Because there are…is the answer. Yet, that’s the usual question. What do they look like? How do you know? Why are they always so blurry? How can you tell that’s not a bird?
A UFO is an Unidentified Flying Object. Which means anything in the sky you can’t identify is a UFO. When scientists and pilots can’t identify it, it’s more of a UFO. When it appears to be an intelligently driven craft exhibiting capabilities beyond our known science, it’s really the UFO people are talking about.
At this point, we’re all well aware 95% of UFOs can be explained as natural or man-made objects. When we say UFO, and when you say UFO, we’re referring to the kind that appears to be not human. Those that exhibit movements and speeds beyond what modern physics can explain. When Congress asked the United States Department of Defense about UFOs in May of 2022, they weren’t asking about Mylar balloons and airborne clutter. They were asking about evidence of non-human craft within our atmosphere.
Yet, what they got were airborne clutter answers and stonewalling. From the Fortean Winds POV, the DoD danced around the answer during the hearing. They acknowledged that UAP incidents were rising, but claimed improved sensors and drones were the likely cause. When pressed, the DOD pointed to the fact their primary purpose is the safety and defense of the USA and their military personnel. They are not responsible for scientific inquiry.
“We are also mindful of our obligation to protect sensitive sources and methods, Our goal is to strike that delicate balance – one that will enable us to maintain the public’s trust while preserving those capabilities that are vital to the support of our service personnel.”
“We do not want potential adversaries to know exactly what we see or understand,”
Under Secretary Ronald Moultrie – House Intelligence Hearing May 2022
In the months since this hearing, various Congressman have expressed displeasure at being denied information that is now in the public domain. Although they are difficult to verify, and sometimes outright hoaxes, a variety of UFO pictures and videos are put out by the public every day. Several youtube, Tik-Tok and Instagram channels have taken on the task of aggregating and publicizing them. Many of these videos are connected to active MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) cases. MUFON is a well-established public UFO organization, and they have their own youtube channel. It should be noted MUFON interviews witnesses and follows up on cases as much as allowed. So, their opinion as to which of these public videos are truly unidentified is informed. They often check flight data, astronomical data, take witness reports and follow up with the military as much as allowed.
Congress is in the awkward position of not being able to acknowledge any of these public photos and videos as real, unless the DoD acknowledges they are unidentified. Yet, those of us in the public are under no such restrictions. If a member of the public snaps a good picture of a UFO and public researchers have been unable to debunk it…why not accept it as a UFO? Especially, when the same object is spotted and filmed by multiple people…sometimes days apart.
This recently surfaced photographed from the 1990’s has been dubbed the “Calvine Photograph” and it was featured in a Newsweek article: “Best’ UFO Picture Ever, the Calvine Photo, Found After 30 Years Missing.” It’s not terribly grainy, a blur in the sky or a white dot. These are the most common complaints we see when looking at the comments on UFO pictures and videos. It’s a massive object in the sky with an airplane for scale. It was photographed by two hikers, who gave it to a newspaper (The Daily Record), who then handed it to the UK Ministry of Defense. The diamond shaped object rendered in this clear photograph remains unidentified.
In 1966, more than 200 students and teachers at schools near Melbourne, Australia witnessed an Unidentified Flying Object. This become the infamous “Westall UFO Encounter” in research circles. Multiple witnesses lend credence to a sighting. 200 witnesses lend more credence. There were also seven pilots in the air that witnessed unexplained craft that day. Witnesses claimed military and police were at the scene within 30 minutes of the incident. According to numerous witnesses they were told to keep silent about it. A witness took the photograph below.
The silver bell below is known as the Balwyn photograph and it was taken in 1966. The photographer took the photo from his mother’s garden, in the Melbourne area, four days before the Westall school incident. While the photo acquired its share of critics over the years. Francois Beaulieu of Project 1947 provides excellent image analysis which points to the veracity of this picture. The 1960’s were an especially active decade for UFO and UAP.
The photograph below was taken in Costa Rica in 1971. More importantly, is how it was obtained. The chain of evidence in each of these photographs is important to determining their veracity. A photo taken by a random influencer on Insta is less reliable than this one. Which was taken by the National Geographic Institute also known as the Instituto Geográfico Nacional. The team was taking photos in an airplane 10,000 feet above Lake Cote in Costa Rica. The aerial survey which obtained this photograph was involved in the planning of a new hydroelectric dam.
Costa Rica is also the site of what the Fortean Winds team considers the best video of a UFO ever recorded. The sound that can be heard in the clip below is unfortunately that of a drill being used by a nearby worker. So, we can’t hear the sound of the engine, which might have given us a small clue to its propulsion mechanism. Yet, the video itself is very clear and reminiscent of the craft which was spotted in the infamous “Tic-Tac UFO” videos. The fact this clip was filmed in 2007 makes this extremely unlikely to be a drone or man-made object.
Even more recently, UFOs have been frequently spotted in Medellin, Columbia . Those who claim these are military maneuvers will have to explain why Medellin Columbia is such an important strategic target for so many countries. Do people really believe the US or its enemies are flying advanced craft maneuvers over Medellin? It doesn’t make sense. Yet, the video below was filmed on April 9, 2022. It was filmed and viewed by multiple observers.
The object doesn’t make maneuvers we cannot explain, but it moves in a manner which makes it less likely to be a drone. Which leaves us with an odd, but less definitive piece of evidence. The fact UFOs have been filmed making anomalous maneuvers over Columbia before, makes this video even more interesting, but not definitive. The shape of the object in comparison to the other objects mentioned above is similar. Once again, making this clip anomalous and worthy of consideration.
The above is just a small sample of the evidence of anomalous craft in the public domain. Ironically, the public doesn’t seem to want to accept the validity of its own footage. Instead, they turn to the government to verify the clips. Yet, the government has repeatedly stonewalled and occasionally just lied about the veracity of these clips. Which leaves us in a pickle. If the people were expecting to verify these clips are lying about them, how will we ever know the truth?
Further Analysis:
Take heart curious friends. We have two paths before us to learn more about the ACTUAL UFOs (not advanced military aircraft, not natural events). The UFOs which perform in ways our current science does not understand.
- Congress continues to support public disclosure and launches their own investigations into what the DoD knows about the phenomenon. This is currently happening. Representatives in both parties such as (R) Tim Burchett and (D) Adam Schiff made it clear they can understand the difference between Non-human and Human UFOs. They’re asking for information on the Non-human kind. We in the public can support this effort by offering those politicians our votes or letters and phone calls. Congress will be able to view classified information and determine how to best message the public.
2. The public investigation into the phenomenon is picking up steam. We have some of the greatest scientific minds in the world, finally, attempting to learn more about these objects. Project Galileo is being lead by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb. The team includes brilliant scientists and physicists, well-regarded UFO researchers such as Jaques Vallee and former pilots and experiencers such as those involved in the Tic Tac incident.
After viewing some very clear pictures of UFOs. We feel its best to remind you there are efforts underway to understand more about these objects. It can be disconcerting to accept that we are not alone on this planet. And that means this planet…We don’t know whether or not these objects are extra-terrestrial or not. The objects we are most interested in, are the objects that appear to be not human and within our atmosphere.
Fortean Winds: Scientific Research into the Unexplained, Paranormal and Anomalous 