''UFO or UAP?''

By Crusader1307

Of late, The US Government has – after nearly 75 years decided to come ''clean'' about it's contact with that oft used and very misunderstood term ''UFO'' (Unidentified Flying Object). With the release of Military Contacts, to include documents, photos and films (all still carefully redacted and ''cleaned'') – many of The Public have come up confused about the ''newest'' piece of terminology. The US Government has steered away from ''UFO'' and ''adopted'' UAP or ''Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon''. This no doubt cause questions as to just why. It is simple, (really).

Since Civilian Pilot Kenneth Arnold in 1947 first coined the phrase ''Flying Saucer'' (after His own contact over Mt. Rainer, Washington State, US), and the soon after term UFO adopted by both Civilian and Military Aviators Worldwide as a form of identifier in flight, the term UFO underwent an unintended use. Quickly taken by Hollywood, Publishing Houses (Comic Magazines) and the like, The Public associated the term with ''Alien Invaders, Monsters and all kinds of weirdness'' – found only in the Medium. This posed a problem for Governments around The World – especially with their Military. Any object in the sky, regardless if it is observed from an aerial or ground location – and from initial view CANNOT be readily identified, is seen as unidentified. Obviously, 90% of such objects can be such, with further investigation and research. This is from the common thought that perhaps the viewer is NOT trained to determine the real composition of what they are viewing. But it is very easy to instantly identify such unknown sightings as Extraterrestrial.

To counter this, many Governments (by the dawning of the 21^st Century), began to use the term ''Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon''. This ''lumped'' the possibility of ''seeing'' anything which cannot be recognized by Pilots, but are not necessarily ''Alien'' in context. ''It'' could be some form of atmospheric phenomenon, celestial or even ''unknown'' test device (from aircraft, to ''drone'' to rocket and missile). It also nicely ''ties up'' the now constant contacts many Military Pilots, Naval Ships and Ground Monitoring Systems are experiencing now. No matter which ''term'' you choose – ''UFO'' or ''UAP'', it is no doubt that the final ''truth'' with regards to Alien Life and Contact will still be MANY decades (if ever) away.................