Post by chillstar on Jan 22, 2024 21:57:52 GMT
Public's UFO obsession has experts, others sorting what's fact, what's fiction.
The stories of flying saucers, little green men, and contact with beings from across the cosmos have fascinated the public for centuries as people have wondered what's beyond our skies.
But over the last few decades, as science and mass media have expanded, the obsession with unidentified flying objects and possible extraterrestrial life has exploded.
From the fun, such as sightseeing tours of supposed UFO activity hotspots like Roswell, New Mexico, to the serious, with last year's tense congressional hearings on the subject, a lot of money, resources and time has been spent answering the question: "Are we alone?"
"There are people who will see things that are explainable, but they can't explain it. So to them, it's unidentified. Fine. Well, let's investigate it," famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson told "Impact x Nightline."
An episode of "Impact x Nightline" now streaming on Hulu takes a look at the cultural phenomenon behind UFOs and features interviews with scientists, UFO enthusiasts and people who claimed to have been abducted by aliens.
Margaret Weitekamp, the department chair of the National Air and Space Museum, told "Impact" that the phenomenon behind UFOs began in the 1940s and 1950s with the public obsession over flying saucers.
Arguably the most famous incident took place in the summer of 1947 when a rancher found wreckage, including metallic-looking scraps, on his property. This was around the same time that the U.S. Air Force began "Project Blue Book," an initiative to investigate UFO reports.
"What we know is probably that it was a weather balloon incident, but a lot of lore has risen up around that and around especially secure areas in the American West, where people then ask a lot of questions about what's really happening there," Weitekamp said.
The reports of the weather balloon did little to quell people's suspicions, experts said.
Reports of unidentified lights in the sky, aircraft and other unexplained events, particularly in the Southwest, exploded since the 1950s and turned the area into a pop culture phenomenon. Source (here)
After classified briefing Congressman Says UFOs May Be "Extradimensional" Angels. Source (here)
Footnotes: Things in the UFO/UAP field of studies, continue to heat up. Something's got to happen soon.
The stories of flying saucers, little green men, and contact with beings from across the cosmos have fascinated the public for centuries as people have wondered what's beyond our skies.
But over the last few decades, as science and mass media have expanded, the obsession with unidentified flying objects and possible extraterrestrial life has exploded.
From the fun, such as sightseeing tours of supposed UFO activity hotspots like Roswell, New Mexico, to the serious, with last year's tense congressional hearings on the subject, a lot of money, resources and time has been spent answering the question: "Are we alone?"
"There are people who will see things that are explainable, but they can't explain it. So to them, it's unidentified. Fine. Well, let's investigate it," famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson told "Impact x Nightline."
An episode of "Impact x Nightline" now streaming on Hulu takes a look at the cultural phenomenon behind UFOs and features interviews with scientists, UFO enthusiasts and people who claimed to have been abducted by aliens.
Margaret Weitekamp, the department chair of the National Air and Space Museum, told "Impact" that the phenomenon behind UFOs began in the 1940s and 1950s with the public obsession over flying saucers.
Arguably the most famous incident took place in the summer of 1947 when a rancher found wreckage, including metallic-looking scraps, on his property. This was around the same time that the U.S. Air Force began "Project Blue Book," an initiative to investigate UFO reports.
"What we know is probably that it was a weather balloon incident, but a lot of lore has risen up around that and around especially secure areas in the American West, where people then ask a lot of questions about what's really happening there," Weitekamp said.
The reports of the weather balloon did little to quell people's suspicions, experts said.
Reports of unidentified lights in the sky, aircraft and other unexplained events, particularly in the Southwest, exploded since the 1950s and turned the area into a pop culture phenomenon. Source (here)
After classified briefing Congressman Says UFOs May Be "Extradimensional" Angels. Source (here)
Footnotes: Things in the UFO/UAP field of studies, continue to heat up. Something's got to happen soon.