Topic Page: Unidentified Flying Object (UFO)

Definition: unidentified flying object (UFO) from Philip's Encyclopedia

Any flying object that cannot readily be explained as either a man-made craft or a natural phenomenon.
Reports of UFOs have been documented since ancient times. With the development of aeronautics and
astronautics, the number of sightings increased enormously. The majority of supposed UFO sightings have
various rational explanations, including spy planes, optical floaters (in the observer's eye), weather balloons,
and artificial satellites.

Summary Article: unidentified flying object

from The Columbia Encyclopedia

or UFO, an object or light reportedly seen in the sky whose appearance, trajectory, and general
dynamic and luminescent behavior do not readily suggest a logical, conventional explanation. Some of
these phenomena have been photographed and others correlated with radar echoes. Throughout
history there have been reports of strange objects in the sky. In the 20th cent. a number of observers
claim to have seen vehicles, or “flying saucers,” which some believe are space ships visiting the earth
from other planets. Because the objects are often shining and in that part of the sky opposite the sun,
most investigators, official and unofficial alike, tend to interpret them as reflections of the sun's rays
from airplanes. Some UFOs, when pursued by planes, have proved to be weather balloons or other
objects of unquestionably terrestrial origin. Fireballs, meteors, and other meteorological phenomena
account for most of the relatively few UFOs that observers report seeing at night. However, there are
some sightings that investigators are unable to explain in terms of known phenomena.

See Ritchie, D. , UFO: The Definitive Guide to Unidentified Flying Objects and Related
Phenomena (1994);.
Steiger, B. , ed., Project Blue Book: The Top Secret UFO Findings Revealed (repr. 1995);.
Clark, J. , The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial (1997);.
Saler, B. et al., UFO Crash at Roswell: The Genesis of a Modern Myth;.
Hynek, J. A. et al., Night Siege: The Hudson Valley UFO Sightings (2d ed. 1998);.
Hynek, J. A. , The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry (1999);.
Pope, N. , Open Skies, Closed Minds: For the First Time a Government UFO Expert Speaks Out
(1999).

APA

Chicago

Harvard

MLA

unidentified flying object. (2018). In P. Lagasse, & Columbia University, The Columbia encyclopedia (8th
ed.). New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Retrieved from
https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/unidentified_flying_object

https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/unidentified_flying_object
 The Columbia Encyclopedia, © Columbia University Press 2018

The Columbia Encyclopedia, © Columbia University Press 2018

https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/unidentified_flying_object
APA
unidentified flying object. (2018). In P. Lagasse, & Columbia University, The Columbia encyclopedia (8th
ed.). New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Retrieved from
https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/unidentified_flying_object

Chicago
"unidentified flying object." In The Columbia Encyclopedia, by Paul Lagasse, and Columbia University. 8th
ed. Columbia University Press, 2018.
https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/unidentified_flying_object

Harvard
unidentified flying object. (2018). In P. Lagasse & Columbia University, The Columbia encyclopedia. (8th
ed.). [Online]. New York: Columbia University Press. Available from:
https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/unidentified_flying_object [Accessed 27 April 2019].

MLA
"unidentified flying object." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Paul Lagasse, and Columbia University, Columbia
University Press, 8th edition, 2018. Credo Reference,
https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/unidentified_flying_object. Accessed 27 Apr. 2019.

https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/unidentified_flying_object