[CliffordK]

The day a disclosure on UFO's happen will be the day many rational people will be left looking like idiots.

If a flying saucer with little green men lands in front of the Capitol building, there will be many excited people. 

Yes, if it turns out that they had been scouting Earth for years, many of us will have egg on our face.  But in all likelihood, the majority of the "ghosts" that alien hunters have been chasing for the last half-century or more will remain just that...  ghosts.

[JP]

The day a disclosure on UFO's happen will be the day many rational people will be left looking like idiots.

If a flying saucer with little green men lands in front of the Capitol building, there will be many excited people. 

Yes, if it turns out that they had been scouting Earth for years, many of us will have egg on our face.  But in all likelihood, the majority of the "ghosts" that alien hunters have been chasing for the last half-century or more will remain just that...  ghosts.

Out of a sense of fairness, when will pro-alien-UFO folks have egg on their face? 

[BenV]

The day a disclosure on UFO's happen will be the day many rational people will be left looking like idiots.

If a flying saucer with little green men lands in front of the Capitol building, there will be many excited people. 

Yes, if it turns out that they had been scouting Earth for years, many of us will have egg on our face.  But in all likelihood, the majority of the "ghosts" that alien hunters have been chasing for the last half-century or more will remain just that...  ghosts.

Out of a sense of fairness, when will pro-alien-UFO folks have egg on their face? 

Maybe when the aliens land and say "we've never been here before"?

[CliffordK]

The day a disclosure on UFO's happen will be the day many rational people will be left looking like idiots.

If a flying saucer with little green men lands in front of the Capitol building, there will be many excited people. 

Yes, if it turns out that they had been scouting Earth for years, many of us will have egg on our face.  But in all likelihood, the majority of the "ghosts" that alien hunters have been chasing for the last half-century or more will remain just that...  ghosts.

Out of a sense of fairness, when will pro-alien-UFO folks have egg on their face? 

Maybe when the aliens land and say "we've never been here before"?

That would only be true if you could conclude that there were no other possible aliens that could have visited the planet.

Certainly you would ask the aliens if there are any UFO-ologists on their planet, and if they've ever been visited by aliens!!!

[Geezer]

The day a disclosure on UFO's happen will be the day many rational people will be left looking like idiots.

If a flying saucer with little green men lands in front of the Capitol building, there will be many excited people. 

Yes, if it turns out that they had been scouting Earth for years, many of us will have egg on our face.  But in all likelihood, the majority of the "ghosts" that alien hunters have been chasing for the last half-century or more will remain just that...  ghosts.

Out of a sense of fairness, when will pro-alien-UFO folks have egg on their face? 

Maybe when the aliens land and say "we've never been here before"?

Would it be politically correct to even call them "aliens"? Maybe "milky wayfarers" would be more appropriate.

[CliffordK]

The day a disclosure on UFO's happen will be the day many rational people will be left looking like idiots.

If a flying saucer with little green men lands in front of the Capitol building, there will be many excited people. 
Yes, if it turns out that they had been scouting Earth for years, many of us will have egg on our face.  But in all likelihood, the majority of the "ghosts" that alien hunters have been chasing for the last half-century or more will remain just that...  ghosts.

Out of a sense of fairness, when will pro-alien-UFO folks have egg on their face? 

Maybe when the aliens land and say "we've never been here before"?

Would it be politically correct to even call them "aliens"? Maybe "milky wayfarers" would be more appropriate.

The INS, already has all the Alien registration forms.
Certainly they would require the Aliens to use and "official port of entry"
Bring a "Machine Readable Passport".
Demonstrate whether or not there is immigration intent.
And Obtain a Visa (preferably before entering the country).
The process can take years.  In fact, all the aliens buzzing the planet could be merely waiting for the immigration lottery.

[Don_1]

I think they are UFC's (Unidentified flying clouds) except that YouTube video, which is obviously Rudolf off on his holidays to Siberia.

[QuantumClue (OP)]

The day a disclosure on UFO's happen will be the day many rational people will be left looking like idiots.

If a flying saucer with little green men lands in front of the Capitol building, there will be many excited people. 

Yes, if it turns out that they had been scouting Earth for years, many of us will have egg on our face.  But in all likelihood, the majority of the "ghosts" that alien hunters have been chasing for the last half-century or more will remain just that...  ghosts.

So I could easily say, that the locality of our nearby star systems still have a quantity of probability that we are not alone. In such a multitude of star systems which are in comparison to the entire universe, is still a great deal. You just require enough star systems - and as a solid arguement, as based on the amount of star systems round our local system, is in itself phenomenal. There is certainly plenty of room for more biological inhabitents.

Are we to be so selfish to think we have such an appropriate corner of the universe for life alone?

[Geezer]

The day a disclosure on UFO's happen will be the day many rational people will be left looking like idiots.

If a flying saucer with little green men lands in front of the Capitol building, there will be many excited people. 

Yes, if it turns out that they had been scouting Earth for years, many of us will have egg on our face.  But in all likelihood, the majority of the "ghosts" that alien hunters have been chasing for the last half-century or more will remain just that...  ghosts.

So I could easily say, that the locality of our nearby star systems still have a quantity of probability that we are not alone. In such a multitude of star systems which are in comparison to the entire universe, is still a great deal. You just require enough star systems - and as a solid arguement, as based on the amount of star systems round our local system, is in itself phenomenal. There is certainly plenty of room for more biological inhabitents.

Are we to be so selfish to think we have such an appropriate corner of the universe for life alone?

I don't think so. I think it's highly unlikely that Earth is unique in terms of life. However, I also think the probability that we will encounter intelligent life from another part of our galaxy before we manage to snuff ourselves out is incredibly small. (I also think that if we ever do, there will be little doubt about it.)

[CliffordK]

If we can't get there...
Can they get here?

There can be some wonderful ideas in sci-fi.  However, at this point there is no reason to believe that we will ever be able to surpass the speed of light. 

That puts all but the nearest stars completely out of reach.

If we woke up one morning and tuned to AM-1605 and picked up a broadcast from Andromeda, we would just have to be content to sit back and listen to it.

If you received a cell phone call from Andromeda, it would be decidedly one-sided as you and all your grandchildren will be dust long before your greeting returned back to Andromeda.

And, it will be at least two million years until anybody on Andromeda picks up the first episode of Days of our Lives.

There are closer stars of course, but less than 100 within 20 light years.

At this point, the only conceivable spread of an alien race would be slow hopping from star system to nearby star system.  But it would be a very slow process, and would unlikely be driven by purely economic motives.

So, the question remains:
If we can't get there...
Can they get here?

[imatfaal]

And, it will be at least two million years until anybody on Andromeda picks up the first episode of Days of our Lives.

There are people in England who are yet to pick it up..

You are quite correct - the only physics that includes FTL is distinctly flakey.  If we are bound to sub-luminal speed travel then perhaps the transit time will always prove too much - but I hope not.

[QuantumClue (OP)]

The day a disclosure on UFO's happen will be the day many rational people will be left looking like idiots.

If a flying saucer with little green men lands in front of the Capitol building, there will be many excited people. 

Yes, if it turns out that they had been scouting Earth for years, many of us will have egg on our face.  But in all likelihood, the majority of the "ghosts" that alien hunters have been chasing for the last half-century or more will remain just that...  ghosts.

So I could easily say, that the locality of our nearby star systems still have a quantity of probability that we are not alone. In such a multitude of star systems which are in comparison to the entire universe, is still a great deal. You just require enough star systems - and as a solid arguement, as based on the amount of star systems round our local system, is in itself phenomenal. There is certainly plenty of room for more biological inhabitents.

Are we to be so selfish to think we have such an appropriate corner of the universe for life alone?

I don't think so. I think it's highly unlikely that Earth is unique in terms of life. However, I also think the probability that we will encounter intelligent life from another part of our galaxy before we manage to snuff ourselves out is incredibly small. (I also think that if we ever do, there will be little doubt about it.)

I never said earth was unique in terms of life. Unique in the sense we have a tiny part of the universe we call ''our'' corner.

[Geezer]

I don't think so. I think it's highly unlikely that Earth is unique in terms of life. However, I also think the probability that we will encounter intelligent life from another part of our galaxy before we manage to snuff ourselves out is incredibly small. (I also think that if we ever do, there will be little doubt about it.)

I never said earth was unique in terms of life. Unique in the sense we have a tiny part of the universe we call ''our'' corner.

Nor did I say that you did. I agree that it is most ulikely that there is anything very special about this part of the Universe.

[CliffordK]

I've been trying to take some "UFO" pictures.

The problem is that it is right at the maximum limit of what my camera can take.  My "movies" all turn out too dark.   []  I guess I'll have to try a few minutes earlier to get slightly more dusk light.

 [ Invalid Attachment ]

This was taken tonight, with the "UFO" clearly circled.

The problem is now asking someone to identify what I saw from a very grainy, long exposure photo would be impossible.

And, yes, this was "real".  It was a moving object in the sky that I'm sure wasn't a meteorite (not fast enough).  It appeared to be on a more or less straight path, to me, down and to the right until it disappeared behind the hill.

While the star photographed to the right may be of out of this world...  I have no doubt the circled object was of terrestrial origin, but it could still be classified as "unidentified". 

[QuantumClue (OP)]

I saw three lights, moving relative to each other in the night sky the other night. Most likely satallites, which is what you may have seen.

[QuantumClue (OP)]

But yes... I have seen some weird things in the sky at night. I cannot explain some of them.

[CliffordK]

I'm thinking airplanes. 
But, either satellites or airplanes.

Do satellites have lights?  Blinking lights?

[QuantumClue (OP)]

No, they don't have blinking lights.

More to the point, if something can be readily identified (or indirectly identified which might be a better terminology), there should not be much reason to classify it as a UFO... but of course, if one does not wish to do this, then literally anything that passes our heads in the night sky is a UFO. I tend to catagorize my conclusions.

[CliffordK]

The problem is that in modern society, if you live within 20 miles of a metro area.

Look up in the sky any time during the day (weather permitting) and you will see jet trails.

Look up in the sky at night, (weather permitting) and you will see lights crossing the sky.

One just must assume they are "normal"; airplanes, perhaps satellites, etc.  I suppose an alien could be masquerading as a jumbo jet (except that the FAA SHOULD pick it up quickly).

My experimenting so far is that it is awfully hard to get a good evening photo.  If the plane is more than a mile, or a few miles away, I can not separate lights.  At dusk, I have to start slowing down my shutter speed (with little actual adjustment), so what may look visually distinct suddenly becomes blobs and streaks with unresolvable pixilation.

I certainly wouldn't expect someone to try to ascertain which direction is the nearest airport from a grainy evening photo from my back porch.  A time stamp might tell one plane schedules, but mid-evening, there will be flights coming and going all the time.

One person might post a film on the internet of a distant rocket launch.  The next might think it looks like an alien ship.

I bumped into a film recently..  "Alien strikes windmill".
And, there were neighborhood reports of strange lights on the hillside (which turned out to be birthday celebrations).
Apparently one of the blades just fell off due to a stress fracture (at least that is the official company line).

Look for what is "real" first, then supernatural later.

[QuantumClue (OP)]

The problem is that in modern society, if you live within 20 miles of a metro area.

Look up in the sky any time during the day (weather permitting) and you will see jet trails.

Look up in the sky at night, (weather permitting) and you will see lights crossing the sky.

One just must assume they are "normal"; airplanes, perhaps satellites, etc.  I suppose an alien could be masquerading as a jumbo jet (except that the FAA SHOULD pick it up quickly).

My experimenting so far is that it is awfully hard to get a good evening photo.  If the plane is more than a mile, or a few miles away, I can not separate lights.  At dusk, I have to start slowing down my shutter speed (with little actual adjustment), so what may look visually distinct suddenly becomes blobs and streaks with unresolvable pixilation.

I certainly wouldn't expect someone to try to ascertain which direction is the nearest airport from a grainy evening photo from my back porch.  A time stamp might tell one plane schedules, but mid-evening, there will be flights coming and going all the time.

One person might post a film on the internet of a distant rocket launch.  The next might think it looks like an alien ship.

I bumped into a film recently..  "Alien strikes windmill".
And, there were neighborhood reports of strange lights on the hillside (which turned out to be birthday celebrations).
Apparently one of the blades just fell off due to a stress fracture (at least that is the official company line).

Look for what is "real" first, then supernatural later.

I remember that incident. I do believe it is this one you are referring to:

I prefer video evidence presenting raw data where the integrity of the footage cannot be questioned. A good video, but one where it is best to avoid commentary comes from here:

All of these videos where captured by NASA. Some of them are arguably explainable, some of them are a bit more tantalizing.