UFO files: sightings 'taken seriously' by chiefs

Yes, UFOs were taken seriously but that does not mean they were believed to be ET in origin. It was the 1950's. Nuclear arsenals had grown to the point where nearly every major city on the planet could have been destroyed in short order. Cold War tensions were extremely high and there was great fear and suspicion on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Neither side truly knew what the other had or was developing. All reports were treated as evidence of potential threats.

Err...Smugfish did you look at the sketches of the UFO? Those aren't sketches of any kind of bird...glowing or not. He's been saying that for like every U.F.O topic.

Err...Smugfish did you look at the sketches of the UFO? Those aren't sketches of any kind of bird...glowing or not. Whoops, no I didn't. But the comment does apply to the Glasgow orange orbs and many others. Here's an alternative..(okay, i'm biased too)

Those aren't very convincing sketches.. they simply look like early designs of delta winged aircraft (which eventually evolved into the B-2 and the F117) that were most likely being tested at the time. UFO? yes (they were unidentified at the time), extraterrestrial? No...

Those aren't very convincing sketches.. they simply look like early designs of delta winged aircraft (which eventually evolved into the B-2 and the F117) that were most likely being tested at the time. UFO? yes (they were unidentified at the time), extraterrestrial? No... Agreed. Nice to hear someone with some common sense. The diagrams are just reproductions of the media assumptions at the time. Did the Glasgow woman describe a delta wing craft? No, because we've progressed from there and she can think for herself and simply described what she saw i.e. three orange lights that hovered strange... [More]

Yes, UFOs were taken seriously but that does not mean they were believed to be ET in origin. It was the 1950's. Nuclear arsenals had grown to the point where nearly every major city on the planet could have been destroyed in short order. Cold War tensions were extremely high and there was great fear and suspicion on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Neither side truly knew what the other had or was developing. All reports were treated as evidence of potential threats. I'm going as sinewave on this one. It would have been irresponsible for governments not to take UFO sightings seriously. There wa... [More]

I'm going as sinewave on this one. It would have been irresponsible for governments not to take UFO sightings seriously. There was a real need to keep on top of potential new threats from the other side. Unfortunately time has separated us from the realities of the Cold War and the idea of mutually assured destruction. It is a good thing and a bad thing. I am old enough to remember the duck and cover drills, fallout shelters, air raid sirens, Civil Defense wardens, and nuclear propaganda. We went about our lives but the belief of a Soviet threat, real or imagined was always just below the surf... [More]

I am old enough to remember the duck and cover drills, fallout shelters, air raid sirens, Civil Defense wardens, and nuclear propaganda. We went about our lives but the belief of a Soviet threat, real or imagined was always just below the surface. I am old enough to remember most of that aside from the air raid sirens and Civil Defense wardens. I remember the black & white movie reels they used to show when I was a kid. They were very outdated at the time, but they still used them. I remember looking forward to them, it was a great time to put my head on the desk and take a nap.

I am old enough to remember most of that aside from the air raid sirens and Civil Defense wardens. I remember the black & white movie reels they used to show when I was a kid. They were very outdated at the time, but they still used them. I remember looking forward to them, it was a great time to put my head on the desk and take a nap. My dad used to help the local CD warden distribute the monthly CD literature cards. The cards contained information about the location and capacities of local fallout shelters, what to do in various scenarios, instructions for reporting suspicious activities... [More]

My dad used to help the local CD warden distribute the monthly CD literature cards. The cards contained information about the location and capacities of local fallout shelters, what to do in various scenarios, instructions for reporting suspicious activities, what the different air raid signals meant, and other fairly useless information. I remember the cards because they seemed so severe with drawings of families hunkered down in shelters beneath spreading mushroom clouds. There was one that showed kids on a baseball field "saving" themselves by dropping flat to the ground to avoid and oncomi... [More]