5 of 13

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 2

the excitement of the photographer, or the erratic movement of the subject), usually come out blurry, with the UFO in question lacking any detail. While a UFO photo can be almost impossible to prove fake, not knowing what it is doesn't make a UFO an alien spacecraft: it just means that the truth is unknown. To concretely believe anything else is fallacy.

Video:

Videos make much better evidence than photos. They open up the evidentiary arena to the exact movements and shapes of UFOs, keeping some human errors out of the equation. It's best to have something stationary in the foreground of the video while the UFO is filmed, as it allows for differentiation between the movement of the UFO and the movement of the camera itself, adding more weight to the evidence.

Still, even videos of UFOs can be faked well. In the last year or two, people proficient in computer imaging software have created UFO videos that look breathtaking at first glance. Of these kinds of videos, the "Haiti" and "Dominican Republic" youtube clips are the most popular. They have been, without a doubt, proven fake: the palm trees in the videos are perfect clones of one another.

If a video looks too good to be true, it probably is. That doesn't mean it's necessarily a fake, only that it requires investigation. After all, the medium is accessible to practically anyone, opening it to all sorts of faking attempts.

The SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Program:

Extraterrestrial radio signals can't be accessed by the general population, as sensing them requires advanced equipment. Pranksters can't gain access to the tools they would need to fake a SETI signal. The people who study the tiny, distant sounds of space are scientifically trained, and are thus more credible and less likely to stain their careers with a hoax, or even a mistake, than an average citizen. In other words, they care very, very much about being level-headed and accurate.

So far, only one interesting signal pattern has been sifted from the space noise that earth's many satellite dishes pick up. Called "The Wow Signal," it was recorded in 1977 by the Big Ear observatory in Ohio, USA. Compared to everything else the Ear had been 'hearing,' the signal was like a shout in a silent room. The area of the sky from which the signal emitted was studied with favoritism for years after the Wow Signal was discovered, but sadly, Earth never got a repeat performance.

An extraterrestrial signal like this actually hitting not only Earth, but one of Earth's observatories, could be compared to a penny landing on an inch-wide bullseye after being dropped from the top of Toronto's C.N. Tower. That's a made-up example, but it helps move things into perspective: even picking up a tiny signal from outside the solar system is immensely lucky - unless that was the very intention of the signal's senders, but that's incredibly wishful thinking.

Due to the scientific scrutiny that SETI undergoes, as well as the practically unmistakable nature of the signals it receives, this single Wow Signal is considered the most conclusive evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence that human beings have yet gathered, no matter how many eyewitness accounts, photographs, and videos amass. Due to SETI's reliability, a signal is worth a thousand pictures, not to mention a great many goosebumps.

More about the Wow Signal:
http://www.damninterest ing.com/?p=318

Learn more about this author, Currie Jean.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2

Add your voice

Know something about What constitutes UFO evidence??
We want to hear your view. Write now!