I'm an astronomer and I think aliens may be out there—but UFO sightings aren't persuasive

By  Chris Impey

If intelligent aliens visit the Earth, it would be one of the most profound events in human history.

Surveys show that nearly half of Americans believe that aliens have visited the Earth, either in the ancient past or recently. That percentage has been increasing. Belief in alien visitation is greater than belief that Bigfoot is a real creature, but less than belief that places can be haunted by spirits.

Scientists dismiss these beliefs as not representing real physical phenomena. They don't deny the existence of intelligent aliens. But they set a high bar for proof that we've been visited by creatures from another star system. As Carl Sagan said, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

I'm a professor of astronomy who has written extensively on the search for life in the universe. I also teach a free online class on astrobiology. Full disclosure: I have not personally seen a UFO.

Unidentified flying objects

UFO means unidentified flying object. Nothing more, nothing less.

There's a long history of UFO sightings. Air Force studies of UFOs have been going on since the 1940s. In the United States, "ground zero" for UFOs occurred in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico. The fact that the Roswell incident was soon explained as the crash landing of a military high-altitude balloon didn't stem a tide of new sightings. The majority of UFOs appear to people in the United States. It's curious that Asia and Africa have so few sightings despite their large populations, and even more surprising that the sightings stop at the Canadian and Mexican borders.

Most UFOs have mundane explanations. Over half can be attributed to meteors, fireballs and the planet Venus. Such bright objects are familiar to astronomers but are often not recognized by members of the public. Reports of visits from UFOs inexplicably peaked about six years ago.

Many people who say they have seen UFOs are either dog walkers or smokers. Why? Because they're outside the most. Sightings concentrate in evening hours, particularly on Fridays, when many people are relaxing with one or more drinks.

A few people, like former NASA employee James Oberg, have the fortitude to track down and find conventional explanations for decades of UFO sightings. Most astronomers find the hypothesis of alien visits implausible, so they concentrate their energy on the exciting scientific search for life beyond the Earth.

Are we alone?

While UFOs continue to swirl in the popular culture, scientists are trying to answer the big question that is raised by UFOs: Are we alone?

Astronomers have discovered over 4,000 exoplanets, or planets orbiting other stars, a number that doubles every two years. Some of these exoplanets are considered habitable, since they are close to the Earth's mass and at the right distance from their stars to have water on their surfaces. The nearest of these habitable planets are less than 20 light years away, in our cosmic "back yard." Extrapolating from these results leads to a projection of 300 million habitable worlds in our galaxy. Each of these Earth-like planets is a potential biological experiment, and there have been billions of years since they formed for life to develop and for intelligence and technology to emerge.

Astronomers are very confident there is life beyond the Earth. As astronomer and ace exoplanet-hunter Geoff Marcy, puts it, "The universe is apparently bulging at the seams with the ingredients of biology." There are many steps in the progression from Earths with suitable conditions for life to intelligent aliens hopping from star to star. Astronomers use the Drake Equation to estimate the number of technological alien civilizations in our galaxy. There are many uncertainties in the Drake Equation, but interpreting it in the light of recent exoplanet discoveries makes it very unlikely that we are the only, or the first, advanced civilization.

This confidence has fueled an active search for intelligent life, which has been unsuccessful so far. So researchers have recast the question "Are we alone?" to "Where are they?"

The absence of evidence for intelligent aliens is called the Fermi Paradox. Even if intelligent aliens do exist, there are a number of reasons why we might not have found them and they might not have found us. Scientists do not discount the idea of aliens. But they aren't convinced by the evidence to date because it is unreliable, or because there are so many other more mundane explanations.

Modern myth and religion

UFOs are part of the landscape of conspiracy theories, including accounts of abduction by aliens and crop circles created by aliens. I remain skeptical that intelligent beings with vastly superior technology would travel trillion of miles just to press down our wheat.

It's useful to consider UFOs as a cultural phenomenon. Diana Pasulka, a professor at the University of North Carolina, notes that myths and religions are both means for dealing with unimaginable experiences. To my mind, UFOs have become a kind of new American religion.

So no, I don't think belief in UFOs is crazy, because some flying objects are unidentified, and the existence of intelligent aliens is scientifically plausible.

But a study of young adults did find that UFO belief is associated with schizotypal personality, a tendency toward social anxiety, paranoid ideas and transient psychosis. If you believe in UFOs, you might look at what other unconventional beliefs you have.

I'm not signing on to the UFO "religion," so call me an agnostic. I recall the aphorism popularized by Carl Sagan, "It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out."

Pentagon UFO task force discuss 'non-human technology,' mysterious objects

By Chris Ciaccia

Two classified reports from the Pentagon's task force used to "detect, analyze and catalog" UFOs have been leaked, both of which include photos of unidentified objects.

Defense news website TheDebrief.org has published the reports, including an Oct. 16, 2019, email exchange between former Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Robert Burke and current Vice Chief of Staff for the Air Force Gen. Stephen Wilson. This exchange was obtained by a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from The Debrief.

“Recommend you take the brief I just received from our Director of Naval Intelligence VADM Matt Kohler, on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP),” Burke told Wilson in the email. Burke added that "SECNAV will get the same brief tomorrow at 1000," likely referring to then-Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer.

The leaked photo, taken off the East Coast of the U.S. by a "pilot’s personal cell phone," was a part of the 2018 position report, one source told the news outlet. This report discussed what the unidentified silver “cube-shaped” object could be, with a list of possible explanations discussed, including the fact it could be “alien” or “non-human” technology.

The 2020 photo, which has been leaked but is not widely available yet, is described as a triangle with white lights in each corner. This may be the more interesting photo, Nick Pope, a former employee and UFO investigator for Britain's Ministry of Defense, told Fox News.

"I'm more interested in the fact that this first photo has been leaked, and in the related leaking of information about the Pentagon's Unidentified Aerial Task Force, where serving intelligence community personnel have shared insights from two intelligence position reports," Pope said via email. "With my own defense background in this subject, three things stand out. Firstly, the description by one insider of the reports as 'shocking' — a word that begs the question what about UAP do these people find shocking. Secondly, the fact that the intelligence reports seem to have been given a surprisingly wide distribution in various intelligence agencies, and thirdly, the fact that the extraterrestrial hypothesis seems genuinely not to have been taken off the table."

Pope added he expects further leaks, noting he believes there is "a faction within government clearly wants this information to be released to the public."

The two position reports from 2018 and 2020 were widely circulated among the defense community, The Debrief added, citing interviews with multiple sources.

The Pentagon has not yet responded to a request for comment from Fox News. 

In August, the Pentagon created a task force to investigate UFOs, or UAPs, following several unexplained incidents that have been observed by the U.S. military.

The creation of the task force follows inquiries from lawmakers about the subject. In June, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, instructed the director of national intelligence, the secretary of defense and other agency heads to compile data on “unidentified aerial phenomenon."

"The Committee remains concerned that there is no unified, comprehensive process within the federal government for collecting and analyzing intelligence on unidentified aerial phenomena, despite the potential threat,” lawmakers wrote in a report.

In July, the New York Times reported that a small group of government officials, including Reid, and scientists believe objects of “undetermined origin” have crashed to Earth and been retrieved. The publication cited Eric W. Davis, an astrophysicist who worked as a subcontractor and a consultant for the Pentagon UFO program. Davis, who now works for defense contractor Aerospace Corporation, said he gave briefings on the recovery of unexplained objects to staff members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Oct. 21 and Oct. 23, 2019.

In April, the Pentagon officially released videos of "unidentified aerial phenomena," known as "FLIR1,” “Gimbal” and “GoFast,” previously captured by Navy aircraft. The footage had circulated in the public for years. They were originally released to the New York Times and to The Stars Academy of Arts & Science, headed by Blink-182 co-founder Tom DeLonge.

After the videos were released publicly, DeLonge said "UFOs are real" in a since-deleted tweet.

UFO believer sensationally claims Jesus was an alien and Star of Bethlehem a spaceship

The story of the Three Wise Men had more to it than we thought, a UFO expert has claimed (Image: Getty Images)

By Charlie Lawrence Jones and Seamus Duff

UFO expert Richard Lawrence has made the sensationaly suggestion that everything the Bible has taught about the birth of Christ is inaccurate – and that even the true date of Christmas is wrong.

A UFO believer has challenged the central pillar of the Christian faith by bizarrely declaring that the son of God was an alien and the story of the birth of Christ involved an alien spaceship.

Richard Lawrence is the author of 11 books about aliens and is considered a "Guru of UFOs" by contemporaries in his field.

He is the Executive Secretary of The Aetherius Society – a relatively new religious movement founded by late British spiritualist George King in the 1950s which aims to spread "teaching on extraterrestrial intelligences".

Mr Lawrence claims that extraterrestrial life goes to the very core of the Christian faith – suggesting the star described in the nativity story hovering above Bethlehem was in fact a spaceship and that Christ himself came from outer space.

UFO expert Richard Lawrence has claimed Jesus himself was an 'alien' from outer space (Image: MyLondon)

In an eyebrow-raising interview with My London, Mr Lawrence said of Jesus: “I wouldn’t call him an alien, I’d call him a great cosmic intelligence. But yes alien if you’d like."

He added: “I believe he came from Venus.”

Mr Lawrence and The Aetherius Society claim that Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi and Sophocles were all extraterrestrial beings sent to Earth to help humanity over the course of history.

The London-based UFO expert even went as far as to claim the Bible itself backs up his wild theory.

He said: “Based on the Bible, the Star of Bethlehem was witnessed by three wise men whom one would take to be very credible witnesses”

“It guided them to a specific place. It couldn’t have been a star, they don’t move.

Mr Lawrence – whose published books include UFOs and the Extraterrestrial Message, and Unlock Your Psychic Powers – also says Christmas should be marked in March, not December 25.

He claims Aetherius Society founder George King “was told” this was the case, while the fact that shepherds are referenced in the bible as “watching their flocks by night couldn’t have been doing that on December 25. It would be a spring thing.”

Aliens Don’t Want Us to Know They’re Here, Says Ex-Head of Israeli Space Program

By Elena Gorgan

Because 2020 isn’t strange or bad enough as it is, here’s something that should make it twice so: aliens exist and have already made contact. In fact, they’re on Earth as we speak but have asked that their presence is not made public.

A new interview by Professor Haim Eshed is making the rounds with ufologists and conspiracy theorists worldwide, since he claims to be blowing off the lid on a long-kept secret. His credentials and accumulated experience should add weight to his argument because he is none other than the former head of Israel’s security space program, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics, a vet pilot and flight instructor.

According to Jewish Press, Prof. Eshed’s recent comments stem from an interview with 7 Days, the largest circulation for-pay publication in Israel. They all revolve around the idea that aliens have been living on Earth for quite some time, but no one knows about it because the aliens themselves have asked that they be kept a secret until humanity is ready.

“The UFOs have asked not to publish that they are here, humanity is not ready yet. Trump was on the verge of revealing, but the aliens in the Galactic Federation are saying: Wait, let people calm down first. They don’t want to start mass hysteria. They want to first make us sane and understanding,” Prof. Eshed said.

Until people are ready for the aliens, the aliens and select governments have been working together, studying each other.

“They have been waiting for humanity to evolve and reach a stage where we will generally understand what space and spaceships are," the Professor continues. "There’s an agreement between the U.S. government and the aliens. They signed a contract with us to do experiments here. They, too, are researching and trying to understand the whole fabric of the universe, and they want us as helpers. There’s an underground base in the depths of Mars, where their representatives are, and also our American astronauts.”

Prof. Eshed admits that saying these things will undoubtedly make some question his sanity and stresses that he would have been labeled a head-case if he’d gone on the record with them five years ago. But the times are changing, and people are starting to warm up to the idea of UFOs, which is why he’s speaking out now, he says. “I have nothing to lose,” he adds as the final argument.

Whether you choose to believe Prof. Eshed or not, do note that this narrative, with the aliens living among us with approval from the U.S. government, isn’t a new one. It’s actually been around for years, and claims that certain authorities and the aliens have struck an understanding to use this time to study each other. The secret location on Mars isn’t new, either.

Jung, Flying Saucers, and the Anxieties of Our Time

By Kelly Bulkeley Ph.D,

How archetypal dreams, visions, and art respond to a collective crisis.

One of the last books he ever wrote, C.G. Jung’s Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies (1957) shows how psychology can shed new light on social anxieties and cultural conflicts. This slender text offers Jung’s perspective on the controversial phenomenon of “unidentified flying objects” (UFOs). Writing at a time when UFO sightings were a public craze, Jung saw an opportunity for psychology to make a valuable contribution to collective understanding and self-reflection.  The resulting book remains an excellent model for the psychological interpretation of culture, with potentially helpful implications for our troubled times today.

Jung examined several kinds of texts with the UFO theme: dreams, art from both old and new sources, waking visions, and science fiction, along with media stories and governmental reports. This itself is interesting, as it shows how Jung treated all these different kinds of texts as arenas in which symbols from the collective unconscious (“archetypes”) can emerge. When treating an individual patient, Jung looked for the emergence of special symbols or archetypes that respond directly to the patient’s waking life problems. With the UFO phenomenon, he expanded this approach to the whole of Western society. Why are so many people dreaming, thinking, and envisioning UFOs at this particular moment? What is happening in society right now that elicits this kind of collective visionary experience?

Here as in many of his later writings, Jung highlighted the psychological strains of living during the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The division of the world into two hostile, nuclear-armed camps, separated by an “Iron Curtain,” suggested that global humanity was in a gravely unhealthy condition. Jung also emphasized here as elsewhere how the modern world can threaten individuality with mass movements, both politically (communism) and economically (consumer capitalism). People everywhere were in danger of being subsumed into mindless, undifferentiated groups where true psychological development was impossible.

The sudden surge of UFO sightings at this specific moment in history made sense, Jung said, as a response to these acute social anxieties. With the conscious mind in such an embattled condition, the collective unconscious provided what Jung called a compensatory or balancing archetypal symbol: the mandala, an image of wholeness and integration. Mandala symbols are best known from Buddhism, Hinduism, and other Asian religions, but in their archetypal essence they appear in all cultures, usually as round figures with a variety of geometric, chromatic, and symbolic complexities. Jung said that UFOs, whatever their reality as visitors from alien planets, have the psychological meaning of mandalas, projected into the sky above us, giving us a vision of transcendent union and wholeness. The integration we have failed to achieve in this world is reflected back to us as a living potential arriving from the greater realm of the cosmos (itself a symbol of the collective unconscious). Because people of our time are struggling in this essential psychological task of becoming an integrated, fully actualized individual (the process of “individuation”), the archetype of wholeness cannot be directly recognized in its traditional forms. Thus, it “is forced to manifest itself indirectly in the form of spontaneous projections. The projected image then appears as an ostensibly physical fact independent of the individual psyche and its nature. In other words, the rounded wholeness of the mandala becomes a space ship controlled by an intelligent being.”

Thinking of Jung’s book and its methods as applied to our world today, we can ask the following questions: What is the great anxiety of our age? What is the greatest threat to collective health and well-being? What are the compensating dreams and visions pointing us beyond our current problems?

Since Jung’s time, the Cold War has ended, and Westerners have little to fear from global communism. The threat of civilization-ending nuclear war remains, but it no longer worries people the way it did some decades ago. Instead, a multitude of other apocalyptic scenarios haunt people’s waking hours. These include environmental catastrophe, civil war, economic collapse, pharmacological mind-control, robotic takeover, and political tyranny under an evil dictatorship (e.g. by fascists, socialists, racists, theocrats, and/or neoliberals), not to mention a global pandemic. We have reached Boschian extremes in our capacity to conjure vividly variegated scenarios of doom and ruin.

Following the logic of Jung’s method, and given our present context, perhaps we should be on the lookout for dreams, visions, and works of art that provide a creative response from the unconscious depths to these overwhelming apocalyptic horrors.

For instance, we might expect the compensatory emergence of archetypal symbols of renewal and rebirth, of growth and revitalization, of a future collective renaissance.

We might expect to see more dreams of empathetic reconnection with others, stimulating greater awareness of multiple perspectives on the world, breaking free from the solipsism of the digitized self to reconnect with other people, with nature, and with one’s own body.

We might expect to see more expressions of the archetype of the trickster, the playful agent of chaos and disorder who disrupts established traditions and yet also inspires new creativity and cultural dynamism.

We might see more forceful and perhaps even threatening appearances of the anima archetype, challenging narrowly androcentric thinking and stubbornly enduring patriarchal biases in all aspects of personal and collective life.

It seems a near-certainty that the apocalyptic anxieties of the present age are already calling forth unconscious responses of archetypal energy and symbolism in all of our lives. The big question is whether our conscious minds can recognize these archetypal expressions when they do occur, and integrate them into a broader, more balanced sense of self—a stronger self that can act more effectively in the world, fueled by the energy of psychological wholeness.

Film Review: The Gulf Of Silence

By Jazz Shaw

This is a review of the recently released film The Gulf of Silence, directed by M.K. Rhodes. It’s the tale of a fictional (?) professor who experiences something remarkable, suggesting the possibility of an alien intelligence visiting the Earth. Her life then goes completely to pieces until she winds up being recruited to come work for a “three-letter agency” deep within the black-budget world of the United States government, investigating the UFO phenomenon.

Considering the limitations of both budget and restrictions caused by the pandemic, both of which Rhodes told Hot Air were factors in how she was able to proceed, this is a truly remarkable film. Nearly the entire film is shot in the form of an interview with the professor, Dr. Laura Gale, in a variety of backgrounds. These segments are interspersed with wild and creative CGI imagery, historical footage and other imagery to flesh out the film. It’s visually a beautiful piece telling a highly intriguing story and the score is hauntingly beautiful.

 

Upon its release, the movie became the subject of considerable speculation in online forums, with some viewers seeing it as strictly a work of narrative fiction, while others claimed that it was a “documentary in disguise” revealing information about the United States government and UFOs. We asked Ms. Rhodes to clear that up for us. Here is her answer.

It is, in truth, both. The framework of the film is fiction, but it contains more hard facts than virtually any UFO documentary bar James Fox’s excellent “The Phenomenon”. This is less a reflection of my film’s truthfulness than it is a reflection on the average UFO documentary. In actuality, you cannot make a proper “documentary” about the UFO phenomenon because ultimately you are either making a documentary founded on, at best, speculation or hedged bets, or you are simply interviewing witnesses, and that is not a documentary about UFOs, that is simply a documentary about people who claim they have seen UFOs. A fictional framework allows me the luxury of speculating without the risk of being wrong and then having the film become dated; it also allows me to say things that the more neutral tone of something like “The Phenomenon” cannot.

Ms. Rhodes informed us that she’s long been a fan of the genre, describing herself as “a child of the X-Files,” and her love of the subject comes through clearly. The December 2017 release of that blockbuster New York Times article on AATIP was what prompted her to begin work on the project. I, for one, am very glad that she did.

The Gulf of Silence is now streaming on Amazon along with other platforms. Visit the film’s website for additional details.

Despite thoroughly enjoying this film from beginning to end, I vacillated a bit on a final rating because of the rather ambiguous nature of the presentation in terms of fact versus fantasy. But in the end, on the Hot Air scale for subscription-service films, The Gulf of Silence gets a 3.5:

4 – Subscribe to the service to watch this

3 – Make time to watch it if you already subscribe

2 – Worth a watch if nothing else appeals

1 – Avoid at all costs

The Gulf of Silence is rated TV-MA (18+) though I’m not entirely sure why. It’s not sexual in nature, nor does it contain much in the way of offensive language. I would say this movie is fine at least for older teens, though it deals with some complicated subjects, potential conspiracy theories, and other matters that may require a bit of explanation for younger viewers.

Ex space security head announces aliens exist but ‘humanity not ready’

Retired Israeli General Professor Haim Eshed thinks the evidence of aliens has been kept a secret (Image: Getty)

By Tom Fish

A UFO hunter has announced an apparent "Galactic Federation" has been in contact with Earth for years, but have kept themselves a secret to prevent mass hysteria until humanity is prepared.

Retired Israeli General Professor Haim Eshed thinks the evidence of aliens has been kept a secret because "humanity isn't ready." And the former head of Israel's space security program Professor Eshed suspects both Israel and the US have both been colluding with aliens for years.

The 87-year-old former space security chief insists agreements have already been made between the aliens and the US.

He thinks these have been made because aliens wish to research and understand "the fabric of the Universe".

This cooperation includes a secret underground base on Mars, where humans and alien representatives are already working together.

His highly-dubious claims coincide with US President Donald Trump's recent creation of the Space Force.

"If I had come up with what I’m saying today five years ago, I would have been hospitalised"

Professor Haim Eshed.

Professor Eshed suspects both Israel and the US have both been colluding with aliens for years (Image: Getty)

But Professor Eshed insists Mr Trump is aware of of the existence of the aliens, and he was "on the verge" of disclosing their existence.

However, what he describes as the “Galactic Federation” supposedly prevented him from doing so.

Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot has quoted him saying they wished to prevent mass hysteria since they felt humanity needed to "evolve and reach a stage where we will … understand what space and spaceships are.”

He added how he he only revealing the information hewn because the academic landscape has changed.

Professor Eshed said: ”If I had come up with what I’m saying today five years ago, I would have been hospitalised.

“Today, they’re already talking differently. I have nothing to lose.

“I’ve received my degrees and awards; I am respected in universities abroad, where the trend is also changing."

The revelations appear in his latest book, The Universe Beyond the Horizon: Conversations with Professor Haim Eshed.

The former space security chief insists agreements have already been made between the aliens and the US (Image: Express)

Other bombshell details in the book include how aliens have prevented nuclear apocalypses and "when we can jump in and visit the Men In Black."

However, no evidence has been provided to substantiate Professor Eshed's highly-controversial claims.

But the bizarre news does coincide with a leaked report from a secretive UFO task force at the Pentagon.

This revealed a startling photograph of a mysterious 'silver cube' object.

His highly-dubious claims coincide with US President Donald Trump's recent creation of the Space Force (Image: Express)

Two reports from the Defense Department’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, previously circulated in the US intelligence community, were shared by The Debrief last week.

The 2018 classified report included a photograph from the cockpit of a military fighter jet after its pilot spotted an Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP).

The supposed UFO photograph was taken “from within the cockpit of an F/A-18 fighter jet with a pilot’s personal cell phone” on the East Coast of the US.

The object appeared to be “hovering” at 35,000ft over the Atlantic Ocean when the military pilot apparently spotted it.

'd'isclosure Via The Back Door ?

By Mac's UFO News

Is small 'd' disclosure happening now? Contents: Intro / Studio / The Phenomenon documentary / Senator Harry Reid / Jacues Vallee - Extraterrestrial Metal / James Fox - Nuclear weapon tampering by U.F.O.'s / Christopher Mellon (Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Intelligence) - Congress requesting report - E.T. metal manufactured at Atomic level / Former President Barack Obama on U.F.O.'s / U.F.O. Truth Magazine / The Skinwalker Ranch / U.F.O.'s In The News - President Trump - U.F.O.'s and the military / President Trump briefed / Pentagon U.F.O. unit to make some findings public - Christopher Mellon.

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UFO Sightings Surged in 2020, Will We Make First Contact Before New Year's Eve?

By KEVIN BURWICK

The Mutual UFO Network says that UFO sightings have gone up considerably in 2020, but why has this occurred?

UFO sightings have surged in 2020, leaving many to wonder if the year will end with an alien invasion. 2020 has kept the world on its toes since January. The pandemic has claimed over a million lives globally, and forced people to stay home. Which leaves more time for staring up at the sky. The 5G conspiracy theories popped up shortly after the pandemic set in, along with a crop of Japanese Murder Hornets and Soviet nuclear cannibal ants. Would aliens really be out of the question for 2020?

MUFON, aka the Mutual UFO Network, which is run by 4,000 volunteers around the world, has been investigating UFO sightings for decades. Tom Maher is the Minnesota Director of MUFON and he claims that there have been 99 UFO sightings this year in Minnesota alone, which doesn't seem like much. However, when compared to the 1,226 sightings in the past 20 years, that number looks a lot more significant. Maher had this to say.

"Whenever we get a case that is reported, we are always kind of looking at that, is there a nuts and bolts phenomenon here or is it something else... We have people with a scientific background, people with a military background, and your average person who has their daily job."

In the last two decades, 2015 had the most sightings at 114 in Minnesota. "A couple months back we peaked at 18 to 20 a month but that was Elon Musk and he was lunching the SpaceX satellites," Tom Maher says. But, why are all of these sightings happening in 2020? As it turns out, the pandemic may play a huge role in the recent uptick of UFO sightings.

Thaddeus LaCoursiere, a Planetarium Educator at the Bell Museum in St Paul believes that quarantine is to blame for all of the 2020 UFO sightings. "Sorry to say I don't think its aliens," he said. "The most solid answer is; for the last few months we've been stuck at home, we've been spending more time outside, we've been seeing things you don't see if you are stuck inside an office all day." LaCoursiere continued, "As long as people have been around looking at the sky trying to understand what we are seeing, we've been cataloging it, we've been telling stories and it's such a powerful thing to see. It connects us to something so much more."

As a whole, UFO sightings are up 51% globally in 2020 when compared to 2019. Many of the sightings end up being drones, planes, or satellites, which are quickly proven. However, the United States government recently declassified videos which showed military pilots coming into contact with UFOs and having no idea what they saw. In August of this year, the Pentagon announced a task force to study "unexplained aerial phenomena," aka UAP. In New York, UFO sightings are also up from 2019 and some are claiming that they have been feeling weird heat sensations when observing these UFOs. Will 2020 be the year that the aliens finally reveal themselves? We only have a few more weeks of the year to find out. Fox 9 News was the first to report on the uptick in UFO sightings.

Prince Philip’s passion for UFOs and aliens exposed – Duke collected books for decades

Prince Philip with the Queen on their Diamond wedding anniversary, 2007

By EDWARD BROWNE

PRINCE PHILIP is so interested in UFO sightings and alien theories that he has collected books on the subject for decades, according to reports.

It has been revealed the Duke spent last summer reading The Halt Perspective – a 2016 book by retired US Air Force Colonel Charles Halt and ex-West Midlands detective John Hanson. It details British UFO sightings including the Rendlesham Forest incident.

The Sun claims Prince Philip's private secretary Brigadier Archie Miller-Bakewell wrote a letter to Mr Hanson, in which he stated the book would be “read with close interest over the summer”.

The secretary also referenced another book called ‘Haunted Skies: The Encyclopaedia of British UFOs’ also by Mr Hanson.

Brigadier Miller-Bakewell reportedly said that book would “make a most welcome addition to his library”.

The ‘Rendlesham Forest incident’ to which The Halt Perspective makes reference is considered to be one of the most famous UFO sightings in Britain.

A documentary on it, titled Codename Rendlesham, investigates reports by US airmen who claimed to have seen a UFO in the Suffolk forest in December of 1980.

The story goes that multiple US Air Force personnel, based at RAF Woodbridge at the time, decided to investigate “lights” they spotted in the trees nearby.

According to reports, officers claims to have spotted a triangular spacecraft there.

A website dedicated to the incident states Col. Halt’s team also took radiation readings at the site of the supposed UFO landing.

Ian Ridpath, an astronomer, claims to have had telephone discussions with the UK’s National Radiological Protection Board.

He said that the figures cited by Col. Halt in a memo of 0.05 to 0.1 milliroentgens were “simply background levels of radiation”.

Colonel Halt even told the BBC in 2015 that he had obtained new statements from radar operators at RAF Bentwaters that corroborate his claims.

Colonel Halt, then 75, said radar staff spotted an object pass through their 60-mile radar scope within “two or three seconds”, suggesting it was travelling at “thousands of miles an hour”.

He said it then headed to the forest where he and his colleagues were.

The Government, however, suggested at the time that reported light sightings were simply due to witnesses seeing light shining from the nearby Orfordness lighthouse.

The Ministry of Defence told the BBC it no longer dealt with reports of UFOs.

In other news, Prince Philip and the Queen marked their 73rd wedding anniversary last week.

To celebrate the occasion, the two royals released a photograph of the two of them opening up a card sent to them by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s children.

The Queen married Prince Philip on November 20 1947. The Queen, now 94, was 21 at the time.

Is Trump blocking us from learning more UFO news? Inside the rumors

By  Bianca Myrtil

We can’t get over the fact the U.S. government had to change UFO to UAP. UFOs gained too much of a joke connotation from pop culture. Instead of calling those mysterious spaceship-looking things in the sky unidentified flying objects, the government refers to them as unidentified aerial phenomena. (Unmanned aerial vehicles is another terminology used for UFOs, although it can also refer to things like drones.) 

As recently as this August, the Department of Defense (DoD) approved the creation of an Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) whose primary objective is to investigate sightings of UAPs. That’s right. Better think twice about jokingly claiming you’ve sighted a UFO. You might end up with Big Brother on your tail. 

At the moment, President Donald Trump is threatening to veto a bill that would give the public more access to government information about UFOs. Many are wondering what the deal is. Is Trump potentially leaving us hanging about UFOs in order to protect national security, or is he in cahoots with the aliens to keep their secrets? 

Trump & UFO info: Does he not want us to know? 

UFO enthusiasts everywhere have their panties in a wad because of Trump’s threat to veto the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This move would prevent them from learning some long sought-after information about the mysterious visitors in our sky. 

The truth is, Trump’s threat to veto the bill has nothing to do with withholding top secret UFO information. At the very least, that’s not what his administration says it’s about. The National Defense Authorization Act is a bill that’s passed annually in the U.S. to set the policies and budget of the U.S. Military. 

As many know, Trump is all about strengthening the U.S. Military. What he’s not about is renaming every single military base named after a Confederate leader. Controversy over the tearing down of monuments and name changes of schools and streets has been going on for a while. 

Many feel it’s inappropriate to honor those who were in favor of slavery by allowing any tributes to them to remain. Others, like Trump, feel it’s unreasonable to tear down every vestige of confederate residue because large portions of the country’s history would be torn down with it. 

In an attempt to take a stand regarding this matter, Trump has delivered the ultimatum that unless lawmakers remove the amendment that includes renaming military bases he will veto the entire NDAA bill. Of course, with it would go the appropriations for the UAPTF. Thus, bye-bye UFO info, we’ll see you in a couple years maybe.

The Pentagon’s loose lips about UFOs

Essentially, June’s Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA) allocated some funds toward the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) for 2021. This language was included in the NDAA that Trump is threatening to veto. If Trump does indeed end up vetoing the bill, Congress won’t be able to produce a new version before the deadline. This move would stall the act that has made so many UFO buffs hopeful. 

You may be wondering why the potential NDAA would even make people hopeful the government will disclose intelligence on UFOs or aliens to the public. The feds have a history of being pretty tight-lipped about the matter. What makes people think they’ll be disclosing information all of a sudden? 

Well, in April of 2020 the Pentagon released coveted footage of UFO activity to the public. Videos leaked in 2004 and 2015 were finally confirmed to be true. One of them had footage of a Navy pilot exclaiming as they caught sight of a UFO while flying. 

The DoD explained they were “releasing the videos in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos. The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as ‘unidentified’.” 

In truth, the government sees UAP as much more likely to be the intelligence-seeking devices of hostile nations than evidence of strange green men. It seems the Pentagon has chosen to be more transparent about UFOs to downplay the alien life aspect and instead encourage the public to think of it as their duty to report any sightings for national security purposes. 

Acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Marco Rubio, had this to say about the government’s mission to investigate UFOs: “The bottom line is that if there are things flying over your military bases and you don’t know what they are because they’re not yours, and they exhibit – potentially – technologies that you don’t have at your own disposal, that to me is a national security risk and one we should be looking into.” 

Government operations concerning UFOs used to be very covert operations, but Big Brother is clearly trying a new tact. The re-establishment of an organization devoted to “detect, analyze, and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security”, combined with their recent divulgence of UAP intel, shows we could be in for a few surprises. 

Hopefully, Trump’s ultimatum doesn’t get in the way of any planned UFO reveals. For now, all we can do is dream about alien life with movies like Proximity and speculate about their existence with documentaries like The Phenomenon. Oh yeah, and you should probably hope no foreign government is planning the demise of your country by spying on it with aerial vehicles. 

My famous UFO ordeal has baffled investigators for 40 years – but I’ll believe the horrors I witnessed until the end

Retired PC Alan Godfrey, pictured, has left investigators obsessed with his story of a UFO sighting in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, 40 years ago

By Dean Wilkins

SCRAMBLING for a pen and paper, PC Alan Godfrey desperately tried to sketch out the vast, hulking vessel that loomed in front of him - until he was suddenly engulfed by a dazzling white light.

When he came to, the young policeman found himself 100 yards down the Yorkshire country lane in his patrol car as the mysterious object vanished in his rear view mirror.

The incredible story, which made headlines around the world 40 years ago, earned the small market town of Todmorden the title of Britain’s UFO hotspot and continues to obsess investigators to this day.

“I have never claimed that I was abducted,” PC Godfrey, now 73, tells Sun Online from his home in Todmorden.

“But everything up until the bright white light and afterwards, when I was on the other side, I’ll believe it until the end.”

Here, we step inside the bizarre saga of the UK’s most famous UFO case and talk to some of the world’s leading investigators about what really might have happened that fateful day.

A sketch of the UFO which PC Godfrey drew at the time

From 'marauding cows' to UFO horror

During the early hours of November 29, 1980, PC Godfrey was out patrolling the Pennines in the pouring rain following reports that a herd of cows was on the loose.

By 5am, with no sight of the marauding group, PC Godfrey headed into Todmorden town centre for one last sweep before clocking off.

He passed a bus shuttling morning workers, saw no sign of trouble and decided to go for one last look for “those bloody cows”.

PC Godfrey passed another bobby on foot patrol, who declined his offer of a lift.

“How I wish he would’ve said yes, it would’ve been priceless to have another officer witness what was about to happen,” he says.

He then drove past his police station and was about to turn right on to the estate when something caught his eye several hundred yards up the road.

PC Godfrey's incredible story earned the small market town of Todmorden, above, the title of Britain’s UFO hotspot

“If only I’d had a mobile phone on me at the time so I could record what I saw, it would’ve been a lot easier than 40 years of trying to explain it," recalls PC Godfrey.

“I thought it was a bus at first, but I remembered I’d already passed the early morning service, and as I got nearer it very clearly looked nothing like a bus.

“It was completely blocking the main road. A huge metal object hanging in the air about five feet off the ground.

“It was diamond shaped, about 20ft wide and 14ft high with what appeared to be dark paneling across the upper top third - my headlights were shining off the side and if I’d gotten out of the car and thrown a brick at it, it would’ve gone 'bang'.

“The whole bottom half was spinning in an anti-clockwise direction, which was kicking up leaves and dirt beneath it.

“I just sat there in awe, staring at it.

“Next, my training and five years on the force kicked in.

“I put my blue flashing lights on, flipped on the hazards and attempted to radio the control room.”

Both PC Godfrey’s personal and in-car radio sets could not establish contact, so he pulled out a sketchpad and pencil, a common practice for officers used to responding to traffic collisions at the time.

But as he drew the remarkable object, a brilliant white light suddenly flashed, blinding him in an instant.

As the flash gradually subsided, he realised he was no longer sat sketching the object. Instead, he was back driving along Burnley Road.

'Tickly electric' feeling

“I was about 100 yards on the other side of where the thing had been hovering,” he claims.

“There was a strange tickly electric feeling about the place.

“I turned around and went back to the spot the object was hovering. The road surface beneath it was bone dry - everything else was glistening from the earlier downpour.

“In the dry patch, leaves, twigs and small branches lay in a swirled pattern. It was very peculiar.”

Terrified and shocked, the copper rushed back to the station to seek help.

Initially, PC Godfrey’s encounter became an in-joke within the station as gossiping bobbies made sniggering remarks such as ‘Captain Kirk’.

One even made a prank report to the local newspaper reporter who rang up to check if any serious incidents had been reported.

Other strange sightings

During his next shift, PC Godfrey was called in to see his inspector, who remarkably revealed three officers from the Halifax division also reported seeing strange “steel blue lights” at 4.49am.

Initially, it was believed to have happened on the same night as PC Godfrey’s case - it was only decades later it turned out to have happened several days earlier.

“But I was just so relieved that I wasn’t the only bobby to report strange sightings on the tops - I wasn’t going mad on my own,” he explains.

“I was delighted to have corroboration and thought ‘no more p***-taking from that lot’.”

Soon after, PC Godfrey tracked down another witness Leonard Smith, a former copper, who also reported seeing a “large sphere object rise into the sky”.

And in 2014, Bob Coates, a bus driver who passed the same spot as PC Godfrey at 4.55am on the same night, shared a similar story of leaves and twigs circling in a “whirlwind”.

PC Godfrey's superiors gave the green light to an interview with the local reporter and it appeared in the Hebden Bridge Times on December 5, 1980.

“I treated it as a bit of a laugh, I thought it could do no harm,” said PC Godfrey.

That was until the report was picked up by one of the UK’s top UFO academics, Jenny Randles.

PC Godfrey has penned a book on his ordeal, titled 'Who or What Were They?'

Miner's murder

Ms Randles, a scientist and former director of the British UFO Research Association, read PC Godfrey’s story in the local paper and immediately launched an investigation.

And in an article she later wrote for a UFO magazine, she unwittingly linked the mystery murder of Zygmund Adamski - which PC Godfrey had helped investigate months earlier - with his encounter.

Mr Adamski was a 56-year-old miner who went missing five months earlier.

His body was found dumped on top of a 15ft-high coal pile in Todmorden by PC Godfrey, then a 33-year-old policeman with two commendations to his name.

His death was never solved, but speculation remained rife around the circumstances.

In his report PC Godfrey told of the frightening expression of “fear and pain” on Zygmund’s face as well as weeping burns on the back of his head, neck and shoulders that had been treated with a peculiar ointment.

His hair had been messily cut short, he was wearing a jacket but no shirt and there was no sign of coal dirt or dust on his hands, face or front - leading investigators to believe his body had been dumped there.

Despite exhaustive police investigations and medical tests, his death was never explained and the strange liquid was never identified.

In the wake of Ms Randles's article, PC Godfrey’s encounter eventually appeared on the front page of the Sunday Mirror and became worldwide news - with the copper appearing on chat shows, TV documentaries and radio programmes, and giving interviews to dozens of media outlets.

But their quest for the truth paled compared to that of PC Godfrey, who had been encouraged to undertake several hypnotic regression sessions in a bid to piece together the moments after the burst of white light.

Professor Robert Blair and Dr Joseph Jaffee were both experts in the field and treated PC Godfrey on three occasions from their practices in Manchester.

He met Dr Jaffee for two sessions, both of which were filmed.

And what PC Godfrey described while under hypnosis was astonishing.

During one, he revealed: “I just started shouting ‘Jesus the light… the light’. I’d been blinded.”

Child-sized 'creatures'

In the recording, PC Godfrey described being carried inside the object where he met a strange “Biblical” man.

He told how he was carried, or “floated”, into the object, adding: “With him was a group of child-sized, large-headed ‘creatures’ working alongside the bearded ‘human’.”

PC Godfrey was pulled out of the regression over fears for his safety and the recordings gobsmacked him.

But, unlike his versions of events up until the bright white light, PC Godfrey is sceptical even of his own accounts during those sessions.

He added: “I have absolutely no idea what I was saying, if they are true, if they are a fabricated memory or if they are a collection of stories all muddled together as a result of hypnosis."

Scientists' struggles

Since first investigating UFOs in the 1970s, Jenny has been one of many scientists trying to find a middle ground theory that accepts the reality of the UFO phenomenon but does not go to the extreme of alien contact.

“Anyone who investigates UFO experiences and accounts thoroughly will know that there are too many genuine cases from very sincere and honest people like Alan, a distinguished policeman and father, for it to all be made up," she tells Sun Online.

“Scientists talk about unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) instead of UFOs.

“It’s a way of disassociating actual scientific research from the little green men and flying saucers stigma attached to UFOs.”

Jenny points to work conducted by academics across Norway and the US as well as the Ministry of Defence. 

Many scientists have tried to find a middle ground theory that accepts the reality of the UFO phenomenon but does not go to the extreme of alien contact

The UK’s Condign Report, released under a Freedom of Information request in 2006, confirmed “unquestionable atmospheric events occur that are not yet fully understood by modern science”, events that some believe could be what witnesses like PC Godfrey have experienced.

“We need to properly study if natural phenomena in the ground can push waves of energy into the atmosphere, which then creates physical phenomena that can be seen and can be felt," Jenny adds.

“And, that also creates energy that can stall car engines, interfere with radio transmissions and potentially triggers physiological actions in those that get too close to it.

“People could suffer a terrifying experience which is in an altered state of consciousness where perceiving what they’re really seeing but also having a stimulated hallucination that is packed onto the top of that.”

Hundreds of sightings have been recorded in Todmorden and the surrounding Pennines.

Jenny claims it is one of the world’s best examples of a “window area”, a place where concentrated forces trigger forces such as lights and “alien contacts” like PC Godfrey’s.

The surrounding 20 miles of Todmorden have had more UFO sightings than any other part of the UK, with up to 100 sightings a year according to some experts.

Did PC Godfrey have an out-of-body experience?

Neuro-scientist Dr Michael Persinger investigated the effects pulses of energy, magnetism and electricity can have on humans - including the out-of-body experiences many UFO encounters centre around.

He created an electromagnetic helmet for participants to put on, dubbed the God machine.

Of the 900 people he tested in the 1990s, many had interactions with religious figures including the Virgin Mary, the Prophet Mohammed and Jesus.

Others who did not follow any religion gave accounts comparable with alien abductions such as PC Godfrey under hypnosis.

Neuro-scientist Dr Michael Persinger investigated the effects pulses of energy, magnetism and electricity can have on humans

Professor Sue Blackmore, who underwent Dr Persinger’s test while exploring alien abduction accounts for the BBC’s Horizon show in 1994, explained: “Some abductees recall their experiences in full detail, but for many the ‘memories’ emerge only when they take themselves to a therapist for hypnotic regression.”

While PC Godfrey has always admitted he did not fully believe his regression tapes, he has always strenuously stuck to his version of events up until that point.

And Professor Blackmore - a respected lecturer and expert in out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, lucid dreams and sleep paralysis - said his description is to be believed.

She added: “My attitude to all that is: I believe your description of what happened. They might be making it up, in my experience very few are.

“There’s been a huge resistance to this because the initial response from most people is either it’s all true and it proves aliens are coming or it’s all a lie.

“No one really will ever know how tired Alan was, but if you’re doing shift work you’re much more likely to suffer sleep paralysis. 

“I think his description is a very good one of what happened at the time and he dropped into this microsleep and probably one or two seconds later the car’s moved on and the memory that’s created feels more real than what’s created during ‘normal’ life.

“This is very important because people who dismiss these experiences don’t take into account how absolutely real it seems.”

Unsolved mystery

While Alan insists he won’t be gazing into the night sky to mark the 40 years since his encounter, many remain keen to solve the mystery of UFOs and UAPs.

Philippe Ailleris, a project controller at the European Space Agency, is calling on scientists to come together to investigate UAP events.

He runs the UAP Reporting Scheme to track and monitor natural phenomena linked to UFO sightings.

“There are still many truly puzzling cases that need investigating and moving on from the taboo that surrounds UAP would help,” he explains.

“We still cannot predict when and where such astronomical events will occur in the sky.

“But we understand to an extent the nature of supernovae and gravitational waves because scientists have collected and shared data.

“We do not know what UAP are, and this is precisely the reason that we as scientists should study them.”

Whatever scientists find, and as time only continues to move on from PC Godfrey’s encounter, exactly what happened may always remain a mystery.

However, he remains adamant: “I know what I saw, I’ll never forget it.”

Secret UFO probes 'hidden from UK Government' as military 'didn't trust' them

Dr David Clarke said the Ministry of Defence team tasked with hunting ETs "didn't trust" civil servants

By Berny Torre

The Ministry of Defence's secret ET hunters "didn't trust" civil servants with their information, claims Dr David Clarke who uncovered the Defence Intelligence Staff's study in 2005

Britain's secret UFO investigators kept their findings hidden from the Government, an academic has claimed.

Dr David Clarke, of Sheffield Hallam University, said the Ministry of Defence team tasked with hunting ETs "didn't trust" civil servants briefing ministers with their data.

The lecturer and investigative journalist uncovered the Defence Intelligence Staff's 400-page study into 10,000 UFO sightings in 2005.

He has now said its military officials often kept their findings secret from civil servants over fears the information would be leaked.

Dr Clarke added former Government UFO investigators who have gone public over the findings such as Nick Pope "didn't investigate anything".

He told the UFO Podcast with Martin Willis: "There was a UFO desk where he was an incumbent for three years but he was just one of dozens of different people who did that task and he didn't actually investigate anything.

"He just received reports and filed them. He was a civil servant, there was a body that investigated cases and it was known as the Defence Intelligence Staff, DI55, and they were the people who were tasked to investigate UFO incidents that were deemed to have some kind of military significance."

The UFO investigator added: "The system was extremely complicated and there was at various times two or three different departments of the British Ministry of Defence who were involved in investigating UFOs or responding to the public.

"He might run a few checks with a local radar station but that's as far as time allowed.

"If there was anything deemed to be of potential military significance or something that needed further investigation it was passed to DI55 to do the investigation.

"I've interviewed most of the people who worked on this subject in DI55 at that time and they tell me, 'well Nick Pope didn't have any involvement in this, we did the investigations, we didn't share information with them because we didn't trust them'.

"He was a civilian who was briefing ministers, he was doing PR work and during that time in that job he thought, 'well I could make a living from this'."

Officials at the Defence Intelligence Staff investigated some 10,000 potential ET sightings in the UK from 1997 to 2000.

It concluded that UFOs had an “indisputable” observable presence but there was no evidence to suggest they were "hostile or under any type of control".

NEAR MISS UFO almost collides with passenger jet as pilots approach UK airport

The UFO encounter occurred as the jet prepared to land at Leeds Bradford airportCredit: Alamy

By Isaac Crowson

A UFO came within seconds of colliding with a passenger jet in a terrifying close call.

The rogue object came at the packed Boeing 737 plane “almost head on” as pilots prepared to land at Leeds Bradford airport.

The scare on September 1 was rated a 'Category A' event by the UK Airprox Board - which monitors and investigates near-miss events.

The unidentifiable object - which could have been a drone or lantern - was just 10 feet away from the flight arriving from Spain.

The Airprox report revealed: “Both pilots suddenly saw a bright light and an object which appeared to be moving toward the aircraft, almost head on, slightly up and to the left.

“The object appeared without warning and there was no time to act."

After landing, the pilots were told that a police helicopter had seen lanterns flying in the area.

But the report added: "Neither of the pilots believed what they saw was a lantern.”

Investigators ruled that “a definite risk of collision had existed”.

The near miss came three days before a drone came three feet away from striking an Easyjet flight which had taken off from Manchester Airport.

The Airbus A320, carrying 186 passengers, was 8,000ft over Greater Manchester. The drone was flying 20 times above the legal height.

Pilots have reported fears of drones getting close to passenger jets.

There have been more than 400 incidents in the past five years.

Former Sen. Harry Reid on Biden, climate and UFOs

Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), seen here at a 2019 event in Las Vegas, is optimistic about what President-elect Joe Biden can do about climate change. Carlo Allegri/Reuters/Newscom

By Maxine Joselow

Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has kept busy since leaving Washington.

The Nevada Democrat has had a flurry of phone calls and text messages with aides to President-elect Joe Biden in recent days, recommending picks for Cabinet positions and offering advice from his three decades in Congress.

The 80-year-old has also stayed active in Nevada politics, setting up a successful political operation that has shaded the Silver State blue.

A climate hawk, Reid has at times angered Republicans and delighted environmental groups with his fierce criticism of the fossil fuel industry and the Koch family.

"We've got to get rid of fossil fuels as fast as we can. We've done a pretty good job of lessening our demand for coal," he said in a recent interview.

While serving as Senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015, Reid notched a number of controversial achievements, including passage of the Affordable Care Act and elimination of the filibuster for executive branch nominations and federal judicial appointments.

Since retiring in 2017, Reid has battled pancreatic cancer. It is now in remission, but he uses a walker to get around.

The political mastermind spoke on the phone with E&E News last week about how Biden can tackle climate change without the Senate, whether the filibuster will survive and why he believes in UFOs.

What have you been up to since leaving Congress?

Well, I've had a few health issues. But my health has been pretty good over the last year and a half, which has given me the opportunity to become more involved.

I try to maintain contact with my former colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans. I've got a call in an hour or so with one of my Republican senator friends. But I try not to interfere too much. I don't want them to think I'm trying to run the government from here.

Of course, I'm also heavily involved in Nevada politics with my program that I developed over the years. I have five children, four of whom live here in Nevada very close to me. So I keep pretty busy and am pretty content with my existence.

Have you spoken with members of President-elect Joe Biden's transition?

Yes. I've talked to [incoming counselor to the president] Steve Ricchetti several times. I've texted with [incoming chief of staff to Biden] Ron Klain. And I'm going to talk to [longtime Biden aide and former senator from Delaware] Ted Kaufman soon.

What have those conversations been like?

They've been good. They're all my friends, so it's easy.

Have you offered any advice for the transition?

Yeah, of course I have. But as far as what I've talked about, that would probably be the end of all my calls if I shared that. [Laughs]

What could Biden accomplish on climate policy if the Senate remains in Republican hands after the runoff elections in Georgia in January?

Of course we're going to wait until Jan. 5 to make that summation. But I think the climate crisis is such an issue that it cannot be ignored anymore. It is an issue that is already affecting migration around the world.

We have talked about it for years and frankly done almost nothing. That cannot continue. So regardless of whether President-elect Biden when he becomes president has a Republican majority or a Democratic majority or it's a tie, it cannot be ignored.

And one of Joe Biden's great attributes is he is a deal-maker. A lot of people who've been legislators even for a long time tend to forget what legislation is about. It's simply about the art of compromise. That's all it is. And Joe has been very good at understanding that. He spent those decades in the Senate as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

What are some of the first actions that Biden should take on climate change?

On day one he should rejoin the Paris climate accord. He should rejoin the World Health Organization. And he needs to look at all the executive orders that Trump executed that were detrimental to the environment.

As to what should happen with energy, Trump was very, very bad about renewable energy, which is something we have to focus on. So there are many, many things that Joe Biden can do as president in the first few days just with executive orders.

You've been a vocal critic of fossil fuels in the past. Why is that?

We've got to get rid of fossil fuels as fast as we can. We've done a pretty good job of lessening our demand for coal, but as we speak, China is building a number of brand new coal-fired generating [stations].

So we've got to get rid of coal and do anything we can to get rid of even natural gas, which is so much better than the normal fuel that we've used in the past. Other countries may not do it, but it's to their detriment.

You served in the Senate with Biden, and then you were Senate majority leader when he was vice president under President Obama. What was it like working with him?

Obama depended on Joe Biden to come to the Hill and try to work things out. And during the time that I was the leader and responsible for trying to execute Obama's policies, there were often times when I needed Joe Biden to help me. And he helped me on a number of occasions, one of which was during the long time I spent on the Affordable Care Act.

Do you have thoughts on who Biden should pick to lead federal agencies focused on energy and the environment, such as EPA, the Interior Department and the Department of Energy?

Yes. Even before the election was over, I'd spoken to Ricchetti on a number of occasions about some ideas I had.

Are you willing to share any of those ideas?

Well, there have been many articles written about names that are out there, and they're good names. For [the Interior Department], they're talking about [Democratic Sens.] Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall of New Mexico. So he's got a wide variety of people who would be excellent that have obviously been considered 'cause there have been articles about them the last few days.

Do you think Biden should avoid progressive nominees who might not get confirmed by a GOP-controlled Senate run by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.]?

I think Joe Biden should select the best people that he can, the best qualified. If Republicans reject them on a partisan basis, it's a pox on their house, not on Joe Biden.

Do you think the filibuster will survive in the next Congress? And should it survive?

Well, I've been very public about that in saying that it's not a question if the filibuster's going to be done away with. It's just a question of when.

Now with the Senate going to be so evenly divided, it may not happen this Congress. But it's going to happen because you cannot have a democratic body that requires 60 votes.

It used to be that there was a lot of collegiality in the Senate and so it wasn't used very much. But McConnell has used it for everything. And as you know, I previously moved to change the rules for judges and Cabinet appointments but left a supermajority for Supreme Court justices, and the Republicans got rid of that, too.

Based on your experience of Yucca Mountain in Nevada, what do you see as the future of nuclear waste disposal in this country?

I think what we've learned over the years is that the best thing to do with nuclear waste is to place it where it is. Don't transport it. Put it in dry cask storage containers. You can bury it in the ground or leave it above the ground because the dry cask storage containers that we've developed are extremely safe.

You were featured in the recent documentary "The Phenomenon," in which you said the U.S. government has been hiding evidence of possible UFO encounters for years. Why do you believe that?

Well, I've been on the forefront of this for a long time. I obtained $22 million in taxpayer dollars to study these aerial phenomena through the [Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program]. And that was extremely helpful in trying to understand what's going on.

Do we have all the answers? Absolutely not. But at least we know that thousands of people have reported these unusual occurrences over the decades. And as I have said, we cannot ignore what's going on. Russia, China and France are all working on this. And I hope that we will pick up the ball and continue to work on this.

I'm happy that the Pentagon now allows its pilots to report these unusual occurrences. In the past, pilots have been afraid to acknowledge them because it could hurt their promotions. So I think the federal government is doing better at recognizing it's something we have to stay on top of. And we have better cameras now with the aircraft, and we've got pictures we didn't have before.

Aztec is home to another purported alien crash-landing site within NM

An alien head rock formation marks the alleged spot of the Aztec UFO crash. (Courtesy of Susanne Pence)

By Toby Smith

Aztec, New Mexico, with a population of about 6,500, is a tidy community a few miles east of Farmington.

The nearby Aztec Ruins National Monument stands monumentally still. The Aztec Museum and Pioneer Village features such century-ago items as a historic barbershop, antique telephone equipment, various fossils and minerals.

Something else, something much darker, draws tourists to here.

On the night of March 25, 1948, a flying saucer allegedly crash-landed on a lonely mesa in Hart Canyon, four miles distant. There’s a plaque where it put down.

Folks as far away as those who lived in Cedar Hill, 10 miles northeast of Aztec, were said to have heard the crash. But that fact was never verified.

A plaque marks the spot where a flying saucer allegedly crash-landed near Aztec in 1948. (Courtesy of Susanne Pence)

In Farmington, hundreds reported the incident to the Farmington Daily Times. A state policeman debunked by saying the flying saucer was fluff from cottonwood trees. The Aztec tale was suddenly full of holes and hoaxes.

Here’s what came later. Two con men convinced Aztec residents that a saucer had definitely dropped in. That was a fraud, of course.

Nonetheless, Aztec swiftly became a favored spot for sky-watchers and believers from every which way.

A year earlier, in Roswell, in July 1947, a balloon fell smacked into the ground on a nearby ranch. Immediately conspiracy theories took hold as were extra-terrestrials.

As the years went by, Roswell became the king of all those who peered at the heavens thinking they had seen something important.

A 1996 UFO festival, brought Roswell mobs of visitors. A museum and research center dominated Roswell’s Main Street. Ufology turned into a serious subject. Books on the topic suddenly popped up everywhere.

Meanwhile, little Aztec became just a footnote.

A trail sign gives a nod to the alleged UFO crash near Aztec.(Courtesy of Susanne Pence)

And yet supposedly 12 giant humanoids were aboard that UFO. Perhaps 18, maybe 30. The saucer itself was said to be an incredible 100 feet in diameter. Members of the armed forces were ordered to store various pieces of debris and send them to such locales as Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, never to be seen again.

Frank Thayer, an emeritus professor at New Mexico State University, traveled to Aztec to see what the hubbub was all about.

“The military must have used the biggest Bekins truck available to cart away all that stuff,” he told me.

Beginning in 1997, a UFO symposium was held in Aztec. That conference lasted until 2011.

Papers were submitted on such subjects as alien abductions, cattle mutilations and government cover-ups.

Meanwhile, Roswell was experiencing an economic boom. Thus, Aztec became thought of as Roswell’s little brother.

How does one find the Aztec site?

The Visitor’s Center in Aztec is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the phone, I talked to Wilann Thomas, who ran the center.

I asked her what she believed. Her answer: “All those researchers who were here? They’re all graveyard-dead now.”

Seth Finch, a Presbyterian minister in Albuquerque, grew up in Aztec. He and some college friends took a road trip to where Seth was certain the site was located. “It was getting late, so I don’t know if we were near the actual site. It’s a wild place. There’s no signage at all. We went mountain-biking instead.”

In mid-October, my wife and I met up with another couple from Albuquerque and drove along a gritty, gravel road in Aztec for 6.5 miles. Not a single building could be seen, save for oil and gas operations.

I waved to the driver of a pickup truck to stop. “Do you know where that UFO trail is?” I asked.

He shook his head and said, “I been livin’ here 70 years and don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”

I thanked him, and onward we went. We hiked up past fallen cedar branches, and down rocky paths. After four hours of looking, we came to a clearing. There stood the celebrated plaque that had been installed in 2007.

It is certainly not a wall plaque. Rather, it appeared to be a lectern, the sort you might see in a college classroom. A few feet away lay a curious circle of rocks. Were those rocks put there by aliens? I wondered.

Nah, probably not.