# Are Aliens Visiting Earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2020, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949 "2020-06-25T10:13:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AlienBabble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alienbabble/32/3344_2.png) [@AlienBabble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienBabble)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/1 "2020-06-25T10:13:36Z")
With the recent news that The Pentagon and The US Navy are conducting studies on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs), do you think it is more likely that these objects are of an extraterrestrial origin rather than some classified tech? ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/2 "2020-06-25T10:58:45Z")
> [@AlienBabble](#): > > do you think it is more likely that these objects are of an extraterrestrial origin rather than some classified tech? This question seems to ask for an opinion. I doubt there is any alien activity on Earth or in its vicinity. [We haven’t seen any real intelligent extraterrestrial life yet.](https://www.space.com/25325-fermi-paradox.html) ---
**Author:** ![eburacum\_45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum_45/32/3385_2.png) [@eburacum\_45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum_45)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/3 "2020-06-25T11:18:15Z")
All the videos they have released so far have plausible mundane explanations. I’m interested to know why the Pentagon and US Navy have not realised this yet. Perhaps it is because they place too much trust in the capabilities of their equipment and in eye-witness reports? It must be hard to admit that pilots and radar operators can make such basic mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/4 "2020-06-25T11:46:28Z")
[Moderating] Welcome to the Straight Dope, AlienBabble. We have different categories for different sorts of threads. The General Questions category is for questions with factual answers. Questions like “What do you think?” fit better in our IMHO area. I’ve moved his thread over here for you. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/5 "2020-06-25T15:08:48Z")
Recently they released three videos which they didn’t really have explanations for. If you’ve seen those videos and wonder what they are, you should go to YouTube and see the explanatory videos by Mick West. He does a really good job of explaining what was going on. Spoiler: it almost certainly wasn’t aliens, or even some classified tech. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/6 "2020-06-25T15:40:42Z")
> [@AlienBabble](#): > > do you think it is more likely that these objects are of an extraterrestrial origin rather than some classified tech? No. I think if you find an object on Earth the likeliest explanation is that it originated on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/7 "2020-06-25T17:16:46Z")
I highly recommend the book “UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record” by Leslie Kean. It’s very factual and lets you draw your own conclusions. My conclusion is that it’s aliens. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/8 "2020-06-25T17:29:48Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record Interesting. The author doesn’t seem to draw that conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/9 "2020-06-25T18:19:27Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Interesting. The author doesn’t seem to draw that conclusion. The author is a reporter and is focusing in presenting the facts rather than offering a conclusive analysis. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/10 "2020-06-25T18:24:19Z")
Clarification request: You think the Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials are aliens? ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/11 "2020-06-25T21:50:41Z")
I think the most likely explanation is that they are highly classified experimental aircraft or spacecraft. Of terrestrial origin (foreign or domestic). ---
**Author:** ![AlienBabble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alienbabble/32/3344_2.png) [@AlienBabble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienBabble)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/12 "2020-06-26T08:23:55Z")
No problem. Happy to be here. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AlienBabble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alienbabble/32/3344_2.png) [@AlienBabble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienBabble)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/13 "2020-06-26T08:30:52Z")
A recent DOD statement denies any knowledge about the origin of these UAPs: The full Pentagon statement is as follows: _The Department of Defense has authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos, one taken in November 2004 and the other two in January 2015, which have been circulating in the public domain after unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017. The U.S. Navy previously acknowledged that these videos circulating in the public domain were indeed Navy videos. After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena. DOD is releasing the videos in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos. The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as “unidentified.” The released videos can be found at the Naval Air Systems Command FOIA Reading Room:_ [https://www.navair.navy.mil/foia/documents](https://www.navair.navy.mil/foia/documents) Because these objects exhibit capabilities not currently found in any country’s inventory that we know of, should we at least consider the possibility that they are of ET origin? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/14 "2020-06-26T10:21:28Z")
A “Daria” episode once had her class speculating that they were infiltrated by alien. Someone asked “Why would anyone cross millions of light years of universe to go to high school?” ---
**Author:** ![eburacum\_45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum_45/32/3385_2.png) [@eburacum\_45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum_45)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/15 "2020-06-26T10:57:44Z")
# A far more likely explanation is that these clips show conventional aircraft and other mundane objects which have been misinterpreted by the pilots. Here’s Mick West’s analysis. **Flir1** (also called Nimitz, or TicTac) is a fuzzy blob in the distance. It does not move (although it jumps around when the camera changes zoom settings or does a gimbal lock correction). There’s what looks like a final “zipping away at high speed” at the end of the video, but it’s actually just the camera no-longer tracking the object, combined with a change in zoom that gives the illusion of speed. **Gimbal** is a saucer-shaped infrared glare. It rotates because the camera is rotating to counter gimbal lock. We can prove this because there are other light patterns in the sky that rotate at the same time the glare rotates. The video is consistent with a jet engine several miles away. it does not have any sudden acceleration. See: **Go Fast** is what looks like a cool object moving rapidly across the surface of the ocean. However, the angles and range on the screen allow us to triangulate the position and speed of the object. It turns out it’s actually moving quite slowly (under 50 knots) and is quite high (13,000 feet). It does not accelerate at all. In fact, it most closely resembles a balloon, or possibly even a large gliding bird. ---
**Author:** ![AlienBabble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alienbabble/32/3344_2.png) [@AlienBabble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienBabble)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/16 "2020-06-26T11:00:16Z")
The crafts seen on those videos are dropping from 28,000 ft to sea level in 0.7 seconds. That roughly equals to falling at 27,000 mph, with instantaneous acceleration and deceleration, as if inertia did not exist. And according to a new study, there could be more than 30 civilizations capable of long-distance communication here in the Milky Way! ---
**Author:** ![eburacum\_45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum_45/32/3385_2.png) [@eburacum\_45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum_45)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/17 "2020-06-26T11:01:59Z")
The two clips known as ‘Gimbal’ and ‘Gofast’ are not even associated with any particular set of aircrew, and may not even be unexplained. The fact that someone has labeled the clip which is caused by gimbal rotation ‘Gimbal’ suggests someone knows more than they are saying. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum\_45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum_45/32/3385_2.png) [@eburacum\_45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum_45)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/18 "2020-06-26T11:03:48Z")
None of the clips show anything “dropping from 28,000 ft to sea level in 0.7 seconds” That was an radar observation that happened at a different time, and was not filmed or recorded in any way. I suspect it may have been a meteor detected by the radar, which was still under test. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum\_45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum_45/32/3385_2.png) [@eburacum\_45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum_45)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/19 "2020-06-26T11:09:57Z")
Note as well that the Gimbal and Gofast clips were made in 2015 by unknown aircrew, and the Flir1 clip was made in 2004, so there is no real connection between the two events. However I think that the clip known as ‘Gofast’ may be of some value, since it seems to show something very similar to the object described by David Fravor in the 2004 event. The ‘Gofast’ clip shows the effects of parallax on an object where the distance has been poorly estimated, and I think this may be exactly what happened in Fravor’s sighting. ---
**Author:** ![AlienBabble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alienbabble/32/3344_2.png) [@AlienBabble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienBabble)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/20 "2020-06-27T03:45:41Z")
This Mick West video goes over the details of the sightings: [TFTRH #36 - Gary Voorhis: Tic-Tac UFO Witness - YouTube](https://youtu.be/8EbRv2xUinI) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949.md?page=2)