Randy B. Fowler - CLASS: ENGLISH 102 - May 6, 2014 SCORE: 280/300 “A Brief History Of Extraterrestrials And UFOs, Past And Present” “A considerable part of the population is not only convinced that intelligent alien life exists, but that it has already made contact.” (Richter p1). According to statistics released in 1998: “60 to 80% of Americans believe in ET's, Extraterrestrial Intelligence” (Guillermo p14). Throughout human civilization scholars, historians, philosophers, religious leaders, and ordinary people have been asking themselves fundamental questions about the human origin and our place within the cosmos. Where did the human species come from? Why are we here? Are we the only intelligence civilization in the universe? Are we unique and alone because we are a product of intelligent design ordained by God? These questions have been debated for centuries, but do we have the answers to the most fundamental issues surrounding the human species and its origins? The belief or disbelief of extraterrestrials and UFOs may depend on a particular point of view, possibly being devoutly religious or being an atheist. Is there a possibility that we may not be alone in the cosmos? Maybe we were visited by extraterrestrials from our distant past. Has it continued throughout our modern history? For those of us who might be skeptics, “explaining myths by turning them into technical language” doesn't really provide reliable evidence? (Richter p1). Where is the evidence? What kind of evidence is provided? Does the evidence offer alternate unbiased explanations to explain this phenomenon? Is the evidence speculative and open to interpretations, or grounded in scientific proven facts? Are there alternate explanations that could be contributed to natural phenomenons, rather than extraterrestrial encounters and sightings? Are skeptics disbelief based on religious preferences? Are proponents views based on the continued government coverups of ET's and UFOs sightings? Why all the secrecy about one of the most important questions that has been asked by humans since the dawn of civilization, “are we alone”? Will governments, religious institutions, and civilization crumble if the general population learns that we may not be alone, and has it been covered up for decades? Could the human population actually grasp and handle the truth, without a complete disintegration of social services, religious institutions and governments? These questions cover a number of controversial ideas and theories that have their roots in religious doctrines, human origins, evidence, coverups, and the justification of secrecy to maintain planet stability. Is the truth out there waiting for the human species to finally discover? Are ET's and UFOs sightings just imaginary and part of our pop culture? Where do we start to seek knowledge and evidence to prove or disprove the existence of ET's and UFOs?. Our distant past civilizations might provide the evidence and explanations that support both the skeptics viewpoint, and the believers viewpoint. History has always been open to interpretation and seeing what you want to see from the past. Is it possible that the farther you go back in history, the more history begins to sound like a fairytale? Ancient Alien Theory: “Extraterrestrials with superior knowledge of science and engineering landed on Earth thousands of years ago, sharing their expertise with early civilizations and forever changing the course of human history.” This theory became popular in1968 from the book: “Chariots of the Gods” by Erich von Däniken, whose hypothesis claim that Earth was visited by extraterrestrials who taught early humans about technology and influenced ancient religions. Some of his evidence was gathered from ancient religious texts where early humans interacted with heavenly beings and Gods that descended from the skies above. Also the archaeological evidence of monumental structures found throughout the world that were constructed with advanced technology. These advanced construction methods contradicts the tools available to humans from distant past civilizations (History Channel). According to the study of cosmology or astronomy the universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old. Can you imagine how advanced an alien civilization might become after only being in existence for 1 million years, as compared to the existence of humans: “Archeologists estimate that modern humans have been on the Earth for about 200,000 years” (Cain p1). If we were to consider the possibility that ancient astronauts actually did visit the earth in the distant past, it is quite plausible that early humans might of misinterpreted these advanced aliens as Gods because of their incredible technological advances. Early humans did not have any advanced technology at their disposal and were using crude tools available to them in the distant past. We could consider that early humans had no reference points to describe advanced technology and therefore concluded that these ancient astronauts must be some type of Gods to explain what they witnessed. Religious Implications And Correlations: We could consider religion to be the most controversial idea surrounding the question of extraterrestrial intelligence and UFOs. During the Renaissance period of our history, Copernicus proposed that the sun was at the center of our solar system and not earth, this was eventually confirmed a couple of centuries later by Galileo. This viewpoint was contradictory of the Roman Catholic theology of the day who insisted: “with regards to the place of Earth in the cosmos, was that if God made man in God�s image and that this was God�s most perfect creation, then there was only one logical place to put this most perfect creation�ation in the center of the Universe” (WordIQ.com p1). Are there passages in the Holy Bible that could be interpreted as myth or truth? Could these explanations be extraterrestrial technical gadgets and not divine? (Richter p235). Did ancient humans misinterpret the difference between superior technology and divine beings? Was there misidentification between the divine and extraterrestrials “Astronaut Gods” the birth of all religions? Are these Astronaut Gods credited with creating humankind by way of genetic manipulation”? (Richter p235). According to Erich von Däniken: ”The biblical creation story has to be read as a distorted memory of some kind of primordial (existing first or the earliest stage of development) genetic engineering.” Von Däniken is basically saying that human intelligence did not develop on its own, but was instead designed by ancient astronauts (Richter p236). Is there proof out there to confirm this hypothesis, or is it just another myth to describe the unexplainable? The Ancient Alien theory believes that the evidence can be found within the biblical texts of all religions, artifacts, and the colossal structures found throughout the world from our histories ancient past. The theory of panspermia is another reoccurring theme from the Ancient Alien proponents which states: “After an intelligent life was created by God, these beings seek to carry life on, to colonize the galaxy. The civilization sent out probes with life seeds. Only a few reached places where that life could actually prosper . . . there might be a few circumstantial factors, but the general direction of evolution would be predetermined by the genetics of the life seeds, even if they were only germs only the growth of the individual, but also the evolution of all the later species. Inevitably, a humanoid species will develop” (Richter p236). Does the theory of panspermia actually contradict religious scriptures, or is it just a matter of interpretation? To answer this question we might decide what is the definitions and differences between God and Ancient Astronaut Gods? Erich von Däniken has proposed that the human species was genetically manipulated and created by Ancient Aliens from our distant past. This might explain the sudden emergence of intelligence that humans began to possess, their monumental structures they built were using advanced engineering technologies that were far superior to the tools early humans were using at that time. Facts, Evidence, Eyewitnesses, Mythology, Cover Ups and Secrecy: Former President Bill Clinton when he was in office always wanted to know: “What's inside area 51?” Most people are aware that Area 51 is a top-secret military installation located north of Las Vegas, Nevada, where they supposedly test newly designed advanced aircraft's. Very little is known about Area 51 because of the extraordinary lengths the government has made to kept the existence of this military base shrouded in absolute secrecy. Bill Clinton revealed that “if he'd learned there were extraterrestrials out there, he would have told the American people” (Discovery.com p1). Is there really any concrete facts or evidence to support the existence of ET's and UFOs? In just the last 67 years there have been a number of UFO sightings throughout the United States and the world, they are all well documented and have eyewitnesses testimony. The most notable are the incidents that took place in Roswell, New Mexico, July of 1947, and the lights over Phoenix, Arizona in 1997 which also has video evidence to support the sightings. In 1997 United States Air Force released its final report on the Roswell incident (Dean p1). The Air Force basically claimed that the bodies found at the Roswell crash were crash test dummy bodies. These facts are not consistent with the Air Forces own records that crash test dummy bodies were not used until sometime in the 1950s. Was the explanation provided by the Defense Department part of a secret agenda and a cover-up of the existence of UFOs? How much information does our world governments actually know about the existence of ETs and UFOs? Are they purposely withholding this information from its citizens for the sake of secrecy? We might consider the use of secrecy and cover ups are a good strategy to maintain planetary stability of social structures and religious institutions. Maybe the world governments decided that its citizens are not ready to handle the truth, as this could result in world wide fear and a complete collapse in maintaining world order. Secrecy and denial appeared to be a reoccurring theme that the government and military use to debunk UFO sightings. The day after the Roswell crash in 1947, the U.S. Army released a press statement claiming that they had recovered a flying saucer from the “Roswell base public relations officer Lieutenant Walter Haut.” The Army's original press release stated: "The many rumors regarding the flying disk became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb Group of the Eight Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc through the co-operation of one of the local ranchers and the Sheriff's Office of Chaves county." The story was picked up by all the wire press services and printed in newspapers across the country. Lieutenant Haut was quoted in saying that “the base commander, Colonel Blanchard, had "a very strong interest in the relationship between the base and the community." Haut has also said that such concern was not unusual and that it was common for Blanchard to "call me and say 'get this thing out' " when there was information that he felt was important to the local community” (Albany University p1). The very next day the U.S. Army changed its story and said it was just another crashed weather balloon. Why did they change their story? Is it possible that they made a mistake? Army regulations require specific protocols for any press releases to the public. The 1947 Army regulations toward handling a press release related to flying saucers was not a official protocol for “the proper guidance in the accepted procedure for this new realm“ (Albany University p1). The Army then held a press conference to supposedly persuade the press from pursuing the story any further, they were able to convince the press that the wreckage actually found was in fact a crashed weather balloon, not a crashed flying saucer. Over time the alleged stories of the infamous Roswell crash began to fade from the headlines and the press core's attention in pursuing this story. Is it plausible that the U.S. Army was engaging in a cover-up? Did the US Army actually recover an alien spacecraft in 1947, and what type of wreckage was actually found? According to the eyewitness testimony that has been revealed in the last 50 years, witnesses claim to have seen pieces of wreckage, dead alien bodies, memory metal, and hieroglyphics symbols imprinted on I-beams. Many witnesses have claimed that the Army switched the original wreckage with balloon wreckage. Did the government instruct US Army to squash and bury the story? Did the government fear the possible consequences of mass fear and panic if the nation knew the truth? A few months after the alleged Roswell crash in 1947, President Harry S. Truman supposedly created a secret organization within the government known as “Majestic 12”. The alleged documents were not released about the possible existence of majestic 12 until 1984. These documents claim that a secret committee of high-level scientists, government officials, and military leaders was created to investigate UFO activity after the Roswell UFO crash. These documents have been highly debated for their authenticity for many years, and most experts have claimed them to be fakes and forgeries. We could consider that Majestic 12 is just a another conspiracy theory for those proponents who believe the government has been covering up information about the existence of ET's and UFOs for the last half-century (Cosnette p1). How human beings would react to the presence of extraterrestrial aliens can be found in our recent history. On October 30, 1938 Orson Welles did a radio adaptation of the War of the Worlds that was broadcast throughout the country. For those listeners who turned into the program late and didn't hear the disclaimer at the beginning of the show, actually thought the broadcast was real news and Martians had landed and invaded a small town in Grovers Mills, New Jersey. What ensued was panic and thousands of phone calls to radio and police stations wanting instructions on how to flee the city and protect themselves. Many citizens “required medical treatment for shock and hysteria.” We might conclude that this radio show was a dress rehearsal on actually how humans would react to the existence of extraterrestrials. Even though the radio show was a hoax, it did provide the government with proof on why the disclosure of extraterrestrial aliens should be withheld from its citizens because of the panic and ill rational behavior that resulted from just this one radio broadcast, and “the broadcast authentically simulated how radio worked in an emergency” (Lovgen p1). In 1997 a poll taken by Time/CNN and reported that 77% of the people surveyed thought that alien abduction was a real phenomenon. These small gray beings with big black eyes are harvesting human reproductive cells, and then returning the abductees to earth so they can tell a therapist of their abduction using some form of visual imagery or regression therapy (Dean p45). Does believing in UFOs translate into an individuals own reality? Are aliens really abducting people from their beds and cars, examining, probing, and tracking them through implants?” (Dean p46). Are we to assume that all people who have claimed to have been abducted by aliens suffer from being either: “crazy, neurotic, psychotic, epileptic, fantasy prone, hysterical, suffering from sleep or dissociative personality disorders” (Dean p46), or are some of these abduction stories true? Does truth come down to credibility? Who decides what is credible or not, the abductee or the government? During the post-World War II period of our history, the government controlled all information related to ET's and UFO's and categorized the phenomenon under top secret and national security. If the United States government has known all along about the existence of ET's and UFOs and have kept it secret for the last half-century, many people might wonder why? Is it possible that the government has reverse engineered this advanced technology that has given our society many of the technological gadgets we enjoy today? This seems to be very plausible when you consider in just the last half-century how far our civilization has come technologically. According to retired Colonel Philip Corso from his book: “The Day After Roswell”, Corso claims that much of our advanced technology we have today was a result of reverse engineering components from the UFO crash from 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico. These advanced technologies include: “lasers, integrated circuitry, fiberoptics, networks, accelerated particle beam devices, and even the Kevlar material” (Corso p5) used for bulletproof vests. Corso never claims that he was at the Roswell crash site, but a decade later was hired by General Trudeau to head up the Army's R&D department to reverse engineer alien technology that had been confiscated from the Roswell crash site “and how a small group of military intelligence officers changed the course of human history” (Corso p5,6). If what Carso claims is actually true, it leaves us wondering if the human civilization was ever intended to acquire such advanced alien technology. Humans are such a young species in the universe. Could having access to such advanced technology have dire consequences for human stability and it's future existence? Does anybody really know how much advance alien technology the government actually has acquired through UFO crash sites, to the proportion of what technology has been released to consumers over the last 50 years? Why all the secrecy seems to be a plausible question to ask. The term “flying saucer” was coined in 1947 by a newspaper reporter after hearing the testimony of Kenneth Arnold from Boise, Idaho who described his UFO sighting as saucers skipping on the water near Mount Rainier Washington in June of 1947, one month before the infamous Roswell crash (Krandle p1). After the Roswell incident the government and Air Force began to take a posture of denial and dismissing any relationship to flying saucer sightings and extraterrestrial space crafts. Maybe the government was more concerned about the cold war heating up and the possibility of earthly invaders, and not flying saucers. It appears to be in the best interest of the government and military to downplay any UFO sightings as a matter of power, and not to disclosed to the public that the United States military may not have control over it's own airspace in the early years of the Cold War (Dean p49). The US military then began conducting its own investigations into UFOs with such projects as: Project Sign, Project Grudge, and Project Bluebook. Their own investigations “concluded that UFOs were not a threat to the United States. . . A primary element of these campaigns was destroying witness credibility. . . by properly trained observers, scientists and military experts, would then provide true explanations of what were “really” quite ordinary occurrences. These reports accused witnesses of being either dishonest, deeply twisted, crazy, hysterical, or even drunk.” According to the government and military investigators the eyewitness testimony appeared to be misperceived phenomenons, and what they really saw was swamp gas, weathering inversions, reflections, the planet Venus, and ice crystals (Dean p49). It's very possible that because of how the government and military investigators handled eyewitnesses testimony and dismissed all sightings as natural phenomenons, the public began to grow very skeptical of the governments manipulation and distortion of credible eyewitness testimony and sightings. Rumors have been circulating for years that the government's has continued its policy of secrecy toward the subject of UFOs. In 1960 Frank Drake decided to try and answer the question, “are we alone?” He created SETI: Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, by using radio telescopes to search the cosmos for any alien signals, to date no alien signal has been detected. (Drake p1). “It may take another 40 years, or 400 years, or even 4000 years for this exploratory scientific effort to find what it seeks or to conclude that there is nothing to be found. On the other hand, it could succeed tomorrow, and that tantalizing possibility is why scientists and the lay-public alike remain enthusiastic about the search. It is one of those scientific long shots, with immense payoffs but no guarantee of success” (Tarter p512-512). Mythology and how it relates to UFOs has been predominant throughout our world history. We could consider the Hopi Indians of Arizona and their devotion to the Kachina Gods, who supposedly visited them in the distant past and were considered to be extraterrestrial “spirit messengers.” They helped their people survived in a geographically hostile territory. After the Kachina Gods left, the Hopi Indians celebrated their visitation by using dolls, costumes and elaborate ceremonies to honor them, even today. (http://hopikachinas.webs.com p1). Does mythology have its roots based on some form of truth? Conclusion: Are ET's and UFOs real? According to the theologian member Monsignor Corrado Balducci of the Vatican Curia governing body. He has “provided an analysis of extraterrestrials that he feels is consistent with the Catholics churches understanding of theology. . . He emphasizes that extraterrestrial encounters are not demonic, they are not due to psychological impairment, they are not a case of entity attachment, that these encounters deserved to be studied carefully” (Realufos.net p1). That appears to be quite a departure from the early years of the Catholic Church doctrine. It's very possible that if this statement had been said during the Spanish Inquisition between the years of 1478 and 1834, they would most likely have been executed or burned at the stake for religious heresy. Does the Catholic Church know more than they are revealing, or are just trying to hedge their bets in case the truth of ET's and UFOs are eventually disclosed? Has the church really changed its views on the existence of ETs in order to maintain and control a very profitable world wide religious institution? If we are not alone in the universe, could the human species actually handle the truth? Would social services, religious institutions, and governments completely collapse? Do the facts and evidence support the likelihood that ET's and UFOs really exist, or is the entire question of ufology open to speculation and personal interpretations? We might also consider that UFO sightings could be the result of our government's secret black budget projects to maintain military superiority throughout the world, and the government has no problem with the sightings being identified as UFOs and not to their covert military projects. We may never find out the truth, yet we may find out tomorrow whether we are a product of intelligent design by God, or a product of extraterrestrial origins through the use of genetic manipulations from our distant past? There does not appear to be any scientific consensus or conclusions on the existence of ET's and UFOs, and origins of the human race or the existence of God. Will the UFO phenomenon continue to be a taboo subject that remains top secret to the general public? Would this knowledge result in catastrophic consequences that could affect planetary stability? The other possible scenario is we can continue to search the heavenly skies, be patient and have a little faith that the truth will be revealed to all mankind eventually. Humanity might finally feel complete within our place in the cosmos, and the human species would finally received the greatest gift of all, the gift of enlightenment. Work Cited Albany University, “First press release - A "flying disc" has been recovered”. The United States government and UFOs. A University at Albany Research Project. Year Unknown. April 11, 2014. http://www.albany.edu/history/HIS530/Roswell/page3.html Cain, Fraser. “How Long Have Humans Been on Earth?” Web Article. August 22, 2009. 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