Bring in the scientists...
Jacques Vallee has written a 2007 paper, Are UFO Events Related to Sidereal Time?. He addresses the possibilities of stalking UFOs by identifying patterns and possibly working out a location of origin. To put it basically, are we closer to another star or system when sightings increase? Is there a period of our own orbit that is in a particular area during these months? As usual, the answer is...well...yes and no. The figures in the databases aren't reliable enough to make definitive statements or draw conclusions...they only remain suggestive.
We report here on a study of the hypothesis that UFO events are correlated with local sidereal time, an observation advanced by Dr. Claude Poher, Dr. Donald Johnson and more recently by Dr. Peter Sturrock. Local sidereal time is used by astronomers to keep track of the stars that pass the observer’s meridian at a particular instant. A subset of a large catalog for which geographical and temporal data are available was taken as a basis for the study, involving 11,991 events. Local sidereal time was computed for these events. While a frequency distribution indicative of a correlation with star positions was indeed detected, control with a separate catalogue compiled in France discloses an important artefact: multiple entries for a single, particularly remarkable UFO event have resulted in massively duplicated records. This calls into question the significance of the claimed pattern.
The results of the figures used in Vallee's study are in conflict with the ones from Sturrock, Poher and Teodarani posted earlier. Rather than a high frequency of sightings around the eleventh hour, they indicate 2pm. Vallee has used the UFOCAT database.
Extract and image below are from the paper linked above
Vallee writes in his conclusion that...
The discovery and confirmation of a statistical link between the frequency of UFO events and some celestial parameter, such as local sidereal time, would be an important step in the understanding of the very complex UFO phenomenon. Until analysis of other catalogs is carried out, however, it appears wise to maintain a cautious skeptical position with respect to claims of statistical correlation between UFO events and the position of the stars.
A member of NARCAP, Professor Teodarani analyses even more of the evidence and basically burns it in the crucible of scientific reasoning and investigation. He applies statistical analyses to the databases and looks for any opportunities to learn more about the phenomenon. You really have to read his paper to recognise the intelligence and training some scientists use to explore the UFO mystery. In his conclusion, he finds no immediate ways to identify an origin or even behaviour and suggests specialised teams on stand-by...
The elusive and unpredictable nature of the UAP phenomena renders any effort to monitor it scientifically, extremely difficult, unless a very well trained team of scientists and engineers is able to enter promptly into action as soon as a new UAP flap occurs. Probably such strategy and tactics can reveal to be most cost-effective in the attempt of acquiring scientific data from this "fringe phenomenon", provided that the appropriate scientific instrumentation is available, well tested and professionally deployed and used.M. Teodorani. A Comparative Analytical and Observational Study of North American Databases on unidentified Aerial Phenomena ...
Final thoughts
The UFO phenomenon has been tantalisingly out of reach for at least 60 years. In that time, it's hard to say if we've moved further forward. On the bright side, the amount of material and hard work of UFO researchers might not move us further on, but they are slowly removing dead-ends and vicious circles in the search for answers.
The great significance of the databases used in these studies can't be underestimated. At the same time, the study of the data within them can only be improved by resolving the accuracy and removing the repeated sightings. Vallee found one sighting was represented over 50 times in the Hatch sample.
If we think what could be achieved if scientists like Teodarani and Vallee had accurate technical data...it's chilling and wonderful at the same time. Whilst there's no reason to rule out the possibility that a minority of military/government scientists already know more...improved data might let the rest of us in on the mystery too?
