UFOs: A Componential Overview – Part 2



Now let’s take a look at the two basic components of an UFO sighting:

PERCEIVER – SUBJECT

(Note: I use the term “subject” instead of object because it doesn’t necessarily infer physicality.)

Usually emphasis is placed on the perceiver after an event. And for an obvious reason: the UFO doesn’t hang around to be interviewed.

But for the moment – while acknowledging the importance of the perceiver – we can flip the relationship around and consider the event from the other end:

SUBJECT – PERCEIVER

After gathering information from the witness (or witnesses) an investigator tries to figure out from the available data what the subject could be. In some cases it turns out a better way to view the situation would be:

CONTROLLER=SUBJECT – PERCEIVER

Back during an UFO flap in the 1970s some boys got together and hoaxed some sightings. They constructed a latticework within a transparent plastic laundry bag and then placed candles inside their improvised hot air balloon. After the candles were lit, the plastic bag lifted into the night sky, creating an eerie glow.

And during the same flap, a couple of guys wrapped aluminum foil over their bodies, creating the appearance of silvery aliens. During their nocturnal lurking in the woods, they spooked the hell of drivers who caught ghostly glimpses of the pair in the headlights.

That was funny, but stupid when you think about it. I don’t think either prankster was wearing a bulletproof vest.

So when considering the subject of a sighting, one must consider if intelligence (or the semblance of it) is controlling what has been perceived. And when I say intelligence, I mean something considerably above the mental capabilities of a pelican.

An intelligent controller can affect how the object can be perceived. This doesn’t rule out pranksters who have at hand devices more sophisticated than plastic laundry bags and aluminum foil.