UFO's

UFO's

I heard on the radio last night that over 50% of Americans believed in UFO's. What about us Phoenix fans?

NZ has quite a history of UFO believers and cults. My wife did her Anthropology dissertation on them, and interviewed quite a number of wackos. Scary to think a lot of these people could be your neighbour.

I'm seriously hoping that your wife is not as  blinkered and judgemetal  as you are otherwise she has no future in the study of anthropology. People who are interested in UFO's are not necessarily a member of a "cult".

So  you don't believe that there is Unidentified Flying Objects that have been observed by people? I'm not talking about little green men but phenomenon that for what ever reason cannot be classified or explained? Bugger lock up most of the astronauts from the Apollo missions then.


The majority of people who are interested in strange phenomenon are interested because it's about human perception of unusual incidents. You would have to class Arthur C Clarke, Carl Sagan, Carl Jung, Charles Fort as "wackos" because they have studied stuff like "UFO's".

As for living next door to "UFO Wackos" most people I've met have been pretty cool, different and harmless.

check out this link:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortean_Times">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fort[/ULR]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortean_Times

 Fortean Times has won numerous awards, (many from "mainstream" bodies}, and is read by numerous well known experts in pretty much every field of learning.

I also was an Anthropology student and if you are also, then you understand why the term "cult" can be legitimately used in a lot of circumstances. UberGunner2009-08-26 13:39:18

I'm sure there are numerous flying objects that aren't identified, so I ticked 'believe'.  Having said that, I don't think there are aliens although I'm not opposed to the idea at all and am open to being proved wrong. loyalgunner2009-08-26 14:33:23

Nope I just consider myself open-minded, I read FT that's about it and don't own a tin-foiled hat. I just think that you have to be careful firing off flippant remarks about some people's beliefs.

You choose to cite your wife as an expert and then use that to give your opinion some weight that people who believe in aliens are wackos, (dangerous), and you wouldn't want to live next door to them.


People who believe in "UFO's" are pretty much in my experience not "wackos" and not dangerous and should not be feared if they happen to live in your street.  Others may indeed be suffering from mental illness but then again this does not make them dangerous.


I'm as guilty as the next forummer in posting inappropriate posts, but I don't cite my job/qualifications to back them up.

Sorry to piss-you off that was not my intention, rather the world is a very mysterious place and it is shame that we write off people who's ideas and beliefs do not fit current scientific thinking.

ForteanTimes2009-08-26 15:17:59

My initial reply was light hearted and not to be taken as gospel, it was intended with humour that I thought most people would appreciate. I now realise there will always be some people who don't agree with what you say or how you say it. My original post- UberGunner2009-08-26 15:40:43

I better leave this thread as it is starting to crossover into my professional life. I am very sorry you consider "mentally unstable" people to be such a threat and not worthy as having a place in our streets. This is not the case believe me.

Yeah would be interested in the paper.

It's a bit arrogant to think we are the only living things in the entire universe. And even more arrogant to think there are not "beings" out there whom are not more intelligent than man. I'm sure there are "other" life forms out there and some far more intelligent than us. Lonegunmen2009-08-26 23:38:39

C-Diddy2009-08-26 18:36:34

I'd be more worried about someone who believes in trickle down economics or the free market delivering democracy living next to me than UFO cultists.

and yes I have seen 3 instances of UFO's
a UFO being observing a physical phenomena that defies conventional understanding of physics.
One instance was viewed by 10-12 people simultaneously and another by at least 500, given the Coastguard and S&R calls. Remarkably the larger incident involved people from both coasts of the South Island.

this is not any statement of aliens on fly-by. Just that incidents occur that do cause people to ask questions. As one who has spoken face to face with one of the pilots re:Kaikoura c.'79 it's quite cool to hear a trained and knowledgeable person speak about an event that actually changed the way they view "reality".

and for some way out there stuff
cop the event around the young lad (RIP) flying his single seater from Tas to mainland Australia late 1970's.
if we look at the events around this it is easy to see where people go "conspiracy theory" on stuff.

I remember both those incidents as if it was only ytesterday. There was a decent book out on the kaikoura incident. I remember seeing a split second frame when the guy with the camera tried to focus on it and he brought it up close and sharpe as. They only ever showed that part of the clip once, after that it was "edited" in my opinion.

Are there any links to articles online about this Kaikoura and Australia story?  I think I was born after it so know nothing about it.

Link 1     Link 2     Link 3

There's a wiki about the Australian one.

I voted doubtful, but then that was me reading into the question. I fully believe in UFO's (how can anyone not when confronted by the definition), I believe there is a certainly high probability that there is other life out there, not really convinced UFO's are extraterrestrials, though.

a lot of the documentation around the flight was lost too, including IIRC the actual ATC tapes that were forwarded to the USAF

must be terrible to lose a Kid and never know what happened.

as far the Alien encounters thing go I'm highly skeptical. As you indicate LG it's a big universe but for
there to be two "contactable" civilizations in the same time frame is quite a hurdle to get around.

That's where it falls down for me, too.

There are some interesting and quite plausable theories on developmental aircraft causing a lot of sightings in the mid-west and rocky mountains.

Not having a go at people who believe in extra-terrestrials (how could I when I certainly don't know a great deal about the subject), but a high number of people I've met who believe in aliens appear (to me at least) to want them to exist as opposed to be basing it on much.

I think it was Einstein whom theorised that worm hole travel was possible but not practical with the technology of man..

The thing about aliens and UFO's (and I know that they are not the same) is that they are generally only seen by crackpots in the middle of nowhere.

Is there anything in the bible about the creation of Aliens/UFO's?

its not about arrogance, its about the vastness of the universe Frankie. I'm sceptical about ET visits, but unexplained phenomenon considering how far we have pushed the boundary's of science pose a puzzle that is as yet unsolved.

Other life in the Universe & Christianity doesn't seem to mix.  I remember my Assembly of God auntie from Akld came to visit.  I happen to be watching a doco about possible life in the Universe apart from Earth.  She rubbished the doco without watching it & said she DIDN'T WANT to believe it.  How narrow minded.

Apart from scientology

I know many, many Christians open to the fact. In fact the Bible notes that there are other creations of God (angels for instance) and Jesus said after the ressurection that he had to go to minister to other flocks.

LDS is a Christian church that pretty much accepts the possibility, even to the extent of assuming there is.

I've also read of people who believe that something described in the book of Ezekiel sounds a lot like alien/UFO stuff.  I think it was Ezekiel anyway.  I haven't actually read that book for myself so I don't know for sure.

So angels are aliens? That'd be way cool.

ForteanTimes2009-08-29 10:51:42

I love believing and wondering about things like this, philosophy makes us human. Of course there are people who make stupid sh*t up, but somewhere in all the crap there has to be an element of truth.. what a fascinating subject to base a thesis on, love it!

and conjecture once again
but the ATC had a prick of a night
as per the date of FT's photo

Believe it...or not...

my fav UFO story is this

in 1978 ((9)
a triangular black "spaceship" landed in a FARMERS fIELD IN sOUTHERN eNGLAND

NOW THE FARMER WAS ALREADY THE VILLAGE IDIOT so his claims were laughable as far AS the local community were concerned
but some UFO believer was nearby and came along took a witness statement
took measurements of the indentations, took "burnt" plant samples, drew a picture of the "spaceship" and off the occupant as per the Farmers ID/recollection, and how the spaceship took off vertically..."like a Harrier"

now in the late '90s when the specs of the B2 came out... bang to rights the "spaceship" except for vertical takeoff. the "identikit" picture is like perfect.

most if not all UFOs are real things
just not for our eyes and brains at this point.
economic and military prominence/privilege/ dominance   are all more important than the common good or knowledge.

Interesting, because LSD is a drug that pretty much accepts the possibility, even to the extent of assuming there is.

NZ Link

ha ha
put Skyhawks on stand-by

there is a book out about the Kaikoura incidents
somewhat far -fetched explanation for the sightings
but I have absolutely no doubt that many people witnessed currently classified events.

I've got that Kaikoura Book stored away somewhere around here. What is convincing is the Radar tracking. Venus, does not track on Radar. It was something unidentified. May have been little green men or not, but unidentified is the important word.