Why Don't Astronomers See UFO's ?

[Cath]

What is this thing you call logic ???

[Jesterowl]

maybe its also partly because astronomers understand the distances involved and realise how unlikely flying saucers are. 

*note* 

i did say unlikely and not impossible. Just hedging my bets  

[Macavity]

Personally, I would be very surprised if UFOs were evidence of extraterrestrials...

But if (as an astronomomer) you really felt you had seen "something" would YOU report it?

Of course, ideally you could be:

"inviting the broader community to look at what [you had] done and scrutinize it in great detail,

and ideally for someone elsewhere in the world to repeat the measurements" [J.Gillies, CERN]

On the other hand...

[stash_old]

Anyway if you were an alien would you want to come here - War,Hunger,low intelligence(compared to them)  - except the UK  for the "benefits" or for a food source maybe 

Bit like the Aliens in the old Smash instant potatoes advert - "they boil them for 20 mins etc etc" - just monitor from a place far far away and LOL.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Imagers don't often see UFOs because we are too busy peering down troubleshooting our kit.

I've seen a few odd things when out late at night which I couldn't explain, so technically they were UFOs (unidentified). One in particular intrigued me, a satellite that didn't appear to be travelling in a straight line. Some kind of optical illusion perhaps? I'd love to know what was happening.

[barkis]

Unless Alien Space Farers, have the propulsion systems dreamed of by  Science Fiction writers, or they are able to bend Space Time. /Worm Holes and such.

Believe me, they ain't here. Got it?. They just ain't here.

I'm not suggesting Life, whatever form it takes, doesn't exist in the Universe, I'm just saying, It ain't here. In a Flying Saucer, A Tea Cup,  a Dinner Plate, 

or any other crockery shape.

 Besides, we have enough aliens here on earth. Ever seen them on TV. Tottering about the streets  and falling down a lot, on a Friday and  Saturday nights.

The security people go around in vehicles and pick them up, take to a special place overnight, until they return to human form,

whereby they are released again, hopefully to realise, it's better being human, than alien  .

Ron.

[glowjet]

My night observations span on and off over some 60 years or more, in that time I have witnessed, on two separate occasions, events that are unexplainable, or to be more exact, downright impossible. I am not going into detail, but just quote a well known phrase "The Truth Is Out There"

[astro mick]

I think its because,mainly we as Astronomers,understand the reality of Space Flight,and the vast distancies to other stars.Even the speed of light does,nt cut it really.

The general public,has,nt if they are not interested in Astronomy,the concept,and don't really think,well where have they comr from. 

But you would think,that if any advanced being from an other star did come,why oh why,do they just buzz around and supposedly land and make pretty circles in crop fields.

I,m therefore afraid,that to me,they don't exist. 

But I do believe in life elsewhere in the Universe.

Mick.

[Tomjo59]

The most mundane things can appear strange if there are unusual circumstances; odd weather, seeing something from an unconventional angle etc etc.

I remember a few years ago observing one evening, and seeing a diffuse oval shaped object, a cherry-red in colour crossing the sky, which did not vary in brightness. Raising my binoculars, it turned out to be the underside of a large bird, not sure if it was a swan or a goose, illuminated by city lights. I could just about make out its wings flapping!

How much attention does the average citizen pay to the sky anyway?

[ollypenrice]

The reason I haven't seen any Flying Saucers or beings from another world isn't due to being into astronomy or stargazing, but simply from the fact that I have never lived in the sticks. Flying saucers and aliens never land or fly over big cities. No, no. It's a golden rule. It's always going to be some backwater in Alabama or Mississipi, dare I say Dyfed, right next to Uncle Bob and his sweetcorn crop. You know, who's puffing there on his cob pipe going, "Yeah, I saw 'em, right over there, I did..." It isn't fair. I mean, which Intergalatic Space Organisation made that silly rule in the first place? No flying over built up areas! No landing in Chicago, Berlin, London or Paris! No landing somewhere where somebody could take a picture of you or try to talk to you! No. It's in the rules

I can explain this. Extraterrestrial UFOs only appear to the chosen ones, not to the common herd!  There are many areas in life (some of them banned on SGL so let's have a care) in which there are chosen ones. They are generally quite easy to recognize. They have deep talent, high aspiration (as they will tell you) and little or no recognizable acheivement (something which they may omit to tell you or they may attribute to the inadequacies of the exam system.) When not talking they go Woo Woo...

Olly

[SlyReaper]

Astronomers don't see UFOs because they spend so much time looking up, so they actually know what they're looking at.

[m1dlj]

I guess that us humans have a tendency to 'make up' stories to explain things we don't, or can't understand. Without these stories, we have to accept the fact that some things mean nothing, and others are totally beyond us - a strange, frightening and ultimately deflating thought. [Washington Post, May2013]

Is it (arguably) easier to believe the universe is full of life, even hostile life, than to believe the universe holds no meaning at all?

Could it be that for us, our passion for astronomy provides us with meaning, and a level of understanding, sufficient to keep the mythical explanations arms length?

Ray

(man in need of coffee)

[vlebo]

Too busy looking at things that actually exist !!!

[Moonshane]

I suppose technically concluding that a ufo is an alien spacecraft is a hypothesis. Unfortunately there is rarely (ever) any valid evidence to allow anyone to test or prove / disprove this hypothesis. As with all such situations it is not worth wasting time on it when there are other more fruitful experiments / projects which may eventually have the side benefit of proving or disproving the currently pointless.

[laser_jock99]

Anyone got an all-sky camera and seen unusual things?

[chiltonstar]

Certainly astronomers would see more flashing lights in the sky if they upped the Jaffa Cake and Shiraz intake even more.....

More seriously though, I've only seen one convincing "UFO" in 45 years observing, and after eliminating all other more obvious causes, I was left concluding it might  have been a geophysical phenomenon of some sort, as it was 2 weeks before a major earthquake some miles E of where I was living at the time. A lot of other people saw it, and described essentially the same thing.

Chris

[stash_old]

I guess a lot of ball lightning observations helps the UFO groups validity  - its round(ish) , bright light , moves very fast etc.

Especially as until the sixties "scientists" said that ball lightning didn't exist  but were seen by people not normally given to hysteria plus it also has killed people.

[chiltonstar]

I guess a lot of ball lightning observations helps the UFO groups validity  - its round(ish) , bright light , moves very fast etc.

Especially as until the sixties "scientists" said that ball lightning didn't exist  but were seen by people not normally given to hysteria plus it also has killed people.

Yes, "ball lightning/earthquake lights" have become respectable now:-

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140106-earthquake-lights-earthquake-prediction-geology-science/

but back then there was no explanation.

Chris

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The reason I haven't seen any Flying Saucers or beings from another world isn't due to being into astronomy or stargazing, but simply from the fact that I have never lived in the sticks. Flying saucers and aliens never land or fly over big cities. No, no. It's a golden rule. It's always going to be some backwater in Alabama or Mississipi, dare I say Dyfed, right next to Uncle Bob and his sweetcorn crop. You know, who's puffing there on his cob pipe going, "Yeah, I saw 'em, right over there, I did..." It isn't fair. I mean, which Intergalatic Space Organisation made that silly rule in the first place? No flying over built up areas! No landing in Chicago, Berlin, London or Paris! No landing somewhere where somebody could take a picture of you or try to talk to you! No. It's in the rules

Nah, not so much the rules, as Teasers: you know, rich kids with nothing else to do than land next to some unsuspecting poor fellow who nobody is ever going to believe, wearing silly antenae and making "beep-beep noises (childish really)

Douglas Adams, you are sorely missed!

[Qualia]

I can explain this. Extraterrestrial UFOs only appear to the chosen ones, not to the common herd!  There are many areas in life (some of them banned on SGL so let's have a care) in which there are chosen ones. They are generally quite easy to recognize. They have deep talent, high aspiration (as they will tell you) and little or no recognizable acheivement (something which they may omit to tell you or they may attribute to the inadequacies of the exam system.) When not talking they go Woo Woo...

Olly

That's a valid and well reasoned proposition, Olly and one I simply failed to take into account. If sound, and I see no reason to deny it, it would follow that we must remain forever disappointed that neither of us happen to be Welsh. I was figuring, taking into account the Backwater Hypothesis and the thesis of the Chosen Ones, would it also be reasonable to assume that if flying saucers looked just a little more like naked women, we'd have more photos of them ?

[barkis]

I'm waiting patiently for abductees on the forum to make their presence felt. I mean after all, all the sightings we've had, surely one or two of us must have been dragged off for 

probing,  Errm, sorry, interrogating.  Come on now, own up, you'll be famous.

Ron.

[rowan46]

The reason I haven't seen any Flying Saucers or beings from another world isn't due to being into astronomy or stargazing, but simply from the fact that I have never lived in the sticks. Flying saucers and aliens never land or fly over big cities. No, no. It's a golden rule. It's always going to be some backwater in Alabama or Mississipi, dare I say Dyfed, right next to Uncle Bob and his sweetcorn crop. You know, who's puffing there on his cob pipe going, "Yeah, I saw 'em, right over there, I did..." It isn't fair. I mean, which Intergalatic Space Organisation made that silly rule in the first place? No flying over built up areas! No landing in Chicago, Berlin, London or Paris! No landing somewhere where somebody could take a picture of you or try to talk to you! No. It's in the rules

I'm waiting patiently for abductees on the forum to make their presence felt. I mean after all, all the sightings we've had, surely one or two of us must have been dragged off for 

probing,  Errm, sorry, interrogating.  Come on now, own up, you'll be famous.

Ron.

I was walking down new street in the middle of birmingham a couple of years ago when I was snatched by little grey men "examined" and then given a very nice sherry trifle. I woke up several days later in queen Elizabeth psychiatric ward and told I had had a psychotic episode. How do you explain that then?

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

Chosen Ones? I bet that Russell Brand sees UFO's all the time.I fact,I think he's probably some sort of Intergalactic Ambassador on behalf of Earth.

[Qualia]

[Cath]

lol