Ten possible explanations for UFO sightings

Provided by Reuters, here.

The Russian ufologists who haven't washed for 16 years

According to Pravda...

Believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God

That's according to the Vatican's chief astronomer, Father Jose Gabriel Funes.

And sure, why should one form of delusion be any worse than another...

More on this here.

"Her Majesty's Government has never been approached by people from outer space"

Nothing of interest (aside from a few cases that remained "unexplained") was to be found in the UFO documents released by the government in Britain today. Expect screams of a continued "cover-up" from the tinfoil hat crowd.

Here's The Times, BBC News (by David Clarke, more BBC here, here and here), The Guardian (more here), The Daily Telegraph, Reuters, TIME, AFP, The Independent, and the Associated Press (with quotes from Clarke).

The other Roswell

Former fighter pilot Robert B. Willingham has either gone senile in his old age, or he must need some easy money real bad. How else to explain his account of how "he chased a UFO across West Texas and watched it crash along the Rio Grande River," retold in a book by two ufologists, according to this press release.

The book is called The Other Roswell (how many are there by now?).

UFO over Northern Ireland

How's this for a ridiculous fake UFO photo...

UPDATE: The photographer still insists the picture isn't a hoax. If that's true, then it was probably a balloon or a blimp or something similar. Unless you ask "Ireland's leading ufologist," Betty Meyler, who thinks that the River Foyle could be a "portal" for alien spacecraft.

The baffling Luton Hoo UFO mystery

Just Chinese lanterns...

Does the Bible explain UFOs and alien abductions?

No. But someone called Terry James (who is the editor of the "#1 Biblical prophecy website on the Internet") has written a book in which he explains that the aliens who are abducting people are really fallen angels: "One of the evil objectives of the sexual union of fallen angels and women as we move toward the end-times, could be to create a non-human society on earth which would be impossible to be redeemed by Christ during the tribulation described in the book of Revelation."

I'm guessing that's a bad thing.

"Have I gone mental?"

Robbie Williams donned a beard (which he has since shaved off) and continued his mad journey into cuckoo-land:

The pop star has developed an obsession with aliens.

He is so fascinated that he recently jetted to a UFO convention in Nevada to pursue his hobby.

...

Robbie tells of his belief that UFOs are “there all the time” but only show themselves on Earth when they make mistakes and their “protective shields” come off.

Oh, dear... But maybe there's still some hope for the guy:

Robbie admits the psychics he has dabbled with in the past have left him bitterly disappointed.

He explains: “Every time I put my foot in the water as regards this kind of stuff, or paranormal stuff, I meet charlatans.

“You come across people that make you go, ‘Oh no, you’re supposed to be the expert but you’re obviously mental’. And none of it is true. This might happen with UFOs, too — then I might be able to get on with my life.”

It will happen with UFOs. Robbie Williams seems like a smart enough guy to eventually realize that the stuff he's into right now (if he's really sincere about any of it) is just a bunch of bullshit, especially if he's actually hanging out with some of these wackos and weirdos. And instead of "looking at pictures on websites like Above Top Secret," why doesn't he go here instead?

Source

Caroline Iggulden, "Rob's fascinated by paranormal," The Sun, May 3, 2008

Man in Denver wants to create a commission for dealing with space aliens

His name is Jeff Peckman, he's 54 and lives with his parents...

"It is important because if you're driving down the highway and you saw a crash of a small spaceship and a car or a bus full of kids, you really wouldn't know what to do," Peckman said Thursday. "Do you wait for the hazardous materials experts to show up because of potential contaminants from another solar system? What do you do? People really don't know."

Source

Daniel J. Chacon, "Man pushes creation of panel to prepare city for space aliens," Rocky Mountain News, May 2, 2008

Alien base inside Canary Island volcano

Some comic relief here.

More Chinese lanterns mistaken for alien spaceships

Another great UFO mystery solved:

THEIR presence in the night sky stopped onlookers in their tracks and sent the conspiracy theorists into overdrive.

But despite their otherworldly glow, it seems the mysterious orange lights spotted above the Capital earlier this month have a rather more down-to-earth explanation.

It has now emerged that the orange orbs, which were caught on film by walkers in the Braid Hills area, were Chinese sky lanterns let off during a teenager's birthday party.

Source

Chris Marshall, "Teenager's party blamed for UFO mystery," Edinburgh Evening News, April 23, 2008

Still no aliens over Phoenix

Recently, there was another tiresome sighting of "Phoenix lights" in Arizona. Some of the reactions were predictable:

Jeff Woolwine is a UFO hunter. He believes the Phoenix lights are alien ships that are drawn to the mountains in the Valley.

Woolwine points to petroglyphs while hiking on South Mountain. He says the ancient drawings are proof that people have been seeing lights in the sky for thousands of years. He says people back then made drawings like Valley residents use their camcorders today.

"I hope we see one today," Woolwine says. He believes sightings will increase and hopes locals have their cameras ready.

Here's the real explanation:

An area man who does not wish to be identified claims that he was behind the mysterious phenomenon.

He told KTVK-TV that after the sun went down Monday night, he tied road flares to four large helium-filled balloons using fishing line. Then he released the balloons one-by-one, at one-minute intervals.

And here's Benjamin Radford.

Stephen Hawking on alien life (and ufology)

Hawking gave a lecture at George Washington University yesterday, during which he commented on the possibility of alien life: "While there may be primitive life in our region of the galaxy, there don't seem to be any advanced intelligent beings."

And he's skeptical, to say the least, about UFO reports: "Why would they only appear to cranks and weirdoes?"

More importantly, he called for a "massive investment in establishing colonies on the Moon and Mars." Let's hope that big and important people are listening.

Related posts

• Odds of intelligent life very low

"I am being targeted by aliens"

A man in Bosnia claims that his house has been hit by meteorites on no less than five occasions. And his explanation for this is simple: "I am obviously being targeted by extraterrestrials. I don't know what I have done to annoy them but there is no other explanation that makes sense. The chance of being hit by a meteorite is so small that getting hit five times has to be deliberate."

This story is obviously a bit on the unlikely side, especially since it first appeared on Ananova.

The new UFO capital of Scotland

Apparently it's Glasgow.

Crappy crop circle-making aliens practice in Arizona

A year ago, some "crop circles" appeared in a field in Chandler, Arizona, at least according to certifiable idiot Michael Polani:

He described most crop circles as having intricate geometric, language or musical significance and speculated that whoever or whatever is creating them is trying to send a message to humans on earth to take care of the environment. Worldwide, the majority occur in Great Britain and most are near sacred ancient sites. The Chandler field's "sacred site" is an irrigation canal once used by prehistoric Hohokam people, Polani said.

If the Chandler patterns appear a little crude, he had an explanation. The forces that created them, "are hoping to make it to the UK (United Kingdom) one day, but until then, they're practicing in Chandler," Polani said.

Ed Hermes, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Agriculture, said no Arizona farmers have ever reported mysterious crop circles in their fields, including the one in Chandler.

A likely explanation for what Polani saw is a common occurrence in heavily fertilized grain crops, Hermes said. When they're exposed to wind, the top-heavy engorged stalks bend and fall. The standing stalks simply hadn't reached the same growth stage, Hermes said.

Source

Edythe Jensen, "UFO buff explores Chandler 'crop circles'," The Arizona Republic, March 19, 2008

Ufology resources for the rationally minded

I have decided to create a little list of recommended resources for people who, for whatever reason, are interested in UFOs (but without having lost the ability to think rationally). So without further ado, here goes.

First, some websites and web pages:

Web resources

• The Condon Report (National Capital Area Skeptics)

• CSICOP

    • Robert A. Baker, "A Skeptic's Notebook: An Alien Taxonomy," Skeptical Briefs, June 1997

    • Tom Callen, "Faking UFO Photos for the Twenty-First Century," Skeptical Inquirer, September 2003

    • Alan Hale, "An Astronomer's Personal Statement on UFOs," Skeptical Inquirer, March/April 1997

    • David N. Keightley, "Space Travel in Bronze Age China?" Skeptical Inquirer, Winter 1978

    • Paul Kurtz, "UFO Mythology: The Escape to Oblivion," Skeptical Inquirer, July/August 1997

    • Joe Nickell, "Investigative Files: Siege of ‘Little Green Men’ - The 1955 Kelly, Kentucky, Incident," Skeptical Inquirer, November/December 2006

    • Joe Nickell, "Investigative Files: Mysterious Entities of the Pacific Northwest, Part II," Skeptical Inquirer, March/April 2007 (a fresh look at the 1947 Kenneth Arnold 'flying saucer' sighting)

    • James Oberg, "The Great East Coast UFO of August 1986," Skeptical Inquirer, Winter 1986-87

    • James Oberg, "TNT's The Secret KGB UFO Files," Council for Media Integrity, September 13, 1998

    • Yulii Platov and Boris Sokolov, "A History of State UFO Research in the USSR," Skeptical Briefs, December 2000

• David Clarke (also check out the bio)

• The Debunker's Domain, by Robert Sheaffer

• Flying Saucery

• Ian Ridpath's UFO skeptic pages

• James Oberg

• The Klass Files, by Philip J. Klass

• "The 'Rods' Hoax: Coming to a TV Station Near You," by Bob DuHamel

• The Skeptic's Dictionary, by Robert T. Carroll

• UFO Symposium 1968: Statement by Carl Sagan (National Capital Area Skeptics)

There is also a website called UFO Skeptic, which, unfortunately, is maintained by a person who is anything but a skeptic. It is always sad when names are hijacked in this way, and used for a dishonest and misleading purpose.

Next, here are some books intended to provide a general overview, mostly from a skeptical point of view:

Books

• David Clarke and Andy Roberts, Flying Saucerers: A Social History of UFOlogy, 2007

• Jason Colavito, The Cult of Alien Gods: H.P. Lovecraft And Extraterrestial Pop Culture, 2005 (an audio file containing a lecture by Dr. Justin Woodman on H.P. Lovecraft's influence on contemporary ufology can be downloaded here)

• William Dudley (ed.), Ufos (At Issue Series), 1999

• Kendrick Frazier, Barry Karr and Joe Nickell (eds.), The Ufo Invasion: The Roswell Incident, Alien Abductions, and Government Coverups, 1997

• Philip J. Klass, Bringing Ufos Down to Earth (Young Readers), 1997

• Philip J. Klass, The Crashed Saucer Cover-Up, 1993

• Philip J. Klass, UFO's Explained, 1974

• Philip J. Klass, UFO's Identified, 1968

• Philip J. Klass, Ufos: The Public Deceived, 1986

• James W. Moseley and Karl T. Pflock, Shockingly Close to the Truth: Confessions of a Grave-Robbing Ufologist, 2002

• James Oberg, Ufo's and Outer Space Mysteries: A Sympathetic Skeptic's Report, 1982

• Curtis Peebles, Watch the Skies!, 1995

• Carl Sagan and Thornton Page, UFO's: A Scientific Debate, ?

• Robert Sheaffer, Ufo Sightings: The Evidence, 1999

The rest of this post will be devoted to specific subjects:

Alien abductions

• Susan Blackmore, "Abduction by Aliens or Sleep Paralysis?" Skeptical Inquirer, May/June 1998

• Robert T. Carroll, The Skeptic's Dictionary

• Jeffrey B. King, "A Bridge Too Far," Skeptical Inquirer, March/April 1997

• Philip J. Klass, Ufo Abductions: A Dangerous Game, 1989

• Martin Kottmeyer, "The Eyes that Spoke," Skeptical Briefs, September 1994

• Joe Nickell - Aliens and Abductions, Point of Inquiry, February 17, 2006

• Joe Nickell, "Investigative Files: A Study of Fantasy Proneness in the Thirteen Cases of Alleged Encounters in John Mack's Abduction," Skeptical Inquirer, May/June 1996

• NOVA Online: Kidnapped by UFOs? Interview with Carl Sagan

• Robert Sheaffer, "Over the Hill on UFO Abductions," Skeptical Inquirer, November/December 2007

• John C. Snider, "The Joe Nickell Files: UFOs and Alien Abductions," SciFiDimensions.com, October 2003

Alien autopsy

• Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction? (The Truly Dangerous Company)

• C. Eugene Emery, Jr., "'Alien Autopsy' Show-and-Tell: Long on Tell, Short on Show," Skeptical Inquirer, November/December 1995

• Joe Nickell, "Investigative Files: 'Alien Autopsy' Hoax," Skeptical Inquirer, November/December 1995

• Joe Nickell, "Investigative Files: Postmortem on 'Alien Autopsy'," Skeptical Briefs, June 2006

• Joe Nickell, "The Story Behind the 'Alien Autopsy' Hoax," LiveScience, May 7, 2006

Area 51

• Robert T. Carroll, The Skeptic's Dictionary

The Aztec UFO hoax

• Robert T. Carroll, The Skeptic's Dictionary

Face on Mars

• Martin Gardner, "The Great Stone Face and Other Nonmysteries," Skeptical Inquirer, Fall 1985

Flatwoods

• Joe Nickell, "Investigative Files: The Flatwoods UFO Monster," Skeptical Inquirer, November/December 2000

Gulf Breeze

• Craig R. Myers, War of the Words, 2006

• Robert Sheaffer, "A Model UFO Debunking," Skeptical Inquirer, September/October 2007

Majestic-12

• Philip J. Klass, "The New Bogus Majestic-12 Documents," Skeptical Inquirer, May/June 2000

Men in Black

• John C. Sherwood, "Gray Barker: My Friend, the Myth-Maker," Skeptical Inquirer, May/June 1998

The Phoenix Lights

• Phil Plait, "Why I don’t “believe” in UFOs: the Phoenix Lights," March 6, 2007

Rendlesham

• BBC Inside Out, "Rendlesham - UFO Hoax," June 30, 2003

• Ian Ridpath

Roswell

• Robert T. Carroll, The Skeptic's Dictionary

• Bernard D. Gildenberg and David E. Thomas, "Case Closed: Reflections on the 1997 Air Force Roswell Report," Skeptical Inquirer, May/June 1998

• B. D. Gildenberg, "The Cold War's Classified Skyhook Program: A Participant's Revelations," Skeptical Inquirer, May 2004

• Philip J. Klass, The Real Roswell Crashed-Saucer Coverup, 1997

• Kal K. Korff, The Roswell UFO Crash: What They Don't Want You to Know, 2000

• Joe Nickell, "Investigative Files: The Roswell Legacy," Skeptical Briefs, June 1997

• Karl T. Pflock, Roswell: Inconvenient Facts and the Will to Believe, 2001

• Benson Saler, Charles A. Ziegler and Charles B. Moore, UFO Crash at Roswell: The Genesis of a Modern Myth, 1997

• David E. Thomas, "Demolishing the Roswell `Alien' Myth," Skeptical Inquirer, May/June 1998

• Dave Thomas, "The Roswell Incident and Project Mogul," Skeptical Inquirer, July/August 1995

The Tunguska incident

• James Oberg, "Tunguska Echoes," 1982

More resources will be added to this post as I come across them in the future.

Robbie Williams, the ufologist

The UFO "mystery" is about to be solved, now that Robbie Williams is considering getting involved:

Interviewed by soul singer Joss Stone, Williams said:

"Seriously, I want to go out and investigate these things. I'm stopping being a pop star and becoming a full-time ufologist. We could be like (The X-Files FBI agents) Mulder and Scully in real life. You're always mega-busy but I've got nothing on at the minute."

He's also seen UFO's on at least three occasions.

I'm no expert on the music business, but this might not be the best way to restart his fizzling career.

UPDATE: Now he's apparently planning on buying an observatory for $5 million.

Aliens landing in Enfield

Enfield is the most northern part of Greater London, and, apparently, the place of choice to land for the alien (= a reflection of something, or one of the most laughable hoaxes ever) witnessed by Paul Pleasance:

He said: "Nobody else saw it. I think it was a real alien. It was weird because it was in the shadow, coming in between the houses.

"I showed my family. My niece, who is nine, enjoyed it and said she was happy there are aliens in my street."

The saddest thing about this story is how it was reported, here.