This is the second in a series of articles on what the Bible says about UFOs and aliens.

In the previous column, we introduced the modern UFO/alien craze that has its roots in a 1938 radio broadcast of a fictional Martian attack on Earth. Now, let’s establish a few definitions as we explore our culture’s fascination with extraterrestrials.

First, unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). For years, we’ve referred to flying saucers and strange lights in the sky as UFOs – unidentified flying objects. That term has given way to UAP – unidentified anomalous phenomena. 

The new phrase removes the stigma of UFOs, which are associated with extraterrestrial conspiracy theories. Further, UAP provides a more scientific framework for studying phenomena in air, sea, and space.

Next, alien. A simple definition is a person-like being from somewhere other than Earth. To date, there’s no convincing evidence that such beings exist.

Finally, extraterrestrial. As an adjective, this word refers to someone or something originating, existing, or occurring outside the Earth or its atmosphere. This could be an inanimate object like a meteor or satellite, or it could be an alleged spaceship housing aliens. As a noun, extraterrestrial normally implies a being from another world – that is, an alien.

UAPs and aliens often are witnessed together, as it’s assumed aliens travel to Earth in these vessels, which take on shapes from fast-moving lights to glowing orbs to box-shaped metallic structures. 

Sightings and close encounters

UAP sightings are classified in various ways:

First, as daylight discs, or objects seen with the naked eye between sunrise and sunset.

Second, as nocturnal lights, sometimes with swift movements across the sky that seem to defy the laws of physics.

Third, as radar visuals. These are encounters captured on ground-based or sky-based radar. Recently released videos of unexplained radar images from U.S. military aircraft are good examples.

When it comes to close encounters with UAPs or aliens, they’re generally placed into one of five categories.

Close encounters of the first kind are sightings of spacecraft or aliens at roughly 500 feet.

Close encounters of the second kind involve physical evidence such as burn marks on the ground, damaged trees, or unexplained electrical effects on vehicles.

The third kind of close encounters may be distinguished by sightings of aliens who ride in or exit their spacecraft. The blockbuster 1977 film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, popularized this term. 

Close encounters of the fourth kind involve human contact with aliens, such as alleged abductions.

Finally, close encounters of the fifth kind involve humans and aliens intentionally communicating through ordinary light and sound. These are intense interactions that may result in human trauma, or even death.¹ 

Natural explanations?

So, what do we make of the thousands of reported sightings in recent decades? About 95 percent of alleged UAP/alien sightings may be explained by natural means. These include:

Astronomical phenomena. The planet Venus is sometimes mistaken for a distant alien craft, and the Northern Lights may mesmerize us with colorful waves or nighttime glows.

Weather. Cloud formations have been mistaken for alien activity. In addition, there’s ball lightning, which behaves in strange ways that might deceive us into thinking alien spacecraft are putting on a show.

Misidentifications. In the 1950s and 1960s, U2 spy planes often were thought to be fast-moving metallic spacecraft high in the atmosphere, until the U.S. government finally acknowledged the existence of these secret tools of espionage during the Cold War. 

In another example, a strange, noisy structure with triangular lights that left a burn mark in the desert of the western U.S. was later acknowledged to be a lunar landing module. This experimental craft was suspended by a helicopter and deployed at night to hide it from the Russians, with whom we were involved in the race to the moon in the 1960s.

Project Blue Book, a government-funded study of more than 12,600 alleged UAP sightings that ran from 1952 – 1970 (actually, it was declared closed in December 1969), was able to explain all but about 700 of the incidents. 

Because of the high rate of natural explanations, many people dismiss UAPs and their little green occupants as the imaginations of crazy people, the stuff of elaborate hoaxes, or the zealousness of conspiracy theorists. This is unfortunate, because that small percentage of unexplained phenomena helps us get to the heart of what’s really behind UAP and alien encounters. 

That’s what we address in the next column.

Next: Theories of UFOs and aliens

Notes:

1. J. Brian Huffling, “UFOs, Aliens, and Christianity,” https://crossexamined.org, Oct. 4, 2022.