UFOs

Region: Global

Lead Investigator: Agent 51

Last Updated: 1 March 2024

Obviously, UFOs are real. There are objects flying around that are unidentified. The question here is whether or not they are of extraterrestrial origin.
Also called Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs)
Reports of strange things in the sky date back to BCE, and they've become even more common in the modern era.

UFO Shapes/Types

Saucers
Black triangles are "described as large, silent, hovering, moving slowly, and displaying pulsating, colored lights which they are able to turn off".

History of PNW Sightings

1896-1897: The mystery airship incident was two waves of sightings of "strange airships and lights" across the west coast and later the midwest. "Common elements of the descriptions included bright lights, cigar-shaped bodies, wings and metallic hull."
1947: Pilot Kenneth Arnold was flying near Mount Rainier when he reported seeing "nine saucer-like aircraft flying in formation...flashing in the sun like mirrors". This coined the term "flying saucer". His sightings sparked the Flying Disc Craze of 1947 where over 800 sightings were reported, including the Flight 105 Sighting.
1950: The McMinnville UFO photographs were taken by a farmer in Oregon. "These were the first flying saucer photographs since the coining of the term." See the photos below.
1950: The Mariana UFO incident occurred in Great Falls, Montana when Nick Mariana noticed two strange lights in the sky. "The film was extensively analyzed by the US Air Force and several independent investigators", yet its validity continues to be debated.

Proposed UFO Sighting Explanations

Each sighting has its own plethora of factors and explanations, but these are the main ones:

Extraterrestrial Hypothesis
Interdimensional Hypothesis
Psychosocial Hypothesis
Time-Traveler Hypothesis
Cryptoterrestrial Hypothesis
Astronimical objects (stars, bolides, planets, etc.)
Aircraft (military, civilian, drones, etc.)
Balloons (surveillance, toy, weather, etc.)
Birds
Clouds
Flares
Lightning
Light phenomena
- Mirages
- Ball lightning
- Moon dogs
- Satellite flares
- Searchlights
Psychological effects
Hoaxes

UFO-Related Phenomena

Alien Abduction (see below)
Crop Circles
Cattle mutilation
Angel Hair

Alleged Extraterrestrial Beings

Alien Abduction

"Alien abduction refers to the phenomenon of people reporting what they believe to be the real experience of being kidnapped by extraterrestrial beings and subjected to physical and psychological experimentation."

Common Narrative

Most abduction cases follow a similar series of events, though they do vary:

"Capture: The abductee is somehow rendered incapable of resisting, and taken from terrestrial surroundings to an apparent alien spacecraft.
Examination and Procedures: Invasive physiological and psychological procedures, and on occasion simulated behavioral situations, training & testing, or sexual liaisons.
Conference: The abductors communicate with the abductee or direct them to interact with specific individuals for some purpose, typically telepathically but sometimes using the abductee's native language.
Tour: The abductees are given a tour of their captors' vessel, though this is disputed by some researchers who consider this definition a confabulation of intent when just apparently being taken around to multiple places inside the ship.
Loss of Time: Abductees often rapidly forget the majority of their experience, either as a result of fear, medical intervention, or both.
Return: The abductees are returned to earth, occasionally in a different location from where they were allegedly taken or with new injuries or disheveled clothing.
Theophany: Coinciding with their immediate return, abductees may have a profound sense of love, a "high" similar to those induced by certain drugs, or a "mystical experience", accompanied by a feeling of oneness with God, the universe, or their abductors. Whether this is the result of a metaphysical change, Stockholm syndrome, or prior medical tampering is often not scrutinized by the abductees at the time.
Aftermath: The abductee must cope with the psychological, physical, and social effects of the experience."

Proposed Abduction Explanations

Actual Aliens
Hoaxes
Delusion/Psychopathology
False memory hypothesis
- Hypnosis
- Sleep paralysis
- Lucid dreaming
Drug-induced hallucinations
Demonic manifestations

Public Perception in the U.S.

70% think government is not sharing everything it knows about UFOs or extraterrestrial life.
56% think UFO are real craft.
48% think that aliens have visited the Earth.

Note: Survey done in 2002.