As is clear from the first part of the book, UFOs were observed already in the distant past, although then they were not called that. People have seen strange celestial phenomena, perhaps, since they began to look into the sky. Gradually, humanity began to understand the nature of some phenomena - comets, meteors, solar eclipses, rainbows. But each of these phenomena has long, sometimes many centuries, been attributed to a supernatural origin. And yet the slow pace of science gradually led people to explain natural phenomena. Nevertheless, even today there are unidentified celestial phenomena that remain a mystery to us. Probably, our contemporaries, no less often than in the old days, resort to the modern version of ancient superstitions, attributing fantastic origins to inexplicable events. After all, those phenomena that may well be explained by natural factors,however, until now they have not received a scientific explanation, we tend to consider it from the point of view of speculative speculation rather than fact. The question of why some riddles do not find answers - because of the special properties of human consciousness or due to the fact that miracles do happen in this world - is directly related to the mystery of flying saucers.
Some of the strange incidents observed in biblical times in the Middle East, and subsequently recorded by ancient scholars and medieval scholastics, are no more than erroneous interpretations of phenomena, the nature of which has become quite clear today. Noteworthy is the terminology with which ancient scientists described these phenomena. Sometimes eyewitness statements allow us to establish exactly what they observed: "Flaming stars with tails" slowly flying across the sky (probably comets), or "a trail of fire shining in the night" (a vivid description left by one Italian who most likely saw meteor). However, much more often eyewitness testimonies were conditioned by the ideas of their era, and people likened what they saw to everyday objects or popular mythological characters. So,the Chinese saw flaming dragons in the sky, and the Romans saw polished shields; many stories also tell of daggers and swords sweeping across the sky. However figurative such comparisons may be, they should be viewed in the light of the way of life and customs of their culture, as well as in comparison with the language of our cosmic age, whose people describe their observations no less ingeniously. Today eyewitnesses report silver cigars and black triangles or, more emotionally, glittering space liners or rockets soaring from the stars.whose people describe their observations no less ingeniously. Today eyewitnesses report silver cigars and black triangles or, more emotionally, glittering space liners or rockets soaring from the stars.whose people describe their observations no less ingeniously. Today eyewitnesses report silver cigars and black triangles or, more emotionally, glittering space liners or rockets soaring from the stars.
Over the centuries, the situation has changed little. What we see is partly reality (something that actually happened) and partly our interpretations (guessing what it might be). The nature of the messages about what he saw is influenced by both. Living witnesses to events are not cameras or tape recorders; the human factor makes its contribution, and it must be taken into account. UFO researchers are well aware that eyewitness reports cannot be taken literally. At best, they can be viewed as a clue to what actually took place in heaven.
The fact that most of the testimony is only a more or less distant approximation to the truth became apparent even at the dawn of UFO studies. When it turned out that in more than 90% of cases, something that had a completely rational explanation was mistaken for a UFO, the search began for methods to filter out unreliable evidence. This led to the development of a sophisticated methodology for analyzing UFO sightings.
Although ufologists use a number of terms interchangeably, there are fundamental differences between several basic concepts related to the field of ufology. Therefore, it makes sense to start with definitions, which will help you in the future to correctly understand the meaning of the wording used.
The fact of the appearance of a UFO is an event that took place in reality. In the descriptions of eyewitnesses, we almost never deal with the true picture, although its restoration is the ideal to which we should strive. To do this, it is necessary to accurately reproduce the true sequence of events, which makes the search for truth very difficult.
Observation is the initial raw material of the fact of the appearance of a UFO in the form in which the eyewitness perceived it. An observation is a description of what an eyewitness saw, heard, felt and felt, and is accompanied by key data such as date, time and place, which are usually more accurate than subjective impressions. Strong reasons to believe that an observation is an accurate reflection of what actually happened occurs only when there is photographic evidence. Eyewitness accounts of their observations are always more or less distorted, and the more distorted the more the more time passes from the moment of events. The reason for this is our memory, which filters and modifies our memories of the past. These distortions apply to every aspect of our life,not just UFO sightings, which is why it is so important to report your sightings as early as possible.
Next in order is the UFO report - an eyewitness account of the UFO to some other person. The nature of the report often depends on the personality of the person to whom the story is addressed. If an eyewitness talks about what he saw to his family members, he may be ashamed to mention some details and omit them, or, on the contrary, succumb to the temptation to present himself as a hero. If the addressee of the story is the boss, then the witness may decide to omit mentioning any facts that could undermine the boss's confidence in his words in order to maintain his authority. If these are representatives of the media, then the unwritten laws of the genre can dictate to the eyewitness which details should be highlighted and which ones should be obscured. And if you report what you saw to the ufologist, you may be tempted, even if unconsciously, to bring into your story something that he, in your opinion,would love to hear. In doing so, you can suppress any doubts you might have about other possible explanations for what you observed.
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When analyzing a UFO report, it is important to remember that the overwhelming majority of humanity will not see it in the form in which it was presented in writing by an eyewitness, much less hear about a UFO sighting (always a subjective impression of an eyewitness) and will not be able to see the event itself usually short-term. Instead, people will be presented with a UFO story. Unfortunately, this is the most distorted form of describing what happened. The UFO story is always presented by some kind of intermediaries, be it a UFO organization, a writer, a tabloid newspaper, a TV show or a movie. Any such source is inevitably guided by some ulterior motive. These motives can be very different: to entertain the public, to prove that the aliens really exist, to reveal the secret machinations of the government,put forward a new theory of the origin of UFOs, demonstrate to other organizations or writers that you have the most reliable materials, present some events as abductions, especially if the victims themselves do not understand what happened to them, but you think that due to the wide coverage of these events in a lot of money can be made in the press or on the movie screen. Alas, the list of such motives is very extensive, and in the modern world of profit, in which both ufologists and eyewitnesses are willing to sell their souls (and observations) to the devil who pays more, it is unlikely to ever get shorter.that a lot of money could be made thanks to the wide coverage of these events in the press or on the movie screen. Alas, the list of such motives is very extensive, and in the modern world of profit, in which both ufologists and eyewitnesses are willing to sell their souls (and observations) to the devil who pays more, it is unlikely to ever get shorter.that a lot of money could be made thanks to the widespread coverage of these events in the press or on the movie screen. Alas, the list of such motives is very extensive, and in the modern world of profit, in which both ufologists and eyewitnesses are willing to sell their souls (and observations) to the devil who pays more, it is unlikely to ever get shorter.
So, when reading the UFO story, consider all possible distortions. No one can guarantee - and therefore there is no reason to believe - that the story presented to you will contain more than a rough version of the events that actually took place. It is very risky to jump to conclusions based on just a collection of such stories. Uncovering a conspiracy of aliens in a string of similar stories, subjected to all the distortions that people tend to introduce into them, is probably a very exciting activity, but this is far from the same as proving the truth. Therefore, ufologists, although they are happy to hear about new UFO sightings, today are focusing on more specific evidence that can lead them to unravel the mystery. And although it still happens (in my opinion, too often) that ufologists are looking for evidence,Fitting well into preconceived notions (usually associated with alien conspiracies), I believe scientists should be guided by facts. This is where the question of the correct classification of UFO data arises.
From the book: “UFO. Sensational eyewitness accounts”. Randleese Jenny