Good books, articles and websites on UFO's

[Frank]

DeanF asked me for good resource material on the UFO phenomenon in another thread. That gave me the idea to start this thread where forum members can exchange tips for books, articles, and websites on the UFO phenomenon in general and the extra-terrestrial hypothesis (ETH) in particular.

The extra-terrestrial hypothesis (ETH) of the UFO phenomenon can be studied along these lines:

1. Do extraterrestrials exist?
2. Can extraterrestrials detect us?
3. Can extraterrestrials get here?
4. Is there any proof of extra-terrestrial visitation in UFO sightings?

1. Do extraterrestrials exist?

For an extraterrestrial civilization to emerge three crucial elements are needed:
- A habitable planet that is relatively stable during a sufficiently long period.
- On this planet, life emerges at some point in time.
- This life evolves into something intelligent.

Probably there are sufficient habitable planets out there - we discover new extra solar planets almost every day now.

On the other hand, our current biological knowledge is insufficient to reliably predict the chance of life emerging on these planets. We still don’t know exactly what mechanisms created the first replicating molecules and cells, and under what circumstances intelligent live evolves out of them.

So basically, we haven’t got a clue on the probability of life starting on another planet and evolving into something intelligent. We may be the only winners in a lottery with incredibly low odds, or we may be one of several/many civilizations in the galaxy.

The science studying the biological aspects of extraterrestrial life is called Astrobiology. A nice introduction to this field can be found here: http://www.geosc.psu.edu/astrobiominor/AstrobiologyPrimer.pdf. An interesting theory in that respect is the ‘Panspermia theory’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia).

2. Can extraterrestrials detect us?

We can be pretty sure that advanced extraterrestrials – if they exist - are able to determine from their home planet that Earth harbors life. Today, we already have the capability to detect planets around distant stars. Within a few decades, we will probably have no difficulty in detecting small, earth-like planets and in analyzing the elements that constitute their atmosphere. From such analysis we can easily determine the probability of life existing there. If we can do it, so can others.

On top of that, we have been leaking EM waves to outer space for about 70 years now. These signals are detectable within an ever growing sphere around Earth with a current radius of about 70 light years.

Despite the fact that we are detectable, we may still be overlooked or neglected if life is abundant in the galaxy.

3. Can extraterrestrials get here?

When thinking of “getting here”, people often assume a point-to-point journey to Earth and back, with sub light speed. Such a journey is feasible, but it would be a very long and perilous undertaking.

There are two other ways to get here: Proliferation and (maybe) faster-than-light travel.

Getting here: Proliferation (the ‘Fermi Paradox’)

Instead of a dedicated journey from their home planet to Earth, extraterrestrials spreading though the galaxy may “stumble upon Earth”.

There can be advanced extraterrestrial civilizations that have slowly spread over the galaxy. They may have set up a sophisticated galactic transportation network over many years, and colonized other planets. They may send out self-replicating probes up front that spread through the galaxy automatically to search for interesting new planets (so-called “Von Neumann probes”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_probe).

In 1950, the famous physicist Enrico Fermi computed that such extraterrestrials would need only several 10’s to several 100’s of million years to establish a presence throughout the whole galaxy.

“Where are they?” was the obvious question that came to Fermi’s mind. One hundred million years may seem a lot, but on a galactic time scale (that is measured in many billions of years) it is “within the blink of an eye”. Since our solar system is relatively young compared to the age of the galaxy, the earliest proliferating extraterrestrials – if they exist - should already be here since the beginning of time.

Since Fermi’s discovery, many proliferation models have been analyzed. In most cases the outcome confirms Fermi’s results. A very interesting scientific article covering these proliferation models was written by Martyn J. Fogg in 1987: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/fogg1987.pdf

Fermi’s discovery is called the ‘Fermi Paradox’. It is a paradox due to the contradiction between a predicted extraterrestrials presence and the lack of convincing proof for it. Several solutions to this paradox have been discussed over the years. One of them is that we are alone, and another is that they are here, but avoid contact for some reason. More on that can be found here: http://www.fermisparadox.com and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox.

Getting here: The prospect of faster-than-light travel

Instead of a perilous and long journey to Earth, extra-terrestrials may zap through space much faster that the speed of light.

Special Relativity prohibits exceeding light speed, but General Relativity does permit space itself to subtract and expand with speeds far bigger than the speed of light. This principle is used in hypothetical models for ‘engines’ that ‘warp’ space around a spacecraft and in that way permit faster-than-light travel. The theoretical scientific study of these ‘engines’ began with an article by theoretical physicist Alcubierre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive).

Note that this is all very hypothetical stuff at the fuzzy fringes of our scientific knowledge. Scientists do not agree on the amount of energy needed, the existence and necessity of ‘exotic matter’, and the general feasibility of these ‘warp drives’.

These studies do indicate that people who state with absolute certainty that ‘we cannot travel faster than light’ may be proven wrong in the future. And it opens up the possibility that an extraterrestrial civilization far ahead of us may have figured out a way to get here real fast.

Interestingly, scientific analysis of observed UFO flight characteristics by NASA scientist Paul R. Hill shows that the extraordinary flight characteristics of UFO’s in our atmosphere can only be explained if UFO’s generate (repulsive) gravitational fields. ‘Manipulating gravity’ is basically the same as ‘warping space’ in terms of physics, so extraterrestrial technology that is able to warp space would not only account for observed UFO flight characteristics, it would also open up the possibly for faster-than-light travel (Hill’s book is in the list below).

4. Is there any proof of extra-terrestrial visitation in UFO sightings?

There is no undisputable proof for (some) UFO’s being of extraterrestrial origin (an alien artifact or an actual alien would count as undisputable proof to science), so everybody has to make up their own mind.

The following books, articles, and websites have been helpful to me. They concentrate on the data and mostly refrain from conspiracy theories or speculations about captured saucers and government cover-ups. Many of them are from the “early years” (50’s and 60’s), mainly because many serious scientists were devoted to investigating the UFO phenomenon during that time. There even were congressional hearings in 1968 (the link to the related material is in the list below).

Another nice feature of the older cases: Back then there was a lot of speculation about secret military aircraft, too - by now we can judge if the flight characteristics that were witnessed and measured in the 50’s and 60’s were really feasible at that time.

UFO cases

http://www.nicap.org/rufo/contents.htm (Online book by the person who headed project Blue Book – a ‘must-read’ for anyone who wants to get a clear picture of the phenomenon and how the USAF handled it in the early days.)

http://www.nicap.org/ufoe/contents.htm (Overview of many interesting cases in the early years by a very professional UFO research community.)

http://www.amazon.com/UFO-Evidence-Thirty-Year-Report/dp/0810838818 (Richard Hall can be considered a “UFO historian” and collected many, many cases over the years. This book is not an easy read because it mainly contains a dry list of case summaries. By reading over them you can get some idea of recurring patterns.)

http://www.project1947.com/shg/symposium/mcdcases.html (A collection of case studies by atmospheric physicist James McDonald.)

http://files.ncas.org/condon/text/contents.htm (The Condon Report - the result of a study that was subsidized by the USAF - is a controversial document. Please start by reading the cases in section IV (http://files.ncas.org/condon/text/sec-iv.htm) and then decide for yourself if you agree with the Conclusions and Recommendations in section I. Based on these recommendations the USAF terminated project Blue Book and abandoned any public investigation of the UFO phenomenon.)

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ufo_briefingdocument (The Rockefeller UFO Report - a relatively recent overview of the best documented cases, including the RFI.)

UFO physical characteristics and speculation about propulsion

http://www.amazon.com/Unconventional-Flying-Objects-Scientific-Analysis/dp/1571740279 (The best engineering/science book on UFO’s that I know of – a ‘must read’ for anyone with a science or engineering background. It contains a compelling theory about UFO propulsion, backed-up by solid mathematical/physical evidence.)

http://www.nicap.org/ufology/ufology.htm (A book that studies all kinds of physical phenomena related to UFO’s – a very interesting read.)

Discussion on the nature of the UFO phenomenon and the extraterrestrial hypothesis

http://www.project1947.com/shg/symposium/contents.html (The 1968 hearings before the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives. Papers and statements from prominent scientists, both “believers” and “non-believers”.)

http://www.ufoevidence.org/Newsite/Files/MacDonaldSubmissionUFOSymposium.pdf (A lecture on UFO’s by atmospheric physicist James E. McDonald, containing many example cases.)

Generic UFO books and sites

http://www.amazon.com/UFO-Experience-Scientific-Inquiry/dp/156924782X (A classic by astronomer J. Allen Hynek, who worked for the USAF as a UFO researcher for many years. He started as a skeptic but his access to the UFO data slowly convinced him there was something real going on.)

http://www.narcap.org (The National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena by and for pilots. Contains many articles and (recent) case files.)

http://brumac.8k.com (The website of physicist Bruce Maccabee, containing many interesting articles and very recent case studies.)

http://www.ufoskeptic.com (A misleading title for an interesting website by astronomer Bernard Haisch.)

http://www.ufoevidence.org/newsite/files/COMETA_part1.pdf
http://www.ufoevidence.org/newsite/files/COMETA_part2.pdf
(A French study of the UFO phenomenon.)

[AdrianF]

Here is a good article on the idea that Hawking has put forward, re hostile alien contact. It's on the Tau Ceti Foundation blog, which also has some great articles on alien life. It's in 2 parts and a long, but interesting read..

http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=14703&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-do-we-fear-aliens

[Frank]

We can be pretty sure that advanced extraterrestrials – if they exist - are able to determine from their home planet that Earth harbors life. Today, we already have the capability to detect planets around distant stars. Within a few decades, we will probably have no difficulty in detecting small, earth-like planets and in analyzing the elements that constitute their atmosphere. From such analysis we can easily determine the probability of life existing there. If we can do it, so can others.

Getting closer ... http://uanews.org/node/34773

(And thanks for the article, AdrianF!)

[AgentAppleseed]

Nick Redfern just published a book with an interesting premise entitled; "Final Event". Heres the lowdown:-

Basically speaking, Final Events is a study of a think-tank group comprised of personnel from within the U.S. Government, military and intelligence community that has existed in stealth for a surprisingly long time. The group believes that while the UFO issue is a very real one, they do not believe it has anything to do with literal extraterrestrials.
Rather, the group - which calls itself the Collins Elite - concludes that the "aliens" are, in reality, literal demonic entities that are trying to seduce us with a false lure of supposed alien technology, and to - quite literally - steal and farm our souls. The group claim to have discovered evidence that these demonic entities - that seem to utilize a weird combination of advanced technology and archaic rite and ritual - derive a form of "energy sustenance" from the human soul or life force.

Whether you find the concept agreeable or not, its still quite interesting to learn about the kinds of nuts that are running around loose inside these intelligence communities.

The quote above is from the website The Secret Sun-http://secretsun.blogspot.com/2010/09/final-events-interview-with-nick.html

As for Hawking, he hasnt got much imagination when it comes to enterprising young aliens hell bent on invading our planet.
If I was an Alien race, Id come here and buy my way into the corporate sector, and then Id keep expanding, until such time as I owned practically everything on the planet, and/or Id be Monsanto, and Id genetically modify every living organism on the planet, and then Id copyright the genome! There would be no need to fire a single death ray, Id simply buy the human race out. Theyd never see a single stray tentacle, and theyd never see one member of the corporation that was anything else, other than a human being. Very sneaky eh? Muh-ha-ha-ha
Or, if you go by the "Collins Elite", I might be a devil instead of an alien!!

[Frank]

Rather, the group - which calls itself the Collins Elite - concludes that the "aliens" are, in reality, literal demonic entities that are trying to seduce us with a false lure of supposed alien technology

Maybe they were inspired by a book by Jacques Vallee:
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/archivos_pdf/passportmagonia.pdf

You often see this pattern: If people can not place something in our current scientific/technological frame of reference, they immediately put it in a religious or paranormal frame of reference. And all this time they are probably just victims of Clarke's third law:

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

[Frank]

Probably there are sufficient habitable planets out there - we discover new extra solar planets almost every day now.

Interesting news on this topic: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-357

"The data tell us that our galaxy, with its roughly 200 billion stars, has at least 46 billion Earth-size planets, and that's not counting Earth-size planets that orbit farther away from their stars in the habitable zone."

[Frank]

More interesting news:

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/nov/HQ_M10-167_Astrobiology.html

NASA Sets News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery; Science Journal Has Embargoed Details Until 2 p.m. EST On Dec. 2 WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.

The news conference will be held at the NASA Headquarters auditorium at 300 E St. SW, in Washington. It will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website at http://www.nasa.gov.