UFOs : A Scientist Explains What We Know (and Don't Know)

The book begins with a chronological historic overview of some of the more interesting UFO sighting reports. This provides a background on famous UFO sightings to any reader new to the subject. The second chapter discusses how sighting reports are investigated, the strengths and weaknesses of UFO reports, UFO flaps, and ways to determine which UFO sightings are more likely actual events. It also discusses anecdotal reports and how we deal with anecdotal reports in day-to-day life. Sometimes we accept them and sometimes we don't. The next three chapters deal with the strangeness of the phenomenon: light that bends, objects that tumble through the sky, extreme acceleration, and high speeds without friction or a sonic boom. These chapters lead to the seventh chapter, which discussed how we as a society react to the personal sighting reports of the phenomenon. The book examines the impact on the witness, the media, the public, the military and government, and the scientific community. Chapter 8 discusses our recent change in attitude towards UFOs as compared to the past, and the why behind that change. It also looks at how we've changed the term UFO to UAP as a way to reduce the stigma around the reporting of unknown objects in our skies. Chapter 9 examines the challenges for academia. There are problems with obtaining information from the military and the need for academia to collect their own data. The repeatability of experimentation is discussed and the question of how you scientifically study another living entity that is potentially hundreds of years more advanced. Can we really do a properly controlled scientific analysis if we're not in control? Chapter 10 looks at what the author considers the most likely hypothesis to explain UAP: The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis. The closing chapter argues for Congress to take the lead by providing specific funding for UAP research by NASA, academia, and other scientific bodies. It concludes with Star Trek as an analogy of how a side benefit of studying UAP are the ways it might push us towards being a better species.

• | Author: Robert Powell
• | Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated
• | Publication Date: Apr 02, 2024
• | Number of Pages: NA pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Hardcover
• | ISBN-10: 1538173581
• | ISBN-13: 9781538173589