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An unidentified flying object, or UFO, is any real or apparent flying object which cannot be identified by the observer and which remains unidentified after investigation. The shape of a UFO can vary between a defined shape (sphere, equilateral triangle, or diamond shaped) and an undefined shape (black mass, moving lights). Through the study of UFO's (called Ufology), various methods have been created to categorize the sightings.

Dr. J. Allen Hynek developed a commonly used system of description. He divided sightings into six distinct categories which separates the sightings based on proximity up to 500 feet. The sightings are then divided into subcategories based on viewing conditions. The three distinct sighting categories are Nocturnal Lights, Daylight Discs, and objects seen simultaneously by eye and radar.

Jacques Vallee devised a different UFO classification system which is preferred by many UFO investigators over Hynek's system as it is considerably more descriptive. The Valle method divides the sightings into six categories with varying subcategories for each. The five main categories are based on the shape of the UFO as well as its position, or movement through the sky (whether stationary or moving).

Where were the first UFO's seen?

Throughout history there have been numerous sightings of UFO's. In fact the ancient Hindu Ramayana described the use of complicated flying machines. In Sumerian culture the word annunaki means "those who came from heaven to earth." Annunaki is found in the ancients Sumerian myths, and some believe that the annunaki were visitors from the stars. Zecharia Sitchin claims that the anunnaki were extra-terrestrials who came to earth in its infancy, and tampered with the genetic makeup of primitive mankind. The evidence of this according to Sitchin is the fact that there are 223 non-human genes found within the human genome. Scientists believe these genes were horizontally inserted into the human genome by bacteria. However, Sitchin believes that "...these 223 genes were horizontally inserted into the human genome by alien visitors, not bacteria."

The Mayans thought that their gods came from the star system "Pleiades." Inca ruins have been found at 13,000 feet, with one stone weighing 20,000 tons. There is an ancient Mayan legend which says that spaceships descended from the stars. There are some who believe that the stone could only have been put there with the help of extra-terrestrials.

In Egypt during the reign of Pharoah Thutmose III around 1450 B.C. there is a description of many "circles of fire" brighter than the sun and around 5 meters in size. The Egyptians wrote that these UFO's appeared over multiple days and finally disappeared after ascending higher into the sky.

A sighting was recorded by Julias Obsequens, a Roman writer in 99 BCE, "in Tarquinia towards sunset, a round object, like a globe, a round or circular shield, took its path in the sky from west to east." On September 24th, 1235 General Yoritsune and his army observed globes of light flying in odd patterns in the night sky near Kyoto, Japan. Fearing for his army, Yoritsune asked his advisors what was happening. His advisors explained to him that there was nothing to worry about - it was just wind causing the stars to sway.

The next recorded sighting was on April 14th, 1561 in the skies over Nuremberg, Germany. There was a report that the skies were filled with a multitude of objects engaged in an aerial battle. Small spheres were described as having emerged from large cylinders. Another historical sighting of a UFO happened in the July of 1868. The investigators of this UFO define the first modern documented sighting as having happened in Copiapo City, Chile.

Theories of Extraterrestrial Life

There are multiple theories about the existence of extra-terrestrials. The two main theories are called the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis and the Interdimensional Hypothesis of unidentified flying objects. The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis, or ETH, states that UFO's are best explained as being creatures visiting earth from other planets using spacecraft. In 1969 physicist Edward Condon defined ETH as the "idea that some UFOs may be spacecraft sent to Earth from another civilization, or on a planet associated with a more distant star." The Interdimensional Hypothesis of unidentified flying objects, also known as IH, holds that these phenomena are visitations from other universes or dimensions that coexist separately alongside our own. It further proposes that they are a modern manifestation of entities or phenomena which have appeared throughout and possibly before recorded history, and which were previously explained as mythological or supernatural creatures. IH was advanced by the astrophysicist Jacques Vallee, the same man who thought up of the Vallee method of categorization.

In ufology, the psychosocial or psychocultural hypothesis (PSH or PCH) argues that at least some UFO reports are best explained by psychological or social means. Carl Jung, the famous psychologist, also theorized that UFOs might have a primarily spiritual and psychological basis. In his 1959 book Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky, he pointed out that the round shape of most saucers corresponds to a mandala, a type of archetypal shape seen in religious images. Thus the saucers might reflect a projection of the internal desires of viewers to see them. However, he did not out rightly label them a delusion or hallucination.

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