3.2.3 - The UFO Game

Xenology: An Introduction to the Scientific Study of Extraterrestrial Life, Intelligence, and Civilization

First Edition

Robert A. Freitas Jr., Xenology: An Introduction to the Scientific Study of Extraterrestrial Life, Intelligence, and Civilization, First Edition, Xenology Research Institute, Sacramento, CA, 1979; http://www.xenology.info/Xeno.htm

The National Enquirer is offering a reward of $50,000 to the first person to submit incontrovertible proof that UFOs are of extraterrestrial origin.¹³⁴⁷ Entries have been submitted, but the prize has yet to be awarded.

Fighting fire with fire, Philip Klass in UFOs Explained declared he was so certain that UFOs are not piloted by aliens that he would personally refund the full price of his book to any purchaser if positive proof to the contrary ever comes to light.⁶⁹⁵ As an additional expression of confidence, Klass has extended a $10,000 bet to any and all takers that UFOs are not extraterrestrial spacecraft. The jackpot pays off if any one of the following events occurs: (l) Any crashed spacecraft or piece thereof is found that clearly has extraterrestrial design or construction, in the opinion of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences; or (2) the U.S. National Academy of Sciences reaches the same conclusion based on other pertinent evidence; or (3) "The first bona fide ET visitor, who was born on a celestial body other than the Earth, appears live before the General Assembly of the United Nations or on a national television program."⁶⁹⁵

What are UFOs? Besides alien spaceships, these possibilities have been proposed: Time travelers from our future^{789,1189,1845} natural or artificial biological mechanisms,⁶³² Satanic devils,⁵⁶² and remote-controlled robots and androids.¹⁶²³ Vallee claims that UFOs may be a purely "psychic" event akin to mass telekinesis,⁶⁵⁹ while astronomer-ufologist J. Allen Hynek warns us that "we may have to face the fact that the scientific framework, by its very internal logic, excludes certain classes of phenomena of which UFOs may be one. . . . It should not surprise us if a phenomenon that is inaccessible to a scientific procedure appears irrational."⁵⁹⁷ However, while few serious ufologists would categorically assert that flying saucers are manifestations of extraterrestrial life, many consider it to be the leading hypothesis.¹⁴⁴⁸

As for future research, Hynek has quietly organized the Center for UFO Studies in Northfield, Illinois. A toll-free hotline phone number has been distributed to law enforcement and other government agencies to make UFO reporting fast and convenient.¹⁶⁷¹ An independent UFO-watch station crammed with more than $20,000 worth of sophisticated electronic gear has been set up on a 400-acre site 20 miles northwest of Austin, Texas. The equipment at Project Starlight International (as the observatory is called) includes a 30-meter-diameter circle of sequenced spotlights and a low-power helium-neon red light laser to attract the saucer’s attention -- should one be spotted nearby.¹⁹²⁵

Although it is probably the opinion of the majority of physical scientists that no compelling evidence now exists for extraterrestrial UFOs, it would be unreasonable not to continue to pursue ufology with an open mind. Judgement cannot be passed until all the evidence is in.