Another UFO sighting with two very valid arguments is the Kenneth Arnold sighting of 1947. Kenneth Arnold was
a normal businessman in Idaho. As an upstanding and reputable citizen and an expert on flying, Arnold was believed when he said that he witnessed a ship zoom back and forth at approximately 1,200 miles per hour. (UFOs? 8)
His story did have discrepancies though. For instance, the description he gave of the flying objects changed from them being Aflat like a pie pan@ to Acrescent-shaped, with swept-back wings@ (Menzel 5). Some researchers do believe that Arnold was not lying. These researchers claim that the flying crafts he witnessed were merely mirages of the nearby Cascade Mountains, and that the sighting was just a case of mistaken identity.
This >mirage theory= has become more accepted in recent years. Mirages are caused by abnormal reflections which makes real objects appear to be floating in the sky. The similarities in UFO reports can be explained with this concept of mirages. For the most part, mountain ranges are of a consistent shape, stars/planets are of a consistent shape,…, etc. When these objects of alike shapes are reflected into the sky, they will yield sightings which describe >flying crafts= of a couple similar shapes. This constant pattern of sizes and shapes fuels a UFO advocate=s argument. These believers claim that the consistency in UFO reports proves that alien crafts do exist, but many scientists and researchers are now identifying many of these sightings as mistaken identity due to mirages. Also, this well-known configuration of UFOs results in thousands of hoaxes which are made to mimic the authentic appearance of an alien spacecraft.
During the middle of the twentieth century UFO sightings greatly increased. Most sightings were evaluated by both UFO advocates and UFO skeptics. The skeptics have attempted to discredit all of the alleged sightings. One which they could not invalidate was the Trent Photos from 1950. To this day they remain officially unexplained, or in laymen terms, authentic photographs of a UFO. The photos were analyzed by a government-run research program entitled The Condon Report. Their conclusion was that Athe simplest, most direct interpretation of the photographs confirms precisely what the witness said she saw,@ a UFO (Life 138). The Trent Photos were also proved authentic with very high-tech photo analyzers by William Spaulding, an independent researcher. This single case greatly damages the skeptics= argument, but still fails to prove without a doubt that UFOs do indeed exist.
Many people believe that UFO existence has already been proven. These UFO supporters argue that the Trent Photos are just additional evidence to be piled onto the high stack of government documents which confirm that alien spacecrafts have indeed entered our air space. For the UFO advocates in our world, words like conspiracy and cover-up are well-known. Almost all believers claim that governments are hiding information from us. Is this constant denial of UFO existence because our government wants to ensure national safety and prevent potential mass hysteria, or is it because they have genuinely surmised that aliens do not exist? Many ex-military and CIA personnel claim to have seen alien crafts, alien implants and alien beings. Are their claims sincere, or merely a hoax.
What about the Fireman=s handbook, and visual/radar affirmation of UFOs by the military? In the Fireman=s handbook there are A14 pages dedicated to how to control a disaster when a flying saucer crashes, and Chapter 13 is entitled >Enemy Attack and UFO Potential=@ (DeBow 1). Why would a fireman undergo training for a >crash= or >attack= of something that does not exist? Also, in July of 1952,
a formation of seven >blips= entered the restricted airspace over the White House. One week later the >blips= again appeared, prompting the Air Force to vector two F-94s toward the objects. In a CIA memo dated July 28, 1952, to the Deputy Director/ Intelligence from the Acting Assistant Director of Scientific Intelligence stated: >In the past several weeks numerous UFOs have been sighted visually and on Radar.= (Investigate 1)
The government ended their investigation of these sightings after Ataking the position that they were nothing more than radar mirages caused by temperature inversions@ (Investigate 2). The government, even after indisputable visual confirmation, stated that there were no objects in the sky, but that they were only mirages on a radar. Is this a case of mistaken identity, or is it another footprint in the government=s massive cover-up?
Skeptics denounce this cover-up theory. Numerous skeptics believe that people who report UFOs are either fantasy prone, psychopathological, hypnotizable or less intelligent than normal and should not be taken seriously. Studies have shown that this viewpoint is not accurate. It is true that Astories are sometimes generated by uneducated people, but >uneducated= doesn=t imply >unintelligent=@ (Hynek 9). Reports from police officers, military personnel, pilots,…, etc are no more reliable than those from anyone else. Furthermore, most people who report UFOs have no interest in the subject and are not professional observers. A claim as incredible as seeing a UFO requires more than eyewitnesses to be believed. There needs to be hard evidence which declares, without a doubt, that what was seen was indeed a UFO.
In order to understand the present and Ato predict the future, we must understand the past. The study of the history of Ufology (the study of UFOs) is as important as the history of any other subject if one is to grasp it.@ (Bray 37) There are many people that believe UFOs exist, but there are just as many people that dispute the existence of alien beings. Skeptics argue that there is no material evidence of UFOs and aliens. Adversely, UFO advocates argue that no logical explanation has ever been found for many alleged sightings. Unfortunately for these UFO buffs, UFO existence is not proved just because a logical explanation cannot be attained. Likewise though, their existence cannot be disproved just because it can not be proved. A claim does not become authoritative only because the contrary cannot be confirmed. This paper examines just a few of the grounds on which both sides argue. The question is, which side is right? Both points of view have valid claims, yet both are convincingly persuasive. If only >we the people= could trust our governments= stand on the issue. After all, if UFOs do not exist, why all the secrecy? Again we ask ourselves, what and who, are we to believe?
Bibliography
AAmateur Science Solves the UFO Mystery@. 18 pages. Online. Internet. April 4, 1998.
Boyer, Mark, and Kaethe Ellis. The American Heritage Dictionary. New York: Dell Publishing, 1983.
Bray, Arthur. The UFO Connection. Ottawa, Ontario: Jupiter Publishing, 1979.
DeBow, Mathew. A(Article Title Unknown)@. UFO Chronicles. 13 pages. Online. Internet. April 1, 1998.