Astronaut recalls encounter with a UFO

[Lilly]

i think your answer is: Yes? The 'government' is withholding information about UFO reports from the public. thank you.

How the heck do you know this?

I mean, seriously this really doesn't do anything to support your opinion...anyone can claim anything is being hidden. What we actually need is evidence.

[JimOberg]

Can we settle the original thrust of this thread, before wandering off?

Is there anyone who disputes that the explanations offered for the two 'astronaut UFO stories' at the top of this thread, are in fact accurate and reasonable?

Silence, legally, implies consent. But explicit acknowledgement would be more comforting.

[bendigger0]

Regarding US spaceflight, Robert Bigelow launched two test satellites a few years ago with external cameras. Do you suspect HE would conceal any UFOs his space cameras spotted?

No. i have no reason to suspect that. IF Robert Bigelow DID spot UFO's with his cameras, and the photos were released to the world, what would THAT prove? Personally, i'm more interested in the atmospheric phenomena than Space stuff. Is the incredible volume of reports some sort of mass hysteria? Or really just swamp-gas?

[JimOberg]

No. i have no reason to suspect that. IF Robert Bigelow DID spot UFO's with his cameras, and the photos were released to the world, what would THAT prove? Personally, i'm more interested in the atmospheric phenomena than Space stuff. Is the incredible volume of reports some sort of mass hysteria? Or really just swamp-gas?

You have a very limited imagination, and mockery & ridicule plays too big a role in your reasoning and argumentation.

A more fundamental question is: what does a residue of cases without known explanations prove?

What does a witness's utter sincerity and profound emotional reaction tell us about the authenticity of his interpretation of any apparition or experience?

But start a new thread for this, please, and stop hijacking this one.

[bendigger0]

How the heck do you know this?

I mean, seriously this really doesn't do anything to support your opinion...anyone can claim anything is being hidden. What we actually need is evidence.

I was asking Jim O. his opinion. I think he affirmed that the U.S. gov'mint is/does withhold information about anomalous objects in the skies, from the public. I'm not claiming anything. i'm asking questions about folks opinions. Are there, in YOUR opinion, some sort of metallic, generally disk-shaped hardware, seen in our skies by credible individuals?

[bendigger0]

OK

[Lilly]

...Are there, in YOUR opinion, some sort of metallic, generally disk-shaped hardware, seen in our skies by credible individuals?

Well, there's certainly something disk shaped that appears to be shiny/metallic...I've seen one. Now, whether or not these are "craft" or some other phenomena, I have no idea.

[Sweetpumper]

Are there, in YOUR opinion, some sort of metallic, generally disk-shaped hardware, seen in our skies by credible individuals?

Oh, yeah.

[bendigger0]

Well, there's certainly something disk shaped that appears to be shiny/metallic...I've seen one. Now, whether or not these are "craft" or some other phenomena, I have no idea.

thank you. The disk-shaped metallic 'object' i saw, passing overhead at a distance of about 30 feet, had two people inside. They looked human, short dark hair. But i guess i hafta find another thread to discuss this? Anyway... thanks for acknowledging that there is "something disk shaped that appears to be metallic" seen regularly in our skies by credible people.

[Merc14]

I think the explanations given for the two events are reasonable and logical and the fact that the person who saw the UFO agrees with the explanation confirms it.

Lilly, I have no idea what you saw and couldn't even guess without more data. I have seen a few strange things in the sky my time both when airborne and on ground but nothing that I could say was of extraterrestrial origin.

thank you. The disk-shaped metallic 'object' i saw, passing overhead at a distance of about 30 feet, had two people inside. They looked human, short dark hair. But i guess i hafta find another thread to discuss this? Anyway... thanks for acknowledging that there is "something disk shaped that appears to be metallic" seen regularly in our skies by credible people.

Absolutely you should start a thread, I'd like to hear about what you saw and see if we can find an earth-bound explanation.

Edited March 12, 2014 by Merc14

[Sweetpumper]

thank you. The disk-shaped metallic 'object' i saw, passing overhead at a distance of about 30 feet, had two people inside. They looked human, short dark hair. But i guess i hafta find another thread to discuss this? Anyway... thanks for acknowledging that there is "something disk shaped that appears to be metallic" seen regularly in our skies by credible people.

Yes, start a thread, please. I'd like to hear about it too.

[JimOberg]

I was asking Jim O. his opinion. I think he affirmed that the U.S. gov'mint is/does withhold information about anomalous objects in the skies, from the public. ....

Well, I give up. Think what you like, but don't spread your own dreams about what I supposedly say or believe.

[SolarPlexus]

I don't think you believe in extra-terrestrial life.... I don't think you WANT TO either.... Im guessing you probably consider Earth the only place with life, just like James Irwin.....

[psyche101]

i think your answer is: Yes? The 'government' is withholding information about UFO reports from the public. thank you.

There is an entire world outside of the US.

And all those governments have released their files. Don't know what you think the US is hiding that the rest of the world cannot know.

[psyche101]

I don't think you believe in extra-terrestrial life.... I don't think you WANT TO either.... Im guessing you probably consider Earth the only place with life, just like James Irwin.....

And Like I said, I think you are spreading lies to discredit Jim to benefit UFOlogy. Who set you up to it?

I have seen Jim comment over at "Open Minds" saying that he does not doubt that ET life is likely to exist.

I have also seen every UFOlogy forum have a go at Jim with erroneous information.

UFOlogy just picks on Jim because he gives the skeptics side of the debate a huge advantage, and UFOlogy wants that removed so they may deploy their smoke and mirrors.

If UFOlogy had a genuine bone to pick, we would see facts being challenged, not personal whining rants. But that is far and wide across the Internet.

It strikes me as completely weird that people who have never set foot in NASA tell an ex NASA consultant who is a rocket scientist how NASA works, and how to travel in space. Not to mention that Jim is one of the few Western specialists on Russian space history.

These people just have to be kidding themselves, do they think they actually perturb the wheels in motion, or do they just realise they are a baseless rant in an ocean of sore losers?

I think they are just attention seekers, and should not complain when they receive that which they seek.

I am guessing that is why you are telling Jim what he thinks as opposed to simply asking.

The louder you yell, the less you are heard.

[psyche101]

No. i have no reason to suspect that. IF Robert Bigelow DID spot UFO's with his cameras, and the photos were released to the world, what would THAT prove? Personally, i'm more interested in the atmospheric phenomena than Space stuff. Is the incredible volume of reports some sort of mass hysteria? Or really just swamp-gas?

Swamp Gas

Just like these aliens helping put out a fire in NYC. Little buggers are everywhere aren't they.

[Captain Zim]

LOL, that for a moment looked like a sun reflection...

[Forever Cursed]

I've spent the last few days reading through Jim's site, and he has spent the last 35 years rationally explaining sightings to him self and others. I do not think the man got into science just to disprove the existence of other life. In fact I think he would love to be able to prove it exists. But based upon what he has found, he does not believe other life exists here on earth. For me I believe there is something based upon personal experience, but you can't through that on a table and examine it. So even though we may see things differently, I believe the man be both honorable, and honest with his conclusions. And do not believe he is out to discredit anything.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Forever Cursed

[JimOberg]

.... So even though we may see things differently, I believe the man be both honorable, and honest with his conclusions. And do not believe he is out to discredit anything.

Thanks, Forever formerly-called-cursed-but-hereafter-known-to-me-as-'Blessed'. It's better than that, even -- I have no way to disprove, or reason to doubt, that humanity could be under observation by non-human intelligence who remain as undetectable as THEY prefer. I have plenty of reason to hold the opinion that numerous human groups have exploited public interest in UFOs as camouflage for their own actions, often serendipitously, occasionally on purpose. And the degree of human misinterpretation of some kinds of stimuli is absolutely unbelievable until you have enough well-documented occasions when it has happened -- and perceptual psychologists [and criminal lawyers] better pay closer attention.

And more. This field has a lot to teach us and does attract a few -- but enough! -- people with the chops and brains and balls to push forward.

[quillius]

Thanks, Forever formerly-called-cursed-but-hereafter-known-to-me-as-'Blessed'. It's better than that, even -- I have no way to disprove, or reason to doubt, that humanity could be under observation by non-human intelligence who remain as undetectable as THEY prefer. I have plenty of reason to hold the opinion that numerous human groups have exploited public interest in UFOs as camouflage for their own actions, often serendipitously, occasionally on purpose. And the degree of human misinterpretation of some kinds of stimuli is absolutely unbelievable until you have enough well-documented occasions when it has happened -- and perceptual psychologists [and criminal lawyers] better pay closer attention.

And more. This field has a lot to teach us and does attract a few -- but enough! -- people with the chops and brains and balls to push forward.

What a great post Jim. I think this somehow captures the position of many of us on this subject.

[seeder]

What a great post Jim. I think this somehow captures the position of many of us on this subject.

Indeed - I'm with quillius

[sinewave]

i wonder why astronauts, such as Gordon Cooper, aren't contributors to a Forum like this? i imagine 'they' are very disinterested in the mal-eloquent posturing of uninformed "critical thinkers" who insist that any incidence of contact with "flying saucers" is erroneous and/or cannot be substantiated. I, for one, am much more inclined to believe the first hand accounts of honorable men; as opposed to the "researched" conclusions of armchair observers.

Or perhaps they want to see something more than a story told by someone they don't know let alone trust. Is that an unreasonable request?

[sinewave]

This really is far afield of the local theme...

The DC flyover was the theme of several TV spots my small production company did in the mid-1990s, I was able to interview the AF officer who debriefed the pilots as they returned, and we interviewed other figures still alive forty years later. I have the tapes and ought to put them on youtube sooner or later -- if I mailed somebody a VHS, could they convert it into postable form? The impression from the folks nearest the action was that the pilots were chasing phantoms and shadows -- there was nothing physical up in the air with them.

The Walton case is burdened by the powerful motivation for fraud from the very start -- money withheld from a logging contract that only was released after the UFO event freaked out the work team so they refused to return. The rest of it is storytelling. I've specified on my website the kind of INFORMATIONAL evidence I'd love to see from somebody who interacted with ETI. So far, no hits.

LA looks to me like panic compounded by outright retouching of the images used in the newspapers, to maintain public fear levels where the government wanted them to be.

I have no idea what the ladies saw afire in the sky among helicopters east of Houston in 1980 -- Schuessler worked down the hall from me and I kept up with the early investigations.

Life's like that. The 'potentially possible' really is wilder than the 'hard provable'.

You can take your tape to companies that will convert it to a digital format.

[Jeepguy2014]

So when did he first report this?

Seems strange that he was the only one who saw it....could it have been a reflection on his vizor? And how did he work out they were going at 17,000 miles an hour?

Maybe he had some help calculating the speed by having NASA re-play the video in slow motion. You know there has to be a video of this as surly they record anytime the astronauts are outside of the space station.

[JimOberg]

Maybe he had some help calculating the speed by having NASA re-play the video in slow motion. You know there has to be a video of this as surly they record anytime the astronauts are outside of the space station.

Old American humorist Will Rogers: "It ain't what you don't know what makes you look foolish, it's what you DO know what ain't so." Your comment is a perfect illustration of why so many UFO eager-believers are so easily dismissed as fantasy-prone individuals. More's the pity, we share so many motives and fascinations.