# I saw a real UFO!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 8, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708 "2009-03-08T04:33:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jakesteele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jakesteele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakesteele)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/1 "2009-03-08T04:33:31Z")
If a couple of your really good friends you knew to be honest people claimed they had seen a for-real UFO on a camping trip what possible explanations would you offer to them as to help better explain what they saw? ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/2 "2009-03-08T04:40:40Z")
depends on the description of what they saw of course. Do a differential diagnosis based on the available evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/3 "2009-03-08T04:44:17Z")
A UFO simply means an _unidentified_ flying object. It might actually be an airplane, Venus, a weather balloon, swamp gas, a meteorite, a satellite or something else entirely. But there’s no reason to think it’s necessarily an alien spacecraft, nor to sneer at those who say they’ve seen a UFO. If they claim it _was_ an alien spacecraft, well… you’d be right to be more than a little skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/4 "2009-03-08T04:54:35Z")
Things that look like genuine UFOs exist, and between high tech balloons skittering across the sky, atmospheric tests via rocket shots, various unusual air force planes, ball lightning etc. it’s entirely possible that\* someone saw something \*that did not behave or look like an airplane. However, beyond this when you get to the part about alien contact anal probing or related stuff you know you’re dealing with fabulist/attention whore or a disturbed person. I remember once I looked up into the night sky and say a shadowy moving formation of _something_ at the edge of discernabiltiy, and it did NOT look like birds. No idea to this day what it was but I’m sure there was an explanation. ---
**Author:** ![jakesteele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jakesteele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakesteele)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/5 "2009-03-08T06:04:12Z")
BTW I meant for this to be in general questions but I boo booed. Anyway, let me flesh it out a bit. I myself saw one one night with some friends when we were stoned. Swear to God we say a formation of lights just hover there and there was a flashing light pattern with two to three colors and were were stunned, elated and scared. We were deciding what to do when one of the guys said, “Wait a minute, I think I hear airplane engines.” We started focusing on it and it was coming lower and faster and sure as shit, a 747 coming right at us in a landing pattern. We foolish for a while but had a good laugh at our own expense but went away with a newfound awareness of how easily the eyes, mind can trick you. I guess a scenario or two would be like Craig Breedlove, the world speed record holder down in the Salt Flats said he saw a red ball follow him and a buddy one night near the Flats when they were driving in their car. It paced them, slowed and accelerated with them. He was pretty cool when asked about it. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, “I have no idea what it was, it was just there.” Another scenario was the foo fighters in WWII. My dad flew bombers over in Europe and he knew a couple pilots who saw them on several occassions. At them time the belief was it was some for of advanced weaponry that the Germans had come up with and the Americans were very worried. But at the time is had a much more mundane theory than it does now,i.e., UFO alien type thing. What explanations can be given for those types of sightings? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/6 "2009-03-08T06:17:01Z")
> [@jakesteele](#): > > What explanations can be given for those types of sightings? Already answered. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > A UFO simply means an _unidentified_ flying object. It might actually be an airplane, Venus, a weather balloon, swamp gas, a meteorite, a satellite or something else entirely. Hallucinations or outright lying also come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![wintertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@wintertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wintertime)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/7 "2009-03-08T10:44:19Z")
If the camping trip took them close to a military base then aerial magnesium flares hanging from parachutes during training are another explanation, as are drones or (other) experimental military crafts. If you are looking for “possible explanations” an extraterrestrial craft is one, of course, but it’s so far from _probable_ that it isn’t exactly a reasonable conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/8 "2009-03-08T16:14:55Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > A UFO simply means an _unidentified_ flying object. It might actually be an airplane, Venus, a weather balloon, swamp gas, a meteorite, a satellite or something else entirely. But there’s no reason to think it’s necessarily an alien spacecraft, nor to sneer at those who say they’ve seen a UFO. If they claim it _was_ an alien spacecraft, well… you’d be right to be more than a little skeptical. [Here’s a handy guide from the US Air force](http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/6465/airforceufoidchartkl6.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![jakesteele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jakesteele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakesteele)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/9 "2009-03-08T16:19:12Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > [Here’s a handy guide from the US Air force](http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/6465/airforceufoidchartkl6.jpg). Thanks for that handy reference chart. And here I thought I’d actually seen some of these things for real, especially the Batman one. I’ve seen that one on cloudless nights. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/10 "2009-03-08T17:22:35Z")
> [@jakesteele](#): > > If a couple of your really good friends you knew to be honest people claimed they had seen a for-real UFO on a camping trip what possible explanations would you offer to them as to help better explain what they saw? I would put on a pair of sunglasses and take out a black pen-shaped object . . . ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/11 "2009-03-08T17:27:33Z")
> [@jakesteele](#): > > If a couple of your really good friends you knew to be honest people claimed they had seen a for-real UFO on a camping trip what possible explanations would you offer to them as to help better explain what they saw? It would be the mothership coming to take me back to the [P-Funk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothership_Connection_(Star_Child))… ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/12 "2009-03-08T17:58:55Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I would put on a pair of sunglasses and take out a black pen-shaped object . . . Or just wave your towel. You have a towel, right? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/13 "2009-03-08T18:04:24Z")
> [@jakesteele](#): > > Thanks for that handy reference chart. And here I thought I’d actually seen some of these things for real, especially the Batman one. I’ve seen that one on cloudless nights. Happy to help fight ignorance.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/14 "2009-03-08T19:06:32Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Happy to help fight ignorance.🙂 The chart forgot to include swamp gas and the planet Venus. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/15 "2009-03-08T19:12:13Z")
> [@jakesteele](#): > > If a couple of your really good friends you knew to be honest people claimed they had seen a for-real UFO on a camping trip what possible explanations would you offer to them as to help better explain what they saw? This is a pet peeve of mine. UFO means Unidentified Flying Object. If the object is flying and you can’t identify it, it’s a UFO by definition. Any explanations you come up with will be you…just…making…shit…up. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/16 "2009-03-08T19:14:59Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > The chart forgot to include swamp gas and the planet Venus. Venus yeah, but check middle row, 2nd from the left for how to identify swamp gas. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/17 "2009-03-08T22:14:02Z")
I would, based on their descriptions, examine various explanations. I would also accept the possibility that the sighting could not be explained. ---
**Author:** ![jakesteele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jakesteele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakesteele)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/18 "2009-03-09T05:37:20Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > It would be the mothership coming to take me back to the [P-Funk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothership_Connection_(Star_Child))… I’ll go as long as you don’t offer me kool aid. ---
**Author:** ![jakesteele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jakesteele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakesteele)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/19 "2009-03-09T05:39:25Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > This is a pet peeve of mine. UFO means Unidentified Flying Object. If the object is flying and you can’t identify it, it’s a UFO by definition. > > Any explanations you come up with will be you…just…making…shit…up. I’m referring to something that gives the appearance of being under intelligent controll. ---
**Author:** ![Aquila\_Be](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Aquila\_Be](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquila_Be)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708/20 "2009-03-09T11:09:12Z")
> [@jakesteele](#): > > If a couple of your really good friends you knew to be honest people claimed they had seen a for-real UFO on a camping trip what possible explanations would you offer to them as to help better explain what they saw? Getting back to specifics, you need to ask your friends to provide a few specifics. You’ve given no hint that they provided any. A description, as detailed as possible, of what they claimed they saw using adjectives and stuff plus a few drawings would be a bonus. Only then should you try to explain it away as swamp gas, Venus (or whatever, if you really think that’s justified). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-real-ufo/488708.md?page=2)