Unidentified flying object

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Unidentifed Flying Objects or UFOs are anything that flies that can not be identified. UFOs sightings are classified according to shape, type and distance from the observer. UFOs were also known as Flying Saucers after Associated Press reporter Bill Bequette that the objects behaved like a rock or saucer. This was in reference to airplane pilot Kenneth Arnold's 1947 UFO sighting. A headline writer coined the term Flying Saucer and the name stuck. The objects Arnold reported were crescent, not saucer, shaped but the name Flying Saucer was used to describe them.[1]

UFO Classification

Hynek's Classification

  • Nocturnal Disks: Objects seen in the night sky. This is the most commonly reported UFO sighting.
  • Daylight Disks: UFOs that could be seen flying high in the sky or close to the ground. Oval or round disks are commonly seen with this type of UFO sighting.
  • Radar Visual: UFOs that are seen on radar screens while also being visually confirmed by eyewitnesses on the ground.
  • Close Encounter of the First Kind: UFOs that are seen within 200 yards of the witness. There is no interaction between the witness and the UFO.
  • Close Encounter of the Second Kind: Electrical equipment such as a car ignition may operate strangely. Other electrical equipment may malfunction while the UFO is present. Other forms of interaction may include physical effects to plants, animals or human beings. There could be traces of burned grass for example in a Close Encounter of the Second Kind.
  • Close Encounter of the Third Kind: Seeing humanoid like creatures associated with the UFO. There is usually no interaction between the human witness and the humanoid. In some reports there have been interactions reported between the UFO witness and the humanoids.[2]
  • Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: Interaction between the UFO witness and abduction by humaonid entities.[3]


Jacques Vallee's UFO Classification

  • AN1: Viewing anomalous lights or explosions in the sky that do not affect the witness or the environment.
  • AN2: Reports that show lasting effects such as flattened grass, poltergeist activity or anomalous photographs.
  • AN3: Cases that include entities. This could include ghosts, yetis (Abominable Snowman), elves, spirits and crytozoology.
  • AN4: The witness reports interaction with the entities within the reality of the entities themselves. This type of experience could include Near Death Experiences, religious visions and out-of-body experiences (OBEs).[4]


Notes

References

  • [1]Mutual UFO Network (MUFON)
  • [2]Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS)
  • [3] Jacques Vallee.net