Ufology

Study of UFOs

Not to be confused with UFO religion or Urology.

UFOs and ufology

Notable sightings

* 1947 wave
* 1952 flap
* Barney and Betty Hill
* Belgian wave
* Calvine photo
* Chiles-Whitted
* Flatwoods monster
* Gorman dogfight
* Kenneth Arnold sighting
* Mantell crash
* Mariana film
* McMinnville photos
* Rendlesham Forest
* Roswell
* Sightings in outer space
* 'Swamp gas'
* Pentagon UFO videos
* Phoenix Lights

Hoaxes

* Alien autopsy hoax
* Travis Walton

* Government investigations

* Operação Prato - Brazil
* Project Magnet - Canada
* GEIPAN - France
* Institute 22 - Soviet Union
* Flying Saucer Working Party - UK
* Project Condign - UK
* History of government investigations - US
* All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office - US
* NASA's UAP independent study team - US
* Condon Committee - US
* Project Blue Book - US

Conspiracy theories

* Area 51
* Bob Lazar
* Majestic 12
* Men in black
* Serpo

Lists of organizations, sightings, studies, etc.

* UFO organizations
* Reported UFO sightings
* Sightings by country
* Investigations of UFOs by governments
* Identification studies of UFOs
* Ufologists
* Alleged extraterrestrial beings

* v
* t
* e

Part of a series on the

Paranormal

Main articles

* Astral projection
* Astrology
* Aura
* Bilocation
* Breatharianism
* Clairvoyance
* Close encounter
* Cold spot
* Crystal gazing
* Conjuration
* Cryptozoology
* Demonic possession
* Demonology
* Doppelgänger
* Ectoplasm
* Electronic voice phenomenon
* Exorcism
* Extrasensory perception
* Forteana
* Fortune-telling
* Ghost hunting
* Haunted locations
* India
* UK
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* Magic
* Mediumship
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* Orb
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* Precognition
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* Psychic reading
* Psychometry
* Reincarnation
* Remote viewing
* Retrocognition
* Spirit photography
* Spirit possession
* Spirit world
* Spiritualism
* Stone Tape
* Supernatural
* Telekinesis
* Telepathy
* Table-turning
* Ufology

Skepticism

* Cold reading
* Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
* Debunking
* Hoax
* James Randi Educational Foundation
* Magical thinking
* Prizes for evidence of the paranormal
* Pseudoskepticism
* Scientific literacy
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Parapsychology

* Anomalous experiences
* Apparitional experiences
* Empath
* False awakening
* Hypnosis
* Ideomotor phenomenon
* Out-of-body experiences
* Parapsychology
* Synchronicity

Related

* Anomalistics
* Argument from ignorance
* Argumentum ad populum
* Bandwagon effect
* Begging the question
* Cognitive dissonance
* Communal reinforcement
* Fallacy
* Falsifiability
* Fringe science
* Groupthink
* Hypnosis
* Junk science
* Protoscience
* Pseudoscience
* Scientific evidence
* Scientific method
* Superstition
* Uncertainty
* Urban legend

* v
* t
* e

Ufology, sometimes written UFOlogy (US: /juːˈfɑːlədʒi/ or UK: /juːˈfɒlədʒi/),[1] is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial alien visitors).[2][3] While there are instances of government, private, and fringe science investigations of UFOs, ufology is generally regarded by skeptics and science educators as an example of pseudoscience.

## Etymology

[edit]

Ufology is a neologism derived from UFO (a term apparently coined by Edward J. Ruppelt),[4] and is derived from appending the acronym UFO with the suffix -logy (from the Ancient Greek -λογία (-logia)). Early uses of ufology include an article in Fantastic Universe (1957)[5] and a 1958 presentation for the UFO "research organization" The Planetary Center.[6]

## Historical background

[edit]

A Swedish Air Force officer searches for a "ghost rocket" in Lake Kölmjärv, Norrland, Sweden, in July 1946.

The roots of ufology include the "mystery airships" of the late 1890s, the "foo fighters" reported by Allied airmen during World War II, the "ghost fliers" of Europe and North America during the 1930s, the "ghost rockets" of Scandinavia (mainly Sweden) in 1946, and the Kenneth Arnold "flying saucer" sighting of 1947.[7][8] Media attention to the Arnold sighting helped publicize the concept of flying saucers.[9]

Publicity of UFOs increased after World War II, coinciding with the escalation of the Cold War and strategic concerns related to the development and detection (e.g., the Ground Observer Corps) of advanced Soviet aircraft.[7][10][11] Official, government-sponsored activities in the United States related to ufology ended in the late 1960s following the Condon Committee report and the termination of Project Blue Book.[12] Government-sponsored, UFO-related activities in other countries, including the United Kingdom,[13][14] Canada,[15] Denmark,[16] Italy,[17] and Sweden[18] also ended. An exception to this trend is France, which maintains the GEIPAN[19] program, formerly known as GEPAN (1977–1988) and SEPRA (1988–2004), operated by the French Space Agency CNES.

On 14 September 2023, NASA reported the appointment, for the first time, of a Director of U.A.P. (known earlier as U.F.O.), identified as Mark McInerney, to scientifically and transparently study such occurrences.[20]

## As a field

[edit]

Further information: List of ufologists

### Status as a pseudoscience

[edit]

Main article: Identification studies of UFOs

Despite investigations sponsored by governments and private entities, ufology is not embraced by academia as a scientific field of study, and is instead generally considered a pseudoscience by skeptics and science educators,[21] being often included on lists of topics characterized as pseudoscience as either a partial[22] or total[23][24] pseudoscience.[25][26][27][28][29] Pseudoscience is a term that classifies arguments that are claimed to exemplify the methods and principles of science, but do not adhere to an appropriate scientific method, lack supporting evidence, plausibility, falsifiability, or otherwise lack scientific status.[30]

Some writers have identified social factors that contribute to the status of ufology as a pseudoscience,[31][32][33] with one study suggesting that "any science doubt surrounding unidentified flying objects and aliens was not primarily due to the ignorance of ufologists about science, but rather a product of the respective research practices of and relations between ufology, the sciences, and government investigative bodies".[32] One study suggests that "the rudimentary standard of science communication attending to the extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) hypothesis for UFOs inhibits public understanding of science, dissuades academic inquiry within the physical and social sciences, and undermines progressive space policy initiatives".[34]

### Current interest

[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2022)

|

In 2021, astronomer Avi Loeb launched The Galileo Project[35] which intends to collect and report scientific evidence of extraterrestrials or extraterrestrial technology on or near Earth via telescopic observations.[36][37][38][39]

In Germany, the University of Würzburg is developing intelligent sensors that can help detect and analyze aerial objects in hopes of applying such technology to UAP.[40][41][42][43]

A 2021 Gallup poll found that belief among Americans in some UFOs being extraterrestrial spacecraft grew between 2019 and 2021 from 33% to 41%. Gallup cited increased coverage in mainstream news and scrutiny from government authorities as a factor in changing attitudes towards UFOs.[44]

In 2022, NASA announced a nine-month study starting in the fall to help establish a road map for investigating UAP—or for reconnaissance of the publicly available data it might use for such research.[45][46][47]

In 2023, the RAND Corporation published a study reviewing 101,151 public reports of UAP sightings in the United States from 1998 to 2022.[48] The models used to conduct the analysis showed that reports of UAP sightings were less likely within 30 km of weather stations, 60 km of civilian airports, and in more–densely populated areas, while rural areas tended to have a higher rate of UAP reports. The most consistent and statistically significant finding was that reports of UAP sightings were more likely to occur within 30 km of military operations areas, where routine military training occurs.

### Methodological issues

[edit]

Although some ufologists (e.g., Peter A. Sturrock) have proposed explicit methodological activities for the investigation of UFOs,[49] scientific UFO research is challenged by the facts that the phenomena are spatially and temporally unpredictable, are not reproducible, and lack tangible physicality.[50][51] That most UFO sightings have mundane explanations[52] limits interpretive power of "interesting," extraordinary UFO-related events, with the astronomer Carl Sagan writing: "The reliable cases are uninteresting and the interesting cases are unreliable. Unfortunately there are no cases that are both reliable and interesting."[53]

Josef Allen Hynek (left) and Jacques Vallée

The ufologists J. Allen Hynek and Jacques Vallée have each developed descriptive systems for characterizing UFO sightings and, by extension, for organizing ufology investigations.[54][55][56][unreliable source?]

### Phenomena linked to ufology

[edit]

In addition to UFO sightings, certain supposedly related phenomena are of interest to some ufologists, including crop circles,[57][58] cattle mutilations,[59] anomalous materials,[60][61] alien abductions and implants.[62][63][64][65]

Some ufologists have also promoted UFO conspiracy theories, including the Roswell Incident of 1947,[66][67][68] the Majestic 12 documents,[69] and UFO disclosure advocates.[70][71]

Skeptic Robert Sheaffer has accused ufology of having a "credulity explosion,"[72] writing that "the kind of stories generating excitement and attention in any given year would have been rejected by mainstream ufologists a few years earlier for being too outlandish."[72] The physicist James E. McDonald also identified "cultism" and "extreme...subgroups" as negatively impacting ufology.[73]

### In Posadism

[edit]

During the Cold War, ufology was synthesized with the ideas of a Trotskyist movement in South America known as Posadism. Posadism's main theorist, Juan Posadas, believed the human race must "appeal to the beings on other planets...to intervene and collaborate with Earth's inhabitants in suppressing poverty;" i.e., Posadas wished to collaborate with extraterrestrials to create a socialist system on Earth.[74] The adoption of this belief among Posadists, who had previously been a significant political force in South America, has been noted as a contributing factor in their decline.[75]

## Governmental and private ufology studies

[edit]

Further information: Identification studies of UFOs and List of investigations of UFOs by governments

Starting in the 1940s, governmental agencies and private groups sponsored investigations, studies, and conferences related to ufology. Typically motivated by visual UFO sightings, the goals of these studies included critical evaluation of the observational evidence, attempts to resolve and identify the observed events, and the development of policy recommendations. These studies include Project Sign, Project Magnet, Project Blue Book, the Robertson Panel, and the Condon Committee in the United States, the Flying Saucer Working Party and Project Condign in Britain, GEIPAN in France, and Project Hessdalen in Norway. Private studies of UFO phenomena include those produced by the RAND Corporation in 1968,[76] Harvey Rutledge of the University of Missouri from 1973 to 1980,[77][78] and the National Press Club's Disclosure Project in 2001.[79][80][81] Additionally, the United Nations from 1977 to 1979 sponsored meetings and hearings concerning UFO sightings.[82][83] In August 2020, the United States Department of Defense established the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force to detect, analyze and catalog unidentified aerial phenomena that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security.[84]

## UFO organizations and events

[edit]

Main article: List of UFO organizations

Further information: List of skeptics and skeptical organizations

A large number of private organizations dedicated to the study, discussion, and publicity of ufology and other UFO-related topics exist worldwide, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Switzerland. Along with such "pro-UFO" groups are skeptic organizations that emphasize the pseudoscientific nature of ufology.

During the annual World UFO Day (2 July), ufologists and associated organizations raise public awareness of ufology to "tell the truth about earthly visits from outer space aliens."[85][86] The day's events include group gatherings to search for and observe UFOs.[87][88]

## See also

[edit]

* Identification studies of UFOs
* Extraterrestrial hypothesis
* Psychosocial hypothesis
* Interdimensional hypothesis
* Time-traveler hypothesis
* Cryptoterrestrial UFO hypothesis
* Fringe science
* List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
* List of reported UFO sightings
* List of Ufologists
* Close encounters
* The Phenomenon (2020 film)
* UFOs in fiction
* UFO religion

## References

[edit]

1. ^ https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/ufology
2. ^ Blake, Joseph A. (2015-05-27). "Ufology: The Intellectual Development and Social Context of the Study of Unidentified Flying Objects". The Sociological Review. 27: 315–337\. doi:10.1111/j.1467-954x.1979.tb00067.x. ISSN 1467-954X. S2CID 146530394.
3. ^ Restivo, Sal P. (2005). Science, technology, and society: an encyclopedia. Oxford University Press US. p. 176. ISBN 0-19-514193-8.
4. ^ Ruppelt, Edward (2007). The Report On Unidentified Flying Objects. Charleston, South Carolina: BiblioBazaar. ISBN 978-1434609168.
5. ^ Sanderson, Ivan T. "An Introduction to Ufology." Fantastic Universe. Feb. 1957: 27–34. Print.
6. ^ Adam. "Challenge of UFOs – Part II Chapter VII". nicap.org. Retrieved 2017-11-12.
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8. ^ Denzler, Brenda (2003). The lure of the edge: scientific passions, religious beliefs, and the pursuit of UFOs. University of California Press. pp. 6–7\. ISBN 0-520-23905-9.
9. ^ Denzler (2003), p. 9
10. ^ Schulgen, George (October 28, 1947). "Schulgen Memo". Retrieved May 3, 2010.
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19. ^ GEIPAN stands for Groupe d'Études et d'Informations sur les Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés ("unidentified aerospace phenomenon research and information group").
20. ^ Chang, Kenneth (14 September 2023). "NASA Introduces New U.F.O. Research Director – The role was created in response to the recommendations of a report that found the agency could do more to collect and interpret data on unidentified anomalous phenomena". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
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24. ^ Restivo, Sal P. (2005). Science, technology, and society: an encyclopedia. Oxford University Press US. p. 176. ISBN 0-19-514193-8.
25. ^ Shermer, Michael (2002). Shermer, Michael (ed.). The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience (PDF). ABC–CLIO, Inc. ISBN 978-1-57607-653-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
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31. ^ Feist (2006), pp. 219–20
32. ^ a b Eghigian, Greg (2015-12-06). "Making UFOs make sense: Ufology, science, and the history of their mutual mistrust". Public Understanding of Science. 26 (5): 612–626\. doi:10.1177/0963662515617706. PMID 26644010. S2CID 37769406.
33. ^ Cooper, Rachel (2009). "Chapter 1: Is psychiatric research scientific?". In Broome, Matthew; Bortolotti, Lisa (eds.). Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience: Philosophical Perspectives. Oxford University Press. p. 19\. ISBN 978-0-19-923803-3.
34. ^ Dodd, Adam (27 April 2018). "Strategic Ignorance and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Critiquing the Discursive Segregation of UFOs from Scientific Inquiry". Astropolitics. 16 (1): 75–95\. Bibcode:2018AstPo..16...75D. doi:10.1080/14777622.2018.1433409. ISSN 1477-7622. S2CID 148687469.
35. ^ Loeb, Avi (19 September 2021). "Astronomers Should be Willing to Look Closer at Weird Objects in the Sky – The Galileo Project seeks to train telescopes on unidentified aerial phenomena". Scientific American. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
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38. ^ Mann, Adam. "Avi Loeb's Galileo Project Will Search for Evidence of Alien Visitation". Scientific American. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
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41. ^ "UAP & SETI – Chair of Computer Science VIII – Aerospace Information Technology". informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
42. ^ "Where Science and UAP Meet" (PDF). Retrieved 4 July 2022.
43. ^ Andresen, Jensine; Torres, Octavio A. Chon (2022). Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Academic and Societal Implications. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5275-7925-5.
44. ^ "Larger Minority in U.S. Says Some UFOs Are Alien Spacecraft". Gallup.com. 2021-08-20. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
45. ^ Kelvey, Jon (10 June 2022). "Nasa UFO study to focus on gathering data, not making conclusions". The Independent. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
46. ^ Hunt, Katie; Strickland, Ashley. "NASA is assembling a team to gather data on unidentifiable events in the sky". CNN. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
47. ^ Bock, Michael (9 June 2022). "NASA to Set Up Independent Study on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena". NASA. Archived from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
48. ^ Posard, Marek N.; Gromis, Ashley; Lee, Mary (2023-07-25). Not the X-Files: Mapping Public Reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Across America (Report). RAND Corporation.
49. ^ Sturrock (2000) p. 163
50. ^ Denzler (2003), p. 35
51. ^ Hoyt, Diana Palmer (2000-04-20). UFOCRITIQUE: UFO's, Social Intelligence and the Condon Committees (Thesis). Master's Thesis. Virginia Polytechnic Institute. p. 13\. hdl:10919/32352. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2007-03-17. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
52. ^ Markovsky B., "UFOs", in The Skeptic's Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, edited by Michael Shermer, 2002 Skeptics Society, p. 260
53. ^ Sagan, Carl (1975). Other Worlds. Bantam. p. 113. ISBN 0-552-66439-1.
54. ^ Hynek, J. Allen (1974). The UFO experience: a scientific enquiry. Corgi. ISBN 0-552-09430-7.
55. ^ Tumminia, Diana G. (2007). Alien worlds: social and religious dimensions of extraterrestrial contact. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-0858-5.
56. ^ Vallée, Jacques F. (1998). "Physical Analyses in Ten Cases of Unexplained Aerial Objects with Material Samples". Journal of Scientific Exploration. 12 (3): 360–361.
57. ^ Andrews, Colin; Spignesi, Stephen J. (2003). Crop circles: signs of contact. Career Press. ISBN 1-56414-674-X.
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62. ^ Denzler (2003), p. 239
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73. ^ McDonald (1968)
74. ^ "J. Posadas: Flying saucers ... and the socialist future of mankind (26 June 1968)". marxists.org. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
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87. ^ "Can you answer the UFO questions?". BBC News. 2 July 2003. Retrieved 2003-07-02.
88. ^ Schwartz, John (3 July 2010). "Out of This World, Out of Our Minds". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-05-09.

## Further reading

[edit]

Academic books about ufology as a sociological and historical phenomenon

* Denzler, Brenda (2003). The lure of the edge: scientific passions, religious beliefs, and the pursuit of UFOs. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23905-9.
* Ballester-Olmos, V.J.; Heiden, Richard W., eds. (2023). The Reliability of UFO Witness Testimony. Turin, Italy: UPIAR. ISBN 9791281441002.

Pro-ufology

* Hynek, J. Allen (1998). The UFO experience: a scientific inquiry. Da Capo Press. ISBN 1-56924-782-X.
* Vallée, Jacques F. (1991). Confrontations: A Scientist's Search for Alien Contact. Random House Value Publishing. ISBN 0-517-07204-1.

Skeptical opinions

* Klass, Philip J. (1983). UFOs: The Public Deceived. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-322-6.
* Sheaffer, Robert (1986). The UFO Verdict: Examining the Evidence. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-338-2.
* Graff, Garrett (2023). UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here – and Out There. New York: Avid Reader Press. ISBN 9781982196776. OCLC 1407420009.

Ufology studies

* Gillmor, Daniel S.; Condon, Edward U. (1970). Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects. Vision. ISBN 0-85478-142-0.
* Rutledge, Harley D. (1981). Project Identification: The First Scientific Field Study of UFO Phenomena. Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-730705-5.

## External links

[edit]

* Ufology News
* Center for UFO Studies
* Mutual UFO Network
* National UFO Reporting Center
* Groupe d'Études et d'Informations sur les Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés
* British UFO Research Association
* Committee for Skeptical Inquiry UFO resources Archived 2011-09-02 at the Wayback Machine

* v
* t
* e

UFOs

* Ufology

Claimed sightings|

| General|

* List of reported UFO sightings
* Sightings in outer space
* Sightings near atomic sites
* UFO reports and disinformation

|

Pre-20th century|

* Ezekiel's Wheel (circa 622–570 BC)
* Airship of Clonmacnoise (740s)
* 1561 celestial phenomenon over Nuremberg
* 1566 celestial phenomenon over Basel
* 1665 celestial phenomenon over Stralsund
* José Bonilla observation (1883)
* Airship wave (1896–97)
* Aurora (1897)

20th century|

* Los Angeles (1942)
* Ängelholm UFO memorial (1946)
* Kenneth Arnold (1947)
* 1947 craze
* Flight 105 (1947)
* Roswell (1947)
* Rhodes (1947)
* Mantell (1948)
* Chiles-Whitted (1948)
* Gorman Dogfight (1948)
* Mariana (1950)
* McMinnville photographs (1950)
* Sperry (1950)
* Lubbock Lights (1951)
* Nash-Fortenberry (1952)
* Washington, D.C. (1952)
* Flatwoods monster (1952)
* Kelly–Hopkinsville (1955)
* Lakenheath-Bentwaters (1956)
* Antônio Villas Boas (1957)
* Levelland (1957)
* Barney and Betty Hill abduction (1961)
* Lonnie Zamora incident (1964)
* Solway Firth Spaceman (1964)
* Exeter (1965)
* Kecksburg (1965)
* Westall (1966)
* Falcon Lake (1967)
* Shag Harbour (1967)
* Jimmy Carter (1969)
* Finnish Air Force (1969)
* Pascagoula Abduction (1973)
* John Lennon UFO incident (1974)
* Travis Walton incident (1975)
* Tehran (1976)
* Petrozavodsk phenomenon (1977)
* Operação Prato (1977)
* Zanfretta incident (1978)
* Valentich disappearance (1978)
* Kaikoura Lights (1978)
* Robert Taylor incident (1979)
* Val Johnson incident (1979)
* Manises (1979)
* Cash–Landrum incident (1980)
* Rendlesham Forest (1980)
* Trans-en-Provence (1981)
* Japan Air Lines (1986)
* Ilkley Moor (1987)
* Voronezh incident (1989)
* Belgian UFO wave (1990)
* Ariel School (1994)
* Varginha (1996)
* Phoenix Lights (1997)

21st century|

* USS Nimitz UFO incident (2004)
* Campeche, Mexico (2004)
* O'Hare Airport (2006)
* Alderney (2007)
* Norway (2009)
* USS Theodore Roosevelt UFO incidents (2014)
* Jetpack man (2020–21)
* High-altitude object events (2023)
* David Grusch claims (2023)

Confirmed hoaxes|

* Maury Island hoax (1947)
* Twin Falls, Idaho hoax (1947)
* Aztec, New Mexico hoax (1949)
* Southern England (1967)
* Majestic 12 (1985)
* Gulf Breeze (1987–88)
* Alien Autopsy (1995 film)
* Morristown (2009)

Sightings by country|

* Africa (South Africa)
* Albania
* Argentina
* Australia
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Brazil
* Canada
* China
* Czech Republic
* France
* Greece
* India
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Italy
* Mexico
* Nepal
* New Zealand
* Norway
* Poland
* Russia
* Spain (Canary Islands)
* Sweden
* United Kingdom
* United States

Types of UFOs|

* Black triangle
* Flying saucer
* Foo fighter
* Ghost rockets
* Green fireballs
* Mystery airship
* Space jellyfish

Types of alleged
extraterrestrial beings|

* Energy beings
* Grey aliens
* Insectoids
* Little green men
* Nordic aliens
* Reptilian humanoids

Studies and timeline|

* Investigation of UFO reports by the United States government
* The Flying Saucers Are Real (1947–1950)
* Project Sign (1948)
* Project Grudge (1949)
* Flying Saucer Working Party (1950)
* Project Magnet (1950–1962)
* Project Blue Book (1952–1970)
* Robertson Panel (1953)
* Ruppelt report (1956)
* National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (1956–1980)
* Condon Report (1966–1968)
* Institute 22 (1978–?)
* Project Condign (1997–2000)
* Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (2007–2012)
* Identification studies of UFOs
* Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (current)
* NASA's UAP independent study team

Hypotheses|

* Ancient astronauts
* Cryptoterrestrial
* Extraterrestrial
* Interdimensional
* Psychological perspectives on UFO belief
* Psychosocial
* Nazi UFOs
* Time-traveller
* Posadist Trotskyism

Conspiracy theories|

* Area 51
* Storm Area 51
* Bob Lazar
* Dulce Base
* Men in black
* Project Serpo

Involvement|

| Abduction claims|

* History
* Entities
* Narrative
* Perspectives
* Insurance

|

Other|

* Implants
* Cattle mutilation
* Close encounter
* Contactee
* Crop circles
* Government responses
* GEIPAN
* Organizations
* Ufologists

Culture|

* Fiction
* Religions
* list

Skepticism|

* List of scientific skeptics
* Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

Government and law|

* United States Congress hearings on UFOs (2022)
* Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act (UADPA), USA law (2023)

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Pseudoscience

List of topics characterized as pseudoscience

Terminology|

* Cargo cult science
* Charlatan
* Crank
* Fringe theory
* Fringe science
* Pseudoarchaeology
* Pseudohistory
* Pseudomathematics
* Junk science
* Paranormal
* Pathological science
* Quackery
* Snake oil
* Superseded scientific theory
* True-believer syndrome
* Voodoo Science

Topics
characterized as
pseudoscience|

| Medicine|

* Acupuncture
* Aromatherapy
* Adrenal fatigue
* Alternative medicine
* Anthroposophic medicine
* Applied kinesiology
* Ayurveda
* Bates method
* Biorhythms
* Bloodletting
* Body memory
* Chiropractic
* Chromotherapy
* Correactology
* Cryonics
* Crystal healing
* Cupping
* Detoxification
* Colon cleansing
* Doctrine of signatures
* Doktor Koster's Antigaspills
* Ear candling
* Electromagnetic hypersensitivity
* Energy medicine
* Fad diet
* FasciaBlaster
* Germ theory denialism
* HIV/AIDS denialism
* Homeopathy
* Humorism
* Iridology
* Leaky gut syndrome
* LGBTQ chemicals conspiracy theory
* Lunar effect
* Macrobiotic diet
* Magnet therapy
* Miracle Mineral Supplement
* Naturopathy
* Palmistry
* Panchagavya
* Patent medicine
* Phrenology
* Primal therapy
* Radionics
* Reiki
* Traditional medicine
* Traditional Chinese medicine
* Trepanning
* Vertebral subluxation
* Wind turbine syndrome
* Young blood transfusion

|

Social science|

* 2012 phenomenon
* Ancient astronauts
* Arabian Judah theory
* Catastrophism
* Conspiracy theory
* 5G conspiracy
* 9/11 conspiracy theories
* Chemtrail conspiracy theory
* Climate change denial
* COVID-19 misinformation
* Moon landing conspiracy theories
* Opposition to water fluoridation
* Conversion therapy
* Expanding Earth Theory
* Generational theory
* Generationism
* Strauss–Howe generational theory
* Hollow Earth theory
* Indigo children
* Japhetic theory
* Mediumship
* Nazi archaeology
* Nibiru cataclysm
* Parapsychology
* Pseudoarchaeology
* Pseudohistory
* Genocide denial
* Historical negationism
* Holocaust denial
* Tartarian Empire
* Pseudolaw
* Recovered-memory therapy
* Past life regression
* Scientific racism
* Aryan race
* Melanin theory
* Myers–Briggs Type Indicator
* Enneagram of Personality

Physics|

* Anti-gravity
* Cold fusion
* Faster-than-light travel
* Perpetual motion
* Quantum mysticism
* Reactionless drive
* Dean drive
* EMDrive
* Teleportation
* Tractor beam
* Water-fueled car

Other|

* Alchemy
* Aquatic ape hypothesis
* Astrology
* Biodynamic agriculture
* Biological transmutation
* Creation science
* Cryptozoology
* Dianetics
* Auditing
* Dowsing
* Electronic voice phenomenon
* Eugenics
* Facilitated communication
* Feng shui
* Flat Earth theory
* Modern flat Earth beliefs
* Graphology
* Intelligent design
* Laundry ball
* Law of attraction
* Levitation
* Lysenkoism
* Numerology
* Orgone
* Polygraph
* Pseudoscientific metrology
* Rapid prompting method
* Statement analysis
* Ufology
* Voice stress analysis
* Water memory

Promoters of
pseudoscience|

* Sucharit Bhakdi
* Del Bigtree
* Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff
* Brigitte Boisselier
* Rhonda Byrne
* Robert Charroux
* Deepak Chopra
* Clonaid
* Vernon Coleman
* Michael Crichton
* Ignatius L. Donnelly
* Gaia, Inc.
* Max Gerson
* Nicholas Gonzalez
* Goop (company)
* Graham Hancock
* David Icke
* William Donald Kelley
* Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
* Corentin Louis Kervran
* The Light (newspaper)
* Mike Lindell
* Jenny McCarthy
* Joseph Mercola
* Judy Mikovits
* Ministry of Ayush
* Theodor Morell
* Hans Alfred Nieper
* Mehmet Oz
* Raël (Claude Vorilhon)
* Robby Starbuck
* Randolph Stone
* Paul Joseph Watson
* Andrew Wakefield

Related topics|

* Bogdanov affair
* Bourgeois pseudoscience
* Demarcation problem
* Scientific method
* Suppressed research in the Soviet Union

Resources|

* Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
* Cults of Unreason
* An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural
* Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science
* Fortean Times
* James Randi Educational Foundation
* Quackwatch
* Skeptical Inquirer
* The Demon-Haunted World
* The Natural History of Quackery
* The Psychology of the Occult
* The Ragged Edge of Science
* The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience
* The Skeptic's Dictionary

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