We often identify things that we do not fully understand with something mysterious, or even mystical. These include UFOs. In this case, there are always more questions than answers. The well-known Ukrainian ufologist Yaroslav Sochka answered some of these questions to the website 0312.ua.
You first saw a UFO at the age of 12. What did you feel then?
Probably surprise and euphoria. These feelings, in fact, formulated my further outlook.
When was the last UFO presence recorded on the territory of the Transcarpathian region?
In fact, such reports come almost monthly - someone saw something there, even took pictures, filmed. And 90%, or even more, of such messages can be attributed to "observer errors" (after all, not every observer is an expert in identifying flying objects: aircraft, helicopters, air probes, astronomical phenomena, etc.). Therefore, it is difficult to answer when exactly the "flying object" was observed over the Transcarpathian region for the last time, which cannot be identified with completely terrestrial technology. This requires special research and expertise, and this is all time and money.
Where on the territory of Transcarpathia are UFOs most often seen?
The main concentration of "unidentified flying objects" is observed in the zone of the so-called Transcarpathian lowland, where, in fact, there is a high population density.
Where and how do you look for UFO eyewitnesses?
Promotional video:
In the late 1990s, I organized the Transcarpathian UFO Club UFODOS, later it grew into an All-Ukrainian one, which united enthusiasts from different parts of the country. Actually, UFO enthusiasts in the regions were the main catalysts for collecting information about UFOs from eyewitnesses on the ground. Of course, our activities were popularized in the press and on television, in Kiev, for example, at one time there was even a hot telephone line for UFO eyewitnesses. Therefore, eyewitnesses found us, and not we found them. Now the main activity on the accumulation of information from UFO eyewitnesses takes place within the framework of the so-called public archive of UFO evidence over Ukraine (UFOBUA).
Do you know of cases of abduction of people by aliens?
We know of certain individuals who have reported "abduction" (in UFOlogy the term abduction is used) by aliens. There are such people in Transcarpathia. You should not take such stories literally - an analogy can be found in the Middle Ages (incubus and succubus). It is advisable to consider this phenomenon through the prism of transpersonal psychology - it is difficult to attribute it to physical phenomena.
How to distinguish UFOs from natural phenomena, or some technical devices?
The task of the UFO eyewitness (for him it will be a strange object with certain anomalous properties) is to describe the picture of what he saw as informatively as possible. The task of the ufologist is to find an analogy (explanation) among the already known. To identify the object, special software is used, verification against the base of technical, astronomical phenomena, etc. If an object cannot be identified, provided there is a sufficient amount of information about it, only then it is referred to the category of “unidentified flying objects”. This is a rather painstaking process and specialists should deal with it.
At what level is the development of ufology in Ukraine?
It is now impossible to speak about any level of ufology in Ukraine. One can state the absence of ufology in the country, with the exception of certain public organizations. But enthusiasm alone will not go far … not to mention the state of the economy, the political crisis and the change in priority scientific goals. Of course, this will not always be the case.
Why, in your opinion, there are so many skeptics in matters related to ufology?
Skepticism is good. And even, all ufologists are skeptics! Many people confuse ufologists with what mystical professions or religious preferences. In fact: ufologists do not trust anyone, they only strive to understand this tangle of riddles.
Which of the most common UFO myths would you like to dispel?
90% of the information about UFOs is false. Everyone writes about this, but few understand. Of the available ufological literature, only 10% can find some kind of rational grain, and this can only be done by researchers who have a certain amount of experience and research experience. Everything that reaches the public from TV screens or the press is nothing more than a "big information cesspool" and this information should not be trusted!
There is a lot of evidence about the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations. Why does official science deny them?
Let's start with the evidence, they are direct and indirect. There is no direct evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations! But this does not mean that extraterrestrial civilizations do not exist. It's just that at this stage we have no direct evidence, only indirect evidence. This is the same as the existence of, say, exoplanets. It is only now that astronomers (literally the last few years) have direct evidence of their existence, although assumptions about them can be found even in ancient myths and beliefs.
Official science does not deny UFOs! She denies the invasion of hypotheses and assumptions about UFOs, which are circulated in the press and on television. So, in the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center (UkrHMC) UFOs pass along the line of "anomalous phenomena", they are recorded like any meteorological phenomenon. Another thing is that the nature of some of them is still unknown. And, of course, specialists should be engaged in the study of such things.
Reference: Yaroslav Sochka, ufologist, researcher of anomalous phenomena, author of a series of books on ufology, software developer. Founder and head of the UFO club UFODOS (1998-2015), coordinator of the public UFO monitoring project over Ukraine UFOBUA. For his research activities in the field of ufology, he was awarded the international award "Vizhy-3000" (2011). A documentary film "UFO in Transcarpathia" ("M-Studio", 2009) was shot about him.
