UFOlogy Perceptions from Around the World

In Italy the UFO phenomenon has been substantially understood. The phenomenon is real and involves about 1% of the world's population that is subject to what is called "alien interference".

a reply to: Outlier13

I agree, Roswell created the opportunity.

originally posted by: mirageman

originally posted by: Outlier13

.................The size and following of the UFOlogy community in the United States can be directly attributed to Roswell. The most widely publicized and hotly debated topic and cause for the beginnings of the UFOlogy community worldwide. Had Roswell occurred in any other country I wonder if UFOology would be as prevalent as it is today?

Perhaps that has been true since the early 1980s. But before that Roswell was a footnote in ufology and dismissed as an embarrassing military press release about a weather balloon. There was still a very large UFO community in the USA prior to 1980.

Yes, this is correct.

originally posted by: Outlier13

originally posted by: ArMaP

originally posted by: Outlier13
The size and following of the UFOlogy community in the United States can be directly attributed to Roswell.

I think it can be attributed more to people looking for easy money.

Yes, but only after Roswell occurred. I don't think anyone looking for easy money came in before Roswell because there was no one single major event that put UFOlogy on the map in the US. Once Roswell occurred then many snake oil salesmen popped up.

I think you're off here.

Once Roswell occurred it was hot news for a couple of days and then nothing happened with Roswell for 3 decades after that, but UFOlogy didn't die when Roswell died after a few days, it actually reached a peak a few years later with 1950 having a huge number of sightings, which some have theorized were largely attributable to the same thing that crashed at Roswell, balloons.

I think it's generally considered that what kicked off interest in UFOs was not Roswell, it was the Kenneth Arnold sighting.

Roswell was never a good UFO case, in fact it didn't even involve a UFO, it just involved some strange debris found, it wasn't flying. Just look at how many other cases there were in the three decades after Roswell occurred when it was considered a "non-event":

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Project BlueBook investigated some of those cases and others from 1952-1970 and during those years Roswell wasn't even on the "radar" so to speak, it was completely dead during those years, yet BlueBook managed to collect 12,618 UFO reports.

In France, the COMETA Report took UFOs seriously, but not everyone agrees with the findings of that report.

We have had some major UFO incidents/reports here in Oz but they never led to a huge following, maybe attributable to the general 'laid back' demeanour of the Oz public. In recent times I am noticing more of a tendency here to 'go public' over anything at all and that's the exact opposite of 30 or more years ago.

Cases that got most public attention here:

Disappearance of Frederick Valentich
Tully Saucer Nests
Nullarbor Plain incident

The subject of UFOs was something a relatively small number of people in Oz took a bit of an interest in but it never developed into much of a 'movement'. People tended to keep their own sightings to themselves or only shared them with close friends unless it was something really 'in your face' like a physical experience.

a reply to: Outlier13

Here in Belgium UFOlogy isn't really a thing as it hardly (almost never) hits the news. If we want our 'shot', we have to watch National Geographic or search on boards like these.

There is a local site (ufomeldpunt.be) where you can report sightings and they are doing an awesome job in finding an explanation using meteo data, witness reports etc. Nothing offworld there

Besides one of the biggest/best cases in UFO history, we got nothing but chocolat, beer and fries ... and maybe waffles ...

Worth mentioning is the Belgian triangle case hardly makes the news here besides a small footnote about the picture was admitted to be a fake (mind, the case and testemonies are real). Even the army is open about what they know (although I have my doubts everything is out in the open on that one, though I wouldn't be surpised if other countries know more about what happened than we do).

There was a little craze in the 90's (with the triangle sightings), the alien autopsy Rosswell footage in 1995 and later the X-Files tv series, but afterwards interest faded and mainstream press stopped coverage.

Belgium isn't into avionics and is a small country. Add those things up and you'll get the idea.

No political standpoint either, but imo I'm sure they have nothing 'alien' to hide in this 'hellhole', as a wise man used to call it.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

I think you're right now that you mention it. However, the Kenneth Arnold sightings and Roswell incident occurred within 1 month of each other so the combination of the two helped to put UFOlogy on the map in the US.

It's strange because even though I wasn't alive during those events I almost never read about the Kenneth Arnold sightings. It's always Roswell popping up.

The Phoenix lights were a huge story and still are to some degree. I remember reading about Betty and Barney Hill being big when that supposedly occurred.

Then the DC sightings in 1952 were a big deal at the time as well.