Winds From Other Worlds Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fear of another attack similar to Pearl Harbor (which had just happened in December 1941).

On the side of those who believe that this incident was a true UFO (a flying object that is impossible to identify with certainty), it is interesting that none of the explosives aimed at the craft made contact. All of them detonated in midair some distance from it, as if they were hitting an invisible shield. On the other hand, according to those who disbelieve the event's indication of a true UFO encounter, there was absolutely no media coverage of the event at all when it happened. Though this may be explained by the fact that the media were very careful to report only what the government wanted disclosed during WWII.

Events of mass hysteria do happen, however, especially regarding things as fascinating as UFOs. In October 2007 in India, a fast-moving object was seen near Calcutta between 3:30 and 6:30 am. Some managed to film it using video cameras. According to witnesses, it went from a sphere to a triangle and then to a straight line, all the while giving off bright light in a halo of many colors. Hundreds gathered along the road to catch a glimpse of the supposed UFO, triggering a frenzy that almost degenerated into riots. A news channel later played the footage and Dr. Duari, the director of a reputable planetarium said he found it to be "extremely interesting and strange". Dr. Duari later said he believed the phenomenon to be the planet Venus.

Answer: Students from the college took photos that later appeared in "Life Magazine".

There were some students from the college nearby who claim to have taken photos of the strange series of 20-30 lights in formation. These photos were later showcased in "Life" magazine. The incident has received no official explanation to date.

Shortly after this incident, in 1952, near Carson Sink, NV, two military pilots in B-25s saw three UFOs flying three times faster than their airplane. These pilots were well-respected and were sure that this was not a superfast jet plane. This incident is also still classified as unexplained, over 65 years later.

Answer: The White House (residence and office of the President) in Washington, D.C.

Eyewitnesses saw a fleet of UFOs hover over the White House and the Capitol Building, detecting six sets of lights in patterns that were very unusual. At the same time, air traffic controllers at three nearby airports saw the same objects on their radar screens. They stayed in place, then shot up to a higher altitude, then quickly reversed back and hovered again. None of these types of flight patterns were possible for aircraft of that time.

The government later issued a statement that there had been extreme fluctuations in the temperature in the area, which cause the radar equipment to malfunction and produce images that were not really there. It seems unusual that the same type of phenomena would be detected in the same way in three different airports due to that type of malfunction. Furthermore, what of the eyewitness accounts?

Answer: cars

Several people driving their cars in Levelland, TX, in 1957, saw glowing, egg-shaped objects in the air. Their engines stalled at the same time, but the cars started up again once the egg-shaped object was gone. Authorities later claimed that the malfunctions were due to electrical storms in the area, and once again, the investigation was inconclusive.

In another example, over a dam near Baltimore, MD, in 1958, there was another egg-shaped object hovering over a bridge. This time, the two men in a car decided to get out of their vehicle and hide behind it when it went dead on them. When the object rose straight up in the sky and disappeared, their car started easily.

In Trumbull County, OH, in 1986, after several 911 calls were received reporting a UFO in the area, a respected police officer drove out to investigate. Once again, when he got near enough to see the strange glowing object, his vehicle lost power and wouldn't start. When the object disappeared, his cruiser once again worked normally.

These are just three examples of the strange effects that these unidentified flying objects appear to have on human-invented forms of locomotion.

Answer: In 1964, the Kremlin was allegedly hit by debris from a UFO that had burned up while entering the atmosphere.

The Kremlin has reported no incidents of UFO-caused damage, but there have actually been many examples of supposed UFO sightings involving damage to individuals and property.

Many claimed to see the "fiery ball" in PA in 1965 when it flew over their heads and then allegedly crashed into the woods. Almost before they could go and try to investigate, the military had arrived and roped the area off. They later removed something large on a flatbed trailer. Skeptics say this was a military experiment gone wrong. Believers say that it was the government's attempt to whisk away the evidence before civilians could see it.

The 1967 Shag Harbour incident is similar in that an apparent UFO crashed into the harbour. Though many saw it, an investigation that followed was eventually classified as unsolved by the Canadian Department of National Defence because they were unable to reach a conclusion about what it was that had fallen into the water.

The Colares, Brazil event from 1977 is perhaps the most disturbing one cited here. Four hundred witnesses claimed to see UFOs and to be attacked by radiation beams. Many went to local hospitals shortly after the incident with inexplicable burns. The Brazilian government later dubbed the strange beams from the sky "Operation Saucer", and the records of that study were sealed and classified until the 1990s. Even when released, there were many redacted portions of the documentation, so it is unclear what the government actually thought had happened.

Answer: Each of the incidents mentioned are examples of this type of close encounter.

All three cases show what might happen when coming too close to a UFO in the air. Captain Schaffner's experience is the strangest. He reported via radio that he was 400 feet from a strange conical-shaped flying object, with a spherical glass globe at one extreme that might have been an energy source. He complained of the light being very bright, and then all contact was lost. After an exhaustive search, his plane was found intact (the pilot had not ejected) on the bottom of the sea, but there was no sign of Schaffner. There has been no explanation of how his plane could be undamaged yet the pilot not be there.

The four-man helicopter crew in OH nearly crashed midair with a luminous object. Immediately, their 'copter rose from 1700 feet to 3500 feet in a matter of seconds. After that, they were able to regain control of the aircraft and get away from the UFO. All of the men gave the same account of their experience.

The JAL flight was transporting wine from Paris to Tokyo when the pilot spotted a pair of unidentified flying objects about three times the size of an aircraft carrier. Ground control confirmed with the pilot that it had also detected the two objects on radar. The pilot tracked the objects for almost an hour, and a United Airlines plane was dispatched to assist. When the second plane was arriving, the UFOs disappeared.

Answer: These were ordinary military helicopters on a NATO exercise.

Even though many people were able to take photos of what they were seeing, and there was corroboration by NATO that the objects had been detected on radar at different times, there was a widely-publicized hypothesis that these were just helicopters on an ordinary mission.

Answer: The 1995 television show "Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction" showing the autopsy of one of the Roswell alien corpses.

The supposed documentary footage of the 1995 show did end up being a hoax. When Ray Santilli, who had submitted the film as fact (and he claimed to have gotten it from someone who had been present during the autopsy), was questioned about its authenticity, he showed still photos that were meant to back up the film. The problem was that the photos were much clearer than the grainy footage, and what they showed was that the aliens were really latex dummies.

The other three incidents mentioned have all been questioned. Some think the UFO in the film from the Chilean airshow is a bug flying around that is out of focus, though it does appear to fly more like a vehicle than an insect, and it is not flying in formation with the planes in the exhibition.

The crafts hovering over Jerusalem near Halloween and in the same area on two dates a year apart have been seen by many. The crafts remain in place for a while and then appear to shoot straight up into the sky. The Israeli government does not believe them to be real, but has offered no proof that they aren't.

Finally, the UFO seen by many during the Olympic ceremonies in London has been confirmed to be a Goodyear blimp.

Answer: True

The other famous sighting in Melbourne was in 1966, when over 200 students and professors saw a UFO land in a suburb of the city. In that earlier case, the government claimed that it was a military exercise that the witnesses wanted to be something more. Nevertheless, for many years many of the 200+ witnesses would get together every year to relive their experience.

In the more recent case, despite the fact that many have captured images with their cell phone cameras and more sophisticated video equipment, experts claim that these were meteors.

Answer: Streaming video and images from the International Space Station and other space probe missions.

There have already been interesting images of what look like UFOs from the streaming video from the International Space Station in 2012-2013. In addition, the footage that has come to us from different planets taken by probes has been fascinating. It seems more likely that one of these two sources will be able to capture evidence of UFOs, if they really do exist.