Museum, University of Nebraska State
Date of this Version
1975
Abstract
In 1974 the Ralph Mueller planetarium presented a program on the subject of UFOs. This program was difficult to produce because of the extremely subjective nature of the topic. It would have been easy to slant such a program in one of two ways. The program might label all persons seeing UFOs as "wild-eyed kooks"; or it could swing to the other extreme, where all testimony and "evidence" are accepted without attempting to subject it to scientific scrutiny. This information, then, is presented in the hope that the reader will realize that the subject can and is being studied in a scientific manner (although not to the extent that might be wished). The difficulty of such study is compounded by the fact that scientific study cannot be restricted to the province of anyone science (such as astronomy).
It seems to stretch and confound our imagination, our reason, our whole thought process, to conceive of visitors from outer space hovering in our skies and perhaps even landing on our planet. But the ideas have gained popularity even with some knowledgeable scientists. So we must discuss a very broad field, about which little is known and of which much is speculation. To proceed we must assume the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe.
Comments
Published in UNL News: Museum Notes (March 1975) 54(24): 4 p.