ufology Ufology ( ) is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial alien visitors). While there are instances of government, private, and ...

, cultural tracking is the tendency of

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are ide ...

reports through time to change their content in line with cultural changes.

Examples

Unidentified flying objects have long been reported through history, but the claimed craft are always a perversion of the technology or fiction of the day, and "the UFO technology tracks what our culture has but rarely exceeds it by a great deal." When aviation was limited to

hot-air balloons A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries ...

, UFO reports consisted of claims of mysterious airships. Reported in the 1890s, these airships were distinguished from our technology by their giant size, but they nevertheless needed propellers. The later

flying saucers A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...

were also a weird version of then-current aerospace technology; as John Spencer notes in ''The UFO Encyclopedia'': "Witnesses aboard flying saucers have reported, for example, chunky number counters on the saucer control panels, but we did not have reports of liquid quartz readouts until we ourselves invented them." Reports also track the

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

prevalent at the time. Claims of UFOs stopping car engines and lights did not appear until a similar effect featured in the 1951 film ''

The Day the Earth Stood Still ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' (a.k.a. ''Farewell to the Master'' and ''Journey to the World'') is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Renn ...

''. Similarly, the film ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

'' had the effect of standardizing accounts of

grey aliens Grey aliens, also referred to as Zeta Reticulans, Roswell Greys, or Grays, are purported extraterrestrial beings. They are frequent subjects of close encounters and alien abduction claims. The details of such claims vary widely, but typically G ...

with entirely black eyes, though these were the invention of the film's special effects man,

Carlo Rambaldi Carlo Rambaldi (September 15, 1925 – August 10, 2012) was an Italian special effects artist, winner of three Oscars: one Special Achievement Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1977 for the 1976 version of ''King Kong'' and two Academy ...

Explanations

Cultural tracking appears to discredit a simple

extraterrestrial hypothesis The extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH) proposes that some unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are best explained as being physical spacecraft occupied by extraterrestrial life or non-human aliens, or non-occupied alien probes from other planets v ...

(ETH) as an explanation of UFOs. The

psychosocial hypothesis In ufology, the psychosocial hypothesis, abbreviated PSH, argues that at least some UFO reports are best explained by psychological or social means. It is often contrasted with the better-known extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH), and is particu ...

(PSH) rejects the idea that UFOs are alien craft, and posits the simplest explanation: the UFOs and their occupants are imaginary. However, some believers in alien visitation embraced the idea of cultural tracking, claiming that advanced "ultraterrestrials" are capable of deliberately changing how they appear to humans. Advocates of this "

interdimensional hypothesis The interdimensional hypothesis is a proposal that unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings are the result of experiencing other ''"dimensions"'' that coexist separately alongside our own in contrast with either the extraterrestrial hypothesis ...

" (IDH) believe that these beings might sometimes present themselves in the manner of 1950s sci-fi, but they could also appear as

fairies A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, of ...

angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

, ghosts or any other supernatural beings. However, they may disagree as to the aliens' motives for doing this.

Jacques Vallee Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

in the book ''Passport to Magonia'', and

John Keel John Alva Keel, born Alva John Kiehle (March 25, 1930 – July 3, 2009) was an American journalist and influential UFOlogist who is best known as author of '' The Mothman Prophecies''. Early life Keel was born in Hornell, New York, the son of a ...

, in his 1970 book ''Operation Trojan Horse'', are sometimes seen as the instigators of this trend.

References

{{ref-list Extraterrestrial life in popular culture Scientific skepticism Ufology

Examples

Explanations

See also

References