Unexplained phenomenon: Why we are captivated by UFOs

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Unexplained phenomenon: Why we are captivated by UFOs
September 5, 2009
Laura Eades
guardian.co.uk

The fact the Guardian's Bad Science column has now surpassed 300 articles may indicate that the public's interest in debunking myths is nearly as voracious as the appetite for the paranormal – the subject of a special edition Google logo.

For today, the Google image has been invaded by the icon of an ascending UFO - a topic which has captured the imaginations of novelists, film-makers and scientists through the ages.

In a month's time our cinemas will be populated with alien spacecraft as another sci-fi action film reaches our screens: District 9, produced by Peter Jackson. Ugly aliens invade South Africa and are herded into a slum near Johannesburg, to the disgust of local residents.

David Smith reports rather more mixed feelings on the part of the real residents of the Soweto township where District 9 was filmed, however: many were able to work on the film as extras, but also face relocation and hardship.

Statistics released by the National Archives this August would suggest the silver screen is not the only place we are seeing UFOs. Sightings are not as rare as you might expect, with more than 800 reports being detailed between 1993 and 1996.

This August's publication is the fourth batch of data released by the National Archives on this topic. It also details crop circles and shows reports relating to different areas of Britain – with explanations of what may have caused lights. Simon Rogers helpfully extracts 50 of the most interesting ones to look at in his datablog.

The explanations given for each incident indicate that the MoD does not spend a great deal of time entertaining the thought of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiologist Dr Lewis Dartnell from University College London does, though - Alok Jha meets him to speculate about what form life might take elsewhere in the solar system and beyond in the Guardian's science weekly podcast.

Dr Dartnell says: "Astrobiology is going out there and being proactive, and searching and exploring the solar system – building probes to go to Mars, for example, to test the sands that we scoop up. One of the first things we need to think about is what is life in the first place. We're looking for molecules like DNA and proteins."

Meanwhile Nasa this week has released new images of the surface of Mars taken from its reconnaissance orbiter – one step closer, perhaps, to finding out if life on other planets is really fact or just science fiction.