By Natalie Pearce
According to research, 1 in 2 of us living in the UK and US believe that there is intelligent life outside of our planet. So if this belief is so mainstream, why do many people feel they have to keep their views on the subject under wraps? Even Stephen Hawkins described the search for extra-terrestrial life as “the most exciting quest in 21st century science”. Ridicule is power play that creates a ‘them and us’ mentality. The negative connotation takes away from what is good about the mind-blowing concept that we are not alone.
Pilots are a group of people known to fear speaking out. Pilots, and indeed Astronauts, are highly trained individuals who are aware of what is normal or abnormal in our skies, yet many choose not to speak out or only after they have retired. These credible witnesses report more and more compelling cases each year but live with the fear of being shunned by colleagues who are not believers.
In 2005, Leroy Chiao reported seeing a UFO whilst on a space walk outside the International Space Station (ISS). He witnessed a line of bright lights resembling an upside-down question mark within Earths atmosphere. Sceptics immediately hit back with the belief what he had seen was simply the lights off a fishing boat.
Mercury astronaut Major Gordon Cooper believes he witnessed a UFO in 1963. He reported to ground control that a bright green glowing object was approaching him at speed. Indeed, this was confirmed by ground radar operators. NASA did not allow Major Cooper to speak about it when he landed from his mission, although later he would go on record to say this was not his only encounter in the sky with UFOs.
In 1995 in Argentina, during a mysterious blackout, a flight landing at Bariloche Airport reported being “buzzed” by a luminous saucer shaped craft. The pilot reported taking significant action to avoid a collision and that the craft “defied the laws of physics”. Staff on the ground witnessed the event as did another plane flying at 600m at the time. Yet the story was kept quiet and witnesses didn’t feel they were able to speak about it publicly.
When asked why they are reluctant to report such contact, pilots listed the following reasons
- Too much paperwork would follow
- Endless ridicule from co-workers
- Time taken away from work to be interviewed about the incident/being sent for psychological evaluation
- Fear of being dismissed
- Don’t want to be quoted in the papers/media for fear of ridicule
So if aviation experts fear reporting what they see then what chance do the general public have? Why are we keeping quiet?
Then there is the potential impact on religion that would occur if people believed openly about other-worldly beings. Does this have an impact on why people ridicule rather than be open to an alternative view? Could any of the world’s faiths adapt to such a humongous shift? How would they explain God’s creation of Earth and its inhabitants and would this now somehow be questioned if there were other planets with civilizations out there in space? Research tells us this has an impact on people’s decisions to speak out.
My belief in the paranormal, consciousness and alien civilisations ultimately cost me my marriage. I could no longer put up with being told I should be put in a mental institution or that if I just understood the basics of science then I would understand that what I believed in couldn’t possibly be true. I never pushed my views down anyone’s throat, but simply voiced an opinion based on years of research, reading and investigation. On reflection, I believe that the ridicule I have received was based on two things. One – my ex-husbands lack of willingness to challenge scientific concepts and two – to acknowledge such an existence would be too mind blowing and scary to even contemplate. When all said and done, that he would be proved wrong is what he feared the most.
Some people just can’t or won’t open their mind to what’s in front of them. That is human nature. Whilst there is a huge bank of evidence dating back many years to demonstrate we are not alone, it takes a brave person to say, yes, I believe in it. What I would say is that no matter what people do or don’t believe in, what people have or haven’t experienced, there is no room for mockery, hurtful behaviour or ridicule. Just be open to possibilities yet to come.
