NASA Creates Team To Study UFOs (cnn.com) 62
NASA is putting a team together to study unidentified aerial phenomena, popularly known as UFOs, the US space agency said Thursday. From a report: The team will gather data on "events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena -- from a scientific perspective," the agency said. NASA said it was interested in UAPs from a security and safety perspective. There was no evidence UAPs are extraterrestrial in origin, NASA added. The study is expected to take nine months. "NASA believes that the tools of scientific discovery are powerful and apply here also," said Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. "We have access to a broad range of observations of Earth from space -- and that is the lifeblood of scientific inquiry. We have the tools and team who can help us improve our understanding of the unknown. That's the very definition of what science is. That's what we do."
Mulder and Scully (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
I used to build and fly UFOs with a bunch of friends. In the late 90s the show Sighting got me to make and fly one for their show.
But let me mention a couple of UFO stories I was not involved in. One of the people I knew in college and some of his high school friends did a long series of jokes.
. . . stunt they did was to some night watchman. They had timed his rounds. A couple of hours before he was due to come by, they put out a couple of aluminum shoe-shaped cutouts on a patch of asphalt. They then set
All click bait all the time. (Score:2)
Science! (Score:1)
The team will gather data on "events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena -- from a scientific perspective"
Well then, it's easy. Just start by asking the simplest and most obvious questions - where are these things coming from and where do they go after we see them?
At that point you realize --we don't know what these things are, but we do know what they are NOT. They are NOT alien space craft. Unless, of course, you believe that aliens are going to spend thousands of years traveling enormous distances, just so they zoom past the earth for a few seconds.
In that case, you're just stupid.
Re:Science! (Score:4, Insightful)
The believers don't base their beliefs on evidence and reason so no amount of evidence or reason will change those beliefs.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
That said. . .
There's no evidence, until we're holding one of these things in our hands or getting flight-path data outside of the 'zip-in, zip-out' shit we're seeing, to indicate ANY source for them. So saying, in sincere belief, that these are "not" alien in origin, is just as asinine as saying, in sincere belief, that they "are" alien in origin. Right now the question hangs out there waiting for evidence either direction.
I don't believe they are alien, but believe and have evidence for are two different
Re: (Score:2)
So saying, in sincere belief, that these are "not" alien in origin, is just as asinine as saying, in sincere belief, that they "are" alien in origin. Right now the question hangs out there waiting for evidence either direction.
Oh, that's complete BS... Said like a real preacher that say God is real because we cannot prove it doesn't exist.
There's no fucking reason for Alien to hide from us, grow up give it up and stop believing the earth is flat ffs.
Re: (Score:3)
Here's a possible reason - it's against the law where they come from to screw around in the atmosphere of "primitives".
But, grad students being grad students, alien grad students WILL come up with justifications for doing things just to get their PhD's.
Re: (Score:2)
There's no fucking reason for Alien to hide from us
One obvious reason is that you never interact with
something that you are studying, in case you corrupt the
data. So, if aliens think of us as zoo exhibits, they will watch but
not get involved.
Now why they would find us that interesting is another matter.
Probably some alien PhD student desperate for a thesis
topic.
Re: (Score:2)
So saying, in sincere belief, that these are "not" alien in origin, is just as asinine as saying, in sincere belief, that they "are" alien in origin.
True... but if we have to assign a probability to each of those it won't be 50:50.
It won't even be 100:1. The chances of it being alien visitors is very very very small.
Re: (Score:2)
So saying, in sincere belief, that these are "not" alien in origin, is just as asinine as saying, in sincere belief, that they "are" alien in origin.
True... but if we have to assign a probability to each of those it won't be 50:50.
It won't even be 100:1. The chances of it being alien visitors is very very very small.
Also true. But if the question is evidence based truth? Neither "side" of this debate yet has a leg to stand on.
Re: (Score:2)
The chances of it being alien visitors is very very very small.
And you base that on what, given that you have absolutely
no evidence available one way or the other?
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
In the same sense that there is no evidence for a non-alien origin for these objects, there is no evidence that the sun is coming up tomorrow. Is it asinine to say the sun is coming up tomorrow?
Re: (Score:2)
One is unknown because there's no evidence either way. The other is something we have seen repeated a million times, quite literally more than a million times, throughout human history. One seems slightly more realistically based on evidence than the other. But sure, let's keep those minds closed as much as possible. Something that's never been proven with evidence can never and will be proven with evidence. Science!
I think your hang-up here is that there's a difference between thinking in terms of scientif
Re: (Score:2)
Sadly it looks like you are mixing up aliens with UFO's, there are plenty of cases on UFO's bing recorded backed by the best data capture we have available, Camera, Radar and eye witness, and all the usual phenomenon has been considered in ways to explain what they may be and we are left with unexplained flying objects - not aliens.
Re: (Score:1)
That sure is a broad statement, but one that goes both ways.
Re: (Score:1)
Or, of course, if you believe that aliens with advanced spacecraft might have developed some sort of technology making extremely fast travel a reality, so they can travel enormous distances without taking thousands of years to do it.
I don't think that's likely, but why rule it out entirely? If such a technology existed, wouldn't you want to know about it and possibly figure out how to use it?
Re: Im Certain (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
But on the other hand, we have most likely seen the "Great Filter". In the mirror.
Re: Im Certain (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Or, of course, if you believe that aliens with advanced spacecraft might have developed some sort of technology making extremely fast travel a reality, so they can travel enormous distances without taking thousands of years to do it.
I would put part of the blame on popular scifi entertainment for blurring the two fundamental problems involved:
1) The physical impossibility of faster-than-light travel. Even traveling at light speed is not really practical - for one thing, it would required infinite energy.
2) The vast, vast distances involved. Alpha Centauri is the nearest star to our sun, and it is over 4 light years away. The nearest known exoplanet, Proxima Centauri b, likewise - but there are major problems involved with that planet.
Re: (Score:1)
Stuff like intergalactic travel is fun in the movies but not very practical in reality.
Not very practical in what we believe to be reality, using what we understand to be the laws of physics.
I don't really believe there are aliens out there sending spacecraft to mess around in our atmosphere, but at the same time, it's interesting to ponder the questions about "what if our understanding of reality isn't accurate?"
My high school biology teacher (way too long ago...) liked to say "be open to anything, but be
Re: (Score:2)
Nothing in the summary said they were looking for LGM, and there was at least one statement explicit about not doing that. Save your alien rant for a story about aliens.
Re: (Score:3)
... aliens might if it satisfies their culture's need to flergolathe the wumpophatz, which are concepts we just can't understand
Narfel the Garthok?!?
So, you think the UFOs are from France ?
Re: (Score:2)
1. are they manned vessels? Maybe they collect data and send it back autonomously?
2. do they spend thousands of years in travel? DO you have evidence that supports this assertion?
3. are you certain these UFO are flown by naturalized citizens of your country?
Re: (Score:1)
They were already here.
Re:Science! (Score:4, Funny)
I heard there is a Hyperspace Bypass going up somewhere here, so maybe they are just buzzing by.
Re: (Score:1)
I heard there is a Hyperspace Bypass going up somewhere here, so maybe they are just buzzing by.
"There’s no point in acting surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for 50 of your Earth years..."
Re: (Score:2)
At that point you realize --we don't know what these things are, but we do know what they are NOT. They are NOT alien space craft. Unless, of course, you believe that aliens are going to spend thousands of years traveling enormous distances, just so they zoom past the earth for a few seconds.
Plus they gravitate towards ill educated rednecks for some reason.
Re: (Score:2)
The only unique elements we have in this planet are the living beings and the media.
The living beings are probably completely useless for a space faring civilization, but the media, it always have some value, which means if we get any sort of alien activity is probably mass space piracy.
And there's absolutely nothing MPAA, RIAA, or the software publishers can do to stop em, as they probably have thousands of years if not more in experience at defeating any sort of protection.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
No, the first question is, are these things things? That is, are the images, nearly all of which are computer generated interpretations of some kind of input, really images of objects? Or are they some kind of artifact of the computing system, or optical (etc.) illusions, or something else that is not a real object? As an example of a possible non-object, suppose the video of a single object moving fast is actually a sequence of images of a thousand different tiny objects (like drones) strung out in a li
The best Ufologists the US has to offer (Score:5, Funny)
Some of them work from home, some from the asylum.
Why in the world (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
would they waste money to do this? As of today, I have not see any evidence of UFO's. Can someone show something that could change my mind???
Proof: Nicolas Cage
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Why in the world (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not a waste of money. You see, it is a well known management principle that the more people you manage, and the larger your budget, the bigger your dick is. NASA is hoping to harvest Big Dick Energy to power their next generation of spacecraft, so they must increase the dick size of their senior managers. And that means getting more money from congress. Thankfully, congress knows that, although UFOs aren't real, they make a good distraction while politicians and their CEO buddies pick your pockets. And thus, everyone is happy. Except the taxpayer footing the bill for all this, but they hardly matter.
Re: (Score:2)
Glad I did a page search for budget before my planned post to basically say what you just did. +1 to you.
Re: Beautiful little planet. (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Whether they're LGMs (which could disrupt aerospace activities), optical phenomena (which could confuse, disorient or just distract pilots), or some weird weather phenomena (which could confuse both pilots and flight measurement systems), that puts UAPs in NASA's domain.
Of course, there could be multiple phenomena producing different types of UAPs. Which still justifies some degree of e
Re: (Score:2)
The UFO Phenomenon [hulu.com] on Hulu is on the best documentaries around.
--
#JusticeForActman [kym-cdn.com]
Interesting timeframe (Score:2)
I look forward to the delivery.
Every single legit UFO vid I've ever seen (Score:5, Insightful)
Especially the whole flashing "multiple triangle" video. I simply laughed out loud when I saw that. UFO? Come on people. It's multiple reflections of some flashing LED. Just figure out what indicator is turning on and off at the observed 0.8 Hz frequency, and go home for dinner. The triangular shape can be caused by a dozen different things.
Re: (Score:2)
IIRC that one was the lights of a 737 that was out of focus, in a night-vision scope that has a three-bladed iris. The flashing pattern kind of gave it away, you can see the same pattern in the sky at nearly any time if you live near an airport.
I am also sorely disappointed at the lack of convincing UFO videos. One of the Air Force super legitimate UFO videos was literally a weather balloon. I would love for extraterrestrial visitors to be real but it seems the better our video technology gets the more obvi
Government coverup (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
UAP makes much more sense.
Re: (Score:2)
No it does not, any more than something freely moving about in water means that it is necessarily "swimming".
Smoke does not fly, for instance.
Seems reasonable to me. (Score:2)
Names, ready, set, Go! (Score:2)
Awesome. Let the interpretations commence! (Score:2)
Some people listened to somebody in government say, "Yeah, that happened, but we don't know it actually was..." and heard, "We're the government, and we declare that aliens are here!" Those same people can now say, "NASA has declared aliens are real!"
Looking at things for which a current explanation does not exist is a great idea. More of that please.
Cmon NASA (Score:1)
Burden of proof (Score:1)
Now that the Pentagon was forced to release the leaked navy videos of UAP's (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon they call them), the burden of proof is on the Pentagon to prove that they are NOT of alien origin. Oh. how the turns have tabled! The world is still patiently awaiting the Pentagon's official answers.
Re: (Score:2)
Huh? Why does the burden of proof cut that way? All we have is a bunch of blurry images of who knows what, and the Pentagon has to prove they're not aliens? I don't see why the burden of proof isn't the other way around.
Satellite based Radar (Score:1)
Why such a waste? (Score:2)