tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post2131674562257112444..comments2024-03-08T01:24:09.884-07:00Comments on Matt's Sci/Tech Blog: Are disc-shaped aircraft behind UFO sightings?Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-35744383667732966122012-09-17T10:11:37.966-06:002012-09-17T10:11:37.966-06:00I've always thought Arnold was mistaken, but t...I've always thought Arnold was mistaken, but there are various theories about what he did see. There are puzzling UFO reports, but they are precisely that, "unidentified." Jenny Randles, I think, coined the term "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena," which is more scientific: an unidentified pheonomenon seen in the sky might not technically be Flying or an Object. Matt Billehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-13342634912543939232012-08-30T13:20:25.955-06:002012-08-30T13:20:25.955-06:00There was a great article in Fortean Times called ...There was a great article in Fortean Times called "Flight of Fantasy" [September 2000 Issue#137 pp. 34-9] that in my opinion gives the definitive debunking of Kenneth Arnolds' 1947 sighting of flying "saucers". Arnold first used the term "saucer" to describe their motion (as skipping like a saucer on water) and only later to describe their shape. Arnold mistakenly thought that his momentary loss of sight of the UFOs was due to their passing behind a 10,000 foot peak, but they actually passed in front of it. This resulted in him judging the distance as greater and the size as greater. His description otherwise exactly fits that of the American White Pelican according to professional ornithologists; they have the flight characteristics and shape he described of a crescent with a bat like concavity ("Arnold:’ somewhat bat shaped"). This author also found that the earliest wing shaped military crafts were not built early enough. At most only one such craft existed, while Arnold saw a whole formation.Laurence Clark Crossenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15908708438427333473noreply@blogger.com