Extraterrestrial hypothesis
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The Extraterrestrial hypothesis (sometimes shortened to ETH) is the hypothesis that UFO reports are best explained as creatures from other planets, occupying physical extraterrestrial spacecraft visiting Earth. This hypothesis has found very little support among mainstream scientists, some of whom argue it is pseudoscience. Nonetheless, there is also a substantial number of individuals and organizations that actively study UFO sightings and support the ETH. The ETH is vital to most versions of UFO Abduction reports.
Contents |
Overview
Jerome Clark credits physicist Edward Condon with popularizing both the term "extraterrestrial hypothesis" and its abbreviated form, "ETH", in the 1969 Condon Report. Condon defined the ETH as any "idea that some UFOs may be spacecraft sent to Earth from another civilization, or on a planet associated with a more distant star." (Clark 1998, 213) However, Condon rejected the ETH in the most emphatic terms. Although Condon may have popularized the term, he was not the first person to use it. For example, French engineer Aimè Michel used "extra-terrestrial hypothesis" in his book The Truth About Flying Saucers two years before Condon. Dr. James Harder also used the term in 1968 while testifying before a Congressional committee. Congressional testimony
After nearly six decades, the ETH remains probably the central question in ufology (and sometimes—perhaps regrettably—the only question in ufology). As Dr. Carl Sagan said in a 1969 lecture, "The idea of benign or hostile superbeings from other planets visiting the earth [is clearly] an emotional idea. There are two sorts of self-deception here: either accepting the idea of extraterrestrial visitation in the face of very meager evidence because we want it to be true; or rejecting such an idea out of hand, in the absence of sufficient evidence, because we don't want it to be true. Each of these extremes is a serious impediment to the study of UFOs." (Sagan and Page, p265)
Similarly, astrophysicist Dr. Peter A. Sturrock writes that for many years, "discussions of the UFO issue have remained narrowly polarized between advocates and adversaries of a single theory, namely the extraterrestrial hypothesis ... this fixation on the ETH has narrowed and impoverished the debate, precluding an examination of other possible theories for the phenomenon." (Sturrock, 255-256)
Most Ufologists accept this hypothesis at least as one of several proposed explanations for UFOs, although there is a smaller number of them who don't.
Arguments Against and For
Arguments Against
The most frequent argument against the ETH is that there is simply little to no evidence or data which supports such a far-reaching hypothesis. It's also argued that the vast distances between stars and planets would make interstellar travel so unlikely as to be practically impossible. Astronomer Carl Sagan offered a detailed argument against the ETH along these lines. See also Fermi Paradox.
Though at one point Dr Jacques Vallee favored the ETH, he has since rejected it and contends that a measure of censorship has taken place by proponents: "What the public learns about the [UFO] phenomena comes from that small portion of the facts that has been pre-selected by believers to promote enthusiastic support for the extraterrestrial theory."[1]
Jenny Randles and Peter Hough insist that the ETH has some critical shortcomings, writing, "many ufologists, particularly in America, doubt that there could be any other explanation. The very reason for this belief is also, perhaps, the theory's weakest link. Those in favor of an extraterrestrial explanation cite something obvious in support of their theory: the phenomenon appears to be extraterrestrial--it uses all the trappings of 'aliens' and 'spaceships' ... The problem with the belief that we are dealing with a culture and technology from another planet is that it is too like us, sometimes to the point of absurdity. 'They' mirror our expectations and our own imaginative excursions into an age where space travel is possible, just as airship pilots and their craft reflected the expectations of the turn of the last century ... Critics argue that we have anthropomorphised the (UFO) phenomenon--given it the attributes of our own culture. Genuine extraterrestrials would be so 'alien' that they would be beyond our comprehension, and not like extras from a low-budget SF film." (Randles and Hough, 285-287)
Astronomer J. Allen Hynek proclaimed that UFOs were a mystery worthy of continued study, but he eventually rejected the ETH, and at a 1983 MUFON conference, explained his reasons for doing so in detail:
- 1. "Failure of Sophisticated Surveillance Systems to Detect Incoming or Outgoing UFOs"
- 2. "Gravitational and Atmospheric Considerations" (Extraterrestrials often seemed to have no trouble existing in our Earthly environment, though in all likelihood, other planets would have very different biospheres)
- 3. "Statistical Considerations" (Far-flung planets ought not be able to dispatch the vast numbers of craft reported as UFOs)
- 4. "Elusive, Evasive and Absurd Behavior of UFOs and Their Occupants"
- 5. "Isolation of the UFO Phenomenon in Time and Space: The Cheshire Cat Effect"
- 6. "The Space Unworthiness of UFOs" (UFOs are far too small to support a crew travelling immense cosmic distances.)
- 7. "The Problem of Astronomical Differences" Hynek argued that it was impossible to travel from another planet to Earth in "any reasonable time"(Clark 1998, 212)
Hynek admitted that, in his judgement, all the arguments offer considerable problems, but only the seventh of his arguments was insurmountable.
Arguments For
On the other hand, the ETH has seen a number of supporters.
Noting that there is widespread consensus within the scientific community that extraterrestrial civilizations almost certainly exist, they argue, the ETH is possible, or at least in the realm of plausibility. The argument that the ETH is pseudoscience has not been universally accepted; as noted below, prominent astronomer Clyde Tombaugh suggested that excluding the ETH could be unscientific. Similarly, Dr. Michael D. Swords argues that the ETH can (and has) been framed in a scientific manner, and furthermore, that many common objections to the ETH are themselves often specious and/or pseudo-scientific. The ETH might even be a relatively conservative or mainstream hypothesis if one assumes that UFOs are real craft. (See Notable Quotes below for some scientists and studies who have argued along these lines.)
Given general consensus that ET civilizations exist, the key points of contention would be how common and how close such civilizations might be and how likely that they could achieve interstellar travel and currently be surveying Earth. All of these are unknown. See Drake Equation.
Supporters of the ETH further argue that it is unreasonable to apply the limits of modern Earthly technology to a civilization that may be far more advanced, perhaps by millions of years. Indeed, physicist Enrico Fermi assumed advanced alien civilizations could get here when he posited his famous paradox of "Why aren't they here?" It is also noteworthy that Carl Sagan seemed to contradict himself when he argued that interstellar travel for advanced alien civilizations was impossible, when he simultaneously argued that an advanced human civilization might achieve the same; additionally, Sagan considered paleocontact, but excluded modern-day contact from extraterrestrials. In fact NASA is currently funding research into the feasibility of interstellar travel using possible new exotic propulsion technologies. [2] Physicist Michio Kaku further argues that Earth is a young technological civilization with very limited energy resources (what Kaku calls a "Type 0" civilization), but older, more advanced civilizations would likely be able to control orders of magnitude greater energy resources needed to make interstellar travel possible.
Supporters also typically argue that critics usually lack familiarity with available UFO evidence, and that their statements against the ETH are often merely a reflection of the critics' personal biases and their ignorance on the subject. Indeed, when Peter Sturrock conducted a survey in 1977 of the American Astronomical Society, he found strong support among members for continued scientific research into UFOs and that antagonism to such research was directly correlated with ignorance of the subject matter.[3].
Another argument frequently advanced is that if UFOs are extraterrestrial, there are important national and worldwide security implications and that there is a coverup by governments of the best UFO evidence. (See also UFO conspiracy theory) Therefore, the scientific investigation of the UFO question and the ETH is different from most other scientific studies in that important information isn't freely available.
The contention that there is a widespread coverup of UFO information isn't limited to the UFO research community. E.g., a 1971 survey of Industrial Research/Development magazine found that 76% felt the government wasn't revealing all it knew about UFOs, 54% thought UFOs definitely or probably existed, and 32% thought they came from outer space.[4] See also some quotes below expressing this viewpoint, such as from Lord Hill-Norton, former British Chief of Defense Staff, former astronaut Edgar Mitchell, and the 1999 French COMETA UFO study committee.
History
In many people’s minds, the ETH is linked to the mass interest in UFO’s which began in the late 1940’s. For example, literature professor Terry Matheson writes that "sightings of unidentifiable lights the sky had been taking place for centuries, but only after Kenneth Arnold’s ‘flying saucer’ sighting on June 24, 1947, near Mt. Rainier, Washington, were they explicitly theorized to be extraterrestrial on origin." (emphasis added) (Matheson, 15)
Matheson’s may be the majority view, but it is simply inaccurate to suggest that extraterrestrials were never associated with reports of odd aerial phenomena prior to Arnold (though Arnold's sighting certainly brought far more attention to the subject).
Pre 1900's
Though not specifically linked to flying saucers or odd aerial lights, it's perhaps worth noting that there is a long history of claims of contact with non-earthly intelligences. As early as the 1700's, people like Emanuel Swedenborg were claiming to be in contact with inhabitants of other planets; Helena Blavatsky and others would later make similar claims.
Perhaps the earliest clear citation of the ETH occurred more than eighty years prior to the Arnold report. Jerome Clark writes, "So far as is known, the first mention of an extraterrestrial spacecraft was published in the 17 June 1864 issue of a French newspaper, La Pays, which ran an allegedly real but clearly fabulous account of a discovery by two American geologists of a hollow, egg-shaped structure holding the three-foot mummified body of a hairless humanoid with a trunk protruding from the middle of his forhead." (Clark 2000, p. 122)
Mystery Airships
In the late 1800’s there was a wave of mystery airship reports across the United States. Some accounts were clearly hoaxes, but other accounts--whatever the ultimate origins--were apparently made by witnesses who genuinely thought they’d seen something unusual.
In 1897, several newspapers speculated about extraterrestrial origins for these mysterious aircraft: The Washington Times speculated that the airships were "a reconnoitering party from Mars"; and the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch suggested of the airships, "these may be visitors from Mars". (Jacobs, 29) Such opinions were in the minority, however, with most suspecting that the Airships were of human manufacture.
1900s
Charles Fort
Charles Fort was another who suggested that odd aerial phenomena might have extraterrestrial origins. He wrote four popular books in the early 1900’s, collecting from newspapers and scientific journals all manner of strange reports which, Fort argued, were ignored or marginalized by mainstream science.
Fort occasionally suggested that extraterrestrials were responsible for a wide variety of events: Inexplicable artifacts, mysterious disappearances (and strange appearances), and bizarre lights reported in the sky or in the oceans. Jerome Clark writes that “Fort’s notions about otherworldly visitors are not presented in any clearly-developed fashion but are scattered through the three volumes, mostly in asides. His habitual jokiness sometimes obscured his meaning. His occasional letters to newspapers, composed in more straightforward style, indicate, however, an authentic conviction that extraterrestrial craft, artifacts, beings, and creatures have been and are present on earth.” (Clark 1998, 200)
One of Fort's letters was published in the September 5, 1926 New York Times. Fort wrote, "If it is not the respectable or conventional thing upon this earth to believe in visitors from other worlds, most of us would watch them a week and declare that they were something else, and likely make things disagreeable for anyone who though otherwise." (Clark 2000, 127)
One example from Fort's writings from his books illustrates his indirect, often humorous manner of suggesting extraterrestrial intervention on Earth. As is typical of Fort, it's unclear whether he took his own theory seriously.
In The Book of the Damned (1919) Fort notes that in 1853, whilst excavating in Ninevah, an object was discovered which Sir David Brewster insisted could be only a functional optical lens. A debate developed, with skeptics suggesting that this OOPArt was more likely a bauble or fragment of jewelry that Brewster misidentified.
Fort writes that one of Brewster's critics "argues that it is impossible to accept that optical lenses had ever been made by the ancients. Never occurred to him—someone a million miles or so up in the air—looking through his telescope—lens drops out." (Fort, 134)
(Of course, in the years since Brewster's assertion, it's been firmly established that lenses are known to have been made as far back as ancient Greece, it is likely that the object found was a man-made optical lens. Lenses were occasionally used in ancient times both for magnification and for starting fires by focusing sunlight.)
Lyman Spitzer
Interestingly, on June 23, 1947--the very day before Arnold's report made national news--the Hartford Courant reported on comments made the previous night (June 22, 1947) by Lyman Spitzer, Jr., an associate professor of astrophysics at Yale University. While speaking on New Haven, Connecticut's WTIC radio, Spitzer speculated that the planet Mars could have been inhabited for millions of years. He thought it possible that Martians had "visited the earth", but "unless they had spent some time in a large city or had landed sufficiently recently to have been photographed, we would have no record of their having been here". Spitzer also thought that "any few men who had seen them would probably not be believed by anyone else." (Clark 2000, 127)
Post-Arnold ETH Ideas
After Kenneth Arnold's reported UFO sighting on June 24, 1947, there were occasional speculations reported in the mass media that flying saucers were from other worlds. However, for the first few years after Arnold, such suggestions seem to have been few and far between, and were largely mentioned in passing. Arnold himself struggled to explain the sighting within the context of his knowledge, initially suspecting they were guided missiles or experimental aircraft. Arnold didn't speculate as to an extraterrestrial origin for the objects he reported until perhaps several years after the sighting, as in an interview he had with journalist Edward R. Murrow in 1950. Arnold stated, "...if it's not made by our science or our Army Air Forces, I am inclined to believe it's of an extra-terrestrial origin." interview In 1952, he had another sighting of two craft-like objects, one transparent, which he said looked like "something alive." He eventually concluded that UFOs were not spaceships but space animals, "living organisms ... in the atmosphere." (Clark 1998, 62)
Several polls might suggest that--initially--only a very small minority of the general public suspected an extraordinary explanation for the phenomena. The results of a Gallup poll (the first poll of public UFO perceptions) were announced on August 14, 1947: 33% had no opinion on the subject, 29% thought UFOs were "illusory", 15% thought they were U.S. secret weapons, 10% suspected hoaxes, 3% thought UFOs were "weather forecasting devices", while 1% thought they were of Soviet origin. The remaining 9% were classified as "other explanations"; this category included ideas that the UFOs had something to do with the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, that they were secret aircraft produced commercially, or were somehow related to atomic testing. (Clark 2000, 129-130)
However, this polling result may possibly be misleading. The subject was never far beneath the surface. Various newspaper articles and columns immediately following the Arnold sighting did raise the possibility of extraterrestrial origins, although usually in a derogatory or satirical way. "Men from Mars" was mentioned on a number of occasions, particularly in relation to Orson Wells' infamous 1938 radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds and the near-panic that it created. When the recovery of a "flying disc" near Roswell, New Mexico was announced on July 8, 1947 (see Roswell UFO incident), some newspaper articles again hinted at public panic being in the air. The event was quickly debunked as a misidentified weather balloon, which brought the following comment from the student newspaper at the University of Illinois: "That was the word that many editors had been hoping for. A solution might be more than embarrassing. It might be calamitous. What if there really were 'men from Mars!'" The Chicago Tribune similarly reported that the weather balloon identification "flashed over the wires to bring relief to a worried public."
The following day, United Press reported that, "Reports of flying saucers whizzing through the sky fell off sharply today as the Army and Navy began a concentrated campaign to stop the rumors." The Gallup poll the next month followed in the wake of this extensive official and mass media debunkery. Possibly this suppressed less conventional opinions from people for fear of ridicule or caused a change of opinion, perhaps reflected in one third of those polled expressing no opinion and 10% suspecting hoaxes. The poll might also have been skewed by the pollsters not offering the respondents the option of extraterrestrial origins in their list of choices.
However, another poll from the August, 1951 issue of Popular Mechanics printed the results of a poll of UFO witnesses. 52% believed they'd seem "manmade aircraft", while only 4% thought they'd seen "visitors from afar." (Clark 2000, 130)
Another Gallup poll from June 1950 made it very clear that the vast majority of the public was very aware of the phenomenon, even if they didn't necessarily believe it to be of non-earthly origins. The term "flying saucer" was familiar to 94% of the respondents, by far the best-known term commonly appearing in the news, easily beating out others like "universal military training" (75%), "bookie" (67%), or "cold war" (58%).
Donald Keyhoe and the ETH
As noted in the chronological list below, the bulk of the early consideration of an interplanetary answer to the UFO question came from U.S. Military sources. However, most of these studies and opinions were little known at the time they were made.
In the January, 1950 issue of True (a popular men's magazine) published an article by retired Marine Corps Major Donald E. Keyhoe. The article, "Flying Saucers Are Real", caused a sensation. Importantly, the article seems to have been the first in-depth, public dissemination of the idea that UFO's were of extraterrestrial origin.
Keyhoe would go on write several more articles and successful books about UFOs, all espousing the ETH; he became one of the most prominent and influential people in ufology. In 1956, he cofounded the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon (NICAP), and eventually became its director. Jerome Clark writes that Keyhoe's "advocacy of the extraterrestrial hypothesis ... measurably affected popular attitudes towards the UFO phenomenon." (Clark 200, 133)
Chronological List of Notable Quotes and Studies Supporting ETH
As noted above, the ETH has seen rather little public support or consideration from most mainstream experts. There are many instances, however, where it was at least considered by notable figures, and by persons in official government studies.
- By 1947, the Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit (IPU) was active in the United States. In March 1987, British UFO researcher Timothy Good received a letter confirming the existence of the IPU from Col. William Guild, Army Director of Counter-intelligence. Guild stated, "...the aforementioned Army unit was disestablished during the late 1950's and never reactivated. All records pertaining to this unit were surrendered to the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations in conjunction with operation BLUEBOOK." (See Project Blue Book; letter in Timothy Good, Above Top Secret, p. 484).
- An October 1947 United States Air Force "Draft of Collection Memorandum" stated: "For the purpose of analysis and evaluation of these so-called 'flying saucers,' the object sighted is being assumed to be a manned craft of unknown origin." The memorandum considers "the possibility of Russian manufacture”, but also notes that "it is the considered opinion of some elements that the objects may in fact represent an interplanetary craft of some kind." (Clark 1996, 183)
- 1948--Some officials in the United States Air Force reportedly considered the ETH in Project Sign, the Air Force's first official UFO investigation project. Sign's personnel eventually split along factional lines: Those who rejected the ETH, and those who accepted it at least as a possibility. Captain Edward J. Ruppelt reported that the Soviet Union was initially considered the most likely source for UFO's, which were suspected to be new weapons or aircraft. After intelligence found no evidence to support the idea of Soviet origin, Ruppelt wrote that "With the Soviets practically eliminated as a UFO source, the idea of interplanetary spaceships was becoming more popular. During 1948 the people in ATIC were openly discussing the possibility of interplanetary visitors without others tapping their heads and looking smug." [5] The so-called 1948 Estimate of the Situation--a long rumored (but officially unconfirmed) Project Sign study--reportedly favored the ETH.
- In the March 1950 issue of True Magazine, Commander Robert McLaughlin, former head of the Naval guided missile program at White Sands Proving Grounds reported on UFO sightings (including his own) over White Sands, stating: "I am convinced that it [UFO he had seen at White Sands] was a flying saucer, and further, that these disks are spaceships from another planet, operated by animate, intelligent beings." Ruppelt, Chapt. 6 True magazine article
- Following multiple overflights of mysterious Green Fireballs over Los Alamos National Laboratory and other sensitive research and military facilities in New Mexico starting in late 1948, Ruppelt reported on conversations he had with Los Alamos scientists in early 1952. "The green fireballs, they theorized, could be some type of unmanned test vehicle that was being projected into our atmosphere from a 'spaceship' hovering several hundred miles above the earth. Two years ago I would have been amazed to hear a group of reputable scientists make such a startling statement. Now, however, I took it as a matter of course. I'd heard the same type of statement many times before from equally qualified groups." Ruppelt, Chapt. 4
- In 1952, an Air Intelligence Memo from the United States Air Force noted, “Some military officials are seriously considering the possibility of interplanetary ships.” (Randles, 41)
- In 1952 a Life article (“Have We Visitors From Space?”) [6] quoted the opinions of two notable scientists on the subject of UFO’s: Walter Reidel said that “I am completely convinced ... that they have an out-of-world basis”, while Maurice A. Biot said, “The least improbable explanation is that these things are artificial and controlled ... My opinion for some time has been that they have an extraterrestrial origin."
- 1952, NACA/NASA pioneering aerospace research engineer Paul Hill had a UFO sighting. Ten years later he claimed to have seen a huge "mothership." In the 1970s, Hill wrote a book, Unconventional Flying Objects: A Scientific Analysis. Besides detailing the possible physics behind UFOs, Hill argued that space travel was essential for the survival of any advanced civilization and that extensive colonization would likely result, including nearby stellar systems. Based on the large numbers of different types of craft and beings described by witnesses, Hill stated that "...we are seeing a parade of visitors from various and numerous stellar civilizations."
- A 1954 study by the Royal Australian Air Force stated that “evidence presented by the reports held by (the RAAF) tend to support the ... conclusion ... that certain strange aircraft have been observed to behave in a manner suggestive of extra-terrestrial origin.” (Randles, 94)
- On July 11, 1954, Air Chief Marshall Lord Dowding (head of the Royal Air Force during World War II) wrote in the London Sunday Dispatch, “More than ten thousand (UFO) sightings have been reported. I am convinced these objects do exist and that they are not manufactured by any nation on earth.” Randles cites a similar statement by Dowding: “Of course the flying saucers are real--and they are interplanetary.” (Randles, 46)
- October 24, 1954, rocketry pioneer Professor Hermann Oberth was quoted in American Weekly magazine saying, "Flying saucers come from distant worlds." Jacques Vallee notes that "Oberth ... has repeatedly claimed that UFO's are vehicles from other solar systems." October 1962 quote: "If we are to seek the place of origin of the flying saucers, we must look to other stellar systems..." Another quote: “UFO’s do exist, are very real, and are spaceships from another or more than one other solar system.” (Vallee, 177) More Oberth UFO quotes
- In October 1955 in the New York Times, General Douglas MacArthur was quoted as saying "that because of the developments of science all the countries on earth will have to unite to survive and to make a common front against attack by people from other planets. The politics of the future will be cosmic, or interplanetary, in General MacArthur's opinion." Similarly, in a 1962 address to graduates at West Point, MacArthur said, “We deal now not with things of this world alone, but with ultimate conflict between a united human race and the sinister forces from some other galaxy.” [7]
- In 1956, astronomer Clyde Tombaugh said he had three UFO and three Green Fireballs sightings of his own and commented, "I think that several reputable scientists are being unscientific in refusing to entertain the possibility of extraterrestrial origin and nature." On January 27, 1957, Associated Press quoted Tombaugh explicity supporting the ETH, saying that earth might be visited and that "Although our own solar system is believed to support no other life than on earth, other stars in the galaxy may have hundreds of thousands of habitable worlds."
- January 16, 1957, Rear Admiral Delmar S. Fahrney, once head of the Navy's guided missile program, stated that "there are objects coming into our atmosphere at very high speeds. No agency in this country or Russia is able to duplicate at this time the speeds and accelerations which radars and observers indicate these flying objects are able to achieve." Also, "an intelligence" directs such objects "because of the way they fly. They are not entirely actuated by automatic equipment. The way they change position in formations and override each other would indicate that their motion is directed." (New York Times, January 17, 1957, p. 31}
- June 1957, following four UFO sightings of his own since 1952, Astronomer Dr. Frank Halstead of the Darling Observatory, previously a skeptic, stated, "...Many professional astronomers are convinced that saucers are interplanetary machines... I think they come from another solar system, but they may be using Mars as a base." (Quoted in Flying Saucers: Top Secret, Donald Keyhoe, 1960, p.84)
- In a 1958 letter to Donald Keyhoe at NICAP, psychoanalyst Dr. Carl Jung wrote, "My special preoccupation does neither preclude the physical reality of the UFOs nor their extraterrestrial origin, nor the purposefulness of their behavior, etc. But I do not possess sufficient evidence which would enable me to draw definite conclusions. The evidence...however is convincing enough to arouse a fervent interest." (Keyhoe, Flying Saucers: Top Secret, pp. 235-236) Another 1958 quote from Jung: "A purely psychological explanation is ruled out... If the extraterrestrial origin of these phenomena should be confirmed, this would prove the existence of an intelligent interplanetary relationship... That the construction of these machines proves a scientific technique immensely superior to ours cannot be disputed." [8]
- In a signed statement to Congress, also reported in the New York Times, February 28, 1960, former CIA Director Vice Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter stated, "It is time for the truth to be brought out... Behind the scenes high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about the UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense.... I urge immediate Congressional action to reduce the dangers from secrecy about unidentified flying objects." In 1962, in his letter of resignation from NICAP, he told director Donald Keyhoe, "I know the UFOs are not U.S. or Soviet devices. All we can do now is wait for some actions by the UFOs." (quoted in Above Top Secret, Timothy Good, pp. 347)
- Another high CIA official to comment to Donald Keyhoe was Colonel Joseph Bryan III, original Chief of the CIA's Psychological Warfare Staff from 1947-1953. In a letter to Keyhoe he stated, "I am aware that hundreds of military and airline pilots, airport personnel, astronomers missile trackers, and other competent observers have reported sightings of UFOs ... many [of which] have been reported maneuvering in formation, and that many were simultaneously tracked by radar. ...The UFOs reported by competent observers are devices under intelligent control. Their speeds, maneuvers and other technical evidence prove them superior to any known aircraft or space devices now produced on earth. These UFOs are interplanetary devices systematically observing the earth... Information on UFOs... is still being officially withheld." (quoted in Above Top Secret, Timothy Good, pp. 347-348)
- In 1959, Frank Edwards interviewed astronomer Frank Halstead (then director of the University of Minnesota's Darling Observatory). Halstead himself had witnessed disk and torpedo-shaped aerial objects, and when Edwards asked if such UFO sightings might represent "space ships", Halstead replied, "Frankly, sir, they could hardly be anything else!" Halstead explained that he accepted the probabilty of extraterrestrials "for any number of reasons", though largely because "The technology of mankind at its present stage of development is not now capable of producing anything comperable to the performance of the UFO." (Edwards, 41)
- In 1965 and 1966, two of Jacques Vallee’s books were published: ‘’Anatomy of a Phenomenon’’ and ‘’Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma’’. Clark writes that with these volumes, Vallee “argued a scientific case for extraterrestrial visitation.” (Clark 1998, 493) Vallee’s conclusions regarding the origin UFO’s would later change, however.
- A schism eventually split the Condon Committee (1966-1968) when some of its members thought the ETH sould be considered as one of several hypotheses to explain UFOs; others on the committee thought the ETH was nonsense.
- 1967, in a lecture to Greek Astronomical Society, Greece's leading scientist, physicist Dr. Paul Santorini, (developer of the proximity fuze on the first A-bomb and patents on guidance systems for Nike missiles and radar systems) told of his 1947 investigations into the "ghost rockets" flying over Greece in 1946. "We soon established that they were not missiles. But ... the Army, after conferring with foreign officials [U.S. Defense Dept.], ordered the investigation stopped. Foreign scientists [from Washington] flew to Greece for secret talks with me." Later Santorini told researchers (such as Raymond Fowler) that secrecy was invoked because officials were afraid to admit of a superior technology against which we have "no possibility of defense." (quotes in Timothy Good, Above Top Secret, Donald Keyhoe, Aliens From Space)
- 1967, Physicist Dr. James E. McDonald noted, “There is no sensible alternative to the utterly shocking hypothesis that UFO’s are extraterrestrial probes”. (Randles, 65)
- In 1968, McDonald speaking before a United States Congressional committee, stating his opinion that “UFO’s are entirely real and we do not know what they are, because we have laughed them out of court. The possibility that these are extraterrestrial devices, that we are dealing with surveillance from some advanced technology, is a possibility I take very seriously.” (Clark 1998, 368)
- In 1968, speaking before the same Congressional committee as McDonald was University of California at Berkeley engineering professor Dr. James Harder. Harder expressed his opinion that based on "the data and the ordinary rules of evidence as would be applied in civil or criminal courts, the physical reality of UFOs has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt." Furthermore, Harder concluded that UFOs traveled via "an application of gravitational fields that we do not understand" and were "interplanetary" in origin, what he specifically referred to as the "extraterrestrial hypothesis." (Bryan, 129, Congressional testimony)
- In 1968, in a letter to the United Nations, astronaut Gordon Cooper wrote, "...I believe that these extraterrestrial vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets, which are obviously a little more advanced than we are here on earth."
- In 1968, Dr Felix Zigel--who trained many Soviet cosmonauts--stated, “The hypothesis that UFOs originate on other worlds, that they are flying craft from planets other than earth, merits the most serious consideration.” (Randles, 67)
- A 1971 survey of 90,000 readers of Industrial Research/Development magazine found that 76% felt the government wasn't revealing all it knew about UFOs, 54% thought UFOs definitely or probably existed and 32% thought they came from outer space.[9]
- A 1973 survey of over 400 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics members by astrophysicist Dr. Peter A. Sturrock found that 10% thought UFOs were from space. [10][11]
- A 1978 survey of Optical Spectra readers found 42% felt it "quite conceivable" that UFOs were space ships from other civilizations.[12]
- October, 1985, a just-released FOIA document spoke of the Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit (IPU) reporting directly to General George Marshall.
- 1988, in the Foreward to Above Top Secret, Admiral Lord Hill-Norton, former Chief of Defense Staff, United Kingdom, stated, "The evidence that there are objects which have been seen in our atmosphere, and even on terra firma, that cannot be accounted for either as man-made objects or as any physical force or effect known to our scientists seems to me to be overwhelming." He also wrote that all world governments were guilty of covering up the information, but the U.S. was most guilty.
- 1990s: In interviews conducted by UFO researcher Kevin Randle and author Whitley Strieber, Brigadeer General Arthur Exon, commanding officer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base from 1964-1966, commenting on the Roswell UFO incident said, “Everyone from the White House on down knew that what we had found was not of this world within 24 hours of our finding it,” and "...the overall consensus was that the pieces were from space. ...Roswell was the recovery of a craft from space." [13] [14]
- 1990s to present: Apollo 14 astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell has repeatedly expressed his interest in UFO's and his belief that the most likely explanation for them is the ETH. Some Mitchell quotes: "He is 90 per cent sure that many of the thousands of unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, recorded since the 1940s, belong to visitors from other planets." [15] UFO's have been the "subject of disinformation in order to deflect attention and to create confusion so the truth doesn’t come out."[16] "Make no mistake, Roswell happened. I've seen secret files which show the government knew about it—but decided not to tell the public." [17] "A few insiders know the truth . . . and are studying the bodies that have been discovered." [18]
- In 1999, a document called the COMETA Report was published in France, entitled "UFOs and Defense: What must we be prepared for?" The independent study was prepared by multiple French generals and aerospace experts, many of them former analysts for the Institute of Advanced Studies for National Defense (IHEDN). They concluded that UFOs were real craft and that the ETH was the most likely explanation for them. They also accused the U.S. government of a massive cover-up of the information.[19]
- September 2005: Former Canadian Defence Minister Paul Hellyer publicly states that he thinks some UFOs are extraterrestrial spaceships and that the 1947 Roswell crash was the recovery of an alien spaceship. He also believes the U.S. and other governments are guilty of covering up this information.Edmonton Sun article
UFO/Alien Organizations
UFO Casebook and Malevolent Alien Abduction Research conduct research into UFO and alien encounters that may suggest that aliens are really visiting this planet, both have a list of aliens allegedly visiting this planet,both list the Grey Aliens, certain other aliens as HOSTILE to the human race.
Sources
- C.D.B. Bryan; Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: Alien Abduction, UFOs and the Conference at M.I.T.; Alfred A. Knopf, 1995; ISBN 0679429751
- Jerome Clark; The UFO Encyclopedia Volume 3: High Strangeness, UFO’s from 1960 through 1979; Omnigraphis, 1996; ISBN 1558887423
- Jerome Clark; The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial; Visible Ink, 1998; ISBN 1578590299
- Jerome Clark, "The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis in the Early UFO Age" (pp. 122-140 in UFOs and Abductions: Challenging the Borders of Knowledge, David M. Jacobs, editor; University Press of Kansas, 2000; ISBN)
- Frank Edwards; UFOs: Serious Business; Lyle Stewart Inc, 1965
- Charles Fort; The Books of Charles Fort; Henry Holt and Company, 1941
- David Michael Jacobs; The UFO Controversy In America; Indiana University Press, 1975; ISBN 0253190061
- Terry Matheson; Alien Abduction: Creating A Modern Phenomenon; Prometheus Books, 1998; ISBN 1573922447
- Jenny Randles; The UFO Conspiracy: The First Forty Years; Barnes and Noble Books, 1987; ISBN 1566191955
- Jenny Randles and Peter Houghe; The Complete Book of UFOs: An Investigation into Alien Contact and Encounters; Sterling Publishing Co, Inc, 1994; ISBN 0806981326
- Carl Sagan and Thornton Page, editors; UFOs: A Scientific Debate; 1972, Cornell University Press
- Peter A. Sturrock; The UFO Enigma: A New Review of the Physical Evidence; Warner Books, 1999; ISBN 0446525650
- Dr. Michael D. Swords; "The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis and Science" (Included in Clark 1998)
- Jacques Vallee; Anatomy of a Phenomenon: Unidentified Objects in Space: A Scientific Apraisal; Henry Regnery Company, 1965