| Author | Title | Pag |
|---|
| | | Editorial Board | 5 |
| | Michael C. CIFONE | Editorial | 6-11 |
| | Kimberly S. ENGELS | The Importance of Phenomenology for UAP Studies | 12-22 | | | Abstract: Phenomenology as a research method is rooted in rigorous examination
of first-person experiences, and identifying that which is essential to the
appearance of the object. Phenomenology offers several important strengths
that make it critical to include as a supplemental method to more empirical
approaches. Strengths of phenomenology include the restoring of the lived
world as the foundation of knowledge, moving beyond the extraterrestrial
hypothesis, the exploration of absences, the discrimination between sensory
perception and non-ordinary perception, exploring UAP as intersubjective
experiences, and drawing similarities between UAP and other anomalous
phenomena |
| | Bertrand MÉHEUST | The Mystery of Elusiveness | 23-44 | | | Related:
Limina Vòlume 2 No 1 Spring-Summer/2025 - Response to “The Mystery of Elusiveness” by Dr Bertrand Méheust [Gress, Thibaut]
| | | | Abstract: Elusiveness is the most striking feature of UAP manifestations. I define it in
my text as the permanent coupling and adjustment, case by case, of two
contradictory dimensions, ostentation and evasion. And it is this that I take as the
object of my reflection.
For the sceptics, this characteristic is enough to close the debate: the case is
empty, we are dealing only with a gigantic collective illusion. For those ufologists who
wish to keep the solution to the enigma open, elusiveness remains the major obstacle,
because it prevents the collection of tangible data that would enable them to carry
out their research.
In this article, I propose to open up another avenue of reflection, by making
elusiveness the signature of a new and original phenomenon. Elusiveness has two
conceivable levels, a weak level and a strong level. The weak level inevitably leads to
the sceptics’ solution. The strong level, on the other hand, leads to the discovery of
a new and original phenomenon, with disturbing implications. This is the concept
that I seek to define and construct in this article. At the end of my reflection, I come
up with a strange paradox: certainly, the process of elusive monstration prevents us
from gathering reliable and conclusive data on UAPs. And yet at the same time it
is the most reliable and meaningful thing we know about this perplexing issue. In
fact, the elusive monstration—the fact that the UAP only shows itself to better evade
detection—exhibits the perfect structure of an oxymoron. The oxymoron is one of
the most sophisticated tools of human thought, in that it allows the simultaneous
expression of two contradictory thoughts. It follows from this observation that we
are not dealing with natural phenomena but with the intentional manifestation of a
psyche. But if we accept my conclusions, the nature of this psyche, as things stand,
remains undetermined. |
| | Thibaut GRESS | Response to “The Mystery of Elusiveness” by Dr Bertrand Méheust | 45-47 | | | Related:
Limina Vòlume 2 No 1 Spring-Summer/2025 - The Mystery of Elusiveness [Méheust, Bertrand]
Limina Vòlume 2 No 1 Spring-Summer/2025 - Reply to Critical Note [Méheust, Bertrand]
| |
| | Bertrand MÉHEUST | Reply to Critical Note | 48-53 | | | Related:
Limina Vòlume 2 No 1 Spring-Summer/2025 - Response to “The Mystery of Elusiveness” by Dr Bertrand Méheust [Gress, Thibaut]
| |
| | Thibaut GRESS | Normal, Abnormal, Paranormal: Philosophical Determination of a Ufological Lexicon | 53-64 | | | Abstract: This article aims to reflect on ufological questions based on the concept of
“normality” and abnormality. Aiming to delineate the field of ufology, it
seeks to distinguish what is abnormal from what is impossible, while questioning
the criteria by which a phenomenon can be deemed “abnormal.” Introducing
etymology of many terms and the notion of “perception,” the article shows that
human perception has its own norms, which are therefore relative to it; but these
norms are not absolute in the sense that they can be violated, which invites us not
to confuse the normative structure of human perception with impossibilities in
themselves. Moreover, the reflection on perception is combined with the scientific
norms conveyed by the “laws of Nature.” If the UAPs exhibit deviations from
the laws of nature, it is necessary to characterize these deviations and determine
whether they are “abnormal” or “anomic”; Leibniz’s conceptual framework is then
invoked to clarify what a deviation from the laws of nature means, and what the
possibility of such a deviation entails |
| | Travis DUMSDAY | Understanding UAPs: Surveying the Nature Spirits Hypothesis | 65-73 | | | Abstract: The literature on UFOs / UAPs has seen much discussion concerning
the central ontological question: on the rational assumption that we are
dealing with something objectively real (i.e., not just the product of delusion
or misperception or other prosaic explanations), what are we dealing with? A
basic taxonomy of options can readily be constructed, with the initial division
consisting of a split between naturalist theories (i.e., theories compatible with
metaphysical naturalism) and non-naturalist theories (i.e., theories incompatible
with metaphysical naturalism). Naturalist theories held sway within early ufology,
especially the extraterrestrial hypothesis. However, dissenting non-naturalist voices
gradually gained ground from the late 1960s onward, and today a variety of such
theories receives sustained discussion. These utilize ideas derived from major world
religions, from the history of philosophy, and even from recent developments in
analytic metaphysics and philosophy of religion. My principal aim in this short
paper is to provide an accessible overview and preliminary assessment of one
important non-naturalist theory of UAP ontology: animism. |
| | Brenda DENZLER | The Discovery of OIL (Some Thoughts on Finding Other IntelligentLife) | 74-92 | | | Abstract: From the dawn of the modern age of UFOs in June 1947, the
extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH) has been the dominant explanatory
framework for the provenance of the devices and their presumably intelligent
occupants. In more recent decades, however, students of the phenomenon
have begun to think that it has nothing to do with off-worlders. Instead, the
UFOnauts may very well be non-human locals. This essay presents one
possible explanation for how this might be, weaving together insights from
science, observations from religion, and our best collective evidence-to-date
about the nature of UFOs. It concludes with an appeal for a dimension of
inquiry that might shed further light on the UFO phenomenon to be added to
the field of religious studies and a suggestion that science return to its roots and
tweak some of its foundational assumptions in ways that could make the study
of UFO phenomena not only more productive, but possible at all. |
| | Ted PETERS | One Science for both UFOlogists and Astrobiologists? | 93-100 | | | Abstract: Increasingly, scientists among UFO investigators outside the mainstream seek
to explain UAP (Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena) with the extraterrestrial
hypothesis. Within the lab walls of safe science, astrobiologists believe
extraterrestrial life exists on exoplanets but deny that aliens are visiting earth. Both
work with a scientific mindset. Both believe in the “ETI myth.” But astrobiologists
shun ufologists. Can we invite both ufologists and astrobiologists to enjoy each
other’s company in the same laboratory? |
| | Casey A. KNIGHT | Expectations about Nonhuman Intelligences: Fermi’s Challenge, Divine Hiddenness, and the White House Lawn | 101-108 | | | Abstract: Why are scientists so often dismissive of UAP studies? Part of the answer
to this question must acknowledge common arguments for disbelief
in flying saucers. One such argument appeals to the incompatibility between
the behavior we would expect to see from nonhuman intelligences, and what
we actually see. I argue that common variations of this line of reasoning are
unsound. There are strong similarities between three arguments: the argument
suggested by the Fermi paradox, the argument suggested by the question of
why UAP do not land on the White House lawn, and the atheistic argument
suggested by the problems of evil and divine hiddenness. A standard response
to the atheistic argument, which is well-known in the philosophical literature,
carries over to the other two arguments. In sections 2 through 4, I present each
of the three arguments, and I demonstrate their similarities. In section 5, I
present a standard philosophical rebuttal to the problem of divine hiddenness.
In section 6, I demonstrate how this rebuttal applies at least as well to both of
the other arguments. In the final section, I discuss some upshots of this result.
The primary upshot is that a common reason for serious scientists not to take
UAP studies seriously rests on a bad argument |
| | Sean GROSVENOR, Larry J. HANCOCK, Ian M. PORRITT | Hancock, Larry
UAP Indications Analysis 1945-1975 United States Atomic Warfare Complex | 109-128 | | | Abstract: This paper provides an assessment of indicators associated with Unidentified
Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) reports included in the SCU Pattern
Recognition Study (Hancock et al., 2023a). The Pattern Recognition study
analyzed UAP incidents geographically proximal to US military installations
between 1945 and 1975. A set of 590 comprehensively documented UAP reports
from this period were collected from select sources, including Project Blue Book.
Study sites included: 1) atomic materials production, 2) atomic weapons assembly,
3) atomic weapons stockpiles, 4) atomic weapons deployment, and 5) rocket/missile
testing and development. The Pattern Recognition Study concluded that intelligent
and focused activity was associated with UAP at atomic facilities to a greater
degree than conventional non-atomic military facilities. Further study of the UAP
activity frequency, type and pattern indicated the need to assess possible intentions
relating to information collection, obstruction of military activities, and aggressive
engagement. An additional 284 incidents were examined based on relevant UAP
activity, for a total of 874 incidents. A list of indicators was created and mapped to
four major scenarios for assessment. Based on the analysis of indications for UAP
incidents included for this study, an Atomic Weapons Survey was indicated as the
most likely scenario. The less likely scenarios were General Military Survey, Atomic
Warfare Prevention and Military Aggression respectively. |
| | Matthew SZYDAGIS | How much time do we have before catastrophic disclosure occurs? | 129-137 | | | Abstract: Claims of the retrieval of crashed craft or vehicles from non-human
intelligence(s) (NHI) abound in the popular culture and media. For this article,
the number of unsubstantiated claims is utilized to estimate the time expected
until a “catastrophic disclosure” occurs. The term was defined at the 2023 Sol
Foundation’s inaugural conference as an accidental disclosure of strong evidence
of the existence of NHI. The phrase refers to this occurring outside the control
of major human institutions, such as governments and militaries. One possible
example of this is the crash of a piloted (space)craft or ET probe in the middle of
a busy metropolis (such as the city square, e.g., New York City’s Times Square). The
distribution of humans across the Earth’s surface, the population as a function of
time, and the fraction of individuals owning a camera-phone, also versus time, are
each taken into consideration as a foundation for a rigorous statistical analysis. This
author adopts a skeptical and agnostic approach and does not conclude NHI or
ET are real, but applies standard statistical distributions as educational examples of
critical thinking to an issue which captures the imagination of the public as almost
no other issue does. Making the extraordinary assumptions that sentient species
other than humans exist, are capable of constructing vehicles for transportation,
and are sufficiently fallible that their technology can malfunction, it becomes
possible to quantify some potential answers to the question of how long it might
be before smartphone imagery and/or video evidence appears on the web and
becomes irrevocable via classification in the modern era. Results of simulations of
numerous potential scenarios with varying degrees of optimism indicate that, if
NHI are real, catastrophic disclosure may actually happen accidentally rather soon,
with the mean expected year being 2040 ± 20 under the default assumptions. |
| | Travis DUMSDAY | James D. Madden, Unidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the World (Ontocalypse Press, 2023), 141 pages. ISBN: 9798865867425. Paperback: $21.73. | 138-147 | | | Abstract: Among the academic disciplines that have contributed to ufology / UAP
studies over the years, philosophy can hardly be named a major player.
Religious studies scholars, folklorists, and even pop culture specialists have
been more prominent in their contributions to the humanities-oriented
sectors of the field. The dearth of philosophical engagement with ufology is
unfortunate, insofar as there are questions in the area which could benefit from
the application of distinctively philosophical tools of inquiry. That fact is made
clear in James Madden’s thought-provoking and well-written new monograph.
Madden is probably best-known for his first book Mind, Matter, and Nature: A
Thomistic Proposal for the Philosophy of Mind (CUA Press, 2013), which remains one
of the better efforts at bridge-building between analytic philosophy of mind and
Scholastic approaches to human nature. His new book is similarly eclectic and
broad-minded, drawing on a deep knowledge both of historical sources (though
Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, and Heidegger figure much more frequently in the
present work than does Thomas Aquinas) and of more recent analytic and
continental literatures. These are brought to bear on the questions of what we
may be dealing with when it comes to UFOs, and of what our prospects may be
for figuring that out. |
| | Thomas BULLARD | Review of: Robert Powell, UFOs: A Scientist Explains What We Know (And Don’t Know) Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2024, 209 pages, appendix, footnotes, references, and index. Hardcover, $32.00. | 148-150 | | | Review: Robert POWELL,UFOs: A Scientist Explains What We Know (And Don’t Know) - 2024 | |
| | Matthew BOWMAN | Review: “Greg Eghigian. After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon.” New York: Oxford University Press, 2024. Xi+400 pp. Hardcover, $29.99. | 151-152 | | | Book:Greg EGHIGIAN,After the Flying Saucers Came - 2024 | |
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Collection: Libriufo
