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At What Age Did You Become Interested in UFOs?

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hi all, am a newbie here. i am currently residing in germany and i had been fascinated by the whole topic of ufos eversince 1990. i was 11 then and was in belgium. The Belgium flap was the one responsible for kindling my interest in ufo related mysteries. That time it was all over newspapers, radio and television. i tend to read a lot of stuff about ufos in my free time. as far as sourcing goes, i tend to agree with Vallee's ideas!
 
When people ask me what is the best ufo case (a question I don't care for btw) the Belgian triangle cases always come to mind. That craft has been seen, photographed and video taped all over the place, not just Belgium. I just refer to it as such because of it's popular association with the 89-90 "flap". Have to give it a name I guess.
 
When I first read Stranger in a Strange Land - I think I was about 12. :) Newbie here as well although Ive been listening to the podcast almost since the beginning. Thumbs up to the hosts for their lucidity and skepticism - keep yanking the chains of all the wackos who make us look bad.
 
Hmmm.... An interesting question.

I'm 51 now, and as far as I can recall, I have always accepted that there were intelligent beings elsewhere in the universe. My first thoughts on what would happen if we ever encountered them was when I first saw the Daleks on Dr Who (probably about 1963/4). I would only have been 6/7 years old and that was not a pleasant experience for me at all. On the other hand, that unpleasant experience has made me naturally wary (afraid is too strong a word).

As far as a specific interest in UFOs is concerned, I became very alarmed when I saw the footage from Mexico City in 1996 (now regarded as a hoax). All sorts of worries came into my head about it. I had two young children and worried about what was going to happen to them. So I started investigating the phenomena.

My interest in the subject has contributed greatly on how I perceive life, the universe and everything (excuse the quote). My thoughts (beliefs) have now become so bizarre that I don't actually tell people what I believe, in the case the Men In White coats come to lock me up in a lunatic asylum.

I don't imagine that I would voluntarily approach an alien should the situation ever arise. I would be off in the other direction as quickly as possible.

Woody
 
Same here.

I honestly can't remember when I got interested in the subject. Had to be in my youth, but I really don't know.

Geeze. You think they zapped that from me too? :eek:
 
I became interested in UFOs when I was 12. I grew up in a part of Wales which became dubbed the Welsh Triangle, due to the large number of UFO sightings that occurred there during the mid and late 1970's. Although there were a number of pranksters operating in the area, dressing up as aliens and leaping out of bushes at people, this nonsense only began after a series of UFO reports. One UFO apparently landed next to a primary school - the pupils were all aged 4-11. Dozens of pupils witnessed it, as well as some of the teachers. Immediately after the sighting, the kids were sent to separate desks to draw pictures of what they saw. All the images produced were very similar. Plus there were some other very credible sightings. At the age of 12, I also saw a very weird object over the field behind my house - which is where my interest began.
 
Siani said:
I became interested in UFOs when I was 12. I grew up in a part of Wales which became dubbed the Welsh Triangle, due to the large number of UFO sightings that occurred there during the mid and late 1970's. Although there were a number of pranksters operating in the area, dressing up as aliens and leaping out of bushes at people, this nonsense only began after a series of UFO reports. One UFO apparently landed next to a primary school - the pupils were all aged 4-11. Dozens of pupils witnessed it, as well as some of the teachers. Immediately after the sighting, the kids were sent to separate desks to draw pictures of what they saw. All the images produced were very similar. Plus there were some other very credible sightings. At the age of 12, I also saw a very weird object over the field behind my house - which is where my interest began.
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Oh my good god ... so did I :-D

I went to primary school in Herbrandston (not that many miles from Broad Haven where I think the landing at the primary school happened) ... and I saw something strange in the sky myself during a lunch break ... as did a number of other kids (strange swirly lights, nothing structured, might have been an atmospheric phenomenon of some kind) ... which was what made me interested in the whole UFO field.

The school bully in our school apparently had a close encounter of the very very close kind when he almost bumped into a very tall humanoid who was wearing a silver suit of some kind on a country lane. Since heard a rumour though, that there was a guy who decided to freak people out by walking around the area in a suit used for high temperatures fires and the such like. Haven't had confirmation of that yet though.

A book was written about it around about that time ... guess my parents might have it somewhere still (they keep everything, and call me a hoarder :-D) in their wee house in Wales.
 
I have a couple of books on the Welsh Triangle, including The Uninvited, which I think is about the events at Ripperston Farm. A guy called Glyn Edwards confessed a few years ago to being the silver-suited alien:

The Secret Files The Welsh Triangle

Pranksters aside, I'm convinced that the kids at the Broad Haven school definitely saw something unusual. I grew up further east, between Llanelli and Carmarthen, an area which had more than its fair share of anomalous sightings at that time. I also saw things which I still cannot explain, almost thirty years later.
 
Siani said:
I have a couple of books on the Welsh Triangle, including The Uninvited, which I think is about the events at Ripperston Farm. A guy called Glyn Edwards confessed a few years ago to being the silver-suited alien:

The Secret Files The Welsh Triangle

Pranksters aside, I'm convinced that the kids at the Broad Haven school definitely saw something unusual. I grew up further east, between Llanelli and Carmarthen, an area which had more than its fair share of anomalous sightings at that time. I also saw things which I still cannot explain, almost thirty years later.
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Yep some really odd things happened in that area during that time ... I seem to remember there being a rumour of a supposed UFO base off the coast of the Broad Haven area (i think it was), as well. Must try to track down the UFO books my older brother had during that time ... he had a whole set of them but I was really too young to read them fully ... all I was interested in was the pictures of UFOs :D.

[Of course there's nothing really in it ... so much so that the museum in Cardigan had an exhibition of UFO sightings and things in the area several years ago :rolleyes:]
 
I Just turned 21 and live in the UK. I suppose I first really became interested in UFOs when my dad got sky TV in the early 1990s, which put a lot of UFO documentaries on. Oh, I suppose when the X-files was first shown over here in 1994, that also helped to get me interested. So I suppose I first became interested in UFOs when I was about 7 maybe younger to 8 years old, but that interest went supernova when I with others saw a white rod in the sky moving back and forth that I could not explain. Not long later on on the same day as the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, February 1, 2003, I (again with others) saw a fire ball in the sky, this second sighting was probably just a meteorite but it got me even more interested and that is when I really started reading books and listening to shows like this, I was about 17 at the time.
 
schticknz said:
The school bully in our school apparently had a close encounter of the very very close kind when he almost bumped into a very tall humanoid who was wearing a silver suit of some kind on a country lane. Since heard a rumour though, that there was a guy who decided to freak people out by walking around the area in a suit used for high temperatures fires and the such like. Haven't had confirmation of that yet though.
A book was written about it around about that time ... guess my parents might have it somewhere still (they keep everything, and call me a hoarder :-D) in their wee house in Wales.
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Have you ever heard of the Cumbrian Spaceman photograph? Wonder if this guy ever made his way to England? I just read about the Cumbrian Spaceman photo in a Jenny Randles book The Truth Behind Men in Black. Fascinating case. Anyway, I got interested in ufos, ghosts, etc. early on- primarily because I had a older brother who was always into it.
 
What age did I become interested in UFOs, or Alien Life?

You could say I was born into being interested in these happenings & the entire realm of unexplained phenomena. I was abducted by aliens when I was three, my memories of that abduction are limited at best. My brother who is eight years older remembers more of what happened that I do.

I've seriously considered going under hypnosis....but then I wonder if I truly wanted to know what may have happened. There is a lot to this story and maybe one day I will share it.
 
Discussions said:
What age did I become interested in UFOs, or Alien Life?

You could say I was born into being interested in these happenings & the entire realm of unexplained phenomena. I was abducted by aliens when I was three, my memories of that abduction are limited at best. My brother who is eight years older remembers more of what happened that I do.

I've seriously considered going under hypnosis....but then I wonder if I truly wanted to know what may have happened. There is a lot to this story and maybe one day I will share it.
Click to expand...

I'd be interested in reading about your experiences. Maybe make a thread about it?
 
I have an uncle with mental retardation who has always had an interest in UFOs. Relatives would always buy him books and magazines and documentaries. He is mid-level functioning and a little reclusive, so I've not actually seen his UFO library for almost 2 decades, but I'm sure it's quite the collection. That influence was always present in my youth but never taken especially seriously by me or any of my other relatives besides my dad who has an apparent interest in esoterica, mainly cuz he likes to debunk Christianity i think. but who doesn't?

In my teens I discovered the book "Acid Dreams" by Lee and Shlain at a local bookstore, Newbury Comics, and learned of the MK-Ultra stuff. At the time I was also full of teen angst and reading William Burroughs, who has written a lot about paranormal sutff, coincidences, etc. that I found very interesting and intriguing. I remember finding "Voices From The Tapes" at some barn sale in Maine many years ago and being quite excited. I Also was reading Terrence McKenna around this time, of whose book Archaic Revival has some interesting stuff about contact with UFOs and alien beings.

I attended a random film showing in the town I was living in, at a local popular artspace. There were few in attendance, certainly less than 10 all night. It was two documentaries about ritual abuse, with some really creepy testimony from children that was incredibly disturbing. The guy who did the film showing runs an organization called SMART which you can easily find references to on the internets. I find these topics very interesting, but in a detached way, as I have never seen a UFO nor do I feel that I have been mind-controlled anymore than the average jackass.

When I discovered the "New Age" section at Barnes and Noble I was very confused as to why there were some truly interesting books next to some Sylvia Brown and John Edward crap.

I have a library now of a few hundred books, and it's distressing to me that my peers don't read very much. TV is soooo much easier... :rolleyes:

These topics did influence my decision to attend college and obtain a degree in psychology, however i did not find academic institutions to be particular receptive to these ideas. that is, few teachers would offer any encouragement to research these topics further. my grades were always good though. as a general social outcast and misanthrope, i never really broached the subjects with average peers, although i did use several class presentations as launching points for whole-class discussions which were insightful and entertaining, but only to the point where i can only live and wonder whether any of what i may have said or influenced others to say had any effect on their future way of thinking. whoa what a mouthful!

i thoroughly enjoy playing devil's advocate, and find it quite easy to do when it's so easy to admit that i have no idea what the hell is really going on. still waiting for the UFO landing on CNN though...
 
ABR486 said:
Have you ever heard of the Cumbrian Spaceman photograph? Wonder if this guy ever made his way to England? I just read about the Cumbrian Spaceman photo in a Jenny Randles book The Truth Behind Men in Black. Fascinating case. Anyway, I got interested in ufos, ghosts, etc. early on- primarily because I had a older brother who was always into it.
Click to expand...

Arrggghhh not the Cumbrian Spaceman :D ... blimey, yes i have ... that still gives me the heebie jeebies (?!?) that does. There is something sooo creepy about it still after all these years. Remember seeing that first in (maybe) The Unexplained magazine in the early 80s ... and still noone really knows if its a hoax or what.

Oh good ... now i'm going to have nightmares tonight ... hehe ... you wouldn't believe i've just turned 40 :D
 
I became interested at six years of age. I was lying awake one night looking out of my bedroom window. It was summer and the curtains were drawn back because we had to leave the windows open to let the cool night air in. I watched a saucer hover for about 30 minutes. It was large and circular, and it had a glow to it. I passed it off as a bad dream from watching too many of those old black and white saucer movies made back in the '50's. I saw another saucer that looked identical to it in the daylight a few weeks later. The emotions I felt were a mix of fear and awe.
 
Astralis said:
I became interested at six years of age. I was lying awake one night looking out of my bedroom window. It was summer and the curtains were drawn back because we had to leave the windows open to let the cool night air in. I watched a saucer hover for about 30 minutes. It was large and circular, and it had a glow to it. I passed it off as a bad dream from watching too many of those old black and white saucer movies made back in the '50's. I saw another saucer that looked identical to it in the daylight a few weeks later. The emotions I felt were a mix of fear and awe.
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I'm curious, where did this occur?
 
Let's see, I'm 43 now so I remember the watching the apollo missions on a B/W TV... I grew up watching 'Land of the Giants' (1968-70), 'UFO' (1970-71), 'Lost in Space' (1965-68), 'The Time Tunnel' (1966-67)... I really don't remember a time when I wasn't interested in UFOs... My first memories of reading paperback books are the 'Perry Rhodan' series in Jr High and went from there!

-Garry
 
At what age did I become interested in UFOs?

I was around 4 years old. I remember my dad had a couple of UFO magazines around, and he was interested in the subject. I know one of these had an article on Truman Bethurum, because I remember the illustrations vividly.

So I would have to say I was interested even before I started reading.

I also recall a little later visiting my tiny little hometown library (in my tiny little hometown) and running across The Flying Saucers have Landed by Desmond Leslie and George Adamski. I was so amazed I had to tell my parents that there was a book in the library that had all the answers about UFOs (the library wouldn't let me check it out, because it was a "grown up book"). I remember my dad being dismissive.

So there you are. I could run, but I couldn't hide.
 
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