Unidentified Flying Objects, or UFOs as they are commonly known, have been witnessed by millions of people all over the world and have been recorded in history books, myths, legends, and traditions for thousands of years. However, many accounts that are recorded in ancient texts are dismissed as mere myths and legends, while UFO sightings that have taken place in the last few centuries have been classified as misinterpretations of natural phenomena, illusions or conspiracy theories.
History has shown us time and again that a plethora of so-called ‘myths’ have their basis in reality. It is possible, and indeed likely, that stories and legends were a way for a people to explain real—and perhaps perplexing—events using the knowledge and beliefs of their time. In support of this theory, several events described in mythology, which were once considered mere fairy tales have now been proven through archaeology to have existed.
A famous example is the city of Troy, which is central to Homer’s ‘The Iliad’. Long considered to be a city of myth, Heinrich Schleimann’s discovery of the actual site in 1868 elevated it to a place in history. The same goes for many accounts of ‘flying machines, which we find reference to in countless mythologies from numerous cultures around the world.
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It is common to see people selectively decide what is real and what is not and all this on the unsubstantiated assumption that ancient people were primitive and had little knowledge compared to us today. On the contrary, many old civilizations existed with complex social structures, legal systems, art, astronomy, mathematics, and technology some of which are still not fully understood today.
The Antikythera Mechanism, for example, is a 2000-year-old mechanical device that is still not completely understood despite decades of research by top scientists around the world.
The topic of flying objects and supernatural beings from out of our world is one in which we find multiple references in mythologies. All of these myths and legends along with archaeological such as rock art depictions have created a wave of theories that gave birth to the ‘Ancient Astronaut’s’ perspective which links all these references and depictions to UFOS and posits that extraterrestrials visited Earth and made contacts with humans in antiquity and prehistory, influencing the development of human cultures, technologies, and religions.
There have been charlatans and impostors through the ages. Consequently, what is a plausible and possible explanation for what we see in old arts and texts is now rarely examined by scholars who fear being ridiculed or having their professional careers seriously undermined.
Let us leave antiquity and examine the last 80 years of human history. Millions of people all over the globe have witnessed Unidentified Flying Objects. Many have been recorded in detailed reports witnessed by police, pilots, astronauts, government officials, military personnel, and of course, ordinary citizens. Some of the well-known cases were witnessed by thousands of people at one time.
Historical records make it evident that UFO appearances magnified during and after World War II. While most sightings can be explained either by celestial phenomena, airplanes, weather, or in some cases mental instability, there still exists a small percentage that cannot be accounted for by any of these explanations. This is what makes the phenomena important and not to be ignored particularly considering that sightings are frequently reported around military bases and airfields.
It is an undeniable fact that there are cases of unidentified objects in our skies. It has been acknowledged by the major governments all over the world through the fact that official researches had been conducted in the US, Britain, Russia, Europe, China, and many other countries in Asia. All of this research, in every single case, concluded that there is a percentage of phenomena that cannot be explained.
In the past decade, many countries have declassified their UFO research files through the Freedom of Information Act and made UFO cases available in the public domain. Winston Churchill, the Second World War prime minister of Britain ordered a shutdown of information for at least fifty years to prevent mass panic and the potential to undermine religious beliefs.
By doing careful research on the controversial topic, passing over obvious scams and fake stories it is clear that unidentified flying objects do exist. So the question is not whether they exist or not, but rather what is the?, Are they extra-terrestrial? And what is their purpose?
Mr Afolabi Akinbola is an historian and public affairs analyst. He contributed this piece from Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.
