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Professor Says UFO Studies Should Be Taught At Universities

New York anthropology professor Philip Haseley wants young people to get the best education possible, and part of that education, he says, should be about UFOs. Haseley thinks universities should offer classes on UFOs and other unexplained phenomena from space. "[A sighting] happens to millions of people [around the world]. It's about time we looked into this as a worthy area of study. It's important that the whole subject be brought out in the open and investigated," he said. I want to believe the truth is out there in 500 words or less.

8 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. Re:sound good to me by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Funny

    I would take that class

    And I would take your money. Next year we can come back and see who learned more.

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    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  2. Like ghosts, this is getting harder and harder. by maillemaker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Reasonable-quality audio/video recording equipment is becoming nearly ubiquitous, being embedded in cell phones.

    Yet the only "footage" that is available is grainy and poor quality.

    As the quality and availability of audio/video recording equipment grows, one would expect the quality of "sighting" recordings to increase, but they aren't.

    I think that's very telling.

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    A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
    1. Re:Like ghosts, this is getting harder and harder. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      ...one would expect the quality of "sighting" recordings to increase, but they aren't.

      I think that's very telling.

      It is telling. What your post tells me is... they got to you too. (sigh)

  3. UFO is an acronym by RingDev · · Score: 5, Insightful

    UFO doesn't mean aliens, space visitors, or conspiracies.

    It means: Unidentified Flying Object.

    If you see a condensation trail high in the sky, you know that there is something creating it, but if it is too high for you to see, it is unidentified. It is flying. It is an object. You have just witnessed a UFO. There is nothing ridiculous about it at all.

    If this class focuses on the spotting of things you don't understand, and the process in which you go through to try to discover it's identity, then I'm all for it. A class that pushes students to come up with multiple possible theories and find ways to research them, to prove or exclude them, and to report on their findings.

    Seems like an awesome class idea to me.

    -Rick

    --
    "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
  4. Re:sound good to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I would take that class

    And I would take your money. Next year we can come back and see who learned more.

    Well, right off the bat, you'd learn that people taking UFO classes don't have much money.

  5. Re:sound good to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I had this class. In my university, the history department had some classes in secret societies and conspiracies. We discussed the history and psychology of these events and how they've migrated from supernatural to scientifically based as our culture changed from dependence on one to dependence on the other. It was very interesting, though the mythology on Masonry and the Illuminati and such were far cooler than the UFO stuff IMO.

    It was a good class and I agree that it should be a history elective.

  6. Anthropology by c++0xFF · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think a class that studies those who believe in UFOs would definitely be worth of an anthropology class.

    Who are the believers? Why do they so strongly believe they saw a UFO? What is the cultural basis behind this belief? What are the equivalents in other societies? Ghosts? Evil spirits? Angels? A study of the people would be very interesting.

    I think this anthropology professor might even be qualified (if biased) to teach such a class.

  7. Re:Religion Studies by bmo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    (T)he first really strange stories I remember hearing were Bible stories. And these stories were completely amazing: about parting oceans, and talking snakes. And people really seemed to believe these stories. And I'm talking about adults. Adults, who mainly just did the most mundane things imaginable: mowing their lawns and throwing potluck parties; they all believed in these wild stories. And they would sit around and discuss them in the most matter-of-fact way. So in a way I was introduced to a special local form of surrealism at an early age and so there was always a question in my mind about what's actually true and what is just another art form.

    -Laurie Anderson

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    BMO