Scientists
have pondered the existence of extra-terrestrial life or Aliens for thousands
of years. We are still searching for evidence of alien life, but the results
have been marginal.
Are we
alone in the universe? Or are there intelligent beings like us looking at the
sky asking the same question? Are their civilizations more advanced than ours?
Are there beings who have achieved interstellar communication? These questions
remain unanswered.
A conceptual
art of UFO in the shape of two inverted saucers
I first
learned about aliens from a school book that talked about UFOs. My book showed
pictures of it like a flying disc or flying saucer. As a kid, I found it
difficult to comprehend the enormity of the universe. In my 8-year-old mind,
aliens were just a fantasy. Being an adult now, I think this might be a
reality, or is it?
The Curious Case of UFOs
Throughout the world, unidentified
flying objects have been a popular topic. People have been reporting seeing
unknown flying bodies across the sky for centuries. Many people have gone so
far as to say that aliens have abducted them. The famous Barney and Betty Hill
case in 1961 was one of them. Roswell's 1947 UFO crash, which turned out to be
a weather balloon, is considered by many conspiracy theorists to be a cover-up.
Unfortunately, there have been many investigations conducted in the past that
have been inconclusive.
Front page
of Roswell Daily Record headlining the capture of a “flying saucer”
Source: Roswell Daily Record, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Recently, Congress in the USA
demanded an investigation into this matter. Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP,
a military jargon) have been reported by U.S. military vehicles soaring without
causing any boom in the sky. The purpose of this study was to dispel sceptics
and determine whether we know enough about these objects. To know whether these
objects can pose problems to our planet.
An unclassified report entitled
"Preliminary Report: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" was released on
25 June by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The report is a
summary of a larger classified document submitted to congress. The report was
drafted by the UAP Task Force, established for investigating this matter.
The task force has been able to
explain one of the 144 reports it has received between 2004 and 2021, namely a
deflated balloon. All the rest remain enigmatic. U.S. pilots had menacing “near
misses” in 11 cases. There were 18 reports with “unusual UAP movement patterns
or flight characteristics" - displaying advanced capabilities not yet
developed by humans. According to reports, UAP “appeared to remain stationary
in winds, manoeuvre abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without
discernible means of propulsion.” Some military aircraft processed radio
frequencies associated with UAP sightings.
A lack of "high-quality
reporting" and a lack of defining information prevents the report from
drawing any firm conclusions. Although the report is inconclusive, it
nonetheless makes some important points. The report concludes that none of
these objects are connected to secret U.S. weapons programs or developed by
foreign rivals (pointing at Russia and China). UAPs are believed to be physical
objects as most of them were caught via “radar, infrared, electro-optical,
weapon seekers, and visual observation.” There is also a possibility of many
kinds of UAP.
The report claims that unusual UAP,
showing insane flying abilities could also “be the result of sensor errors,
spoofing, or observer misperception.”
Preliminary investigation in the
report gives five categories of possible explanations:
1.
Natural
atmospheric phenomena
2.
Airborne
clutter
3.
U.S.-developed
“classified” technology
4.
Technology
developed by other countries
5.
Other
(unexplainable)
The Videos Are Real
In addition, the Pentagon also
formally recognized 3 videos published by The New York Times in 2017.
They are titled "FLIR", "GIMBAL", and
"GOFAST". Navy fighter jets recorded the latter two from the nuclear
aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, off the East Coast near Florida.
According to Mick West, a renowned
conspiracy debunker, the images seen in the UAP videos could be the result of
mis-calibrated instruments or camera distortion. West said, “UAPs are
unidentified because of limited data, that’s what makes the cases difficult to
explain. Of course, we can’t rule out aliens in cases with limited data, that’s
literally impossible.” He supports further research to be conducted on this
subject.
Ravi Kumar Kopparapu, a research
scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, has a similar notion.
Kopparapu told Space.com, “We need more resources. It should be scientifically studied. Stigma
should be removed. Some of these are real objects, some could be clutter and
some could be unexplained.”
Some Pieces Are Missing
A
former Pentagon official responded to Mick West's
scepticism in The
New Yorker recently. The official said that “(West) does not have the
whole story. There’s data he will never see—there’s much more that I would in a
classified environment.”
The
outspoken former President Donald Trump said in an interview, “I won’t talk about what I know about it, but
it’s very interesting.” He also said he wouldn’t disclose what he knows about
aliens even to his family.
James Corden's show featured former President Barack Obama in
May. Obama chose his words carefully, saying” When it comes to aliens, there
are some things I can’t tell you on air.” He continued, “When I came into the
office, I asked…. Is there a lab somewhere where we are keeping the alien
specimens and spaceships? And you know, they did a little bit of research and
the answer was no.”
When
current Pres. Joe Biden was asked about Obama's comments, he laughed off the
question, saying, "I would ask him again."
The Quest Continues
This
report can only provide one conclusion: There is little or no information
available that can be used to make any conclusions. On the bright side, UFOs
are becoming a hot topic among scientists and the military. Every step forward
will bring humanity closer to finding the truth.
Presidents
and security officials will barely be of any help as they are bound by the
oath. The only things they are allowed to disclose to the public are fed to
them by defence agencies. People will not get access to more information until
significant documents like these are stamped classified.
Our
best bet is to watch for some suspicious activity in the sky. It's possible
you'll be driving along the road one day and you'll bump into a spaceship. But
if you find a gift box beside your bed when you wake up, don’t go out shouting
that aliens came to your house. Maybe it's Santa Claus.
Science
demands truth in its purest form. Speculations don’t always have veracity.
Many speculations have made, many denied but the phenomena is proofs and facts are not much align that we can come to conclusion about the existence of them. Crores of rupees had been wasted just to know their existence but here on earth we have a big question mark about our existence because time to time the condition deteriorated.
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