Ufology

Template:Ufo Template:Paranormal Ufology, sometimes written UFOlogy (Template:IPAc-en or Template:IPAc-en),<ref>https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/ufology</ref> 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).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> 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

Ufology is a neologism derived from UFO (a term apparently coined by Edward J. Ruppelt),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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)<ref>Sanderson, Ivan T. "An Introduction to Ufology." Fantastic Universe. Feb. 1957: 27–34. Print.</ref> and a 1958 presentation for the UFO "research organization" The Planetary Center.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Historical background

File:Ghost rocket search July 1946.jpg

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.<ref name="brake">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Media attention to the Arnold sighting helped publicize the concept of flying saucers.<ref>Denzler (2003), p. 9</ref>

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.<ref name="brake"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Government-sponsored, UFO-related activities in other countries, including the United Kingdom,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Canada,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Denmark,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Italy,<ref>Italian Air Force UFO site (in Italian)</ref> and Sweden<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> also ended. An exception to this trend is France, which maintains the GEIPAN<ref>GEIPAN stands for Groupe d'Études et d'Informations sur les Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés ("unidentified aerospace phenomenon research and information group").</ref> 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.<ref name="NYT-20230914">Template:Cite news</ref>

As a field

Status as a pseudoscience

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} 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,<ref name="ufos">Template:Cite journal</ref> being often included on lists of topics characterized as pseudoscience as either a partial<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> or total<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":12">Template:Cite book</ref> pseudoscience.<ref name="Shermer2002">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="saf">Template:Scientific American Frontiers</ref><ref name="astropacific">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="iowa">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="UFO_NSF">Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Some writers have identified social factors that contribute to the status of ufology as a pseudoscience,<ref>Feist (2006), pp. 219–20</ref><ref name="10.1177/0963662515617706">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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".<ref name="10.1177/0963662515617706"/> 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".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Current interest

Template:Expand section In 2021, astronomer Avi Loeb launched The Galileo Project<ref name="SA-20210919">Template:Cite news</ref> which intends to collect and report scientific evidence of extraterrestrials or extraterrestrial technology on or near Earth via telescopic observations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="AAPC22">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="978-1-5275-7925-5">Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2023, the RAND Corporation published a study reviewing 101,151 public reports of UAP sightings in the United States from 1998 to 2022.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref> 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

Although some ufologists (e.g., Peter A. Sturrock) have proposed explicit methodological activities for the investigation of UFOs,<ref>Sturrock (2000) p. 163</ref> scientific UFO research is challenged by the facts that the phenomena are spatially and temporally unpredictable, are not reproducible, and lack tangible physicality.<ref name="Denzler 2003, pp. 35">Denzler (2003), p. 35</ref><ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> That most UFO sightings have mundane explanations<ref name="skep">Markovsky B., "UFOs", in The Skeptic's Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, edited by Michael Shermer, 2002 Skeptics Society, p. 260</ref> 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."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

File:Allen Hynek Jacques Vallee 1.jpg

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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="tumminia">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Unreliable source?

Phenomena linked to ufology

In addition to UFO sightings, certain supposedly related phenomena are of interest to some ufologists, including crop circles,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> cattle mutilations,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> anomalous materials,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="10.1016/j.paerosci.2021.100788">Template:Cite journal</ref> alien abductions and implants.<ref>Denzler (2003), p. 239</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Some ufologists have also promoted UFO conspiracy theories, including the Roswell Incident of 1947,<ref name=Skeptoid>Template:Skeptoid</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the Majestic 12 documents,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and UFO disclosure advocates.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Skeptic Robert Sheaffer has accused ufology of having a "credulity explosion,"<ref name="skepticalperspective">Sheaffer, Robert. "A Skeptical Perspective on UFO Abductions". In: Pritchard, Andrea & Pritchard, David E. & Mack, John E. & Kasey, Pam & Yapp, Claudia. Alien Discussions: Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference. Cambridge: North Cambridge Press. pp. 382–388.</ref> 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."<ref name="skepticalperspective"/> The physicist James E. McDonald also identified "cultism" and "extreme...subgroups" as negatively impacting ufology.<ref name ="McDonald">McDonald (1968)</ref>

In Posadism

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>Steven, John Sandor (2006). Permanent Revolution on the Altiplano: Bolivian Trotskyism. Ann Arbor, Michigan: ProQuest Information and Learning Company, p. 314.</ref>

Governmental and private ufology studies

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,<ref name="kocher">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Harvey Rutledge of the University of Missouri from 1973 to 1980,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and the National Press Club's Disclosure Project in 2001.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Additionally, the United Nations from 1977 to 1979 sponsored meetings and hearings concerning UFO sightings.<ref>A/DEC/32/424 Template:Webarchive UNBISnet- United Nations Bibliographic Information System, Dag Hammarskjöld Library (Retrieved May 4, 2010)</ref><ref>A/DEC/33/426 Template:Webarchive, UNBISnet (Retrieved May 4, 2010)</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

UFO organizations and events

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."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The day's events include group gatherings to search for and observe UFOs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• Identification studies of UFOs
• Extraterrestrial hypothesis
• Psychosocial hypothesis
• Interdimensional hypothesis
• Time-traveler hypothesis
• Cryptoterrestrial UFO hypothesis
• Fringe science
• List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
• List of reported UFO sightings
• List of Ufologists
• Close encounters
• The Phenomenon (2020 film)
• UFOs in fiction
• UFO religion

Further reading

Academic books about ufology as a sociological and historical phenomenon

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Pro-ufology

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Skeptical opinions

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Ufology studies

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External links

• Ufology News
• Center for UFO Studies
• Mutual UFO Network
• National UFO Reporting Center
• Groupe d'Études et d'Informations sur les Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés
• British UFO Research Association
• Committee for Skeptical Inquiry UFO resources Template:Webarchive