UFOCENTER: Ufo, Area 51, Roswell, santilli footage, aliens
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Anthropology and UFOs: An
Introduction
Ryan J. Cook, Center for
AnthroUfology - Anthropology and UFOs
Anthropologists traditionally have taken
pride in their willingness to study everything about humans
and our primate next-of-kin. Yet anthropological research, as
in all other disciplines, is subject to the preferences and
biases of its practitioners--and those from whom they must
seek funding. Those biases include one discouraging research
on unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Despite the
insight UFOs - viewed as a social phenomenon - could
shed on many different societies and their cultural and
historical contexts, anthropological study of them is hampered
by, on the one hand, the phenomenon's association with
stigmatized fringe scientific or religious endeavors, and, on
the other, the long-standing, conflicted attitude of the
general public toward aerial anomalies (an attitude
informed but not determined by scientific and political
"knowledge elites").
Despite institutional
disincentives and widespread biases, a number scholars,
including a number of anthropologists, have been pursuing the
study of UFOs as a social phenomenon. I believe anthropology
enhances such an approach in several respects:
First,
the tantalizing but inconclusive nature of the physical
evidence in this field (e.g. chemical changes in soil and
vegetation, electromagnetic disturbances, radar returns,
photographs) has derailed many a "hard-science"
investigation. Ufologists have long lamented that, for the
most part, "all" they have to go on are witness reports. Given
the nature of the raw data, a social-scientific and
social-psychological research program should produce insights
the heretofore predominant physical-science approach would not
have produced.
Second, the UFO phenomenon is not
confined to any one society--though the exact manner in which
UFOs relate to the modern global economic system and the
cultural influence of a number of "culture-exporting" nations
(including the US) has yet to be addressed thoroughly. Most
ufological studies tend to be very limited in cultural and
geographic scope. A cross-cultural investigation of the sort
in which anthropology excels should be a great way to discern
the extent, the patterns, and the variability of UFO
reports.
A third, related matter is how UFO reports
vary between and within societies. Ufological and orthodox
scientific investigations have tended to look for patterns in
reports, casting off variations though - as more ufologists
are realizing - those variations in experience are integral to
the phenomenon. Once again, this is a place where
cross-cultural, ethnographically based research can make
significant contributions, not least by examining UFO reports
and lore within the cultural contexts within which they
circulate.
The social-scientific study of UFOs is not
as fledgling a field of research as I may make it
sound. Academic studies have been done on the history of
sightings, on UFO beliefs, and even on abduction experiences.
But I believe it can only help to encourage, through this
site, social scientists (and anyone else who is interested) to
investigate social and psychological phenomena under the UFO
rubric in their proper cultural, political-economic, and
historical context. I hope that in some way the resources
contained here can be of some use, either to those already
looking into UFOs or as a means of drawing more attention to
the investigation.
In lieu of a fuller
bibliography to come soon, I offer below a few
references I consider to be of great utility or significance
in the field. And, in the hyper-linked spirit of the Internet,
many of these works have their own, much more extensive
bibliographies that interested readers can pursue ever
outward. Some books listed are out of print, but they can be
purchased through services like Advanced Book Exchange and
Bibliofind, or specialty sellers like Gordon Speer
(www.essex1.com/people/speer/ufo.html).
Historical
references
Thomas Eddie Bullard. 1982. Mysteries in
the eye of the beholder: UFOs and their correlates as a
folkloric theme past and present. Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana
U. David M. Jacobs. 1976. The UFO controversy in
America. Bloomington: Indiana U P. Curtis Peebles. 1995.
Watch the skies! A history of the UFO myth. Washington DC:
Smithsonian. Social-scientific and social-psychological
references Joseph Blake. 1979. ‘Ufology: the intellectual
development and social context of the study of unidentified
flying objects.’ In Roy Wallis, ed. On the margins: the social
construction of rejected knowledge. Keele: U Keele. Michael
Craft. 1996. Alien impact. NY: St. Martin's. Linda Dégh.
1977. ‘UFOs and how folklorists should study them.’ Fabula
18:242-8. Brenda Denzler. 2001. The lure of the edge:
scientific passions, religious beliefs, and the pursuit of
UFOs. Berkeley: U California. C. G. Jung. 1991. Flying
saucers: a modern myth of things seen in the skies. Princeton:
Bollingen. James R. Lewis, ed. 1995. The gods have landed:
new religions from other worlds. Albany: SUNY. Joost
Meerloo. 1966. 'The flying saucer syndrome and the need for
miracles.' Journal of the American Medical Association
203:70. Bertrand Meheust. 1978. Science fiction et
soucoupes volantes. Paris: Mercure de France. Linda Jean
Milligan. 1988. The UFO debate: a study of a contemporary
legend. Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State U. Howard Peckham.
1950. ‘Flying saucers as folklore.’ Hoosier Folklore
9:103-7. Ted Peters. 1977. UFOs-God’s chariots? Flying
saucers in politics, science, and religion. Atlanta: John
Knox. Carl Raschke. 1989. 'UFOs: ultraterrestrial agents of
cultural deconstruction.' Archaeus 5:21-32. John Rimmer.
1969. ‘The UFO as an anti-scientific symbol.’ Merseyside UFO
Bulletin 2(4). David Ritchie. 1994. UFO: the definitive
guide to unidentified flying objects and related phenomena.
NY: MJF. Peter Rojcewicz. 1984. The boundaries of
orthodoxy: a folkloric look at the UFO phenomenon. Ph.D.
dissertation, U Pennsylvania. Carl Sagan and Thornton Page,
eds. 1996 [1972]. UFOs: a scientific debate. NY: Barnes &
Noble [Ithaca: Cornell UP]. Benson Saler, Charles Ziegler,
and Charles Moore. 1997. UFO crash at Roswell: the genesis of
a modern myth. Washington DC: Smithsonian. Keith Thompson.
1993. Angels and aliens: UFOs and the mythic imagination. New
York: Fawcett.
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