Quote:
Originally Posted by ngcles
Hi Xnomad & All,
This is what U.F.O means -- Unidentified Flying Object.
The acronym at once implies that the sighting is a solid "object" and that it is being aimed/directed/flown. If it is being flown, then it must be being piloted by an intelligent being. Because it is similarly unidentified, it must therefore be an Alien/LGM. This is what UFO really implies.
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Sorry Les, but no it doesn't.
This is precisely why UFO has become a taboo word in some circles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ufo
"Popular culture frequently takes the term
UFO as a
synonym for
alien spacecraft. Some investigators now prefer to use the broader term
Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (or
UAP), to avoid the confusion and speculative associations that have become attached to
UFO.
[4]"
The object is unidentified until further study or research can determine what it is. This is what the scientific method is all about isn't it? It does not mean that it is an alien spacecraft or that the observer believes it to be. The same reason that a scientific hypothesis is just that, a hypothesis and not a theory or a law. Wouldn't a UFO no longer be a UFO if it is determined to be alien because then it has been identified?
Perhaps the thread title should be called odd objects you've seen in the sky that you can't identify? It's quite clear that the term UFO has completely lost it's original meaning and gets everyone quite worked up on here.
