150 P H V SICS OF TIE IMPOSSIBLE
well-known flying saucer, showing windows and landing
pods, was actually a modified chicken feeder.
At least 95 percent of the sightings can be dismissed as one of the
above. But this still leaves open the question of the remaining few percent of unexplained cases. The most credible cases of UFOs involve
(a) multiple sightings by independent, credible eyewitnesses, and
(b) evidence from multiple sources, such as eyesight and radar. Such
reports are harder to dismiss, since they involve several independent
checks. For example, in 1986 there was a sighting of a UFO by JALFlight 1628 over Alaska, which was investigated by the FAA. The UFO
was seen by the passengers of the JAL flight and was also tracked by
ground radar. Similarly, there were mass radar sightings of black triangles over Belgium in 1989-90 that were tracked by NATO radar
and jet interceptors. In 1976 there was a sighting over Tehran, Iran,
that resulted in multiple systems failures in an F-4 jet interceptor, as
recorded in CIA documents.
What is frustrating to scientists is that, of the thousands of recorded
sightings, none has produced hard physical evidence that can lead to
reproducible results in the laboratory. No alien DNA, alien computer
chip, or physical evidence of an alien landing has ever been retrieved.
Assuming for the moment that such UFOs might be real spacecraft
rather than illusions, we might ask ourselves what kind of spacecraft
they would be. Here are some of the characteristics that have been
recorded by observers.
a. They are known to zigzag in midair.
b. They have been known to stop car ignitions and disrupt
electrical power as they pass by.
c. They hover silently in the air.
None of these characteristics fit the description of the rockets we
have developed on Earth. For example, all known rockets depend on
Newton's third law of motion (for every action, there is an equal and
opposite reaction); yet the UFOs cited do not seem to have any exhaust
well-known flying saucer, showing windows and landing
pods, was actually a modified chicken feeder.
At least 95 percent of the sightings can be dismissed as one of the
above. But this still leaves open the question of the remaining few percent of unexplained cases. The most credible cases of UFOs involve
(a) multiple sightings by independent, credible eyewitnesses, and
(b) evidence from multiple sources, such as eyesight and radar. Such
reports are harder to dismiss, since they involve several independent
checks. For example, in 1986 there was a sighting of a UFO by JALFlight 1628 over Alaska, which was investigated by the FAA. The UFO
was seen by the passengers of the JAL flight and was also tracked by
ground radar. Similarly, there were mass radar sightings of black triangles over Belgium in 1989-90 that were tracked by NATO radar
and jet interceptors. In 1976 there was a sighting over Tehran, Iran,
that resulted in multiple systems failures in an F-4 jet interceptor, as
recorded in CIA documents.
What is frustrating to scientists is that, of the thousands of recorded
sightings, none has produced hard physical evidence that can lead to
reproducible results in the laboratory. No alien DNA, alien computer
chip, or physical evidence of an alien landing has ever been retrieved.
Assuming for the moment that such UFOs might be real spacecraft
rather than illusions, we might ask ourselves what kind of spacecraft
they would be. Here are some of the characteristics that have been
recorded by observers.
a. They are known to zigzag in midair.
b. They have been known to stop car ignitions and disrupt
electrical power as they pass by.
c. They hover silently in the air.
None of these characteristics fit the description of the rockets we
have developed on Earth. For example, all known rockets depend on
Newton's third law of motion (for every action, there is an equal and
opposite reaction); yet the UFOs cited do not seem to have any exhaust