Sorry Xnomad but it does and always has, it will never lose its original meaning because there is an industry out there that won't allow that.
Ask your mother, next door neighbour, workmate what they think a UFO is. I will be more than surprised if it is not exactly as Les has noted.
The whole thing is a big bucks industry, someone has to keep the myth alive in these times of a gazillion mobile cameras, big brother city cams etc just about everywhere and yet reports that could have a nice pic are almost non existant, not at all good for business. "Some Investigators" as noted below lead me to think that some are trying to add credible status to their "work" and keep the whole myth alive by clouding the issue a little because they can see the writing on the wall. I wonder if there are there any recognised universities around the world that provide phd studies into UFO studies, one would think they of all people would want to know more about these objects.
I don't fish, but if were to catch a fish it's just a fish to me, yet to the informed its a whiting etc. These are the people I trust when they say it's ok to eat that one but not that one.
This is an astronomy forum dealing with what can be seen in the sky so if anyone is surprised by the replies from knowledgeable people who have spent many years getting to know the sky then I am flabbergasted. If more people took the time to know what was in the sky - in particular the brighter planets and what happens as a bright star gets near the horizon, then UFO reports would be even fewer.
I will respect that most will not, as I am never going to know the difference between fish species. So I will trust those who spend ages fishing and I will never call a jewfish a bream or a big long shiny thing that shot through the water performing turns at speeds that no swimmer could ever do.
PeterM.
"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]"