How Do UFOs Get Here?

Getting to the Moon and back is an expensive and trying business, which only a few of the great nations of the Earth could undertake, even now. Getting all the way out to Mars presents a feat of endurance and technical mastery that remains beyond all but an extremely well-funded NASA. These worlds are our cosmic neighbours. They are in our backyard, a space that is inconsequential compared to the vast distances between the stars.

Let us assume that Einstein was right. However we may wish to, we simply cannot travel faster than the speed of light.

We may theoretically consider warp speed, or hyper-drives, or teleportation. But, in practice, we are stuck with moving physical matter through the immense vacuum of space.

Aliens who wish to visit our adorable blue world from across the Cosmos must overcome an enormous hurdle. Even at speeds close to that of light, which incurs its own remarkable set of problems, efforts to overcome this hurdle involve many years of travelling. And that's just from the nearest stars.

Many sceptics who argue against a UFO reality present this simple argument as a sure-fire reason to dismiss the concept of alien visitation. It simply takes too long for them to get here.

The nuclear physicist and Ufologist Stanton Friedman argues that our culture underestimates the potential for nuclear-powered spacecraft. Nuclear fusion or fission reactors would be capable of ejecting high speed particles from a spaceship's propulsion system, generating acceleration. In the vacuum of space, this increase in speed would be ongoing for the lifetime of the nuclear reactor, generating incredible speeds in a relatively short time-span. But one is still left with journey times of many years, not weeks or months.

Many Ufologists, like author Timothy Good, provide evidence that UFOs are based here, even if they once originated from elsewhere. In other words, there are alien bases on Earth from whence the intrusive and elusive UFOs emerge to skit about in our skies.

Perhaps such bases exist on neighbouring planets, like Mars. Perhaps great 'motherships' visit our world from distant stars, slowly traversing the Cosmos to drop off flying saucers into our atmosphere. The science writer Carl Sagan advocated interstellar travel in cored-out comets. These great balls of rock and ice orbit the Sun in distant, elongated orbits. But some of their cousins also travel through the galaxy between the stars. If a space-faring civilisation were to hitch a ride, these comets would provide a small world to live within across the cold of deep space. A succession of generations could wait out their time before arrival at the star system they hope to colonise.

So, have aliens colonised our star system then? Well, if they were looking for a sensible place to settle in the solar system, Earth appears to be the only viable habitat in town. The need to inhabit a world in what astronomers call 'The Goldilocks Zone' brings us to a list with a sole candidate: the Earth. So, maybe Tim Good is right to argue that they are here, among us.

Or, perhaps there is also another possibility. Not all stars are bright. Some failed stars no longer shine with the light of their birth, but lie hidden in the skies; invisible needles in the cosmic haystack. These dark, stellar worlds, known to astronomers as brown dwarfs, could be found anywhere. Some are like planets, orbiting parent stars, and others independently traverse the spaces between the stars.

If the Sun was close to one of these failed stars, we may not realise it yet. This seems a stunning claim, but it is a reasonable contention. These small failed stars, known as sub-brown dwarfs, are very difficult to detect. Yet they would be sufficiently massive to offer a warm environment for life on their own families of planets. In a stroke, such a scenario would overcome the concern about the huge distances between the stars. Another habitable zone would be viable within striking distance of the known planets.

Of course, with the Moon still offering us a significant space-faring challenge, it will be a while before our species is able to travel to such a dark star, even if one were to be found nearby. But that does not mean that we haven't been visited from there...

Article by Andy Lloyd, 15th October 2008


Why do UFOs visit the Earth? 

Why do UFOs visit the Earth?  It’s a question that carries a lot of baggage with it. To even ask it, we need to assume that UFOs originate from beyond the Earth, that they are a physical phenomenon, and that they are intelligently controlled.  All of those points are arguable to a greater or lesser degree.  But, if we hold the view that at least some UFO activity represents an alien presence in our skies then…why are they here? 

Human activity is complex.  We each act from different motivating factors, and our actions sometimes appear unpredictable, even irrational.  So, we must also assume that the intelligence behind alien UFO activity is rational, and directed with purpose (as opposed to, say, space tourism by teenage aliens looking for kicks).  Aliens may have a complex set of reasons for visiting here.  Certainly, the diversity of UFO activity across the globe suggests this. 

However, there is a distinct pattern that we can point to with some confidence.  UFOs have often been observed over sensitive military sites by trained, military observers.  This was particularly true when the phenomenon was officially investigated back in the post-war decades.  The powers-that-be were genuinely concerned about the defence implications of this unwelcome intrusion into their controlled airspace.  It’s easy to see why, particularly during the height of the Cold War. 

This connection was all the more worrying when the sensitive sites were nuclear.  There is a secret history of UFO intrusion upon sensitive nuclear sites, particularly nuclear missile launch facilities.  It’s a scary subject, because nuclear deterrent is a gun whose trigger is light.  The systems operating a nation’s nuclear deterrent may be complex, but they are designed to be reactive in an extremely short time period. 

If a third party were to, say, set off a set of your missiles towards your enemy, then your world will also come to an abrupt end. If that third party demonstrates their ability to control your missiles at will, then you are potentially in a lot of trouble. If aliens are visiting us in their flying saucers, and if they are concerned about our capability to wage atomic war, then they may wish to let us know in an unsubtle way that we are not totally in control of our own weaponry.  Such an injunction might cause our generals to sit up and take notice. 

Author Robert Hastings has provided a dossier of incidents where just this scenario appears to have been played out across the continental United States.  In his book ‘UFOs and Nukes’, he shows that a great many military men at sensitive nuclear sites have encountered UFOs, leaving a wake of confusion and insecurity. 

The purpose of these unwelcome visits is not entirely clear.  But consider this:  the advent of the UFO phenomenon really got going in the years following the dropping of the first atom bombs.  The Roswell incident occurred in the vicinity of the world’s only nuclear bomber squadron at that time.  The Rendlesham Forest incident in the UK occurred in the vicinity of a nuclear weapons storage area at nearby RAF Bentwaters.  Encounters with UFOs over nuclear missile launch facilities have sometimes been associated with technical problems at those sites, like those experienced at Malmstrom AFB in 1967. 

The outline of a pattern becomes apparent, even if the agenda does not.

In our already insecure world, the additional factor of UFOs potentially buzzing nuclear weapons sites is not likely to feature high in the public’s mind, particularly as the military authorities downplay the threat, and, to put it lightly, discourage public sighting reports among their ranks.  Indeed, the British Ministry of Defence justify their seeming disinterest in the UFO phenomenon with the mantra that UFOs are of no defence significance.  But, as Robert Hastings argues, the focus of UFO activity seems to be extreme defence significance.  This is a dichotomy of Orwellian proportions.

Article by Andy Lloyd, 15th October 2008

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