UFO doesn't necessarily mean alien

Just Ask

Q: Am I right in saying this: A UFO doesn't have to be an alien spacecraft in order to be a UFO?

A: Well, now, that's an unusual question. It's downright out of this world, one might say.

But, I think I see what you're getting at, and I think you're correct.

"UFO" simply stands for Unidentified Flying Object. If there's something in the sky and nobody knows what it is, then it is unidentified, flying, and an object, so it's a UFO.

In addition, I checked out some information from the Skeptic Friends Network (skepticfriends.org).

The Web site explains that, in the early 1950s, U.S. Air Force Capt. Edward Ruppelt coined the term UFO, meaning Unidentified Flying Object, and IFO, meaning Identified Flying Object.

Ruppelt was in charge of the Air Force's Project Blue Book investigation, which looked into reports of UFOs. I remember there was a really cool television series that was based on that some years ago, called "Project UFO."

Anyway, I found some information on Project Blue Book, from an Air Force site (af.mil/factsheets).

According to that information, Project Blue Book ran from 1947 to 1969. During that time, 12,618 sightings were reported.

Of those, 701 remain "unidentified."

According to the site, the report concluded, "No UFO reported, investigated and evaluated by the Air Force was ever an indication of threat to our national security; there was no evidence submitted to or discovered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as 'unidentified' represented technological developments or principles beyond the range of modern scientific knowledge; and there was no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as 'unidentified' were extraterrestrial vehicles."

It also states that nothing has occurred since the program's termination that would cause the Air Force to believe the project needs to be continued. It also points out that it would be difficult to start up the program again, simply because of the stretched defense budgets.

Still, that was a really cool television series.

One other thing, as long as we're talking about UFOs and Project Blue Book, records from the project have been declassified, and can be obtained by writing to: Modern Military Records, National Archives, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001, or calling (301) 713-7250.

If you do that, do me a favor and ask if they have any episodes of that show.

If you've got a question, e-mail it to bernie.delinski@TimesDaily.com, call him at 740-5739 or fax it to 740-4717.

or send it to Just Ask, c/o TimesDaily, P.O. Box 797, Florence, AL 35631.