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Meteors - excuse for UFO sightings?


     From the back page of the LA Times (on a slow news day):
     
     Monday, June 29, 1998 
     
     Scientific Panel Urges Study of UFO Sightings 
     
     Phenomena: First review of controversial topic in almost 30 years 
     cites physical evidence. Committee acknowledges `giggle factor.' 
     
     From the Washington Post
     
     Some reported UFO sightings have been accompanied by unexplained 
     physical evidence that deserves serious scientific study, an 
     international panel of scientists has concluded. 
     In the first independent scientific review of the controversial topic 
     in almost 30 years, which was directed by physicist Peter Sturrock of 
     Stanford University, the panel emphasized that it found no convincing 
     evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence or any violation of natural 
     laws. 
     But the panel cited cases that included intriguing and inexplicable 
     details, such as burns to witnesses, radar detection of mysterious 
     objects, strange lights appearing repeatedly in the skies over certain 
     locales, aberrations in the workings of automobiles, and radiation and 
     other damage found in vegetation. 
     The 50-page review, which is being released today, asserts that 
     scientists might learn something worthwhile if they can overcome the 
     fear of ridicule associated with the topic and get funding for 
     research to try to explain the occurrences. 
     "It may be valuable to carefully evaluate UFO reports to extract 
     information about unusual phenomena currently unknown to science," the 
     report stated, adding that such research also could improve 
     understanding of, and in some cases debunk, supposed UFO events. 
     For example, earth science researchers have eventually accepted 
     several phenomena "originally dismissed as folk tales," including 
     meteorites and certain types of lightning, the panel noted. 
     
     The findings are from a four-day workshop in
     Tarrytown, N.Y., followed by a second three-day meeting in San 
     Francisco, both held last fall. The results are published in the 
     current issue of the Society for Scientific Exploration, which was 
     established by Sturrock. 
     The inquiry involved scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of 
     Technology, Cornell and Princeton universities, the universities of 
     Arizona and Virginia, and institutions in France and Germany, among 
     others. A panel of nine physical scientists analyzed presentations by 
     eight UFO investigators, who were encouraged to present their 
     strongest evidence. The project was funded by Laurance S. Rockefeller 
     through his LSR Fund because of a belief, the report said, that "the 
     problem is in a very unsatisfactory state of ignorance and confusion." 
     The panel suggests that the scientific community has suffered a 
     failure of curiosity regarding UFOs. Despite an abundance of reports 
     over the last 50 years "and despite great public interest, the 
     scientific community has shown remarkably little interest in this 
     topic." 
     Asked about the conclusions, a sampling of scientists and officials 
     outside the panel expressed surprise and some anxiety that a topic 
     with such a high "giggle factor" might be reincarnated for serious 
     study, possibly further blurring the lines between legitimate research 
     and the "lunatic fringe." Some said they would never comment on the 
     touchy topic, and some said they would reserve judgment until they had 
     read the report. 

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