| What comes to mind when someone talks | | | | our language, in our experiences and in |
| about a UFO? Do you think about the | | | | novels, television programming and |
| cover of a science fiction novel and the | | | | films. How common is it for people to |
| image of mysterious bluish lights | | | | see a UFO? |
| beaming down from it? Do you think about | | | | It's hard to say, really, because many |
| a time when you were out late at night | | | | people who see an unidentified flying |
| and you saw a flash of light, wondered | | | | object in the sky are reluctant to |
| what it was only to realize a moment | | | | report it. Either the person who saw a |
| later that what you saw wasn't a UFO - | | | | UFO believes that there is a far more |
| it was just the lights of a plane that | | | | logical explanation or merely thinks |
| was beginning its descent. Do you think | | | | that no one would believe them if they |
| of movies, or little green men, | | | | were to say anything about it. And yet, |
| cartoons, or do you just turn away | | | | there are UFO sightings that are shared |
| shaking your head? | | | | and that become the topic of conspiracy |
| A lot of people discuss UFOs as flying | | | | theories by those who believe that |
| saucers - it seems to be the best | | | | beings from other planets and galaxies |
| description that they can come up with. | | | | have visited the earth. |
| Others suggest, rather dismissively, | | | | One such incident occurred in 1980 in |
| that UFO simply means unidentified | | | | Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk, England. |
| flying object and that the light that | | | | Those who saw the UFO all claimed to |
| someone saw flashing in the sky was | | | | have seen flashing lights coming from an |
| either a plane, a helicopter or a | | | | unidentified flying object that was |
| reflection of light off of a cell phone | | | | descending towards the woods - a UFO |
| tower or another metal object. | | | | that was roughly the size of a car and |
| Reflections of light from a cell phone | | | | seemed to float on a beam of light. |
| tower do little to explain away | | | | After reports were made about the |
| "mysterious materials" found in Roswell, | | | | object, it was discovered that trees |
| New Mexico in the late 1940s. While the | | | | were damaged, radio frequencies became |
| United States military has always stood | | | | nothing but static and soil samples |
| their ground that these materials were | | | | later showed radioactive activity. |
| merely fragments of a research balloon, | | | | Similarly, in Gulf Breeze, Florida in |
| a top secret test that ended badly, | | | | 1987 tales of a UFO began to circulate |
| others offer another explanation. They | | | | when a man saw a strange light coming |
| assert that the materials were fragments | | | | from his lawn. When he saw the flying |
| of a UFO, an alien craft that crashed | | | | saucer, he grabbed a camera and started |
| rather than safely landing. They believe | | | | shooting photos as proof of what he had |
| that the "flying disc" - as it was | | | | seen. Of course, in this situation, the |
| called by military personnel - that was | | | | story was not just of a UFO sighting, |
| recovered could not be something from | | | | but about repeated experiences and of |
| this world, and so began one of the most | | | | the man's being beamed up onto the |
| talked about UFO encounters in the | | | | craft. |
| world. | | | | Though discussions of these UFO |
| Many who believe that the UFO in | | | | sightings continue, and there has been |
| Roswell, New Mexico deserved more | | | | audio recordings and photo |
| attention than it was being given, | | | | documentation, it is still difficult to |
| believe that it wasn't something that | | | | know whether or not the unidentified |
| could just be dismissed. In part, this | | | | flying objects were indeed from space. |
| is likely to have something to do with | | | | Many claimed, in regard to the Gulf |
| other stories surrounding the flying | | | | Breeze, Florida UFO sightings, that the |
| saucer. A farmer talked about having | | | | man had manipulated the photographs and |
| found materials miles away from Roswell, | | | | fabricated the story. |
| and the story was picked up by | | | | In each case, both sides - the believers |
| newspapers, accompanied by photos of the | | | | and the skeptics - find evidence to |
| strange find - strips of rubber, | | | | support their claims. Those who believe |
| something like aluminum foil, sticks. | | | | in UFOs and alien visitations cite facts |
| It's a story that has gained so much | | | | that they claim cannot otherwise be |
| attention around the world that it has | | | | explained. Those who are skeptical offer |
| influenced many people's sense of alien | | | | their own explanations along with their |
| life and alien visitations to earth. | | | | own supporting evidence. Which side is |
| If the Roswell, New Mexico story had | | | | right? For now, that's up to you to |
| never become so widespread, UFO and | | | | decide. |
| flying saucer may not be so common in | | | | |