UFO Controversy and History
UFO Controversy and History
The mysterious phenomenon of UFO sightings seems worthy of serious scientific research. This is due to theories found within the field of ufology, past reported sightings, and credible information given out by the government. Ufologists should also be aware of past examples that have been successful from the astronomical community.
Bernard Haisch is an astrophysicist, scientific editor of the Astrophysical Journal, and editor of the Journal of Scientific Exploration. The Journal of Scientific Exploration (JSE), which Bernard edits, is a peer reviewed research journal in which scholarly investigations on phenomena not part of the currently accepted scientific paradigms may be published. UFO's fall in this category, or more to the point, UFO's certainly settle outside the realm of mainstream science (William Dudley).
Bernard himself is not a UFO researcher, but, as an editor of an unconventional journal, he has been exposed to enough data and met enough serious investigators to become supportive of the need to carefully study whatever this phenomenon, or perhaps phenomena, may be. His profession is that of an astronomer and by most criteria, apart from editing JSE, he is an insider in the scientific mainstream: author of research papers, principal investigator on NASA projects, associate editor of a leading journal in astrophysics (William Dudley).
The field of astronomy is supported by hundreds of millions of dollars in government research funding every year, billions if one keeps track of such major missions as the Hubble Space Telescope. For the January 1996 meeting of the American Astronomical Society in San Antonio, the head of NASA, Daniel Goldin, flew down from Washington just to address the astronomers.
Goldin made it clear that NASA's job is not to support astronomers. Nor is NASA's job to employ engineers and astronauts to keep the shuttle flying. NASA's job, said Goldin, is to serve the American people. He mentioned a talk he had given in Bozeman, Montana and the excitement that the Hubble pictures elicited there among the ordinary men and women of Montana, far removed from NASA centers. The fact that the announcement at the same astronomical society meeting of the discovery of two new planets orbiting the stars 70 Virginis and 47 Ursae Majoris made the front pages of major newspapers underscores this point. People want to know about the universe. And people especially want to know whether there are other...