While there are numerous explanations for strange vehicles and lights flying around in the earth's atmosphere, one stands out as being extremely popular, if not extremely controversial. The extraterrestrial hypothesis (or ETH) was defined by Dr. Edward Condon, who headed the Condon Committee, as the "idea that some UFOs may be spacecraft sent to Earth from another civilization, or on a planet associated with a more distant star". Dr. Condon wasn't the first to use this term, though his usage of it in his report helped popularize it.
So some unexplained lights have been seen flying around our planet and some strange aircraft have been seen flying and crashed in various areas. How could a reasonable person make such an enormous leap to conclude some of these are from an intelligent civilization beyond the earth? Well, there are a few reasons, really—too many to cover here. And some of them are quite sound and logical.
Perhaps one of the strongest pieces of supporting evidence for the ETH is the time line of reported UFO events as compared to human flight ability at the same time. Wilbur and Orville Wright made their first successful, powered flight on December 17, 1903, however, according to some reports this wasn't even the first powered flight by mankind. But the flights observed in times significantly predating the Wright brothers have proved far more interesting to many subscribers to the ETH, especially when they involve intense lights, shapes that don't lend themselves to being aerodynamically sound, and speeds and maneuvers far greater than any airplane that would come till much later, if ever.
Though the modern era of the UFO phenomenon is often credited to Kenneth Arnold's sighting of 1947, there have been other UFO sightings that have substantially predated that historic day by over 3,000 years beginning with quite a spectacle in 1522 B.C. that the Egyptian pharoah Thutmose III observed and had recorded on papyrus. There are other very old reports as well, including a report of strange lights that Christopher Columbus saw on his journey to the new world that don't seem to be easily explained by natural phenomena. Much later, the Airship reports of the late 1800s also created quite a flap throughout parts of the United States. Also, Charles Fort wrote about several reports he'd read and compiled from the 1800s and early 1900s in The Book of the Damned. While it's hard to know the accuracy or truth of any of these reported sightings, it seems to go beyond mere coincidence that some of the reports record similar characteristics displayed by contemporary reports of UFOs, and it's doubtful to me, at least, that the witnesses from over a hundred years ago could dream up such characteristics as are commonly included in many UFO sighting reports today.
Another key piece of evidence supporting the extraterrestrial hypothesis is testimony of many witnesses who have described beings only slightly resembling humans. Through the diligence of a number of researchers such as Stanton Friedman, Kevin Randle, Don Schmitt, and others, we have some very good witness testimony of not only crash debris that reportedly didn't resemble anything made on earth (unless the Air Force's final version of its report on the Roswell incident is to be believed) but testimony of actual alien bodies recovered from the UFO crash that occurred on a ranch outside of Roswell, New Mexico in July of 1947. While both debunkers and skeptics may state that the memories of the witnesses could be clouded after decades since the crash or their testimony could be lead by the interviewer, and that they could be exaggerating or lying for their own reasons, I find it hard to doubt and discredit every shred of corroborating testimony from so many witnesses including military personnel who were on active duty at the time. Deathbed confessions have been sworn out in affidavits by a number of witnesses who claimed alien bodies were involved in the Roswell incident. And while each piece of evidence has been attacked in some way by UFO debunkers, to me it boils down to this: when this many people talk, there must be something to it. While one witness claiming to see aliens wouldn't stand much chance of being believed by a reasonable person, the large number of witnesses who have come forward have made it exponentially more difficult to discredit the corroborated testimony.
While it's possible that everyone is lying but the Air Force, while various governments might be responsible for all strange lights and aircraft that have been seen within and without our planet's atmosphere since before the days of the Wright Brothers, while some believe "aliens" may be from another dimension or even another intelligent species that has come to live on our ocean floors and underground, it also makes sense that visitors from other planets similar to ours have been and probably continue to be here if we are to believe even one of the ancient odd reports of strange aerial vehicles or one of the many witnesses who have described alien bodies on a ranch in New Mexico and elsewhere. While I've never met or shaken hands with an ET, I highly suspect that they exist and have visited earth for some time.
If one believes The Big Bang Theory is responsible for creating the universe and consequently life on earth, one must also believe that life exists throughout this universe for the same reason it exists here. Likewise, those who believe God is the creator of the universe might also believe He placed living creatures in some of the other planets throughout the different galaxies if He chose to do so. Forget the vast distances of space that would take us eons to traverse to see this extraterrestrial life—we don't necessarily have the only horse and buggy in town, and there is plenty of technology we haven't yet mastered or discovered.
So some unexplained lights have been seen flying around our planet and some strange aircraft have been seen flying and crashed in various areas. How could a reasonable person make such an enormous leap to conclude some of these are from an intelligent civilization beyond the earth? Well, there are a few reasons, really—too many to cover here. And some of them are quite sound and logical.
Perhaps one of the strongest pieces of supporting evidence for the ETH is the time line of reported UFO events as compared to human flight ability at the same time. Wilbur and Orville Wright made their first successful, powered flight on December 17, 1903, however, according to some reports this wasn't even the first powered flight by mankind. But the flights observed in times significantly predating the Wright brothers have proved far more interesting to many subscribers to the ETH, especially when they involve intense lights, shapes that don't lend themselves to being aerodynamically sound, and speeds and maneuvers far greater than any airplane that would come till much later, if ever.
Though the modern era of the UFO phenomenon is often credited to Kenneth Arnold's sighting of 1947, there have been other UFO sightings that have substantially predated that historic day by over 3,000 years beginning with quite a spectacle in 1522 B.C. that the Egyptian pharoah Thutmose III observed and had recorded on papyrus. There are other very old reports as well, including a report of strange lights that Christopher Columbus saw on his journey to the new world that don't seem to be easily explained by natural phenomena. Much later, the Airship reports of the late 1800s also created quite a flap throughout parts of the United States. Also, Charles Fort wrote about several reports he'd read and compiled from the 1800s and early 1900s in The Book of the Damned. While it's hard to know the accuracy or truth of any of these reported sightings, it seems to go beyond mere coincidence that some of the reports record similar characteristics displayed by contemporary reports of UFOs, and it's doubtful to me, at least, that the witnesses from over a hundred years ago could dream up such characteristics as are commonly included in many UFO sighting reports today.
Another key piece of evidence supporting the extraterrestrial hypothesis is testimony of many witnesses who have described beings only slightly resembling humans. Through the diligence of a number of researchers such as Stanton Friedman, Kevin Randle, Don Schmitt, and others, we have some very good witness testimony of not only crash debris that reportedly didn't resemble anything made on earth (unless the Air Force's final version of its report on the Roswell incident is to be believed) but testimony of actual alien bodies recovered from the UFO crash that occurred on a ranch outside of Roswell, New Mexico in July of 1947. While both debunkers and skeptics may state that the memories of the witnesses could be clouded after decades since the crash or their testimony could be lead by the interviewer, and that they could be exaggerating or lying for their own reasons, I find it hard to doubt and discredit every shred of corroborating testimony from so many witnesses including military personnel who were on active duty at the time. Deathbed confessions have been sworn out in affidavits by a number of witnesses who claimed alien bodies were involved in the Roswell incident. And while each piece of evidence has been attacked in some way by UFO debunkers, to me it boils down to this: when this many people talk, there must be something to it. While one witness claiming to see aliens wouldn't stand much chance of being believed by a reasonable person, the large number of witnesses who have come forward have made it exponentially more difficult to discredit the corroborated testimony.
While it's possible that everyone is lying but the Air Force, while various governments might be responsible for all strange lights and aircraft that have been seen within and without our planet's atmosphere since before the days of the Wright Brothers, while some believe "aliens" may be from another dimension or even another intelligent species that has come to live on our ocean floors and underground, it also makes sense that visitors from other planets similar to ours have been and probably continue to be here if we are to believe even one of the ancient odd reports of strange aerial vehicles or one of the many witnesses who have described alien bodies on a ranch in New Mexico and elsewhere. While I've never met or shaken hands with an ET, I highly suspect that they exist and have visited earth for some time.
If one believes The Big Bang Theory is responsible for creating the universe and consequently life on earth, one must also believe that life exists throughout this universe for the same reason it exists here. Likewise, those who believe God is the creator of the universe might also believe He placed living creatures in some of the other planets throughout the different galaxies if He chose to do so. Forget the vast distances of space that would take us eons to traverse to see this extraterrestrial life—we don't necessarily have the only horse and buggy in town, and there is plenty of technology we haven't yet mastered or discovered.
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2 comments:
Thank you,
A very well written piece.
Now a days it seem more esoteric explanations are used to explain the UFO phenomenon. But when people who are on death bed speak about the dead bodies at Roswell and how they smelled. When these same death bed Roswell military confessors speak to their families about crashed spaceships and about the same type metal beams which were light as balsa wood yet withstood the slams of a 15 lb sled hammer Finally when these death bed confessors told these experiences it wasn't to the press or UFO researchers but to their families so that it would not be lost to posterity and yet they kept their oath. I find no greater compelling augment it was real and probably ET then this.
Joseph Capp
UFO Media Matters
Non-Commercial Blog
Thanks for your comment, Joseph.
I agree 100% about the death bed confessions. At that point it seems there's little or no reason to lie, and I think they would want to expend their remaining energy on something more constructive than deceiving others until their last breath. At that time humans must face both their mortality and morality, and I believe few would be so brazen as to add something else to their conscience with so little time remaining.
Thank you again.
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