EXTRRTERHESTRIHLS AND UFOS
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2. Swamp gas. During a temperature inversion over a
swampy area, gas will hover over the ground and can become slightly incandescent. Smaller pockets of gas might
separate from a larger pocket, giving the impression that
scout ships are leaving the "mother ship."
3. Meteors. Bright streaks of light can travel across the
night sky in a matter of seconds, giving the illusion of a piloted ship. They can also break up, again giving the illusion
of scout ships leaving the mother ship.
4. Atmospheric anomalies. There are all sorts of lightning storms and unusual atmospheric events that can illuminate the sky in strange ways, giving the illusion of a UFO.
In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries the following phenom
might also generate UFO sightings:
1. Radar echoes. Radar waves can bounce off mountains
and create echoes, which can be picked up by radar monitors. Such waves even appear to zigzag and fly at enormous
velocities on a radar screen, because they are just echoes.
2. Weather and research balloons. The military claims, in
a controversial report, that the famous rumor of a 1947 alien
crash at Roswell, New Mexico, was caused by an errant balloon from Project Mogul, a top-secret project to monitor
radiation levels in the atmosphere in case nuclear war
broke out.
3. Aircraft. Commercial and military aircraft have been
known to set off UFO reports. This is particularly true of test
flights by advanced experimental aircraft, such as the
stealth bomber. (The U.S. military actually encouraged stories of flying saucers in order to deflect attention away from
its top-secret projects.)
4. Deliberate hoaxes. Some of the most famous pictures
that claim to capture flying saucers are actually hoaxes. One
i
2. Swamp gas. During a temperature inversion over a
swampy area, gas will hover over the ground and can become slightly incandescent. Smaller pockets of gas might
separate from a larger pocket, giving the impression that
scout ships are leaving the "mother ship."
3. Meteors. Bright streaks of light can travel across the
night sky in a matter of seconds, giving the illusion of a piloted ship. They can also break up, again giving the illusion
of scout ships leaving the mother ship.
4. Atmospheric anomalies. There are all sorts of lightning storms and unusual atmospheric events that can illuminate the sky in strange ways, giving the illusion of a UFO.
In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries the following phenom
might also generate UFO sightings:
1. Radar echoes. Radar waves can bounce off mountains
and create echoes, which can be picked up by radar monitors. Such waves even appear to zigzag and fly at enormous
velocities on a radar screen, because they are just echoes.
2. Weather and research balloons. The military claims, in
a controversial report, that the famous rumor of a 1947 alien
crash at Roswell, New Mexico, was caused by an errant balloon from Project Mogul, a top-secret project to monitor
radiation levels in the atmosphere in case nuclear war
broke out.
3. Aircraft. Commercial and military aircraft have been
known to set off UFO reports. This is particularly true of test
flights by advanced experimental aircraft, such as the
stealth bomber. (The U.S. military actually encouraged stories of flying saucers in order to deflect attention away from
its top-secret projects.)
4. Deliberate hoaxes. Some of the most famous pictures
that claim to capture flying saucers are actually hoaxes. One