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Ufology

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Not to be confused with UFO religion or Urology.
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Supposed photo of a Black Triangle UFO taken by Patrick Maréchal during the Belgian UFO wave, which the author later admitted was a fabrication.[1][2]
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Ufology, sometimes written UFOlogy, is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial alien visitors).[3][4] While there are instances of government, private, and fringe science investigations of UFOs, ufology is generally regarded by skeptics and science educators as an example of pseudoscience.

Etymology

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Ufology is a neologism derived from UFO (a term apparently coined by Edward J. Ruppelt),[5] and is derived from appending the acronym UFO with the suffix -logy (from the Ancient Greek -λογία (-logia)). Early uses of ufology include an article in Fantastic Universe (1957)[6] and a 1958 presentation for the UFO "research organization" The Planetary Center.[7]

Historical background

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A Swedish Air Force officer searches for a "ghost rocket" in Lake Kölmjärv, Norrland, Sweden, in July 1946.

The roots of ufology include the "mystery airships" of the late 1890s, the "foo fighters" reported by Allied airmen during World War II, the "ghost fliers" of Europe and North America during the 1930s, the "ghost rockets" of Scandinavia (mainly Sweden) in 1946, and the Kenneth Arnold "flying saucer" sighting of 1947.[8][9] Media attention to the Arnold sighting helped publicize the concept of flying saucers.[10]

Publicity of UFOs increased after World War II, coinciding with the escalation of the Cold War and strategic concerns related to the development and detection (e.g., the Ground Observer Corps) of advanced Soviet aircraft.[8][11][12] Official, government-sponsored activities in the United States related to ufology ended in the late 1960s following the Condon Committee report and the termination of Project Blue Book.[13] Government-sponsored, UFO-related activities in other countries, including the United Kingdom,[14][15] Canada,[16] Denmark,[17] Italy,[18] and Sweden[19] also ended. An exception to this trend is France, which maintains the GEIPAN[20] program, formerly known as GEPAN (1977–1988) and SEPRA (1988–2004), operated by the French Space Agency CNES.

On 14 September 2023, NASA reported the appointment, for the first time, of a Director of U.A.P. (known earlier as U.F.O.), identified as Mark McInerney, to scientifically and transparently study such occurrences.[21]

As a field

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Further information: List of ufologists

Status as a pseudoscience

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Main article: Identification studies of UFOs

Despite investigations sponsored by governments and private entities, ufology is not embraced by academia as a scientific field of study, and is instead generally considered a pseudoscience by skeptics and science educators,[22] being often included on lists of topics characterized as pseudoscience as either a partial[23] or total[24][25] pseudoscience.[26][27][28][29][30][31] Pseudoscience is a term that classifies arguments that are claimed to exemplify the methods and principles of science, but do not adhere to an appropriate scientific method, lack supporting evidence, plausibility, falsifiability, or otherwise lack scientific status.[32]

Some writers have identified social factors that contribute to the status of ufology as a pseudoscience,[33][34][35] with one study suggesting that "any science doubt surrounding unidentified flying objects and aliens was not primarily due to the ignorance of ufologists about science, but rather a product of the respective research practices of and relations between ufology, the sciences, and government investigative bodies".[34] One study suggests that "the rudimentary standard of science communication attending to the extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) hypothesis for UFOs inhibits public understanding of science, dissuades academic inquiry within the physical and social sciences, and undermines progressive space policy initiatives".[36]

Current interest

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In 2021, astronomer Avi Loeb launched The Galileo Project[37] which intends to collect and report scientific evidence of extraterrestrials or extraterrestrial technology on or near Earth via telescopic observations.[38][39][40][41]

In Germany, the University of Würzburg is developing intelligent sensors that can help detect and analyze aerial objects in hopes of applying such technology to UAP.[42][43][44][45]

A 2021 Gallup poll found that belief among Americans in some UFOs being extraterrestrial spacecraft grew between 2019 and 2021 from 33% to 41%. Gallup cited increased coverage in mainstream news and scrutiny from government authorities as a factor in changing attitudes towards UFOs.[46]

In 2022, NASA announced a nine-month study starting in the fall to help establish a road map for investigating UAP – or for reconnaissance of the publicly available data it might use for such research.[47][48][49]

In 2023, the RAND Corporation published a study reviewing 101,151 public reports of UAP sightings in the United States from 1998 to 2022.[50] The models used to conduct the analysis showed that reports of UAP sightings were less likely within 30 km of weather stations, 60 km of civilian airports, and in more–densely populated areas, while rural areas tended to have a higher rate of UAP reports. The most consistent and statistically significant finding was that reports of UAP sightings were more likely to occur within 30 km of military operations areas, where routine military training occurs.

Methodological issues

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Although some ufologists (e.g., Peter A. Sturrock) have proposed explicit methodological activities for the investigation of UFOs,[51] scientific UFO research is challenged by the facts that the phenomena are spatially and temporally unpredictable, are not reproducible, and lack tangible physicality.[52][53] That most UFO sightings have mundane explanations[54] limits interpretive power of "interesting," extraordinary UFO-related events, with the astronomer Carl Sagan writing: "The reliable cases are uninteresting and the interesting cases are unreliable. Unfortunately there are no cases that are both reliable and interesting."[55]

Josef Allen Hynek (left) and Jacques Vallée

The ufologists J. Allen Hynek and Jacques Vallée have each developed descriptive systems for characterizing UFO sightings and, by extension, for organizing ufology investigations.[56][57][58][unreliable source?]

Phenomena linked to ufology

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In addition to UFO sightings, certain supposedly related phenomena are of interest to some ufologists, including crop circles,[59][60] cattle mutilations,[61] anomalous materials,[62][63] alien abductions and implants.[64][65][66][67]

Some ufologists have also promoted UFO conspiracy theories, including the Roswell Incident of 1947,[68][69][70] the Majestic 12 documents,[71] and UFO disclosure advocates.[72][73]

Skeptic Robert Sheaffer has accused ufology of having a "credulity explosion,"[74] writing that "the kind of stories generating excitement and attention in any given year would have been rejected by mainstream ufologists a few years earlier for being too outlandish."[74] The physicist James E. McDonald also identified "cultism" and "extreme...subgroups" as negatively impacting ufology.[75]

In Posadism

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During the Cold War, ufology was synthesized with the ideas of a Trotskyist movement in South America known as Posadism. Posadism's main theorist, Juan Posadas, believed the human race must "appeal to the beings on other planets...to intervene and collaborate with Earth's inhabitants in suppressing poverty;" i.e., Posadas wished to collaborate with extraterrestrials to create a socialist system on Earth.[76] The adoption of this belief among Posadists, who had previously been a significant political force in South America, has been noted as a contributing factor in their decline.[77]

Governmental and private ufology studies

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Further information: Identification studies of UFOs and List of investigations of UFOs by governments

Starting in the 1940s, governmental agencies and private groups sponsored investigations, studies, and conferences related to ufology. Typically motivated by visual UFO sightings, the goals of these studies included critical evaluation of the observational evidence, attempts to resolve and identify the observed events, and the development of policy recommendations. These studies include Project Sign, Project Magnet, Project Blue Book, the Robertson Panel, and the Condon Committee in the United States, the Flying Saucer Working Party and Project Condign in Britain, GEIPAN in France, and Project Hessdalen in Norway. Private studies of UFO phenomena include those produced by the RAND Corporation in 1968,[78] Harvey Rutledge of the University of Missouri from 1973 to 1980,[79][80] and the National Press Club's Disclosure Project in 2001.[81][82][83] Additionally, the United Nations from 1977 to 1979 sponsored meetings and hearings concerning UFO sightings.[84][85] In August 2020, the United States Department of Defense established the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force to detect, analyze and catalog unidentified aerial phenomena that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security.[86]

UFO organizations and events

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Main article: List of UFO organizations
Further information: List of skeptics and skeptical organizations

A large number of private organizations dedicated to the study, discussion, and publicity of ufology and other UFO-related topics exist worldwide, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Switzerland. Along with such "pro-UFO" groups are skeptic organizations that emphasize the pseudoscientific nature of ufology.

During the annual World UFO Day (2 July), ufologists and associated organizations raise public awareness of ufology to "tell the truth about earthly visits from outer space aliens."[87][88] The day's events include group gatherings to search for and observe UFOs.[89][90]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Vey, Tristan (28 July 2011). "La photo d'un ovni belge célèbre était un trucage". Le Figaro.
  2. ^ "Photos d'ovnis: la plus célèbre était fausse". Science et Vie. 28 September 2011.
  3. ^ Blake, Joseph A. (2015-05-27). "Ufology: The Intellectual Development and Social Context of the Study of Unidentified Flying Objects". The Sociological Review. 27: 315–337. doi:10.1111/j.1467-954x.1979.tb00067.x. ISSN 1467-954X. S2CID 146530394.
  4. ^ Restivo, Sal P. (2005). Science, technology, and society: an encyclopedia. Oxford University Press US. p. 176. ISBN 0-19-514193-8.
  5. ^ Ruppelt, Edward (2007). The Report On Unidentified Flying Objects. Charleston, South Carolina: BiblioBazaar. ISBN 978-1434609168.
  6. ^ Sanderson, Ivan T. "An Introduction to Ufology." Fantastic Universe. Feb. 1957: 27–34. Print.
  7. ^ Adam. "Challenge of UFOs – Part II Chapter VII". www.nicap.org. Retrieved 2017-11-12.
  8. ^ a b Brake, Mark (June 2006). "On the plurality of inhabited worlds;a brief history of extraterrestrialism". International Journal of Astrobiology. 5 (2): 104. Bibcode:2006IJAsB...5...99B. doi:10.1017/S1473550406002989. S2CID 122271012.
  9. ^ Denzler, Brenda (2003). The lure of the edge: scientific passions, religious beliefs, and the pursuit of UFOs. University of California Press. pp. 6–7. ISBN 0-520-23905-9.
  10. ^ Denzler (2003), p. 9
  11. ^ Schulgen, George (October 28, 1947). "Schulgen Memo". Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  12. ^ "The Air Force Intelligence Report". Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  13. ^ Haines, Gerald K. (April 14, 2007). "CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90". Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
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  19. ^ "För insyn: 18 000 svenska UFO-rapporter". Expressen (in Swedish). May 6, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  20. ^ GEIPAN stands for Groupe d'Études et d'Informations sur les Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés ("unidentified aerospace phenomenon research and information group")
  21. ^ Chang, Kenneth (14 September 2023). "NASA Introduces New U.F.O. Research Director – The role was created in response to the recommendations of a report that found the agency could do more to collect and interpret data on unidentified anomalous phenomena". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  22. ^ Moldwin, Mark (November 2004). "Why SETI IS Science and UFOlogy Is Not: A Space Science Perspective on Boundaries". Skeptical Inquirer. 28 (6): 40–42.
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  26. ^ Shermer, Michael, ed. (2002). The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience (PDF). ABC–CLIO, Inc. ISBN 978-1-57607-653-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
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  28. ^ "Scientific American". Archived from the original on 9 October 2009.
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  33. ^ Feist (2006), pp. 219–20
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  35. ^ Cooper, Rachel (2009). "Chapter 1: Is psychiatric research scientific?". In Broome, Matthew; Bortolotti, Lisa (eds.). Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience: Philosophical Perspectives. Oxford University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-19-923803-3.
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  41. ^ "Public Announcement". projects.iq.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  42. ^ "Deutschlandweit einmalig – Ufo-Forschung an der Uni Würzburg". BR24 (in German). 3 September 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
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  46. ^ "Larger Minority in U.S. Says Some UFOs Are Alien Spacecraft". Gallup.com. 2021-08-20. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
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  48. ^ Hunt, Katie; Strickland, Ashley. "NASA is assembling a team to gather data on unidentifiable events in the sky". CNN. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
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  50. ^ Posard, Marek N.; Gromis, Ashley; Lee, Mary (2023-07-25). Not the X-Files: Mapping Public Reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Across America (Report). RAND Corporation.
  51. ^ Sturrock (2000) p. 163
  52. ^ Denzler (2003), p. 35
  53. ^ Hoyt, Diana Palmer (2000-04-20). UFOCRITIQUE: UFO's, Social Intelligence and the Condon Committees (Thesis). Master's Thesis. Virginia Polytechnic Institute. p. 13. hdl:10919/32352. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2007-03-17. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
  54. ^ Markovsky B., "UFOs", in The Skeptic's Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, edited by Michael Shermer, 2002 Skeptics Society, p. 260
  55. ^ Sagan, Carl (1975). Other Worlds. Bantam. p. 113. ISBN 0-552-66439-1.
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  58. ^ Vallée, Jacques F. (1998). "Physical Analyses in Ten Cases of Unexplained Aerial Objects with Material Samples". Journal of Scientific Exploration. 12 (3): 360–361.
  59. ^ Andrews, Colin; Spignesi, Stephen J. (2003). Crop circles: signs of contact. Career Press. ISBN 1-56414-674-X.
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  61. ^ Howe, Linda Moulton (1989). Alien Harvest: Further Evidence Linking Animal Mutilations and Human Abductions to Alien Life Forms. Linda Moulton Howe Productions. ISBN 0-9620570-1-0.
  62. ^ "Stanford Professor Garry Nolan Is Analyzing Anomalous Materials From UFO Crashes". Vice. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  63. ^ Nolan, Garry P.; Vallee, Jacques F.; Jiang, Sizun; Lemke, Larry G. (1 January 2022). "Improved instrumental techniques, including isotopic analysis, applicable to the characterization of unusual materials with potential relevance to aerospace forensics". Progress in Aerospace Sciences. 128: 100788. Bibcode:2022PrAeS.12800788N. doi:10.1016/j.paerosci.2021.100788. ISSN 0376-0421.
  64. ^ Denzler (2003), p. 239
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  72. ^ Salla, Michael (2004). Exopolitics: Political Implications of Extraterrestrial Presence. Dandelion Books. ISBN 1-893302-56-3.
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  77. ^ John Sandor Steven (2006). Permanent Revolution on the Altiplano: Bolivian Trotskyism. Ann Arbor, Michigan: ProQuest Information and Learning Company, p. 314.
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Further reading

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Academic books about ufology as a sociological and historical phenomenon
Pro-ufology
Skeptical opinions
Ufology studies
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