We shall soon be approaching 80 years of “celebrating” the belief in Flying Saucers!

I doubt that Kenneth Arnold (1915-1984) realised what a can of worms he was responsible for opening in 1947!

Just like the belief in the “treasure of Rennes-le-Château,” the belief in Flying Saucers has encompassed many layers of diverse accretions that have developed over the decades – and just like the belief in the “treasure of Rennes-le-Château,” believers in flying saucers are only too glad to hold elastic attitudes to the subject matter and are only too prepared to believing in anything and everything relating to it – even though, just like the existence of the “treasure of Rennes-le-Château,” there is not one solitary piece of evidence that supports the existence of the “Flying Saucers” – and Rennes-le-Château and Flying Saucers also share another thing in common – the defiance of the belief in the objective and the subjective. Not one solitary Flying Saucer has been spotted by any observatory on Planet Earth since 1947.

In America, the belief in Flying Saucers has reached serious business, with the subject matter involving The Pentagon itself – what a contrast to attitudes in the United Kingdom, where its still considered to be a source of mirth! Also, anyone and everyone with a high distinction of advanced education can be a believer in Flyng Saucers – for one example, there are Professors of Psychology who believe that Planet Earth is a Confederation of Planets with Flying Saucers regularly visiting our planet for Reconnaissance Missions.

Research indicates that belief in “Flying Saucers,” or more recently Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), crosses all educational boundaries, meaning individuals with high levels of education and academic distinction can absolutely be believers. Studies show that belief in the paranormal and UAPs does not depend on, nor is it prevented by, high levels of education. The field of UAP research and belief includes not only the general public but also academics, researchers with graduate degrees, and professionals in fields like physics or engineering. Research has also shown that a significant portion of believers in Flying Saucers are highly educated, with many holding Master’s Degrees or Doctorates. As Flying Saucers have recently been re-branded as UAPs, the subject has gained traction among intellectuals who believe in the possibility of non-human technology. Highly educated individuals may believe in Flying Saucers for reasons such as an interest in science, the vastness of the universe, or a desire to investigate unexplained phenomena, rather than a lack of critical thinking.

UAP always stands for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena – the term UEP is never mentioned (Unidentified Earthly Phenomena) – whereby unexplained sights/lights can be either man-made or forces in nature not yet discovered (and not easy to discover, since it involves duplication in laboratory conditions). The explanation of Unidentified Forces in Nature not yet discovered is also considered by believers in Flying Saucers but, for obvious reasons, this possibility is often placed on the back-burner.

In the United Kingdom we are currently being shown the 1967-1968 repeats of episodes of the television series “The Invaders” (on FreeView). Unfortunately, the television series had to be cancelled after only two seasons because its creators failed to find an ending to it. The very same problem exists with the believers in Flying Saucers, there seems to be no ending for this desired belief – without even one solitary piece of evidence to justify its existence.

Quoting Arthur C. Clarke from 1980: “Well, at this moment, we have radar networks – American, Russian, and several others – plotting, tracking, everything in space – anything as big as a pencil in orbit around the earth can be tracked by these radars. Is it conceivable that we've been having visitors over the last decades, trying to sneak up on us, landing in obscure places, and seen by a few people, and not by these enormous tracking networks? I feel that when there really is a visitation from space it will really be something spectacular, and rather like the climax of the movie ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ – we'll be certain of it in about five minutes.” (From the TV Series, ‘Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World,’ Episode 10, UFOs; Trident/Yorkshire Television, 1980.)