It seems to me that if UFOs are actual objects in the sky then the UFO reports should show a different statistical pattern than if they are psychological phenomena.

For example, a fake UFO could be created and flown over various types of rural and urban areas to test how many UFO reports result and measure variables such as time of day, population density, etc. This would be a way to create an accurate model of how likely a person is to be looking in the sky in the right geographical location and diligent enough to actually report the sighting. Then the actual UFO database could be compared against this model versus a psychological model.

I'm curious if any group has tried something like this. (Sorry if this is a dumb question.)

For example, at one point the Russian armed forces was ordered to watch for UFOs. In that case we might know the location of every observer. The probability of multiple observers seeing a UFO should be higher if the observers are closer together or visibility is higher. But if UFO sightings were psychological that would not be the case.

Interesting idea but it would take ALOT of testing just to get accurate variables. And then it might not even be accurate. Doubt anyone would do it. It's not too hard to believe people see things, government(Happens For Sure), or not from this planet. I don't think it matters a whole lot.

Originally posted by EmperorXyn
Interesting idea but it would take ALOT of testing just to get accurate variables. And then it might not even be accurate. Doubt anyone would do it. It's not too hard to believe people see things, government(Happens For Sure), or not from this planet. I don't think it matters a whole lot.

I guess you are probably right. I saw a UFO and reported it to MUFON several years ago, because I assumed others would see and report it also. Nobody else saw it. That was very disappointing, and got me thinking about this. My sighting was exactly like a UFO photo I had been particularly fascinated by before the sighting, and it made me wonder if I saw nothing or if I imposed my idea of a UFO on something else. Ingo Swan's book mentioned that the mind puts unknowns into "reality bins".

The main problem would be that there is nobody who is going to pay for this, and nobody with the ability to carry out such a task is going to do it without getting paid. I think the information already available on this phenomenon indicates that it cannot be dismissed in its totality as a psychological abberation.

Originally posted by Orkojoker
I think the information already available on this phenomenon indicates that it cannot be dismissed in its totality as a psychological abberation.

Whats interesting is althought I agree, 5 years ago would you say the same? Wow have times changed, and ideas, and something though to be fable may be coming a reality slowly, but surely.

Originally posted by EmperorXyn

Originally posted by Orkojoker
I think the information already available on this phenomenon indicates that it cannot be dismissed in its totality as a psychological abberation.

Whats interesting is althought I agree, 5 years ago would you say the same? Wow have times changed, and ideas, and something though to be fable may be coming a reality slowly, but surely.

My ideas on UFOs have actually gone the other direction - towards thinking that an normal honest observer is much more likely to imagine things than we realize - at least that is what I think about myself now.

Originally posted by EmperorXyn

Originally posted by Orkojoker
I think the information already available on this phenomenon indicates that it cannot be dismissed in its totality as a psychological abberation.

Whats interesting is althought I agree, 5 years ago would you say the same? Wow have times changed, and ideas, and something though to be fable may be coming a reality slowly, but surely.

The UFO evidence has been basically solid since the 1960's, if not the 1950's. The late '70s and early '80s were significant in that many important government documents were released under the Freedom of Information Act. I can think of very little that has occurred in the past five years that has added significantly to the case for UFO reality. I suppose more of the general population has easier access to the facts what with the internet and all, but there is also a lot of garbage online obscuring those facts. The best way to get at what is worth getting at regarding this phenomenon is to turn off your computer and seek out the few books on the subject that are written by people who know what they are talking about. The large majority of those books were written during the 20th Century
.