The well-known term "UFO" was first used in the media in 1952. However, the mysterious phenomena observed in the atmosphere were reported much earlier. Scientists' thoughts that unidentified objects or lights in the sky are ships from other worlds first appeared after the very first wave of such observations - they were mysterious "airships". These events took place in the years 1896-97.
Perhaps it is no coincidence that this happened exactly at the time when the American astronomer Percival Lowell suggested the existence of an advanced civilization on Mars. In addition, in those days, the possibility of flying in the air of vehicles that were heavier than air was very often discussed.
Flying saucers
The modern debate about the nature of UFOs began in 1947. They were initiated by the American Kenneth Arnold. In his words, he observed a whole group of so-called "flying saucers" in the Cascade Mountains in the USA.
Explanations for this phenomenon included natural phenomena such as the observation of Venus or unusual clouds. Illusions, hoaxes, balloons, prototypes of aircraft and secret weapons were also considered. But the extraterrestrial hypothesis became the main one - the belief that at least some UFOs are extraterrestrial spaceships. This hypothesis was initially not widely accepted. But later she gained great popularity as a result of intense speculation on this topic in the media.
From the outset, systemic research into the UFO phenomenon has been a challenge. This was due to the fact that the phenomenon was unpredictable. Although there was a lot of data, they were mostly unconfirmed eyewitness reports. And they are, as everyone knows, an extremely unreliable source of information. Nevertheless, there were many experienced observers. Including the military and police. This was enough for serious organizations to start researching this phenomenon.
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Blue Book
The US military, worried about a possible threat to national security, initiated its first UFO investigation - Project Sign. This was followed by the Grudge project and finally, starting in 1952, the Blue Book project. J. Allen Hynek, project consultant, even developed his own classification system for observed UFOs.
After a series of UFO sightings in 1952, dubbed the Washington Carousel, military and CIA interest in UFOs declined sharply. The public interest was supported only by the increasingly sensational statements of amateur researchers and so-called "contactees." UFO mythology began to evolve around claims of government conspiracies and some misinterpreted sightings. Meanwhile, professional scientists continued, with a few exceptions, to distance themselves from this problem.
But still
For all the time, there have been many reports of unidentified objects and lights in the sky. The overwhelming majority of them, probably, can well be explained in terms of hoaxes or erroneous identifications of natural phenomena. Or artificial phenomena (aircraft, satellites, etc.)
But other factors cannot be excluded from this list. These are tests of advanced prototypes of military aircraft and poorly studied natural earth phenomena. For example ball lightning. However, even in this case, a certain group of messages does not receive any reasonable explanation.
Of course, it would be unscientific to deny the possibility that some UFOs are indeed alien mechanisms. After all, modern science fully admits the existence of life outside the Earth. But accepting all reports of UFO sightings for alien activity is at least presumptuous.