UFOs: A Scientific Inquiry
Introduction
The UFO phenomenon that has been a recent addition to the fringe science zeitgeist most notably popularized during the Second World War. Allied pilots would report sightings of Foo Fighters or Fire Fighters - Foo being a misnomer of the word Feu (meaning Fire in French). Foo Fighters were described as glowing orbs emitting light and travelling at speeds much faster than the fighter jets of the era including Messerschmitt Me 163 which had an airspeed record of 702mph in 1944. However the official nomenclature used by the United States Air Force is - UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon).
The Animate Universe
The notion of alien life does not seem far-fetched. The universe as we know today is around 13.8 billion years old. As the universe is constantly expanding, the distance to the observable edge is about 46 billion light years. And within the vastness of the cosmos are countless galaxies, solar systems and planets like our own. There are 10^11 (100 hundred billion) solar systems alone in the Milky Way Galaxy. The notion that life evolved from single cellular goo into technological sentient bipedal apes on just one planet, in the entire universe, is not only hubristic by down right improbable. It is foolish to discredit life in space when there are millions of species on land and in the water right here on Earth. The Drake’s equation - a probability equation of calculating intelligent life informs us that being alone is a mathematical absurdity. Even if most life does not pass the Great Filter - a test civilization needs to pass before interstellar travel - it is still rational to assume that a small percentage of civilizations should pass the test. If a civilization passes the test - it is also rational to assume they have an interest in exploring the universe. The notion of humanity alone in the infinite vastness of space is quite similar to our long held belief of Earth being at the center of the universe.
The Start
The Roswell Incident of 1947 was the hyperbole big bang of the UFO phenomenon. The story goes that a flying saucer with biological alien beings crashed near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. The conspiracy of Roswell emanated from a headline by the local newspaper, Roswell Daily Record, which read “RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch In Roswell Region”. This news clipping opened the Pandora’s box of conspiracy theories and cover-ups of retrieved flying saucer and alien beings by the U.S. Air Force. The U.S. Air Force officially stated that a weather balloon had crashed from the, then classified Project Mogul; where high-altitude balloons were being used to detect radiation from nuclear bombs by the Soviets. Another important part of the modern folklore is Area 51. Area 51 is a top-secret military base in Nevada adjacent to Groom Lake. Since WWII, Area 51 has been widely known as the testing grounds for cutting-edge U.S. Air Force aerospace technology. The U.S. Air Force might be working on disc-shaped fighter, stealth or experimental aircraft. Allegedly, the Nazis were making disc-shaped flying machines and Project Paperclip recruited German scientists to the then top secret U.S. Space Program. So, it’s not far fetched to assume that the U.S. Air Force has since made significant breakthroughs in the Nazi flying-saucer project. We all know how easily nuclear technology disseminated from the U.S. to Soviet Union and the rest of the world. So a disinformation campaign would actually be in the national interest of the U.S. government. The U.S. government would much rather prefer the world believe it has alien spaceships than ultra-high-speed-evasive aircraft.
The Two Scientists
The UFO debate like any interesting narrative attracts a diaspora of people; scientists, skeptics, believers, conspiracy theorists and debunkers. The two scientists with grounded research are - Dr. J. Allen Hynek an acclaimed astronomer linked to military projects for exploring the UFO phenomenon (Project Sign, Project Grudge and Project Blue Book) and his protégé Dr. Jacques Vallée a reputed computer scientist credited for the invention of Apranet a precursor to the Internet. Dr. J. Allen Hynek was hired by the US Air Force to discredit the phenomenon, which had become part of media frenzy in the 1950s but at the end of his storied career he himself became convinced by the data pertaining to 5% of UFO cases. Dr. J. Allen Hynek coined the term the Invisible College - a clandestine group of academic researchers studying the phenomenon in private to escape the stigma and ridicule associated with it. This was similar to Invisible College in England, which was created to study science in secrecy as the Church labeled it demonic in the 17th Century. Dr. Jacques Vallée has a multifaceted approach to the history of the phenomenon but his underlying thesis is that we are dealing with a sociological phenomenon as much as a physical one. Historian Yuval Noah Harari popularly stated - the success of our species predicates on our ability to organize and cooperate via abstract sociological narratives. Dr. Vallée in his book “Passport to Magonia” purports that our belief in UFO’s is similar to past held beliefs in the paranormal (ghosts, fairies, demons) and that the phenomenon reveals itself with the perpetuating beliefs of the era it operates in. Dr. Vallée believes the phenomenon is intelligent, trickster in nature and that it deceives us of its true nature and motives. Playing humans like a cat by a shoestring.
The Grounded Explaination
More plausaible explainations of the phenomenon could be: A) The power of folklore: Our persistent belief in ancient myths and ideologies with no evidence is a stark reminder of our ineptitude to observe reality squarely as it is. B) Misclassified natural phenomenon: The phenomenon can be explained much clearer by natural yet low probabilistic events like ball lightning, meteors or satellites in close Earth orbit. C) The hallucinatory nature of the brain: Manifested through lucid dreams and mental disorders like schizophrenia, which are often occupied with visual and auditory hallucinations. D) The potency of psychoactive drugs: Found in nature like Ayahuasca, Psilocybin and Cannabis, which allows users to have powerful psychoactive experiences quite, divorced from base reality. The crux of the matter is that we are pattern-seeking apes, if a natural phenomenon doesn’t match our pattern Rolodex we force a narrative or concoct one. Yet, I am open to the idea of an otherworldly presence amongst us unidentifiable or unexplainable. But even if the phenomenon is real, there is no way of measuring it. The limit of science is our scientific method. If something is unfalsifiable it is unscientific.
Conclusion
In recent times there have been hundreds of sightings reported by fighter pilots, commercial airline pilots, air-traffic controllers and radar technicians. As ridicule and reputation go hand-in-hand with the UFO subject, the sheer number of reports by these experts would imply something odd is flying through the air. Even if we dismiss 99% of the reports across the board. The remaining 1% would imply - unidentifiable activity from people who are paid to identify it. The UFO phenomenon is worth researching and would be absolved of the stigma if more credible and scientific minded people entered the field. It is highly probable that the U.S. Government possess proprietary aerospace technology, which at its core, not just state-of-the-art but truly revolutionary. The U.S. Government spends more money on black budget classified projects than any nation on Earth. So development of exotic technology by employing world-class scientists with limitless budget is not outside the realm of possibility. The surest way to keep the technology hidden would be, either deny its existence or use disinformation tactics and call it otherworldly.