There are conflicting views on World UFO Day, just like there are differing opinions on the existence of extraterrestrial beings. Some observe the stars on June 24, the date when a pilot reported seeing "flying saucers" over Mount Rainier in 1947, while others anticipate communication with aliens on July 2, the day that same year when a supposed UFO crashed in the desert near Roswell, New Mexico. Nevertheless, the ultimate aim for believers remains the same: to increase awareness that we may not be alone in the vast universe. To commemorate World UFO Day 2023, we delved into the Atlas Obscura archive for tales of science, enigma, and our fascination with the unexplained.
A desire to establish contact with aliens drove the Victorians to experiment with utilizing giant mirrors.
Carl Friedrich Gauss, a renowned mathematician from Germany, was among the 19th-century scholars who shared the conviction that there was intelligent life on the Moon. He posited the concept of math being a universal language for both humans and extraterrestrial beings, and proposed a method of using 100 16-foot square mirrors to emit a message into space through reflected sunlight.
These Swedish apartment cellars house a massive collection of UFO-related documents.
Nestled on the shores of the Baltic Sea, Norrköping, Sweden, was once a bustling industrial hub renowned for its textile production. However, with the decline of the textile industry due to outsourcing, Norrköping has transformed into a tranquil student city. Yet, this peaceful town is also home to the Archives for the Unexplained, previously called The UFO Archives, which houses an extensive collection of material on various questionable phenomena, including UFO sightings, the Loch Ness Monster, fairies, and parapsychology.
As an astronomer, you spend your days in the lab, studying signals from space. However, one day, your instruments detect a peculiar signal. After confirming it is not a technical error, you begin to consider various explanations, both obvious and unconventional. In a moment of potential disbelief, the notion of encountering evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence may cross your mind. What follows?
Venturing into Mexico's Zone of Silence, an Area Filled with Tales of Aliens
According to writer T.E. Wilson, Geraldo Rivera, a state official and avid UFO researcher, shared numerous tales of alien activity and mysterious flying objects within the Zone. This 50-kilometer region in the Mexican desert is notorious for causing disorientation and disrupting navigation systems. Allegedly, some individuals who have gotten lost in the Zone have reported encountering tall, blonde entities who communicate fluently in Spanish and vanish without a trace, claiming to be from "Above."