UFOs: what do we really know?

[Xylo]

I'm just curious, I think that this field is full of speculation and supposition as well as outright hoaxsters. What do we really know about UFOs?

• We know that unidentified craft visit the earth, and have done so seemingly since history could be recorded.

• We know that the craft interfere, kidnap, or otherwise detain and examine some humans.
• We know that these craft are seen more frequently in certain locations than in others.

Is that all there is? Or is the rest of the field just speculation? Is there a UFOs "quick facts" document?


I don't mean to sound like a downer, but after listening to all the episodes of The Paracast, and countless other podcasts, I find myself asking the same questions that I began asking when looking into this field. I would just like to have a better idea of what is known.

 

[TClaeys]

What do we know??

We know that there is a genuine mystery involving the appearance and sometimes interaction of seemingly "non-earthly, non-human" phenomenon.

We also know that this mystery has produced a plethora of twisted opinion, self-interested cults, military investigation, and a spectrum from insanity to sobriety.

Perhaps the implications of outside intelligent contact is so profound it is beyond a reasonable reaction from most of humanity. Hence the diversity of response that strains any credulity at all.

I wouldn't go so far as to say with certainty that people are kidnapped(just my opinion). Or that they visit certain locales more often. It may just be that people report them because of demographic distribution or that they are "following suit" somehow with engrained cultural forces.

Whats interesting is that after many decades we actually may be further from any truth than we ever have considering the proclamations and general acceptance level of such accounts. We don't seem to be very open to the reality of such ideas like UFO's.

And it's sort of a dichotomy considering we research theoretical scientific, even philisophical, possibilities with such vigor. We look for unseen subatomic particles with unprecedented massive machines. Dark matter, dark energy, dark flow, big bang, black holes, higgs-boson, inflationary theory, etc. Scientists don't have an inkling what really IS. But at the same time they (meaning everyone) laugh and mock the potential for intelligence outside our meager planet. This is, in part, why we probably don't know more.

 

[dhatz]

Xylo, I wouldn't say that the UFO field is full of hoaxsters, speculation and supposition.

I personally like to make the distinction between "promoters" and "researchers". Nearly all of the exaggerated claims come from the former group, who by the nature of their trade try to get as much media exposure as possible. Unfortunately, there is a "natural selection" mechanism in play: "wild" stuff sells best, as one can easily find out by looking at Amazon rankings.

As to your question "what we know", I'd agree with points #1 and #3 with some modifications:

1/ unidentified craft of unconventional technology have been observed by reliable witnesses under conditions which virtually preclude mis-interpretation for at least 60 years and probably much longer

3/ there does seem to be a concentration of sightings in certain locations (e.g. large bodies of water)