A Show About UFOs

Project U.F.O. was an American television series that aired on NBC from 1978 to 1979. The show ran for two seasons, with 13 episodes in each season, and was based loosely on the real-life Project Blue Book. The show was created by Jack Webb, who pored through Air Force files looking for episode ideas.

The show was a production of Mark VII Limited in association with Worldvision Enterprises, now CBS Television Distribution, and was Webb’s last weekly series produced before his death. It was also one of the rare times that Webb did not produce a series with Universal Television or Warner Bros. Television, with whom he had collaborated on every series he made following his departure from Warner Bros.

Project U.F.O. features two U.S. Air Force investigators with the Foreign Technology Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, charged with investigating UFO sightings. The first season starred William Jordan as Maj. Jake Gatlin alongside Caskey Swaim as Staff Sgt. Harry Fitz. Swaim, who had never had any significant acting experience before landing the role, added diversity as a Southerner with a pronounced accent. In season two, Jordan was replaced by Edward Winter as Capt. Ben Ryan.

In the pilot episode, Gatlin informed the newly assigned Fitz that their job was to prove that each UFO sighting was real by researching and disproving possible alternate explanations. Gatlin also told Fitz that he himself had once seen “something I can’t explain” while flying as an Air Force pilot, which led to his interest in Blue Book.

Project U.F.O. was an intriguing show that explored the mysteries of UFOs and alien sightings. The show’s attention to detail and realism, combined with its intriguing storylines, made it a hit with audiences. The show was also notable for its use of real-life Air Force files and reports, which added to the show’s authenticity.

Project U.F.O. was a groundbreaking television series that explored the mysteries of UFO sightings. The show’s attention to detail, realism, and intriguing storylines made it a hit with audiences, and it remains a classic of the science fiction genre.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_U.F.O.

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Wendy Whitman Cobb, Air University

On the heels of the Feb. 4, 2023, shooting down of a Chinese balloon suspected of spying on the U.S., American fighter jets have shot down three additional objects in or near U.S. airspace.

When the media asked Glen VanHerck, the Air Force general responsible for overseeing North American airspace, about these events, he refused to rule out extraterrestrial forces at play. Other military officials later clarified that otherworldly origins aren’t a serious consideration, but the comment highlighted the U.S. government’s lack of knowledge about these objects.

As a space policy expert, I’m often confronted with questions about UFOs and little green people. However, as these recent episodes have shown, a UFO is far more likely to be human-made, rather than originating from some faraway place in the universe.

What does UFO mean?

Unidentified flying object, or UFO for short, is the term that has historically been used to describe aircraft that aren’t easily identified or explained. The modern UFO craze in the U.S. dates to the late 1940s and early 1950s, coinciding with the development of new technology like rockets and missiles.

Today, the U.S. government uses the phrase unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs. This change is partially to try to disassociate the term from science fiction aliens. The term also encourages greater scientific study and reflects the fact that many of these “objects” end up being strange atmospheric phenomenon or tricks of camera equipment.

Taking a serious look

There are thousands of unconfirmed UAP sightings by the public each year, but until recently there was no formal way for the U.S. to track these sightings. That lack of interest began to change in 2020 when the Pentagon officially released three videos taken from the cockpits of fighter jets showing unidentified objects moving in mysterious ways.

The following year, in 2021, Congress mandated the creation of an assessment on UAPs. As part of this report, the director of national intelligence identified 144 firsthand accounts of UAPs from military aviators and government sensors between 2004 and 2021.

The report identifies several potential explanations for UAPs, including clutter – an umbrella term that includes, for example, birds, balloons and drones. Other explanations include natural atmospheric phenomena such as ice crystals and thermal fluctuations, as well as secret technologies being developed by the U.S. or other nations.

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It is this last category that has drawn attention, with the U.S. military shooting down a number of balloons and unidentified objects in the last week. Countries like China and Russia can gather a significant amount of intelligence using satellites, but balloons – and potentially other technologies as yet unknown by the American public – represent another way to collect sensitive data. If the U.S. military or government can’t identify a new technology, it is easy to classify an object as a UAP.

In 2022 alone, the Pentagon received 247 new UAP reports, about half of which were eventually attributed to balloons or “balloon-like entities.”

At the same time, it’s also easy to miss UAPs if people don’t know what to look for, as appears to be the case with previous spy balloons that China has sent around the world.

Whether future UAPs are balloons, secret technology or something else, there will continue to be a greater national focus on studying UAPs and an increasing ability to detect them. It is likely that reports will continue to pour in and U.S. aircraft will keep tracking them down.

Wendy Whitman Cobb, Professor of Strategy and Security Studies, Air University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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The Travis Walton UFO incident is one of the most compelling and controversial alien abduction stories of all time. On November 5, 1975, American forestry worker Travis Walton was working in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests near Snowflake, Arizona, when he allegedly encountered a UFO. The incident has since become one of the best-known examples of an alien abduction story, but it remains a topic of debate among scientists and skeptics.

Walton claims that he was abducted by a UFO and taken aboard for five days and six hours. During this time, he was subjected to a variety of strange and terrifying experiences, including medical examinations and interactions with extraterrestrial beings. After his abduction, Walton was missing, and a search party was organized, including scent dogs and helicopters, but to no avail.

Days later, Walton reappeared by the side of a road near Heber, Arizona. He was disoriented and suffering from dehydration, but otherwise unharmed. Walton claimed that he had been dropped off by the aliens who had abducted him. He was taken to the hospital, where he was examined and found to be in good health.

The Travis Walton incident received widespread publicity, and it continues to be a topic of debate among scientists and skeptics. Many people believe that the incident provides strong evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial life and the possibility of alien abductions. Skeptics, however, argue that the story is a hoax, and that Walton fabricated the entire incident.

Despite the controversy, the Travis Walton UFO incident has become a cultural touchstone, inspiring books and movies, and serving as a source of fascination for many people around the world. Whatever the truth behind the incident may be, it remains a compelling and mysterious tale that continues to capture the public imagination.

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