Within the military, as this study shows, believers in the ET thesis seem to have been widespread, but almost never discussed their views openly. The same can be said for the world of science, at least among those scientists who took the time to familiarize themselves with the problem. Aviation legends Hermann Oberth and William Lear both stated unequivocally their belief that UFOs were extraterrestrial. Navy hero Adm. Delmar Fahrney concurred, and former CIA Director Roscoe Hillenkoetter all
There is no lack of important personages who attested to the reality of the UFO phenomenon, nor of the belief that aliens were behind it. But what else is there? Unfortunately, there is no authorized piece of a UFO craft to analyze, although several ought to exist. We know, for example, that objects were recovered as early as 1946, during the Swedish Ghost Rocket wave. Something must also have been recovered near Las Vegas in 1962, most likely at Roswell in 1947, and several other places over the years. None of these pieces are available, however, for obvious reasons.
What remains is photographic evidence, radar/visual evidence, and an enormous mass of witness testimony. Bearing in mind that UFOs
The easy thing to do with UFO evidence is to ignore it. Much harder is to confront it, study it, and ask, “Just what does this mean?” If we look at the evidence with no prior positions, no expectations of what are the limits of the possible—if we are purely empirical about the matter—then we can easily conclude that alien visitation is the most probable explanation. Others have found us, or our world, and continue to find this world of interest.
Why should this be so difficult to understand? In fact, it is not. No one doubts our own ability, perhaps soon, to find another planet somewhere that supports life. Nor do most scientists doubt the existence of intelligent life elsewhere. Despite the supposedly impenetrable nature of interstellar space, there are people currently working on breakthroughs in propulsion technology, and even a few qualified scientists who believe that the speed of light may not be the ultimate barrier.
Could it be that others have already found us? I believe they have. How they arrived, I do not know, but I can speculate that they may not be able simply to walk about on our planet’s surface and that they may have good reasons for making themselves scarce. I can speculate that others might find the Earth’s immense resources and biodiversity to be of great value, something that, despite the possibilities of life in this universe, may yet be special in important ways. These others, whatever they are, could well be genetically engineered, or even to some extent artificially intelligent. They may not, after all, be natural biological organisms. Looking into the next fifty years of our own future, it is not so difficult to imagine things in this way.
Such are some of the possibilities and speculations inherent in the second alternative, that of alien visitation.
What is not speculation is the inability of civilian groups to get anywhere with this issue. NICAP was, by far, the world’s most significant civilian UFO organization. It had prominent and active members, connections to Congress and the military, and a director who was determined to end UFO secrecy. The effort lasted a little more than ten years and failed. Perhaps, however, it is unfair to focus on the failures of NICAP. Although it fell short of its ultimate goal—government acknowledgment of the reality of UFOs-NICAP’s extended fight for UFO congressional hearings kept the issue alive for another day. Moreover, NICAP, along with other organizations such as APRO, developed the core of serious UFO researchers who continued in their work for decades afterward.
