A question about ufology

[Kyriakos]

The internet, sometimes, is a good tool for research. In this case one can easily look for ufo-related videos on youtube. So it appears that there are many theories, some more extreme than others, about aliens on earth.

A few years ago this ufology-craze reached Greece as well. In fact it didnt just reach it, but exploded (there are more than ten magazines with such themaology that i know of, although i dont buy any of them).
More interesting, perhaps, is not the global ufology that they present, but some distinctly greek ufology...

What is so distinct about it? Well, there are some people (probably either mad or crooks) who came up with the idea of an alien race that is essentially greek, or related to greeks. They named them "team Epsilon", since Epsilon is the first letter of the greek term for Hellas (Ελλά&#962.

Personally i dislike such cheap thematology. But it seems that it is a global phenomenon. For example there are people who argue that "reptilians" are among us, and they rule the world

So my question is this: why do you think that ufology has become so multi-faceted in this age? It seems to be gaining momentum instead of dying out.

 

[Lillefix]

Old superstitions die out, while new come in I suppose. It seems to be some kind of innate need in humans to have mystery, and something unexplainable in their life. Same thing as these Illuminati and conspiracy theories. Not to mention these people who claim they can speak with the dead. I want to throw up, when I happen to catch a glimpse of those programs.

These things should stay where they belong. In fiction.

 

[kulade]

In modern times, people have much more time to look at the sky and spend more in idle contemplation. Provided they have nothing actually worthwhile to think about, they imagine things like space visitors into existence. It's a good way to make yourself feel important.

 

[Ekolite]

Some kind of escapism maybe?

 

[Kyriakos]

Well the people who started ufology here (or at least those that i have heard of) are all (failed) writers and translators of fantasy literature. So it looks more like a plot of sorts.

I once wondered if indeed there were aliens on earth, but didnt like what i felt about it since my conclusion was that if indeed our race has come to contact with (obviously more advanced) aliens, then our civilization is a lot less significant than it was supposed to be. Does it really matter if you have "fire", if an alien Prometheus gave it to you?

 

[PeteAtoms]

In modern times, people have much more time to look at the sky and spend more in idle contemplation. Provided they have nothing actually worthwhile to think about, they imagine things like space visitors into existence. It's a good way to make yourself feel important.

Kind of like believing in God, angels, Earth at the center of the universe, etc, etc.

What you said actually says more about how ancient and modern people are similar and not so different. You don't think the ancients who made up the constellations, astrology, sun worship, religion, etc, were as obsessed about the unknown and the sky as we are now? UFO's are just an updated way of trying to guess what is going on. Take the old, add some psuedo-science and science fiction, and you got aliens, grays, UFO's, etc.

I don't think people are any more or less obsessed about it now than 2000 years ago. It's just that the details in what is being talked about reflect our cultures differently.

 

[Ekolite]

Personally I don't believe that life has evolved outside Earth, let alone visited it.

 

[Kyriakos]

That is probable, and in my view the best possible scenario.

But ufology obviously is quite independant of there being aliens, much like any fantasy genre, although it has the characteristic that it arguably brings fantasy to reality (something which can be dangerous).

 

[warpus]

I think you are getting your terms mixed up. Ufology is the study of unidentified flying objects, be it unexplained natural phenomena, weather balloons, experimental government planes, potential alien craft, etc.

Not sure what the proper term for those who believe that the greys are among us would be, though? Alien consipiracy theorists?

 

[Kyriakos]

I think that they are also called ufologists, or at least if they focus on theories about aliens being the ufo's

At least here they are called ufologoi= ufologists.

 

[Virote_Considon]

Weather balloons. More of them.

 

[Aleksey_aka_al]

Yes, most politicians are reptiles. What is so mystical about that?

 

[exhile]

All I can say is "Bob Lazar".

 

[Kyriakos]

I once watched a "documentary" on reptilians. They interviewed esteemed experts, including an african shaman

I don't know what to make of it. If it was a joke it would be quite good, but i suppose it isn't. The shaman explained, among other things, that the reason why europeans managed to conquer africa was that alien beings landed there aeons ago preparing the population for the arrival of the europeans and telling them to not fight them.

 

[Ekolite]

I guess the Zulus never got the memo right?

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

The internet, sometimes, is a good tool for research. In this case one can easily look for ufo-related videos on youtube. So it appears that there are many theories, some more extreme than others, about aliens on earth.

A few years ago this ufology-craze reached Greece as well. In fact it didnt just reach it, but exploded (there are more than ten magazines with such themaology that i know of, although i dont buy any of them).
More interesting, perhaps, is not the global ufology that they present, but some distinctly greek ufology...

What is so distinct about it? Well, there are some people (probably either mad or crooks) who came up with the idea of an alien race that is essentially greek, or related to greeks. They named them "team Epsilon", since Epsilon is the first letter of the greek term for Hellas (Ελλά&#962.

Personally i dislike such cheap thematology. But it seems that it is a global phenomenon. For example there are people who argue that "reptilians" are among us, and they rule the world

So my question is this: why do you think that ufology has become so multi-faceted in this age? It seems to be gaining momentum instead of dying out.

Maybe it is gaining in Greece but not in the US and probably not in the rest of the world either.

UFOlogy was at its zenith in the 1990's. There was one prominent conspiracy theory circulating where it was claimed that the US government was secretly in league with an alien civilization, and that these aliens were committing all sorts of nefarious deeds. They included abduction of humans for cruel and malevolent medical experiments, abduction and implantation of various alien tracking devices, cattle mutilation, and others. The claim was that the aliens were sharing their technology with the US government in return, and that this was where advanced technologies came from (ex: cell phones, stealth bombers, etc). There were many documentaries claiming evidence, many movies which featured this as a theme, and even a TV series called "X-Files" featuring the same theme. One prominent feature of this conspiracy was a claim to the Roswell incident -- an episode that occurred in 1947 where, it was claimed, an alien spaceship crashed and was recovered. In 1997, the government announced that this incident was actually a crashed spy balloon whose existence was covered up due to national security concerns at the time, and not an alien spacecraft. Since then, interest in UFOlogy has rapidly been waning.

 

[Kyriakos]

Here it is mostly adolescents who care about such theories, apart of course from those circulating them, who are a small clique.
But i wouldnt be so sure that it is declining everywhere else

 

[Dudemeister]

if you're interested in esoteric and conspiracy theories, i suggest reading this:

http://www.amazon.com/Foucaults-Pendulum-Umberto-Eco/dp/B003L1ZYMY/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

 

[Mustakrakish]

I personally don't mix the whacko "aliens are amongs us", UFO with there being life outside Earth. It is ridiculous to think there is no life in universe but us. It's the same religious mentality of we're the center of universe talking.
Aliens visiting and UFO's, now THAT's rubbish.

 

[Kyriakos]

I don't mind there being other intelligent lifeforms in the universe, but i wouldnt want them to have come to contact with us, since then they would inevitably alter our development (which is going down the drain currently anyway).