ARE ALIENS REAL

This part of the website is for members to exchange there own thoughts and opinions on the topics covered here at www.alien-ufo-information.co.uk. please feel free to comment on this post and exchange your own experience or encounters. we look forward to hearing from you all :-)

UFO / ALIEN FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is a UFO?

The U.S. Air Force invented the term "unidentified flying object" in 1952 to replace the term "flying saucer."  The Air Force defined a "UFO" as "any airborne object which by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features does not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be positively identified as a familiar object." [1]
Every UFO sighting report can be placed into one of three categories:

1. Identified Flying Objects (IFOs): Those reports that are investigated and determined to be known objects.  These can include astronomical phenomena, aircraft, balloons, advertising planes, experimental aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, flocks of birds, and hoaxes.
2. Insufficient Data: Reports that don't provide enough data to reach a conclusion.
3. Unknowns: These are reports by competent observers of objects which cannot be identified by the witness, and which remain unidentified after investigation by competent investigators, and whose appearance indicates that they were manufactured, and whose flight behavior indicates that they were made somewhere other than Earth. 

Are the Majestic / MJ-12 / MAGIC 12 documents authentic?

Over a period of years, a number of classified documents detailing Operation Majestic 12 were leaked to multiple sources.  Some of the documents have been shown to almost certainly be inauthentic.  Others, however, seem to have passed rigorous scrutiny.
The documents indicate that Operation Majestic 12 was established by special classified presidential order on September 24, 1947.  The goal of the group was to exploit everything they could from recovered alien technology. [1]
According to Stanton Friedman, who has been researching these documents since 1984:

Clearly, if the original documents-the Eisenhower Briefing Document (EBD) of November 18,1952, the Truman-Forrestal memo (TFM) of September 24, 1947 (page 8 of the EBD), and the Cutler-Twining memo (CTM) of July 14, 1954 (found in July 1985, in Box 189 of Entry 267 of Record Group 341 at the National Archives by Jaime Shandera and William Moore)-are genuine, then the consequences are enormous. [2]

In addition to an entire book devoted to this subject, Friedman dedicates a chapter in his book, Flying Saucers and Science: A Scientist Investigates the Mysteries of UFOs: Interstellar Travel, Crashes, and Government Cover-Ups, to explain in detail why these particular documents appear to be authentic, and why others don't.  Friedmen has spent countless hours visiting archives, talking with experts, reviewing flight logs, and digging for details.  The government cover-up amounts to what he refers to as a "Cosmic Watergate."

Isn't it impossible for the government to keep a secret?

The U.S. government has successfully kept many big secrets over long time-spans.  Consider these as examples:

• The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. The Manhattan Project began modestly in 1939, but grew to employ more than 130,000 people and cost nearly US$2 billion [1]
• Project MKULTRA, or MK-ULTRA, was the code name for a covert, illegal CIA human experimentation program, run by the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence. This official U.S. government program began in the early 1950s, continuing at least through the late 1960s, and it used U.S. and Canadian citizens as its test subjects. Project MKULTRA was first brought to wide public attention in 1975. [2]
• Operation Mockingbird was a secret Central Intelligence Agency campaign to influence foreign media beginning in the 1950s. Congressional hearings in 1976 proved the CIA had been paying editors and reporters in most mainstream media outlets. [3]
• Operation Northwoods was a series of false-flag proposals that originated within the United States government in 1962. The proposals called for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), or other operatives, to commit acts of terrorism in U.S. cities and elsewhere. These acts of terrorism were to be blamed on Cuba in order to create public support for a war against that nation, which had recently become communist under Fidel Castro.[2] One part of Operation Northwoods was to "develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington."  Operation Northwoods proposals included hijackings and bombings followed by the introduction of phony evidence that would implicate the Cuban government. [4]
• The Tuskegee syphilis experiment (also known as the Tuskegee syphilis study or Public Health Service syphilis study) was an infamous clinical study conducted between 1932 and 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama by the U.S. Public Health Service to study the natural progression of untreated syphilis in poor, rural black men who thought they were receiving free health care from the U.S. government. The men were never told they had syphilis, nor were they ever treated for it. The story broke first in the Washington Star on July 25, 1972. [5]
• The Church Committee is the common term referring to the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, a U.S. Senate committee chaired by Senator Frank Church (D-ID) in 1975. A precursor to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the committee investigated intelligence gathering for illegality by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after certain activities had been revealed by the Watergate affair. [6]  The Committee uncovered, among many other things, that the CIA had violated its charter to perform only gathering of intelligence, through, for example, the assassinations of Allende in Chile and Mossadegh in Iran and assassinations of Central and South American leaders and revolutionaries, and assassinations in Africa, the Middle East, and East Asia.  The list was tremendous.  The committee even declassified a “Heart Attack Gun” the Agency had made for use in killing someone without detection.  Cancer, car accidents, skiing accidents, suicide, boating accidents, heart attacks, and just plain shootings were common assassination methods.  [7]
• The Lockheed U-2 is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In the early 1950s, with Cold War tensions on the rise, the U.S. military desired better strategic reconnaissance to help determine Soviet capabilities and intentions. It was thought an aircraft that could fly at 70,000 feet (21,000 m) would be beyond the reach of Soviet fighters, missiles, and even radar. This would allow overflights (knowingly violating Soviet airspace) to take aerial photographs. The first U-2 overflight of the Soviet Union occurred on 4 July 1956. The U-2 came to public attention when CIA pilot Gary Powers was shot down over Soviet territory on 1 May 1960, causing the U-2 incident. [8]
• Another example is the Stealth Fighter, developed mostly in Nevada around Area 51 throughout a period of 10 years and at a cost of $10 billion, in secret. The SR-71, a high-performance successor to the U-2, but many times as fast and able to fly much higher, was also developed there, in secret.

Why hasn't anyone come forward to blow the whistle?

There have been people who have tried to get the UFO topic to be taken seriously since the government first began it's policy of denial and ridicule.  As Richard Dolan writes in A.D. After Disclosure: The People's Guide to Life After Contact:

Taking their cue from the national security community, reputable leaders within the media and academic world have discussed UFOs like a weary parent chastising a child for reading too many comic books.  These things are not real, we are told.  If you speak about them too much or too openly, people may think you have a screw loose somewhere...  That is one reason why the cover-up has stood for so long...  Denial and ridicule...  Official denial works. [1]

Consider these examples:

• James E. McDonald (May 7, 1920 – June 13, 1971) was an American physicist. He is best known for his research regarding UFOs. McDonald was senior physicist at the Institute for Atmospheric Physics and professor in the Department of Meteorology, University of Arizona, Tucson.
  
  McDonald campaigned vigorously in support of expanding UFO studies during the mid and late 1960s, arguing that UFOs represented an intriguing, pressing and unsolved mystery which had not been adequately studied by science. He was one of the more prominent figures of his time who argued in favor of the extraterrestrial hypothesis as a plausible, but not completely proved, model of UFO phenomena.
  
  A dedicated and tireless UFO researcher and scholar, McDonald interviewed over 500 UFO witnesses, uncovered many important government UFO documents, and gave important presentations of UFO evidence. He testified before Congress during the UFO hearings of 1968. McDonald also gave a famous talk called "Science in Default" to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). It was a summary of the current UFO evidence and a critique of the 1969 Condon Report UFO study.
  
  McDonald suffered a public humiliation when in 1970, he agreed to appear before a committee of the United States Congress to provide evidence against the development of the supersonic transport (SST) plane. Like many other atmospheric physicists who testified with him, McDonald was convinced that the plane could potentially harm the Earth's vital but fragile ozone layer. During his testimony Congressman Silvio Conte of Massachusetts - whose district contained factories that would help build the SST - tried to discredit McDonald's SST testimony by switching the hearing to a discussion of McDonald's UFO research. Although McDonald defended his UFO work and noted that his evidence regarding the SST had nothing to do with UFOs, Conte bluntly stated that anyone who "believes in little green men" was, in his opinion, not a credible witness. McDonald was deeply humiliated by Conte's mocking attitude, and by the open laughter of some committee members.  He became professionally isolated and committed suicide in 1971. [2]
• In 2001, Steven Greer and the Disclosure Project brought together over twenty military, intelligence, government, corporate and scientific witnesses at the National Press Club in Washington, DC to establish the reality of UFOs. About 450 more witnesses were willing to testify under oath if they are given protection through official Congressional hearings.  The event was covered in the press, but with a muted response.
• In 2010, Robert Hastings held a press conference at the National Press Club to raise awareness of UFO intrusions into U.S. Air Force nuclear facilities repeatedly over the past several decades.  Eight former Air Force officers were present and testified at the press conference.  The officers were present at nuclear launch facilities when UFOs apparently deactivated or otherwise interfered with warheads and equipment.  The government's official position continues to be that UFOs are not a concern to national security.  Several of the ex-servicemembers said when they'd brought their concern of such appearances to superiors, they'd been told it was "top secret" or that it "didn't happen."  Meanwhile, the ridicule and denial was maintained in the press.  John Kelly with the Washington Post attended the press conference, and was sure to focus his article on the cookies served at the conference despite the fact that eight U.S. Air Force officers were there to raise awareness about UFOs messing with nuclear warheads.

Where do they come from? What evidence is there that some UFOs are alien craft?

There are many reports by competent observers of objects which cannot be identified by the witness, and which remain unidentified after investigation by competent investigators, and whose appearance indicates that they were manufactured, and whose flight behavior indicates that they were made somewhere other than Earth.  In addition, they seem to be under intelligent control.  Many of these reports are confirmed by multiple witnesses and corroborated by trace evidence such as radar, photographs, video, or landing marks.  Some of these objects interfere with our national defense systems, such as nuclear warheads.
While these objects seem to be under intelligent control, where they come from is a matter of speculation.  When considered along with the testimony of those involved in the abduction phenomenon, it appears likely there isn't just one type or origin.  In addition to the question of where they may come from it also becomes necessary to ask "when" they may come from, as witnesses commonly report distortions of time during encounters.  This indicates there may be a technology involved that can manipulate time as we know it.

If they are really here, why don't they make themselves known? Why don't they land on the White House lawn?

The policy is to shoot first and ask questions later.  There was a wave of UFO sightings over Washington D.C. in 1952, and jets were scrambled with shoot down orders.  An Air Force public information officer, Lt. Col. Moncel Monte, confirmed the directive stating, "The jet pilots are, and have been, under orders to investigate unidentified objects and to shoot them down if they can't talk them down." It was further stated that no pilot had been able to get close enough to take a shot at a “flying saucer”, as the objects would disappear or speed away as soon as an interceptor approached, sometimes outflying their pilots by “as much as a thousand miles an hour.” [1]
As far as anyone knows, this policy must still be in place since the U.S. government does not have a public policy on UFOs.  However, the official position is also that UFOs do not represent a threat to national security and are not investigated, yet at the same time, UFOs that are a threat to national security are investigated within the existing military frameworks.

Did a flying saucer really crash near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947?

Many books have been written that detail the Roswell incident.  Researchers have demonstrated that the first newspaper headlines most likely got the story straight:  "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region."  The series of events and witness testimony is well documented by Stanton Friedman and others.  It is clear something happened, and the Air Force's report in 1997 that was meant to finally put a rest to the crashed saucer claims really didn't succeed.  For example, the crash test dummies that are supposed to explain the alien bodies recovered in no way match the description from witness accounts.  The dummies were 6 feet tall, 175 pounds, and were not used until at least 1953.
The Air Force report also didn't explain witness testimony that describes the crash debris as "memory metal" that could not be cut, torn, or bent.  And the lightweight beams with strange symbols that could also not be broken or burned.  The rancher who reported the wreckage was familiar with weather balloons because he had found them before.  Major Jesse Marcel and RAAF base commander Colonel Blanchard were also both familiar with weather balloons.  Blanchard made the decision that the wreckage that had been recovered initially was important enough to fly it to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. [1]
Witnesses still describe how they were instructed to never speak of what they saw, or they may end up in a desert grave where "nobody will ever find your bones."

Isn't impossible to get here from so far away?

This is kind of a silly argument against the possibility of some UFOs coming from elsewhere.  Consider these points:

• It would definitely be a challenge to travel light years using 20th century technology.  However, we don't know where "they" come from or how they get here.
• Whoever "they" are, they may be thousands or even millions of years older than our human civilization.  We may not even have concepts for their technology.
• Even today, humans are successfully experimenting with transporting particles instantly over great distances.
• Scientists may have exceeded the "impossible" speed-of-light barrier at CERN.

Are alien abductions real?

One of the phenomena closely associated with UFOs is the question of abductions of humans by aliens. These were often described as nocturnal affairs in which the victims were taken against their will to another location where they were subjected to examinations by an assortment of beings. [1]

Harvard psychiatrist John Edward Mack was a well known, highly esteemed psychiatrist, author of over 150 scientific articles and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his biography of T. E. Lawrence. Mack became interested in the abduction phenomenon in the late 1980s, interviewing over 800 people, and eventually writing two books on the subject. In June 1992, Mack co-organized a five-day conference at MIT to discuss and debate the abduction phenomenon. The conference attracted a wide range of professionals, representing a variety of perspectives.  In response to this conference, Mack and Jacobs were awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 1993. [2]

Mainstream scientists reject claims that the phenomenon literally occurs as reported. However, there is little doubt that many apparently stable persons who report alien abductions believe their experiences were real. As reported in the Harvard University Gazette in 1992, Dr. John Edward Mack "spent countless therapeutic hours with these individuals only to find that what struck him was the 'ordinariness' of the population, including a restaurant owner, several secretaries, a prison guard, college students, a university administrator, and several homemakers ... 'The majority of abductees do not appear to be deluded, confabulating, lying, self-dramatizing, or suffering from a clear mental illness,' he maintained." "While psychopathology is indicated in some isolated alien abduction cases," Stanley Krippner et al. confirmed, "assessment by both clinical examination and standardized tests has shown that, as a group, abduction experients are not different from the general population in term of psychopathology prevalence." Other experts who have argued that abductees' mental health is no better or worse than average include psychologists John Wilson and Rima Laibow, and psychotherapist David Gotlib. [2]

There have been cases that leave behind physical trace evidence, including implants removed from experiencers' bodies.  Some of these have been analyzed but their origin and purpose remains elusive.  It has also been reported and shown that areas of the abductee's body may glow under a black light for days after an experience.