Latest UFO report leaves plenty of questions
By Ken Tingley
It was in those early days of the space race when I first remember sitting in the backyard on warm summer nights as my father and uncles consumed liquid refreshments and contemplated the possibility of other worlds.
I was just a boy drawn to the space race, but it was clear our pursuit of the moon had unlocked the possibilities of other worlds for the older men as well.
It was the summer of 1967, the dawn of the Apollo program and our final push toward the moon. We were sharing a third floor apartment with my aunt and uncle’s family. My aunt would send me downstairs to the little grocery store to buy her a copy of the National Enquirer for its accounts of UFO sightings and alien abductions.
For a 10-year-old, it was frightening and exciting all at once.
We were not sure what was out there.
A few years later, my father claimed he saw a UFO in the night sky at our new home and recounted the encounter repeatedly in the years to come as we sat in the sticky heat after another holiday picnic.
Did my father really see something? Or did he just want to believe there was more out there.
The government is again taking UFOs seriously.
Unidentified Flying Objects have been rebranded in the past year as “Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP)” after a group of military pilots came forward with detailed reports of fast-moving aircraft maneuvering in ways they had never seen before.
Insert the “X-Files” spooky music with “the truth is out there” message and many of us are ready to believe again.
My own beliefs fall more in line with “Close Encounters” than “War of the Worlds” but there is also enormous distrust the government is telling us all that it knows.
The recent reports from pilots led to a couple of brave politicians - Sen. Marco Rubio was one of them - to push for more study. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) was formed and issued its latest report last week.
The report was more statistical analysis than a vivid recounting of what is out there.
The office reported there was another 510 UAP reports over the past year. Twenty-six were suspected to be drones, 163 balloons and six were found to be airborne clutter. That left 171 uncharacterized.
“Some of these uncharacterized UAP appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities and require further analysis,” the report stated.
It’s possible they could be experimental military aircraft or spy vehicles from other countries. That seems more likely than “ET.”
Despite the government’s assurances it will be transparent, it didn’t mention any specifics about these 171 uncharacterized UAP encounters or what further analysis will be done.
What it does say is that these encounters are a danger to those operating in commercial and restricted airspace and safety needs to be improved. It also indicates military pilots are reporting more encounters now that the stigma has been removed.
It’s amusing and fascinating at the same time. I wonder if the gridlock in Congress has some members looking for news ways to make headlines. If politicians want to do an investigation, maybe releasing its UFO files would be more productive.
Included in the National Defense Authorization Act last year was an amendment was added to the Defense Department’s budget that required the department to review historical documents related to UFOs dating back to 1945. That was the year that a large avocado-shaped object struck a communications tower at an old weapons testing site in the New Mexico desert.
Maybe that will lead to more information. Probably not.
You don’t have to look far to find UFO sightings.
The National UFO Recording Center has a live data base where anyone can report their own close encounter. And they do regularly.
This past September, there was a report of a UFO in Pottersville: “Looking south, saw a large bright white unblinking light moving east straight horizontal with a large spray of light trailed behind.”
And this one from Silver Bay: “Was out on the point for a wedding rehearsal, and I noticed something shimmering in sky.”
And this one from Indian Lake: “Sitting out in front of campfire facing west with lake in front, saw bright straight line moving slowly in uniform towards the east.”
And this one from Raquette Lake: “While stargazing in the Adirondacks of NY my 14 year old son and I watched for 2 minutes as an uncomfortable amount of lights crossed.”
There was even one reported last February in Queensbury: “Triangle of three blue lights stationary in sky when spotted, remained in place, sped off eastward.”
There are over 5,000 reported sightings in New York alone.
Maybe we’re not alone out there. Maybe we all need to pay closer attention to what’s happening overhead than what’s happening in Washington.
Good point
Brian Mann, the National Public Radio reporter who lives in the Adirondacks, makes a great point in a Tweet that the FBI director Rep. Elise Stefanik is accusing of corruption was appointed by a Republican president.
What Rep. Stefanik refused to acknowledge is that the investigations against Republicans such as the president were justified and backed up with facts.
And while Democrats have been investigated as well - Hillary Clinton and multiple Benghazi investigations - there did not seem to be any credible wrong-doing from any of those investigations.
Moreau event
Thanks to those that turned out for my event at the Moreau Senior Center on Thursday.
One thing that is becoming increasingly clear from the feedback I am getting fro local folks, is a frustration about how local governments are operating.
As one person said, people are just getting sick of all the drama on their local boards.
Such a fascinating subject! Would love to know more.
Your readership is evident