The ones that really interest me....

Mass sightings are interesting, but I do not think polices officers or pilots are less likely the to tell the truth, hallucinate or mistake something that they are unfamiliar with just because they are 'official' or a seemingly trust-worthy authority. The following video is a good case-study on the event I think you are referring to along the same lines of thought, by Armored Skeptic:

[youtube]_uDC894gK6o[/youtube]

Thats very interesting and they're definitely prone to optical illusions or confusion as anyone else.  Pilots I thought should be more experienced, since flying is their profession.  What did you make of the air force videos that were released back in January?

Pilots I thought should be more experienced, since flying is their profession. 

That is true. They are a bit more qualified then other people (like passengers). But they are still human. If they are lying about seeing something odd, then they could have a myriad of reasons for doing so, as we all would.

As for a case of honest mistaken visual aerial identity (which is the determined cause for most, if not all aeroplane-based UFO sightings), then that is to be expected. Anything on radar or similar instruments can often just be technical malfunction or misreadings. Pilots and similar personnel may be trained and knowledgeable, but there are boundaries to their expertise, and this is further complicated by unfamiliar or unusual natural circumstances like atmospheric anomalies.  Of course, you and I have heard of all the above explanations before in regard to this, but I recap here only put some context in the answer to this question:

What did you make of the air force videos that were released back in January?

This case (and another 'released' some weeks later) is a good example of governmental officials folding to media hype. As per usual what they offer is hardly evidence (make of that what you may). The videos in question are grainy and without an explanation accompanying them, I think a lot of people would have difficulty discerning what is being shown (and thus be easier to prompted to thinking it was aliens).  Is this the case you are asking me about?:

If this is the case being referenced, then I think you'll find Armored Skeptic's video highly fascinating. The end conclusion is that these (at the time) inexperienced pilots mistook the engine-heat of a nearby jet in their infrared-camera, which was the source of the video. The media did the rest...

the bigger danger here is that they panic and start shooting in that direction, I can see a big tragedy happening if thats the case.  They could hit a fellow aircraft or even a passenger jet.  Airspace is becoming highly crowded.

the bigger danger here is that they panic and start shooting in that direction

This seems almost as unlikely to me as the notion that these objects are alien craft.  By which I mean, very unlikely.  A pilot would have to be insane not only to engage something without permission, but also to engage something that they have not positively identified, and poses no obvious threat.  I don't think insane people last long in the Air Force.

the bigger danger here is that they panic and start shooting in that direction

This seems almost as unlikely to me as the notion that these objects are alien craft.  By which I mean, very unlikely.  A pilot would have to be insane not only to engage something without permission, but also to engage something that they have not positively identified, and poses no obvious threat.  I don't think insane people last long in the Air Force.

I was thinking about past cases when air force (Russian, I believe) shot down passenger air craft.  I'm not sure whose orders it came from, but it's happened in the past.  It's pretty sad.

I just found this, looks like it could be an early version of the Stealth bomber?  Tracked both by the pilot and on radar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Air ... 8_incident

The sighting received special attention from the media,[17] as a supposed instance of the tracking of UFOs on both ground[13] and airborne radar, while being observed by experienced airline pilots, with subsequent confirmation by an FAA Division Chief

Some of this ancient stuff is fascinating 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_r ... lennium_BC

Unidentified aerial objects trigger the firing of thousands of anti-aircraft rounds and raise the wartime alert status

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Los_Angeles

Whether something unidentified (and unexpected) is experienced as a threat highly depends on whether the setting is war or not.

Some of this ancient stuff is fascinating

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_r ... lennium_BC

Yes, but highly anecdotal and subjective to myth-making.

Unidentified aerial objects trigger the firing of thousands of anti-aircraft rounds and raise the wartime alert status

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Los_Angeles

The 'UFO' was a weather-balloon released by an untrained air corps team down the coast. Bad atmospheric conditions, war-tension and a highly-stressed AA-battery crew did the rest.

Also, while we are on the topic of war, I will state that unauthorized firing is strictly prohibited as per military regulations. Anyone who has read any war-story autobiography from WW 2 onward (or has served in any armed forces themselves) will realize this. There are very strict protocols to follow when firing a weapon from ANYWHERE, be it a helicopter or with a sniper rifle, even if it is just suppressive fire. This is to avoid FRIENDLY FIRE and NEEDLESS DESTRUCTION. In Afghanistan, some weapon teams needed almost an hour for clearance to fire because their commanders topside were worried that their allies (whether international or native) could be near by and potentially misidentified.

Some of this ancient stuff is fascinating

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_r ... lennium_BC

Yes, but highly anecdotal and subjective to myth-making.

Unidentified aerial objects trigger the firing of thousands of anti-aircraft rounds and raise the wartime alert status

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Los_Angeles

The 'UFO' was a weather-balloon released by an untrained air corps team down the coast. Bad atmospheric conditions, war-tension and a highly-stressed AA-battery crew did the rest.

Also, while we are on the topic of war, I will state that unauthorized firing is strictly prohibited as per military regulations. Anyone who has read any war-story autobiography from WW 2 onward (or has served in any armed forces themselves) will realize this. There are very strict protocols to follow when firing a weapon from ANYWHERE, be it a helicopter or with a sniper rifle, even if it is just suppressive fire. This is to avoid FRIENDLY FIRE and NEEDLESS DESTRUCTION. In Afghanistan, some weapon teams needed almost an hour for clearance to fire because their commanders topside were worried that their allies (whether international or native) could be near by and potentially misidentified.

Unfortunately, it keeps happening, it seems to be that friendly fire casualties have been on the rise.  Sometimes, it's difficult to overrule the fight or flight adrenaline response.  The two passenger jets I remember being shot down were a Korean Air Lines jet and an Iranian Air Lines jet.  We've had  a lot of atrocities happen in war, because by definition, war is nasty (and yet another reason to avoid it at all costs.)  Both in Afghanistan and Iraq there were also mercenaries and private contractors (like the highly controversial group Blackwater) that made things even worse.

We've had  a lot of atrocities happen in war, because by definition, war is nasty (and yet another reason to avoid it at all costs.)  Both in Afghanistan and Iraq there were also mercenaries and private contractors (like the highly controversial group Blackwater) that made things even worse.

Oh yes, war is nasty. Not to excuse the act - but it could be nastier still were it not for the Geneva Convention. Terrorist groups and merc activities notwithstanding. 

We've had  a lot of atrocities happen in war, because by definition, war is nasty (and yet another reason to avoid it at all costs.)  Both in Afghanistan and Iraq there were also mercenaries and private contractors (like the highly controversial group Blackwater) that made things even worse.

Oh yes, war is nasty. Not to excuse the act - but it could be nastier still were it not for the Geneva Convention. Terrorist groups and merc activities notwithstanding. 

Yes and it's pretty ironic that the Bush/Cheney administration should have been prosecuted for war crimes because they did violate the Geneva Convention and yet nothing was done.  There are different standards applied for smaller countries versus the "superpowers."  The new movie Vice that just came out, mentions some of the things that were going on, specifically regarding Cheney, whose nasty behavior was legendary.

Okay so this has been all over the news lately-- some highly placed whistleblower sources too said to be "beyond reproach"-- what's going on here-- looks like a Congressional investigation is underway.

https://thedebrief.org/intelligence-off ... man-craft/

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/06 ... mpaign=nym

So the claim is that there's been a cover-up of something that has happened globally for decades.  And the sole source is some military guy.  The more absurd the claims, the less anyone with credibility will bother to argue against them.  And that will, of course, be taken as evidence for the cover-up.  This is something some people will never stop falling for.

Pretty much. Let me know when some of these alien materials are disseminated to universities for study by civilian scientists. Oh, the government would never risk it going public and potentially getting into the hands of our enemies? How convenient for a conspiracy theory.

In the meantime, I think the most probable first convincing evidence of alien intelligence will come from astronomy research programs whose methods, data, and results are open to the public. Or less likely than that, but far more likely than the conspiracy theory: if alien material exists on Earth, it is most likely to be picked up by (or eventually get into the hands of) meteorite collectors, who will then have it analyzed by a public institution.

Indeed.  Such things would in almost every case be found by civilians, who would in most cases report it to civilian institutions (including the press).  Maybe there is a misconception that the military can detect everything that falls to the ground globally with radars and spy satelittes and so on, and can send recovery missions anywhere in the world within hours before anyone else can find anything.  That's extremely far from reality.

A few decades ago it was harder to dismiss that UFO sightings had something to do with aliens due to lack of information.  Today, however, with the vast amount of cameras with decent quality around the world, a large percentage of the population even carrying one in their pocket, we can be pretty sure that if there were alien crafts visiting Earth in the manner suggested a few decades ago, we would have had firm evidence by now.

The universe might have plenty of life, but it's unlikely that we'll see it.  We can probably forget about communication for a number of reasons: The distances are too great, interstellar travel takes too long time, interstellar travel is too dangerous, it's very rare that life evolves into space explorers, it might be less likely that complex life evolves on the surface of a planet and aquatic life is pretty much trapped.

I really do believe that 99% of UFOs we see are testing advanced technologies on the part of various governments, however there would be those few UFOs that are likely alien in origin. Sure there are tons of hoaxes, faked sightings, etc, but that doesn't discredit the real possibility of actual visitation. The increased sightings in the past couple of days around the world lead to more credence of there being something deeper at work here. So many videos coming in from many areas around the world. There is something going on here, we don't know what is going on, but I really do believe it is more than one would think. 

When it comes to UFOs I often see people thinking in terms of our technology, physics, etc, when I personally believe that if there are advanced intelligences out there coming here, they'd be using ways of technology that are so advanced we'd consider them magic or "physics breaking". The UFOs could be probes of some kind without any biological entities inside. Who knows.