Hovering questions over flying objects

By Tharuka Dissanaike

In January and February of this year, there was a flurry of strange sightings across the country. People from various provinces claimed to have seen brightly-lit disc-shaped flying craft zapping overhead, hovering in the night sky or disappearing round the mountain. Reports of such UFO sightings flooded in from Kandy, Matale and Kosgama. The last incident being the Matale sighting on February 12.

Are they for real? Why are these "alien" craft taking a sudden interest in this tiny Indian Ocean island? What are they looking for?

According to Dr. Chandana Jayarathne of the Colombo University, scientists abroad were puzzled as to the low frequency of UFO visits to this part of the world. Asia, particularly South Asia records the least number of sightings, said Dr. Jayarathne, who is also the patron of the UFO Society of Sri Lanka.

But the possible reason is not that the aliens had struck a deal with the SAARC Secretariat but rather that such phenomena went largely unreported in the region. In rural Sri Lanka the bright tail-lights of a possible alien scout ship would simply be dismissed as a devatha eliya (light emanating from a speeding godly soul).

But now, with more television and broader knowledge, more reports are coming in. In fact Nalaka Gunawardene, Past President of the Young Astronomer's Club, lays the blame for the recent spate of reports on a prime-time teledrama dealing with a UFO landing and alien life. The launch of this teledrama coincided with the February flurry of UFOs.

"It could well be," admits Dr. Jayarathne. Ninety-five percent of UFO sightings are delusions, hallucinations, hoaxes and a disease called Isokocher Syndrome, which causes people to imagine UFOs."

But it is strange that so many unrelated people, from various districts were hallucinating together. In the Bandarawela episode in April 1998, a schoolboy first reported a strange craft landing on his playground early one morning.

Many reports came from Bandarawela of people who had seen a cylindrical flying object in the morning sky. Two days after the boy's incident, people in Nugegoda and Thalangama reported a strange hovering craft over their homes. The most sensational incident so far in Sri Lanka happened in March 1992, when a fleet of brightly lit craft (some people counted 30 at a time) travelled over many towns silently and speedily. Reports came from Punawe, Kahatagasdigiliya, Kurunegala etc.

Some people dismiss UFOs as military tests. But when The Sunday Times contacted them the military were mum. A non-flying military source, who refused to be identified, put it down to possible American satellites, but categorically said that Sri Lanka does not have such satellites.

The source said it was difficult to comment on UFOs because their mysterious nature does not warrant an explanation.

But, no, the military is not investigating a possible alien invasion, he said. Though, it does seem strange that the military would be singularly disinterested in identifying these flying craft- because of their possible implications on security- especially since the discovery of that mini aircraft built in a toy factory.

Arthur C. Clarke, famed science fiction writer, said he's "bored to tears with the subject". During his lifetime, Clarke said, he's seen ten UFOs and all were logically explained. The two best sightings happened to be weather balloons.

Although he favours the belief that life exists out there, Clarke is doubtful that alien beings zap around in saucer-and-cigar shaped ships hanging around for centuries for a parking spot on earth.

To quote from Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, "UFOs are a serious and fascinating problem. Some of the hundreds of varieties may even (though I doubt it) lead to important scientific discoveries. The only thing I'm reasonably sure is that they are not spaceships. That explanation is too naive and geocentric."

He also states, "In my opinion UFOs need a decade or so of benign neglect. Lets ignore the things in the sky and concentrate on the only reports that matter- the Close Encounters of the Third Kind- which, as everyone knows, are unmistakable face to face confrontations with alien vehicles or creatures. Either they occur or they do not."

In the book, Clarke goes on to say that UFOs may simply disappear-like the witches of the Middle Ages- when no one believes in them any more. Or they may turn out to be caused by some hitherto unknown phenomena.

But serious UFO enthusiasts will not be shaken. Brothers, Ravi and Saliya de Silva are two such people. Regular correspondents to UFO publications and researchers of sorts, the de Silva brothers visit sites and record eye-witness accounts. They said that the sightings in Sri Lanka tallied with pictures and sketches of international UFO observations. "The descriptions are so similar. The turning lights, shapes of crafts, the soundlessness, the speed, the way the craft hovers over the earth at a certain distance and the zig zag flight pattern," Saliya said.

There is also a theory that UFOs appear around the time of some momentous event on earth. Many a rocket launch has seen UFOs hovering around, according to a book by Charles Berlitz on The Roswell Incident- where an alien ship is supposed to have crashed into New Mexico with injured aliens. The book even documents that the first astronauts to tread the moon saw alien space ships from their rocket.

Dr. Jayarathne pointed out that shortly after the Bandarawela UFO incidents, India and Pakistan engaged in a nuclear show-of-might, exploding nuclear devices for the first time in the subcontinent.

A recent article in the National Geographic magazine laments that SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) which has been looking for a single alien radio signal from out there for 40 years, has not been rewarded with a single alien beep.

"This could be because we are looking simply for electro-magnetic signals, assuming that alien technology is parallel to ours," Dr. Jayarathne said. He said that alien technology can generally be regarded as more advanced. Literature on crashed UFOs point to advanced bio-computers, which can operate on thoughts and that they have a "gravity amplification" propelling system to lift them off the ground.

"These are not impossible either. Already scientists are experimenting with DNA-based computers which are much more powerful than our present silicone based machines. It was thought earlier that the speed of light was the fastest- but now scientists are discovering faster speeds."

UFOs were recorded as early as 1500 BC- a Chinese papyrus details an "object flying in the sky, red in colour, globular shaped and without noise".

Early this century these flying objects were called Foo-Fighters and later Flying Saucers, due to the most common shape akin to an upside-down saucer.

The UFO Society is at present investigating a strange tale that comes from a village in Alawwa. A 12- year-old boy in Tulhiriya claims he has regular contact with aliens and has produced strange rocks and minerals as evidence of his meetings with outer-space beings. The boy names individual aliens, their planets and a great deal of scientific detail that is not generally available to a youngster his age.

Responding to widespread disbelief in UFOs, Dr. Jayarathne said, "We should not deny those things we cannot explain."

"The situation with UFOs and their creatures-humanoids- is very similar to the 1700s situation with meteorites. Scientists scorned people who recorded streaks of light from the sky. Today we all accept it as a common phenomena. Perhaps, science has not matured enough to understand and expand on UFOs," he said.

What's that?

If you see a UFO please inform the UFO Society of Sri Lanka on the hotline- 867508
A UFO SIGHTING MUST HAVE_
Date, time and duration
Description
Position of observer
How it was observed- naked eye, camera, binoculars?
Direction, angle, distance and movements
Weather conditions
Nearby objects- telephone lines, high tension lines, lakes, dams, airfields, telecom, equipment and observer details.

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