UFO (illustration): Have we had a visit from aliens for a long time?

Illustration: Science Photo Library / IMAGO

A Pentagon report has sparked the debate: In June 2021, U.S. intelligence agencies presented a much-anticipated report on UFO sightings by the military. Of 144 reports of mysterious celestial phenomena described by military personnel and documented by cameras or sensors, only one could be rationally explained, aliens could not be ruled out as the cause.

Now, a survey of scientists shows that parts of the research community are not entirely averse to the idea that UFOs could exist. Almost one-fifth of the academics surveyed said they had already observed unidentified flying objects. This refers to celestial phenomena that cannot be identified as airplanes or known natural phenomena. In English, this is referred to as "unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP)".

Only four percent of academics answered at all

Marissa Yingling, Charlton Yingling and Bethany Bell of the University of Louisville sent their online survey to 40,000 professors and other high-ranking academics working at 144 U.S. universities and covering 14 disciplines. The team wanted to analyse the expectations, experiences and opinions of the research community with regard to unidentified flying objects.

Striking and possibly already an indication that the topic is rather ridiculed or dismissed as dubious by many experts: Only 1460 (four percent) of the scientists contacted answered the questions, the majority of them male and white. The results were published in the journal "Humanities and Social Sciences Communications".

Among the academics who took part in the online survey, 19 percent said that they or someone they know had observed UAP before. Another nine percent suspected that they themselves or acquaintances could have witnessed such an apparition before.

Opinions differed on possible causes for the phenomena. For example, 39 percent of respondents said they did not know what the most likely explanations for UAP were, 21 percent attributed them to natural events, and 13 percent to objects of unknown origin.

Further UAP research "absolutely important"

The research community was also partly open when it came to investigating mysterious celestial phenomena. Although only four per cent of academics reported that they were conducting research on UAP themselves, 36 per cent were somewhat interested in such projects. 43 percent stated that they would be more likely to conduct research on the topic if a respected scientist in their field did so.

37 percent of the participants rated the importance of further research in the field as very or absolutely important. In fact, 64 percent thought it was very or absolutely important for science to participate in research on UAP. The team of authors suspects that an open discussion about inexplicable phenomena among academics could contribute to this. First, however, the attitude of the professional world to the topic must be examined in more comprehensive studies with more and more diverse participants, the group concludes.

JME