By Sean Zucker –
What may have seemed like science fiction only a few years ago is now increasingly acknowledged and confirmed. UFOs, also referred to as unidentified aerial phenomena or UAPs, have pretty much gone mainstream thanks to renewed interest from the media and government organizations.
Of course, none of this increased awareness has helped categorically identify these unidentified whatevers, let alone determine what their appearance means for the collective human psychological experience.
Nonetheless, in recent years, the U.S. government has begun taking sightings and reports more seriously than ever, going as far as to confirm some as truly unidentifiable. In 2019, the U.S. Navy announced it made changes to how it handled reported encounters with “unidentified aircrafts”. It replaced its traditional skepticism with more openness, approaching claims and conducting investigations with more nuance, solemnity and rigor.
The following year, the Defense Department released a series of previously classified videos of flying crafts, confirming the genuine nature of the sightings and their inability to nail down their origin. They also officially and publicly labeled the collection UAPs.
Earlier this month, 60 Minutes also jumped aboard the starship-hype train. Correspondent Bill Whitaker reported, for example, that the Pentagon has walked back decades of public denial about the existence of mysterious sightings in the sky. The director of national intelligence and secretary of defense are also expected to deliver a statement to Congress next month on their findings and knowledge regarding ariel phenomenon.
Whitaker’s report cited several former government officials and military personnel who claim unexplained sighting have happened regularly for some time. 60 Minutes added that pilots who witnessed these unidentified objects usually speculate that the technology associated with these sightings likely stem from one of three origins: secret U.S. technology, adversary spy vehicles or something unworldly.
Menacing super sophisticated spy vehicles, of course, are nothing to sneer at. But for humankind an actual encounter with something otherworldly is an entirely different ballgame or really universe.
WellWell recently spoke with an expert on the topic to shed some light on how the world might react if an extraterrestrial lifeform did in fact make contact with Earth. “There are so many different ways that it would impact humans, both psychologically and sociologically.,” Eric Melcher, author of The Extraterrestrial Big Hello: A Guide for What to do When the Aliens Introduce Themselves, told the site.
“I think not only our own perspective on our world and universe but certainly some very basic perspectives of our security and our safety. At what point do we have to get together as a planet to decide how we move forward? How is that done in a world where we have folks fighting so much in the international relations sphere that it’s tough to get anything done.”
Would this experience at least bring the various facets of humanity’s competing regions together for a common goal to face a universal adversary? Slim chance, according to Melcher and he sites human nature and spirituality as the primary culprits standing in the way.
“I don’t know actually that we’d all come together. I think there’s a very good chance there would be a lot of division on many levels. I mean, individual nations would be fighting for competitive advantage. Religious groups might have a lot to say about this. Probably the most dangerous element would be kind of radical extremist reactions, which might be small groups, but can sometimes be quite violent and confrontational.”
Following the 60 Minutes report, President Barack Obama went on the Late Late Show with James Corden, and added some fuel to the speculation.
“What is true, and I’m actually being serious here, is that there are, there’s footage and records of objects in the skies, that we don’t know exactly what they are,” he told Corden. “We can’t explain how they moved, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern. And so, you know, I think that people still take seriously trying to investigate and figure out what that is.”
CNN underscored the notion that believing UFOs doesn’t necessarily require believing in aliens. UFOs are simply unidentified flying objects. There is no automatic assumption they contain other life forms from this or another planet.
Will this interested acknowledgement of UAPs change how people view their place in the universe? Who knows. But if the truth is indeed out there, it very well may be made public soon.
