful and fascinating. Even more interesting and informative was the “radiophysical picture” of the phenomenon recorded by the mentioned complexes.
The phenomenon was also observed by many residents of the eastern part of Kharkov. The next day, numerous calls came from them like an avalanche. The author of the article had to make do with jokes. The true sources of these "UFOs", well known to the author, could not be named for reasons that are stated below.
It is curious that Academician L. and Professor R. became unwitting witnesses to these events. They were fishing in different places on the Volga. Both are physicists, but that night they failed to unravel the celestial phenomenon. One of them suggested that it was ball lightning. How far this hypothesis was from the truth.
INTERPRETATION OF MANIFESTATIONS OF THE UFO PHENOMENON
... Along with the forces of nature, social forces also come into play - forces that confront man as just as alien and as inexplicable to him as the forces of nature... Engels
Now we will give scientific explanations of the AAKYA topics described above.
1. “Petrozavodsk phenomenon.” The first and correct, but far from complete interpretation of the phenomenon was given by a specialist from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) D. Oberg. He knew that on September 20, 1977 in the USSR at 4:01 a.m. (Moscow time) from the Plesetsk cosmodrome (Arkhangelsk region) the Kosmos-955 satellite was launched with an almost circular orbit (altitude 630-660 km) and inclination orbit about 81° (meaning that the launch direction was almost identical to the north direction).
The Plesetsk cosmodrome is located far in the north (63rd latitude). In summer (but not autumn) the Sun does not set below the horizon here. The rocket's trajectory was constantly illuminated by the Sun. Therefore, the observed effects were due to the scattering of sunlight on the combustion products of the rocket engines. The point in front of the cloud was the flare of the rocket. (A torch is a luminous plasma formed by the combustion products of a rocket).
This interpretation is one-sided; the observed picture was much larger and more colorful. How to explain this “miracle”?
The thing is. that the Petrozavodsk phenomenon was prepared by natural processes. Thus, on September 16, 1977, solar flares that were unique in their intensity were recorded. They "ruined" space weather.
Disturbances from the Sun of a certain nature can reach the Earth even after several days. They change geocosmic weather, i.e. the state of the magnetosphere, ionosphere and atmosphere. Against the background of these changes, the Petrozavodsk phenomenon was observed.
This is why not every rocket launch from the Plesetsk cosmodrome results in the phenomena that took place on September 20, 1977. This, if you like, is the main clue to the phenomenon.
It is also important that the high-latitude atmosphere and geocosm differ significantly from the mid-latitude ones. At high latitudes, various physical phenomena and variations space weather(auroras, magnetic storms and so on.).
Let us also add that there would have been much fewer mysteries in the “Petrozavodsk Phenomenon” (by the way, the distance Petrozavodsk - Plesetsk is 330 km) if at that time the general public knew that there was a secret military rocket launcher in Plesetsk. The latter was specially disguised. At one time, for example, in order to hide the highway approaching it, it was painted in Blue colour. According to the plan of military counterintelligence, this should have been observed from a reconnaissance satellite like a yardarm (?).
2. Global celestial armada of UFOs. The effects over the European part of the USSR were also caused by the launch of the next satellite “Cosmos-1188”. which occurred at the Plesetsk cosmodrome at 23:50. The maximum range at which an object is still visible above the horizon is related to its height above the Earth’s surface.
For example, the distance Plesetsk - Saratov is about 1300 km. The rocket is visible in Saratov if the minimum altitude is close to 130 km. The distance Plesetsk - Moscow is 900 km, and the minimum altitude is 60 km. Since the object was already above the horizon at an angle of about 3", the minimum altitude needed to be increased by 45 km. For Moscow and Saratov, the altitude was 100 and 200 km, respectively. To rise to such a height, the rocket needed about 3-5 minutes.
How can we explain the global effect? After all, the anomaly was observed over South America approximately 1 hour after the launch of the rocket (distance about 25 thousand km). This is exactly how much time the spacecraft needs to cover the specified distance. What is the specific reason for the UFO effect? Of course, not the spacecraft itself. With an satellite altitude of about 600 km, its angular dimensions were too small. It's all about draining the remaining fuel from the third stage of the rocket. The atomized fuel caused the scattering of sunlight and the observed processes (it was evening twilight over South America at that time). The correct interpretation of the described effects was also given by D. Oberg.
3. Altai duet. What happened here at 23:54 local time or at 19:54 Moscow time? It turned out that on August 14, 1983, at 18:04, the Cosmos-1443 satellite was undocked from the Salyut-7 orbital station; at 19:50, they flew over Altai and were illuminated by the Sun. It was already night on the surface of the Earth, the distance between the spacecraft was about 5 km. which, with their height above the surface of about 300 km and a distance to the observer of 500 km, gives an angular size of 0.6". The witness observed an angular distance between the "stars" equal to 3/4 of the diameter of the Moon, or 0.4 * (the angular size of the Moon is 0 ,5°).
Thus, the estimate agrees well with the observational result. Let us add that after undocking the devices move at a relative speed of about 1 m/s.
4. Mysterious fireworks over Europe. Since the effect was observed over Kharkov approximately 2.5 minutes later than over Poland (the distance is approximately 1200 km), the speed of the object was about 8 km/s. Since the object was observed almost simultaneously over the entire Ukraine (its length is 1000 km), its height was about 100 km.
At such altitudes, falling satellites move at a speed close to 8 km.s., i.e., spacecraft that have expired and are more uncontrollable. Since at altitudes of 100 km the air density is already quite high (10 thousand times higher, than at an altitude of 300 km where satellites usually fly), the spacecraft quickly decelerates due to friction with the air, gets very hot, melts and breaks into separate fragments. Heated to a temperature of about 3000 K, the remains of the spacecraft intensively emit light of various colors, which was observed during mysterious "fireworks".
5. Mysterious evening balls. Let us assume that the author does not know the origin of these balls. We will reason as follows.
First, we determine the point where bearings intersect, i.e., observation lines, from Tolyatti (to the south) and from Novorossiysk (northeast). This point is located approximately 100 km south of Volgograd, where the first Soviet rocket launch site, Kapustin Yar, was located. In relation to the Rostov region, it is really located in the east.
Now let's determine the height of the balls. From Tolyatti they were observed at a distance of 500 km at an angle of 15-20-. and from Novorossiysk at an angle of 10-155. Then the height of the balls above the Earth is 125-170 km for Tolyatti and 130-200 km for Novorossiysk. As we can see, these estimates are in good agreement with each other.
What happened above the Kapustin Yar rocket launch site at altitudes of 125-200 km? Judging by the height of the balls, their color and the time of observation (it is twilight on Earth, and the ionosphere at the indicated altitudes is illuminated), rocket experiments were carried out in geospace with the release of substances easily ionized by sunlight, such as sodium, lithium, cesium, barium oxide, etc. Change color occurs as a result of an increase in the degree of ionization.
Indeed, at 21:08 Moscow time, barium was injected into the ionosphere at altitudes of 173, 184, 185, 169 and 154 km. So there should have been five “balls” in total. The first three of them were formed during the rise of the rocket, and the remaining two - during its fall. It is clear that at a great distance some of the “balls” merged.
Now we can name the exact geographical coordinates rocket launch site: 48:40" latitude. 46"48" e.,
Let's estimate the size of the balls. At a distance of 500 km (Rostov region - Kapustin Yar) the ball was the size of the Moon. i.e. about 0.5\ Then the diameter of the balls was 4 km. At this size, the characteristic diffusion time is several minutes for an average altitude of 150 km. which is also consistent with observations.
Experiments of the type described in those years pursued two goals - scientific and military-applied.
In the first case, plasma dynamics were studied and processes in geospace were clarified.
In the second case, possible elements of the “asymmetric response” of the Soviet Union (as USSR leader M.S. Gorbachov called the response) to American program SDI (SDI - Strategic Defense Initiative - US multi-echelon missile defense).
That is why such experiments were top secret, and therefore unknown to many, many witnesses of the “mysterious balls” in the sky. Not knowing the true distances to the object or its size, observers mistook them for UFOs.
Let us add that now the United States, having unilaterally terminated the agreement with the legal successor of the USSR - Russia, is speeding up the creation of a national missile defense system. We can expect an increase in the number of active experiments, and therefore “UFOs” over the American continent.
"Science and Technology" 2012