# Are there Fewer UFO Sightings in Recent Years? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 29, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441 "2013-12-29T22:31:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/1 "2013-12-29T22:31:36Z")
You would think with better technology there should be more of them. For those of you who keep up with this subject what is the current equivalent of the Condon Report: > **[Condon Committee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condon_Committee)** > > The Condon Committee was the informal name of the University of Colorado UFO Project, a group funded by the United States Air Force from 1966 to 1968 at the University of Colorado to study unidentified flying objects under the direction of physicist Edward Condon. The result of its work, formally titled Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, and known as the Condon Report, appeared in 1968. > After examining hundreds of UFO files from the Air Force's Project Blue Book and from the civili... ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/2 "2013-12-30T00:14:39Z")
> **[List of reported UFO sightings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reported_UFO_sightings)** > > This is a list of notable reported sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) arranged by date. It includes reports of close encounters and abductions. This list is not an endorsement of the extraterrestrial hypothesis, the psychosocial hypothesis, the interdimensional hypothesis, the field of ufology in general, or UFO religions. > The term UFO was coined by officer Edward J. Ruppelt who investigated aerial phenomena for the United States Air Force in his role as leader of Project Blue Boo... Not exhaustive but if you look at the 50’s compared to this century, its pretty obvious they’ve dropped. Of course beleivers will say there are less because they know we have better recording equipment and are avoiding it, or are coming less for unknown reasons, while skeptics will say as they become harder to fake/easier to debunk or identify and the standards of proof become higher (why didnt you record them if they were there for hours, why is the quality so poor, etc?), they have reduced in report numbers, particularly in the US. Getting agreement on the number of ‘official’ sightings will be difficult I suspect, I think most if not all governments have dropped recording them as a funded practise. Otara ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/3 "2013-12-30T00:48:05Z")
I would also guess that some believers would say that the environment has been poisoned by skepticism, and people who see something might be less likely to want to come forward and make a report. They might be afraid of ridicule. I don’t believe this, but I do have to say, if I saw something really eerie in the sky at night, I would report it…but my report would be heavily laden with disclaimers. “I don’t know what it really was… I don’t think it was a spaceship… It appeared to be moving very fast, but I don’t have any way to measure this…” I’d feel a little ashamed of it. (Just the other day, I looked up in the evening sky and saw the planet Venus. Oops, except it was actually an airplane. Embarrassing!) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/4 "2013-12-30T01:14:44Z")
And Jesus sightings. It’s not easy to tell from over here, but I’ve noticed less Jesus sightings reported. You know, his image appearing in scrambled eggs, or a cat’s butt, or on an avocado, that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/5 "2013-12-30T02:13:41Z")
As always, [XKCD weighed in](http://xkcd.com/1235/). ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/6 "2013-12-30T02:53:57Z")
I think we can thank “Ancient Aliens”. Once that show came on the air, I think most would be UFO reporters think twice about it as they don’t want to be associated with that kind of derp. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/7 "2013-12-30T03:14:10Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And Jesus sightings. It’s not easy to tell from over here, but I’ve noticed less Jesus sightings reported. You know, his image appearing in scrambled eggs, or a cat’s butt, or on an avocado, that sort of thing. Um… IN a cat’s butt, or ON it? Never mind. Just never mind. I don’t wanna know. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/8 "2013-12-30T06:06:17Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > As always, [XKCD weighed in](http://xkcd.com/1235/). yep, Xkcd gets it right. Times change, technology changes, and along with it–people’s expectations of evidence change, and people’s willingness to look stupid change. Think about it for a minute: suppose your best friend in the world, somebody you really trust, told you he saw a UFO. Your reaction twenty years ago:–“wow…that’s hard to believe, but he’s such a good,trustworthy guy, maybe I should listen to him carefully.” His explanation twenty years ago:" this is going to be hard to believe, but I know I really saw something." Your reaction today: “show me the pics”. His reaction today: "I’d look really stupid if I make silly claims. I don’t have any proof, so I wont let my imagination go wild like I could have done 20 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/9 "2013-12-30T06:34:54Z")
Twenty years ago few people carried a camera with them; now a very large proportion of the population does (cell phone cameras). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/10 "2013-12-31T01:52:52Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And Jesus sightings. It’s not easy to tell from over here, but I’ve noticed less Jesus sightings reported. You know, his image appearing in scrambled eggs, or a cat’s butt, or on an avocado, that sort of thing. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Um… IN a cat’s butt, or ON it? > > Never mind. Just never mind. I don’t wanna know. Now that you mention it, there was that one image from my colonoscopy last week. Think I’ll alert the press. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/11 "2013-12-31T02:04:54Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Now that you mention it, there was that one image from my colonoscopy last week. Think I’ll alert the press. Just wait until you emit a Holy Ghost. Silent But Christly ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/12 "2013-12-31T05:12:02Z")
fewer sightings because there are fewer nonaliens among us. they are slowly quietly becoming the majority. ---
**Author:** ![WisdomofLife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/34f0e0/32.png) [@WisdomofLife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WisdomofLife)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/13 "2013-12-31T11:26:18Z")
Another explanation should be that recent pop culture marketing and money making possibilities for UFO/alien/space craze is very low or dead in the water right now. People moved on to other things that scared or be fascinated by (zombies, vampires, and “redneck” aka Duck Dynasty-like shows). The entertainment industry, ufoists, or someone who wants a quick buck don’t have any new original story ideas to come up in regards to the UFO experience. How many government cover-ups, abductions, sightings, or MIB stories can a person enjoy watching or hearing about before they become dull or bored by them? I pretend that once another sci-fi or UFO story become really popular, original, and profitable; people will come back and report that they seen one to get a piece of the cash cow too. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/14 "2013-12-31T11:36:53Z")
Isn’t it obvious? The recce phase is over, now the invasion fleet is on its way! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/15 "2013-12-31T13:08:17Z")
People are too busy gabbling on their cellphones to look up and see the invasion fleets. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-ufo-sightings-in-recent-years/677441/16 "2013-12-31T20:06:53Z")
What amuses me is that 20-30 years ago Skeptical magazines lamented the rise of Photoshop and other Digital Manipulation techniques as being a doom and gloom scenario for skeptics. We would be inundated with hordes and hordes of fake images and UFO belief would skyrocket, along with ghost photos, big foots and other evidence via Photoshop. Skeptics would never be able to keep up. In reality, people got surprisingly cynical about imagery and all to often the cry of ‘fake’ is heard even on images that are not Photoshopped. UFO photos and videos dropped to damn near nothing, leaving the believers to ponder over old case files . Bigfoot has seen a rie in louder believers but little in the way of faked images. Ghost belief is way up but only because of sad little ghost hunting shows where people on Night Vision overreact to any soun an old house might make. Photoshop turned out to not be the issue.