Unidentified flying object [edit / edit wiki text]Material from Wikipedia the free encyclopedia The request "Flying Saucer" is redirected here; see also other values.
UFO, allegedly observed in New Jersey, in 1952 (proven fake).
From the CIA archives, the request for "UFO" is redirected here; perhaps you were looking for an article about the 2012 film or other meanings.
Neo?known of summer?what is the volume?ct (UFO) (eng.
Unidentified flying object (UFO) — an observed object that resembles an aircraft, the ownership of which is not recognized by terrestrial observers.
The most complete definition of UFOs was given by the researcher of the unknown, Joseph Allen Heinek: "the perception of an object or light visible in the sky or space or above the earth's surface; the phenomenon, ghost, trajectory, general dynamics and the nature of the glow of which does not find a logical, generally accepted explanation, is a mystery not only for eyewitnesses, but also remains unexplained even after a close study of all available evidence by specialists who are able, if possible, to identify the phenomenon from the point of view of common sense"[1].
In other words, if there is a message about the observation of some strange phenomenon over the earth, the case was not identified with any known meteorological or astronomical phenomenon, and there was no evidence of falsification, then they say that we are talking about an unidentified flying object (UFO).
If an explanation for the phenomenon is found, then they talk about identified flying objects (OLO).
Most of the flying objects still find an explanation and become OLO.
Of all the reports of obscure flying objects, only 5-10% remain unidentified[2].
Some objects remain unidentified only because of a lack of information about them.
Since some of the documented cases of observations of flying objects could not be identified, the greatest skepticism is usually caused not by reports of the observation of something unidentified, but by statements about the alien origin of objects.
In many countries (including the United States and the USSR), cases of UFO sightings were recorded by authorized military and civilian state structures, including within the framework of classified special government programs (the Blue Book Project and the AAYA).
Secrecy may be involved in the emergence of public interest in the phenomenon.
At least, the American historian Greg Eghigian, who studied how ideas about UFOs and attitudes towards them changed, came to the conclusion that UFOs were a product of the Cold War and the atmosphere of secrecy and distrust associated with it [3].
In different countries, there are many public initiative organizations and enthusiasts engaged in the registration and analysis of UFO phenomena, including in Russia — Kosmopoisk.
From a scientific point of view, there is still no confirmed evidence that UFOs are in any way connected with alien life, and the first official contact is still the fate of fiction and the future.
While only a small part of scientists are supporters of the extraterrestrial origin of the observed UFOs, the official scientific community of the world has a broad program for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence SETI, which assumes the possibility of detecting the activity of extraterrestrial intelligence in the framework of research using technical means of possible manifestations of this activity in near and far space.
With the development of computer technologies and the Internet, the program began to conduct distributed information processing on thousands of simple user computers.
In popular culture, UFOs most often mean an unidentified flying object, the appearance of which is associated with a visit to Earth by intelligent beings [4].
Many people, including officials and scientists, are skeptical about the possibility of these visits and are convinced (or, according to ufologists, pretend to be convinced) that the UFO phenomenon is an abnormal natural phenomenon.
On the contrary, some former officials, military personnel and cosmonauts (including lunar astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who later became interested in parapsychology [5]), after leaving the service, become public adherents of the alien origin of UFOs.
Contents [remove] 1 History of observations 1.1 Places of observations 1.2 Features of eyewitness observations 2 Classification of UFO contacts 2.1 Contacts at long distances 2.2 Close contacts 2.3 Absurdity of UFO Descriptions 3 Types of UFOs 3.1 "Hard" objects 3.2 "Soft" objects 4 Study of UFOs 4.1 UFOs and science 4.2 State programs 4.2.1 Great Britain 4.2.2 France 4.2.3 USA 4.2.4 Declassification of data 5 Hypotheses of the origin of UFOs 6 Explanation of known cases of UFO sightings 7 UFOs and religion 7.1 A view from the point of view of the Orthodox Church 7.2 A view from non Christian positions 7.3 Attitude to UFOs in Islam 8 UFOs in culture 9 See also 10 Notes 11 Literature 12 References Observation history[edit | edit wiki text] Background:
Vimans (ancient world); airships (1920s 30s); ghost planes (1940s), see also Belonzo Disk; ghost rockets (immediately after the war).
One of the first reports of the observation of a disk shaped device refers to July 18, 1935: in Canada (Saskatchewan), 3 people said that they saw the device landing in the forest near Nipawin; and also observed how humanoids in silver clothes climbed up the ladder into it.
The next day, burnt bald spots on the ground were discovered and photographed in that place[6].
On June 24, 1947, American businessman Kenneth Arnold noticed nine flying objects " similar to saucers "during a flight on his plane.
This was the first recorded case of a person meeting with a UFO[7].
The most famous in society have received (including in many books and films) such UFO phenomena as:
The Roswell incident, 1947 The Washington Carousel, 1952 the Petrozavodsk phenomenon, 1977 the Tehran incident, 1978 the Dalnegorsk incident at altitude 611, 1986 Also, in some periods, UFO reports come more often (they go in "waves" of English flaps ) than in others.
So, in the USA, "waves" occurred in 1947, 1950, 1952, 1965, 1967 and in 1973, in Japan — in 1958, in the USSR - in 1962 and in 1977-78, etc. [8]
"Waves" of UFO sightings in the second half of the XX century[9] 1946 Scandinavia ("ghost rockets") June—July 1947 west of the USA August 1952 East of the USA October 1954 France November 1957 Midwest and Southwest of the USA and South America June August 1959 Australia, West of the Pacific Ocean May August 1962 Argentina summer 1965 spring 1966 first in the midwest of the USA, then east fall 1977 east coast of the USA autumn 1985 Mexico City, Mexico Blank section This section is not completed.
You will help the project by correcting and supplementing it.
Places of observation[edit / edit wiki text] On Earth Despite the fact that UFOs are observed everywhere, there are areas where they are observed especially often — the so called "windows".
The concept of them was introduced by the French ufologist Aime Michel.
Similar "windows" are available in the United States of America (Texas, Florida, the Northwest Pacific Coast, the Hudson Valley), in Australia (Cairns in Queensland, Kempsey in New South Wales, the Nallarbor Plain, Bass Strait), Japan (Hokkaido), France, Great Britain (Lothian, Bay of Loos [ Scotland ], Dared [Wales ], the Pennines and Warminster [Wiltshire ]) and in Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Spain, Norway, Malaysia, Puerto Rico and the Canary Islands[9] (there are no "windows" in Africa).
There is no consensus about "windows".
Some researchers tend to consider the increased brightness of an astronomical object during a given period, for example, Mars, as the reason for the "waves" of UFO reports.
There are opinions that "waves" of such messages arise in states experiencing certain difficulties (for example, some explain the surge in reports about "flying saucers" in the late 1940s by the Cold War).
Some believe that the fascination of the population with new science fiction works (for example, movies) stimulates the appearance of stories about UFO sightings.
A pattern is noted: in sparsely populated areas, UFOs are observed more often[9].
Also, reports have been repeatedly cited that, judging by the frequency of occurrence, UFOs show an increased interest in military bases, primarily missile ones [10].
In space, it was sometimes mentioned about the observation of unidentified objects in space by astronomers from Earth.
In the articles "The Darkened sun" and "The Forerunners of the" black cloud ""(Alexey Arkhipov), which were published in the" Technique — youth " for 1983 (No. 12), such cases are selected.
The Annualregista for 1766, volume 9, contains "An account of a very strange phenomenon seen on the disk of the Sun":
On August 9, 1762, de Rostand, ... measuring the height of the Sun with a quadrant in Lausanne ... noticed that it gives a weak and pale light…
Pointing a fourteen foot telescope equipped with a micrometer at the Sun, he was surprised to find that its eastern edge was covered... by a nebula that surrounded some dark body.
After about two and a half hours, the southern part of the aforementioned body separated from the limb of the Sun, but the northern edge of the body, which had the shape of a spindle about three solar fingers wide and nine in length, did not release the solar limb.
This spindle retained its shape, moving along the Sun's disk from east to west at a speed that was not more than half the speed of ordinary sunspots, until it disappeared on September 7 after reaching the western limb of the luminary.
Rostand conducted observations almost every day for a month, using a pinhole camera to determine the shape and size of the body…
A similar phenomenon in the Sun was observed in the Bishopric of Basel…
Coste, a friend of de Rostand, using an eleven foot telescope, found a similar fusiform shape of the body, like de Rostand, only not so wide, which could probably be a consequence of the increase and rotation of the body near the limit of its visibility.
More remarkable is the fact that the position of the body in the Sun did not correspond to what was observed from Lausanne: the body, therefore, had a significant parallax…
This is not a spot: its movement was much slower; the object was also not a planet or a comet: its shape proves the opposite[11].
On July 29, 1878, two astronomers: Lewis Swift, director of the Warner Observatory, and James Watson (eng. Watson), director of the observatory of the University of Michigan, were observing a total solar eclipse in the United States at a distance of 185 miles from each other.
During the observation, they noticed two unknown red objects slightly smaller than Mercury near the Sun, astronomers assumed that they had discovered new planets in the Solar System.
A certain Dr. Peters (Eng. C. H. F. Peters) rejected the possibility of discovering new planets, stating that Swift and Watson either observed stars or did not observe anything.
Astronomer Jessup Morris, repeating Peters ' analysis, came to the conclusion that the objects were at a distance of 2,000 — 20,000 miles from Earth, that the larger and more distant of the objects reached a diameter of more than 1.5 miles, and the smaller one was 90% smaller than it[9].
Among the astronomical community, numerous cases of observation through telescopes of unidentified objects moving along trajectories that are inexplicable for ordinary uncontrolled celestial bodies in near Earth space, around the Moon and on its surface, which have received the common name short lived anomalous phenomena, are widely known.
There were also reports of UFO sightings in outer space by astronauts or about UFO surveys made by artificial satellites.
So in June 1965, astronaut James McDivitt observed an unidentified object with "long arms sticking out of it" through the porthole of the Gemini 4 spacecraft making the 20th orbit around the Earth.
McDivitt took a picture of it, but after developing it, he could not find this picture.
The conspiracy countertheory of the lunar conspiracy states that during the Apollo program expeditions, the United States discovered UFO bases and cities on the Moon and then began to hide it, hoping for a monopoly of information.
In the last years of the existence of the USSR, in the era of Glasnost, as unidentified flying objects, huge balls in the Earth's atmosphere were demonstrated to the public in video recordings from the Salyut and Mir orbital stations, as well as in photography from the Soviet automatic interplanetary station Phobos 2, shadows on Mars similar to the contrail of a rocket taking off.
After the appearance of the WikiSky Internet resource close to the SETI program, the search for UFOs and other manifestations of extraterrestrial intelligence in space became available not only to astronomers and participants of the SETI program, but also to the general masses.
At the end of 2010, there was a wide discussion in the media and the public of the world about the discovery of suspicious artifacts in WikiSky, which began to be called possible huge alien ships flying to Earth[12].
Available for constant universal observation, these objects have a two body, cylindrical, round and rod shape.
Features of eyewitness observations[edit / edit wiki text] Many reports of UFO sightings are inaccurate, they may not indicate the exact date, place, characteristics of objects.
Getting the most detailed information about the incident from an eyewitness is the task of a ufologist.
Often, eyewitnesses can proceed from their personal ideas about the nature of UFOs when describing them.
(Ufologist Jenny Randels [eng.
Jenny Randles] bring the phrase, an eyewitness, who, when asked: "Maybe it's the cloud?" was answered: "Yes, I know it looked like this, but I think it was a UFO disguised as a cloud"[13]).
That is why UFO least appreciated the testimony of a single eyewitness, not supported by any testimony of other witnesses, or photos.
Ufologists recommend that in the case of UFO sightings, if there is such an opportunity, first of all draw the attention of other people to the observed phenomenon and take a picture of it, remember its location.
The most reliable are the testimony of pilots and scientists.
Some witnesses of this phenomenon claim that they had direct contact with extraterrestrial intelligence in the form of a personal meeting with the so called Nlonauts (including abduction by them) or mental communication (the so called contactees).
During contacts with UFOs and after them, some people present burns, they may suffer from nausea, headache.
For particularly close contacts (see "Classification of UFO contacts") according to the witnesses, depression appeared, orientation in space was disturbed, increased excitability appeared[9].
Classification of UFO contacts[edit / edit wiki text] The following is a variant of the classification of UFO contact reports proposed by ufologist Joseph Allen Heinek.
Contacts over long distances[edit / edit wiki text] This is the name of observations when an eyewitness and a UFO are separated by "hundreds of kilometers and kilometers"[2].
Among them, there are [2]:
"Night lights.
Clearly visible, clearly defined lights of unknown nature, usually red, orange or white.
This group includes the lion's share of UFO sightings at long distances."
"Daily disks.
These are objects observed in the daytime, as a rule, oval or disc shaped, metallic in appearance.
They are fixed high in the sky, close to the ground and are often seen in a state of stationary hovering.
Daily disks can instantly gain tremendous speed."
"Radar" bursts " on the radar screen, especially coinciding with the visual tracking of UFOs, are considered very valuable evidence of the reality of the observed objects."
Close contacts [edit | edit wiki text] Close contacts (English CE — Close Encounters) are called contacts with UFOs "no further than two hundred meters"[2].
These include[2]:
"Contacts of the first kind (English CE 1).
UFOs are observed in the air and do not seem to interact with the environment, animals and eyewitnesses."
"Contacts of the second kind (English CE 2).
In these cases, the interaction of UFOs with the environment is recorded in the form of interference in the operation of radio electronic devices, switching off the ignition systems of cars, the appearance of prints on the ground or traces scorched by fire."
It is noted that CE 2 often occurs among major highways[9].
"Contacts of the third kind (English CE 3).
In this subgroup of messages there are UFO inhabitants more or less humanoid creatures, now called humanoids, enlonauts or simply aliens…
Usually they do not enter into direct contact or negotiations with eyewitnesses, but in recent years, reports have inexplicably become more frequent about the temporary detention of gawking witnesses by enlonauts for the purpose of "medical" examination. "
"Contacts of the fourth kind (Eng. CE 4).
Abduction".
The absurdity of UFO Descriptions[edit / edit wiki text] Some elements of UFO contacts may seem absurd to eyewitnesses or researchers.
For example, ufologist John Kiel describes a case when a woman claimed to have seen a UFO, on which it was written "UFO"[14], there is a known case when a UFO had an image similar to a stylized drawing of lightning on the background of a circle; Kiel also described "wheelless cars driving through deserted places at a height of several inches above the ground, "mentioned" giant gondola shaped cars with many rows of portholes hovering over the Kaitatini Mountains in northern New Jersey."
Even in the reports about "airships" it was told that half peeled potatoes were dropped from UFOs, or a UFO could catch on something with a "metal anchor on a rope" hanging from it, so that someone had to descend from a UFO to cut the "rope"...[15]
There are also no less ridiculous reports about the landing of unidentified flying objects and the appearance of humanoid creatures (enlonauts) coming into contact with eyewitnesses, collecting plants or the soil, according to eyewitnesses, "playing" and "walking around" near UFOs.
In some cases, eyewitnesses noted a certain "childishness" in the behavior of the enlonauts, there is information about their seemingly meaningless behavior.
Some reputable ufologists, like Allen Heineck or Donald Kehoe, rarely investigate such cases.
However, according to Coral and Jim Lorenzen, heads of the ufological organization APRO, these aspects of contacts with UFOs just as much, if not more, need a comprehensive study, since they are integral components of the phenomenon of "flying saucers" and can shed light on their nature.
Ufologist Jacques Vallee is known for collecting, researching and describing such "absurd" phenomena.
In the book "Passport to Magonia" (1959), Valle compares such cases of UFO contacts with folklore reports of contacts with mythical creatures.
According to D. Kiel, the absurd manifestations of the UFO phenomenon are not accidental and are designed to undermine the credibility of eyewitness reports.
And in the book"Parallel World" [16], Valle develops the idea that absurd cases with UFOs form a new myth, and the goal of unknown creators of "flying saucers" is to influence the subconscious mind through this myth for thousands of years and plant reflexes and a certain way of thinking on humanity.
Vallee confirms this hypothesis by the similarity of the Enlonauts ' remarks with the psychological techniques of M. Erikson, the similarity of the abduction scheme with the rite of initiation into a secret society.
Also, the absurdity in the behavior of UFOs brings it closer to other paranormal phenomena, in particular, with a poltergeist.
Varieties of UFOs[edit / edit wiki text] "Solid" objects[edit / edit wiki text]" Hard "objects (Eng." hard objects") Western ufologists often call UFOs that have the appearance of solid bodies, that is, by the appearance of consisting of matter.
Some of these objects may even look metallic.
According to J.
For example, it is emphasized that "hard" objects ("Trojan horses") are not a real form of UFOs, but exist solely to distract people's attention from the actions of" soft " objects.
Below are the most frequently covered varieties of" solid " unidentified flying objects.
Nevertheless, the possible forms and types of UFOs described in the press, of course, are not limited to them.
Disk shaped objects.
Disk shaped objects of the mo they can have different sizes.
The disks could have resemblances of antennas, stabilizers or portholes.
The disks could glow brightly, they could also shine like metal.
In some cases, disc shaped UFOs could appear to consist of "metal plates".
The most common types: "Adamski plate" - a UFO, allegedly observed by J. Adamski; a flat disk with a segment of a sphere (the so called "dome") on top, located so that the entire object is radially symmetric, and the radius of the flat disk exceeds the radius of the maximum cross section of the segment having the form of a circle; a "plate" in the shape of Saturn, consisting of a ball and a flat disk so that the flat disk lies together with a large circle of this ball in the same plane (the radius of the disk is much larger than the radius of the large circle of the ball; in general, the object is radially symmetrical); a disk with a truncated cone on top or above and below, so that the radius
of this cone of a larger base, being less than the radius of the disk, is in the same plane with it and is inferior to it in magnitude — a radially symmetrical (in the case of two cones, also symmetrical relative to the disk) object with a radius of a smaller base that is much higher than the height of the entire object; "mushroom shaped" objects are "plates" thinning to the bottom with a relatively long thick cylinder or a truncated cone with a generatrix almost equal to the height in the lower part, and radial symmetry is observed.
Triangular objects.
The most famous triangular UFOs are the so called "Belgian triangles" - objects that can dramatically change the speed and direction of flight, observed in Belgium in 1989-1990 and the observation of triangular and boomerang like objects with lights over highways and over the nuclear power plant in Hudson Valley (New York state) (it was suggested that the UFO was explained by a hoax arranged by pilots from Stromfield airfield, located in the same state) [9].
The so called Phoenix Lights have also become a well documented case of observing a boomerang shaped object .
Fusiform objects UFOs in the form of two cones with a common base.
Such objects were reported to fly with the axis of symmetry perpendicular to the ground, and the presence of certain "wires" was sometimes noted at the top[9].
Egg shaped objects.
See, for example, "The case in Socorro".
Aircraft.
In some cases, unidentified "flying vehicles" are reported, such as airplanes (for example, "ghost planes"), black helicopters (see "The case of Cash and Landrums"), airships ("airships"), rockets ("ghost missiles"), either without identification marks, or endowed with properties that are not characteristic of aircraft known to science.
For example, on the morning of February 25, 1942, unknown "planes" appeared over Los Angeles, at which the US Air Defense opened fire from anti aircraft installations, firing about 1,430 shells at them.
One of the objects, according to eyewitnesses, hovered motionless, despite the fact that shells exploded near it, then moved along the coast between Santa Monica and Long Beach at a speed of about 6 miles per hour.
At the same time, three people died, not counting the victims of heart attacks[9].
Augers (from the English "shank", although the English name of the phenomenon is "Flying rod") are rod — shaped objects from several centimeters to several tens of meters.
They move, as a rule, along the line of their axis silently and at high speeds which is why they are inaccessible to human perception, but they are easily recorded by photo and video equipment.
In many cases, the augers around the rod have a formation similar to the blades like a whirlpool.
Often, the flight of some types of flying insects, birds, rockets, optical effects, etc. are taken for augers.
Some details about the augers can be found in the article "The rods flew through the sky"[specify].
Many examples of this type of objects are presented in the doc.
the film " UFO in Russia.
The most convincing evidence"[17].
The theory that augers are biological species unknown to science is in vogue.
"Soft "objects[edit | edit wiki text]" soft"objects are called UFOs that do not give the impression of consisting of matter, in particular, a mysterious glow, fog with unusual properties, lights.
In the book "UFO: Operation Trojan Horse "(English: "UFO: operation 'Troyan horse'"), J.
Kiel deduces that unidentified flying objects have an electromagnetic nature, and their phenomenon in the form of clumps of light most corresponds to their true appearance.
Luminous silhouettes and objects are related to UFOs and their "inhabitants" with angels and ghosts materialized at spiritualistic sessions, and contacts with UFOs are related to religious visions and a mediumistic trance.
The study of UFOs[edit / edit wiki text] Main article: Ufology in Russia: Cosmopoisk abroad: MUFON [18] UFOs and science[edit / edit wiki text] It is known that among the UFO researchers there were also scientists, even with scientific degrees: for example, Allen Hynek and Donald Menzel were professors of astronomy (Hynek from Ohio University, Menzel from Harvard University).
In the Soviet Union, the problem of UFOs was dealt with at a very serious level by a mathematician and astronomer, associate professor of MAI Felix Yuryevich Siegel, who is considered today the founder of Russian ufology.
However, most scientists still do not recognize the possibility of the existence of flying objects of an unknown nature — UFOs.
A. Heinek in the book "UFO: an attempt at a Scientific Approach" cites a case: "One summer evening in 1968, a reception was held in Victoria (British Columbia) on the occasion of an astronomical symposium.
More than one hundred astronomers from different countries gathered in a large restaurant.
Suddenly, a man entered the hall and announced that unidentified flying objects appeared in the sky.
A light chuckle passed through the tables, but quickly subsided, and people returned to their conversations.
None of the scientists went outside to see the mysterious phenomenon of nature with their own eyes! "
[19].
Heinek continues:
There are two types of scientists who deny UFOs.
The first type includes scoffers who do not even try to deal with any particular case of observing a phenomenon.
The second type includes scientists who are inclined to recognize the reality of UFOs after verification, but only as a purely psychological phenomenon.
The position of the second group of scientists still deserves attention, since they have materials for discussion.
The views of the first group, on the contrary, do not stimulate discussion, because, in its opinion, if there is no phenomenon, then there is no subject of discussion itself![19]
Among the possible reasons why science does not study unidentified flying objects, we can distinguish:
the inability to predict in advance the place of the appearance of UFOs, which makes it difficult to study it; a small amount of high quality UFO literature, coupled with an abundance of mass and occult literature on this issue, a large number of conscious hoaxes that have crept, including in conscientiously compiled literature; scientists ' misunderstanding of the difference between UFOs and UFOs; the prevalence of paranientific hypotheses trying to explain the origin of UFOs; interest in ufology from religious fanatics and people with mental disorders.
Government programs [edit | edit wiki text] Great Britain [edit | edit wiki text] In the 1950s, the British government took the threat from extraterrestrials seriously[20].
For more than half a century of UFO sightings, no evidence of the presence of an extraterrestrial civilization or a military threat to Britain from extraterrestrials has been found.
In 2010, a special unit engaged in the study of materials about UFOs was disbanded[20].
France [edit | edit wiki text] GEIPAN (Group for Information and Study of Unidentified Flying Objects) - at the National Center for Space Research of France (CNES).
The group was founded in 1977 and became the first state organization in the West to study UFOs.
It receives data from the gendarmerie, police, army, Air Force, Navy and civil aviation.
Now its archives contain documents about about 1,600 cases of UFO sightings.
According to experts in the CNES press release — in most cases we are talking about "absolutely normal natural phenomena that have been misinterpreted by observers"; at the same time, some cases remain real mysteries.
France became the first country that decided to make its UFO archives freely available on the Internet (2007).[21]
USA[edit / edit wiki text] The Blue Book Project (1952-1970) Planned section.
svg This section of the article has not yet been written.
According to the idea of one of the Wikipedia participants, a special section should be located in this place.
You can help the project by writing this section.
Declassification of data[edit / edit wiki text] In mid May 2008, the British government opened access to secret materials about" contacts with extraterrestrials " from 1978 to 1987[22].
The documents contain eyewitness accounts of "contacts with extraterrestrials", but there is no reliable confirmation of these testimonies.
In addition, the most interesting parts of these documents are almost always shaded, often whole paragraphs are under the stroke, and it is quite difficult for an unprepared person to understand what is hidden under the colored text.
In the future, new batches of documents were partially declassified[23], including the case of combat contact[24].
In France, the National Space Agency published, 30 years later, on its website similar materials of the GEIPAN group (Group for Information and Study of UFOs).
Among them are poly tsey reports, photographs, eyewitness accounts, with the help of which scientists are trying to explain the appearance of mysterious objects in the sky[25].
Previously closed China, which collected and processed information by military and scientific structures, for the first time in December 2008 officially published a video of a UFO taken in 1987[26].
Materials about UFOs were made public in 2010 by Brazil[27] and New Zealand[28].
In early April 2011, the FBI declassified documents on the so called Roswell incident[29][30].
According to information posted on the FBI website, in 1947, three so called flying saucers were found in New Mexico.
They were round in shape with a raised center, about 15.25 m in diameter.
In each of them there were three bodies about 90 cm in height.
According to some sources, this document is a well — known fake[31].
Although for the first time materials about UFOs appeared in the official Soviet press in 1977-1978, it was allowed to publish this kind of information widely only since the time of Glasnost.
At this time and further under the post Soviet democracy, Russian officials did not give an official assessment of the numerous published facts of UFO phenomena.
However, recently there has been more and more evidence that the military actively studied and collected information about UFOs.
For example, in the 70s of the last century, a secret directive of the General Staff was sent to military units to collect evidence when UFOs appeared[32].
Hypotheses of the origin of UFOs[edit / edit wiki text] Main article: Hypotheses of the origin of UFOs There are the following hypotheses about the origin of UFOs:
The extraterrestrial hypothesis of the origin of UFOs (Eng.
The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis (ETH) is the most common hypothesis that declares UFOs to be alien spacecraft.
Most ufologists consider only this hypothesis.
Hypotheses about the natural origin of UFOs (Eng.
The Natural Explanation Hypothesis or Null hypothesis) is based on the fact that all unexplained cases, reports of UFOs, if they are not hoaxes, then arise as a result of observing phenomena already known, described and studied by modern science: meteors, flying birds, burning marsh gas.
Ufologists who adhere to this point of view are sometimes called "skeptics".
The most famous ufologists-"skeptics" are Edward Condon, Philip Klass and Donald Menzel.
There is also an assumption by some scientists that many UFOs are ball lightning.
Psychosocial hypotheses of the origin of UFOs it is known that even K. G. Jung considered UFO reports as a modern myth, he noted a possible connection between the disc shaped form of a " flying saucer "and the" mandala " — an occult symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, personifying integrity, completeness[33].
Jung explained the great interest in UFOs in the second half of the XX century by the human desire for harmony in a turbulent time.
In Soviet literature, such an explanation of the UFO phenomenon enjoyed a certain popularity.
The version of the anthropogenic origin of UFOs is the assumption that UFOs are aircraft created by man, the existence of which is hidden by the groups that own them (military, government, private corporations), or the groups themselves are secret.
Ultra terrestrial hypotheses of the origin of UFOs the so called Ultraterrestrial hypothesis suggest an earthly origin of UFOs (ufologist John Keel called for "considering UFOs in the terrestrial or ultra terrestrial framework, that is, think of them as their closest neighbors, from which you are separated only by a fence"[34]); some develop the idea that " flying saucers
