The assumption of the extraterrestrial origin of the UFO phenomenon presents certain insoluble contradictions. There have been sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects since the beginnings of history. There are enough graphic and narrative accounts to show that UFOs are not just a contemporary phenomenon. If we accept the common belief that UFOs are and have been extraterrestrial artifacts, we cannot help but wonder why there has never been open and verifiable contact with human civilization.
Visitors, at least friendly ones, knock on the door and introduce themselves; UFOs do not.
Nothing ever seems to come from these presumed “space visitors”. No contact, no help, no identity. Consequently, I would have to classify them as clandestine, unauthorized voyeurs, rather than friendly cosmic brothers.
The whole theory of alien civilizations watching over us seems rather implausible. We have to suppose that they must have some purpose for being here, but what is it? There doesn’t appear to be any real evidence of any particular activity. Nothing indicates that the "messages" of the alleged contactees come from advanced extraterrestrials. These messages sound like a blend of New Age rhetoric, pseudo-science and preposterous theosophy, and the Exo-fantasists give us more of the same. The prophets of the UFO=ET subculture allude to their anonymous and/or dubious "sources" and chastise anyone who dares to question them. For the "alienologists", the whole scientific and political establishment conspires to conceal the extraterrestrial presence in our world. If we stop to think about what such a conspiracy would require, we quickly realize the ridiculous and irrational nature of this idea. A secret of such magnitude could not remain secret very long. Not in the era of Wikileaks.
The rhetoric of nonsense, improvisation and fantasies is usually proposed instead of reliable evidences.
The believers, as do church goers, must have faith in the inspired words of these self proclaimed representatives of the extraterrestrials. Doubts about their "revelations" are punished with insults, accusations and isolation of the "provocateurs". To keep things going, facts are twisted and natural phenomenon become evidences of the extraterrestrial presence. A balloon is never a balloon, and a Chinese lantern is a star-craft.
I started out believing that the “historical evidence” (the Pyramids, Nasca, the Mayan Calendar, etc) was overwhelming and irrefutable proof of visitors from other worlds, but 40 years of rational investigation has lead me to the inevitable conclusion that there is just no real evidence, no facts - Only improbable and hypothetical theories which are presented as fact. The believers keep on waiting for the predictions of the "alienologists" to come to pass, but they never do. So they must keep on waiting. The aliens never seem to come through. Perhaps, it is the aliens who are conspiring to make the “alienologists” and their followers look like crazies.
ET fantasies sell books and, through the Internet, give personal promotion to a few obscure and border line personalities, but they do very little to promote real scientific investigation of the UFO phenomenon.
