The extraterrestrial UFO hypothesis or extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH), synonymous with interplanetary aircraft and alien UFO technologies, proposes that some unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are best explained as being physical spacecraft occupied by intelligent extraterrestrial organisms (non-human aliens) from other planets, or probes designed by extraterrestrials.
The scientific community has shown very little support for the ETH, and has largely accepted the explanation that reports of UFOs are the result of people misinterpreting common objects or phenomena, or are the work of hoaxers.
Usage of the term The term extraterrestrial hypothesis in printed material was used by Janine and Jacques Vallée in their 1966 book. It was used in a publication by French engineer Aimé Michel in 1967, by James E. McDonald (University of Arizona) in March 1968 and again by McDonald and James Harder (University of Berkeley) in July 1968. Skeptic Philip J. Klass used it in his 1968 book UFOs--Identified. Some UFO historians credit Edward Condon c.1969 with popularizing the term and its abbreviation ETH.
Chronology
Antecedent pre-UFO extraterrestrialism The concept of a Universe decentralized from Earth renaissanced from classical origin by Nicolas Copernicus (1543) gave impetus to debate on extraterrestrial life and a plurality of worlds, to which Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) contributed.Swedenborg, Emanuel (1758) Concerning the Earths in Our Solar System ...
Introduction Although the modern extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH) owes much to the flying saucer sightings of the 1940s–1960s, its origins can be traced back to a number of earlier events, such as the now-discredited Martian canals and ancient Martian civilization promoted by astronomer Percival Lowell, popular culture including the writings of H. G. Wells and fellow science fiction pioneers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, who likewise wrote of Martian civilizations.
In the early part of the twentieth century, Charles Fort collected accounts of anomalous physical phenomena from newspapers and scientific journals, including many reports of extraordinary aerial objects. These were published in 1919 in The Book of the Damned. In this and two subsequent books, New Lands (1923) and Lo! (1931), Fort theorized that visitors from other worlds were observing Earth. Fort's reports of aerial phenomena were frequently cited in American newspapers when the UFO phenomenon first attracted widespread media attention in June and July 1947.
The modern ETH—specifically, the implicit linking of unidentified aircraft and lights in the sky to alien life—took root during the late 1940s and took its current form during the 1950s. It drew on pseudoscience, as well as popular culture. Unlike earlier speculation of extraterrestrial life, interest in the ETH was also bolstered by many unexplained sightings investigated by the U.S. government and governments of other countries, as well as private civilian groups, such as NICAP and APRO.
19th century Historical reports and speculation A news article published November 25, 1896 retells (Colonel H. G. Shaw) of an experience of "strange beings" and "an immense airship" en route from Lodi, California. Shaw concluded the beings were in fact from Mars. Amongst other reports of "airships" from November 1896 (including December) - 1897 (only mid-March - April): containing people (sometimes with a dog, listening to music, landing to make repairs), The Dallas Morning News reported of April 17, 1897 in Aurora, Texas: an airship "much nearer the earth than ever before" destroyed in a crash, the consequently dead occupant subsequently described by a United States signal service office as “a native of the planet Mars”. Later, there was a more international airship wave in 1909–1912. An example of an extraterrestrial explanation at the time was a 1909 letter to a New Zealand newspaper suggesting "atomic powered spaceships from Mars".Jerome Clark, The UFO Book, 1998, 199-200
Early science fiction H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, published April 1897, is a story of alien invasion by craft from Mars.
20th century From the 1920s, the idea of alien visitation in space ships was commonplace in popular comic strips and radio and movie serials, such as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. In particular, the Flash Gordon serials have the Earth being attacked from space by alien meteors, ray beams, and biological weapons. In 1938, a radio broadcast version of The War of the Worlds by Orson Welles, using a contemporary setting for H. G. Wells' Martian invasion, created some public panic in the United States.
The 1947 flying saucer wave in America On June 24, 1947, at about 3:00 p.m. local time, pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine unidentified aircraft flying near Mount Rainier.Chicago Daily Tribune (June 26, 1947)Arnold Kenneth, Report on 9 unidentified aircraft observed on June 24, 1947, near Mt. Rainier, Washington, (October 1947) When no aircraft emerged that seemed to account for what he had seen, Arnold quickly considered the possibility of the objects being extraterrestrial. On July 7, 1947, two stories came out where Arnold was raising the topic of possible extraterrestrial origins, both as his opinion and those who had written to him. In an Associated Press story, Arnold said he had received quantities of fan mail eager to help solve the mystery. Some of them "suggested the discs were visitations from another planet."Associated Press story, July 7, 1947, e.g., Salt Lake City Deseret News, p. 3, "Author of 'Discs' Story To Seek Proof" Chicago 'Times', July 7, 1947, p. 3Kenneth Arnold; Speaking to Journalist Edward R. Murrow (April 7, 1950), Transcript care of Project 1947Spokane Daily Chronicle, p.1, June 27, 1947, "More Sky-Gazers Tell About Seeing the Flying Piepans"; Eugene (OR) Register-Guard, p.1, June 27, 1947; Bremerton (Washington) Sun, June 28, 1947, "Eerie 'Whatsit objects' In Sky Observed Here."
When the 1947 flying saucer wave hit the United States, there was much speculation in the newspapers about what they might be in news stories, columns, editorials, and letters to the editor. For example, on July 10, U.S. Senator Glen Taylor of Idaho commented, "I almost wish the flying saucers would turn out to be space ships from another planet," because the possibility of hostility "would unify the people of the earth as nothing else could." On July 8, R. DeWitt Miller was quoted by UP saying that the saucers had been seen since the early nineteenth century. If the present discs weren't secret Army weapons, he suggested they could be vehicles from Mars, or other planets, or maybe even "things out of other dimensions of time and space."Jerome Clark, UFO Encyclopedia, p. 202-203 Other articles brought up the work of Charles Fort, who earlier in the twentieth century had documented numerous reports of unidentified flying objects that had been written up in newspapers and scientific journals.
Even if people thought the saucers were real, most were generally unwilling to leap to the conclusion that they were extraterrestrial in origin. Various popular theories began to quickly proliferate in press articles and interviews, such as secret military projects, Russian spy devices, hoaxes, optical illusions, and mass hysteria. According to journalist Edward R. Murrow, the ETH as a serious explanation for "flying saucers" did not earn widespread attention until about 18 months after Arnold's sighting.Edward R. Murrow (April 7, 1950) The Case of the Flying Saucer, CBS News (Radio Documentary available in MP3/Real Media), (October 2006)
These attitudes seem to be reflected in the results of the first U.S. poll of public UFO perceptions released by Gallup on August 14, 1947.Jacobs David M. (2000), "UFOs and Abductions: Challenging the Borders of Knowledge", University Press of Kansas, (Compiled work: section sourced from Jerome Clark) The term "flying saucer" was familiar to 90% of the respondents. As to what people thought explained them, the poll further showed, that most people either held no opinion or refused to answer the question (33%), or generally believed that there was a mundane explanation. 29% thought they were optical illusions, mirages, or imagination; 15% a U.S. secret weapon; 10% a hoax; 3% a "weather forecasting device"; 1% of Soviet origin, and 9% had "other explanations", including fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, secret commercial aircraft, or phenomena related to atomic testing.Gallup poll in August 15, 1947, St. Petersburg Times, p. 6
Evolution of public opinion The early 1950s also saw a number of movies depicting flying saucers and aliens, including The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The War of the Worlds (1953), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), and Forbidden Planet (1956). A poll published in Popular Science magazine in August 1951 reported that of the respondents who self-reported as UFO witnesses, 52% believed that they had seen a man-made aircraft, while only 4% believed that they had seen an alien craft; an additional 28% were uncertain, with more than half of these stating they believed they were either man-made aircraft, or "visitors from afar." In 1957, a poll conducted by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported that 25% of respondents believed or were willing to believe that flying saucers may be objects from outer space, while 53% responded that they were not and 22% reported that they were uncertain. Many of the respondents who answered in the negative accepted the existence of flying saucers but believed they originated on Earth.
Religion
Hunt describes the Aetherius Society founded by George King in 1955 as "probably the first and certainly the most enduring UFO cult".
21st century A Roper poll in 2002 reported that 56% of respondents thought UFOs were real, with 48% believing that UFOs had visited Earth.Roper poll results
NASA In June 2021, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced that he had directed NASA scientists to investigate Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon. During an interview at the University of Virginia, Bill Nelson explored the possibility that UAP could represent extraterrestrial technology.
NASA scientist Ravi Kopparapu advocates studying UAP.
In August 2021, at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Aviation, Kopparapu presented a paperJames E. McDonald, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona, (December, 1969) http://noufors.com/Documents/scienceindefault.pdfstating from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 134th Meeting General Symposium that supported ETH. Kopparapu stated he and his colleagues found the paper "perfectly credible".
Private or government studies Other private or government studies, some secret, have concluded in favor of the ET hypothesis, or have had members who disagreed in contravention with official conclusions reached by the committees and agencies to which they belonged. The following are examples of sources that have focused specifically on the topic:
A 1948 Top Secret USAF Europe document (at right) states that Swedish air intelligence informed them that at least some of their investigators into the ghost rockets and flying saucers concluded they possibly had extraterrestrial origins.