by Lauren Hondroulis
Alien sightings have been a worldwide phenomenon since the beginning of the 20th century. Even ancient records have accounts of strange shapes and lights in the sky that were interpreted as visitors from unknown lands. People who accept that extraterrestrial beings have come to Earth are not limited to a specific group of individuals. About half of Americans believe in aliens according to the Huffington Post, but about one third believe that these beings have made it to our planet. There is an excess of information about potential alien sightings all over the media of today. Both the internet and television have aided the spread of extraterrestrial news to the masses. Many conspiracies have been created on this topic and these are readily available to the public which has made it popular and remain popular throughout the decades. These alien and UFO ideas are important to our world because they help us to hypothesize about what is beyond our planet and how it could impact us. Since this belief is not falsifiable and hard to research, it is one of extraordinary origin.
There has been a lot of compelling information in popular media regarding UFO sightings. Many people who believe that aliens have visited Earth use Roswell, Area 51, and Project Blue Book as evidence to back up their opinions. The 1947 incident in Roswell seemed to have made a lot of Americans true believers after a reported flying disk crash landed into a field. After another press release, it was stated that only a weather balloon was recovered which led people to assume that the government is hiding the specimen and their potential passengers in an unknown location. Unfortunately, this information is difficult to find concrete evidence about, but simultaneously it cannot be proven false. It is because of this that the visitation from extraterrestrial life has been a long debated topic that has fed numerous conspiracies.
There are many reasonable explanations for the objects that are labeled as UFOs throughout history. Given that most of the sightings occur at night, human eyes are not always reliable. It is easy to misidentify something in the dark, as depth perception and visual cues are not clear. Individuals can see shapes where there are none while the brain interprets different objects into one through the process of closure. In low light it is also easy to mistake the distance an object is from you. People have reported to see enormous objects dancing through the sky, when in reality the entity is right in front of their face. It is a combination of these visual errors combined with past experiences such as movies or television shows that can lead people to label the peculiar as alien doing.
Though there is a lack of evidence to show that aliens have actually paid earth a visit, the belief remains strong in our society. This may be due to its deeply rooted presence in our popular culture. Countless alien movies have topped the box offices and people are constantly being exposed to the idea of UFOs and abduction. Believers will continue to believe as long as this concept stays in the minds of American citizens. The mystery surrounding area 51 and its conspiracies fuel the thoughts of everyday people because the unknown can be very tantalizing.
Many people are very susceptible to suggestion, especially when it involves the seemingly impossible. The urge to believe combined with visual tricks, can make average items turn extraordinary. This has kept aliens at the forefront of the science fiction world and helped perpetuate countless theories and investigations into the unknown.
Sources
www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-survey-shows-nearly-half-of-americans-believe-in_us_59824c11e4b03d0624b0abe4.
https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/19/us/ufo-sightings-history/index.html
I think its interesting how in the last paragraph you stated that many people are susceptible to the seemingly impossible. I think this goes back to theme with all of the blogs that suggest that humans have an inane reason to try to explain the impossible. Along with all of the scientific evidence that suggest that aliens are indeed not real, it is easy to make the impossible unfalsifiable, therefore, letting people still have faith that aliens could be real.
I enjoyed reading your post since alien abductions and UFO sightings has always been an interest of mine. It seems insane that people would believe things like this with such little evidence. It is one thing to believe in aliens or another form of life in the galaxy somewhere, but it is another thing to think that this alternative form of life is spying on and abducting humans. I like how you pointed out the possible mechanisms at play in these sightings, such as errors in visual cues and perception. I also agree with you that the media plays a large role and shapes how society views aliens.
I think aliens and UFO’s are incredibly interesting topics to think about! I definitely believe that there are life forms on other planets somewhere out there in the galaxy, but I do have trouble believing that any aliens have attempted to interact with humans or that UFOs have flown over earth or landed here. I think you’re definitely right that people are just perceiving ambiguous things in the sky as UFOs because of the visual errors and lack of depth perception at night time.
Fantastic topic choice! I thought our blog would be full of alien posts! They are surely the most fun supernatural topic in pop culture. I really hope that the 1/3 of Americans believing that aliens have visited earth is an incorrect number, but people never cease to surprise me. UFO’s by definition are going to be ambiguous. The fact that they are usually seen as “some distant light in the sky” just shows you that you can never be sure what you are seeing. Sure it could be a UFO, but it’s more likely a plane, or a planet, or a light. You can’t judge distance at night very well, you can’t be sure what you’re seeing, why jump to aliens?
I think that the reason people so quickly jump to extra terrestrial conclusions is because they want to believe that we are not alone in this galaxy. Alien belief systems are unique because rather than being fueled by some ulterior motive, people almost force themselves to accept this magical idea to cover up their fear of the unknown. I think that there is also a divide between those who trust beings must exist outside of our planet, and those who think we have already come in contact with them.
I feel like the reasoning of knowing that there is likely other life on the universe than just on earth, combined with seeing weird things fly in the sky, it can be pretty easy to believe that it is a UFO with aliens in it. I know some people even believe that there are aliens among us, which I find hard to believe. The human imagination can be powerful.
This is such an interesting topic and one that many people believe. From what we have learned in class, I can see why people may be skeptical of some of the UFOs that people report seeing in the sky. I think the media definitely plays a part in people thinking there could be such a thing as aliens in these UFOs. I also find it interesting that so many people believe in aliens without having and proof of their existence.