Reply #195: But as you illustrated upthread, people who see things that others say don't exist, [View All]

[Garbo 2004]

can't possibly exist, and go public get exposed to ridicule.

And how does an ordinary person without considerable free time and resources effectively "follow up" on a sighting of something (a UFO) that appears distinctly out of the ordinary? Especially decades ago. Report it to the local police? Call the Air Force who probably wouldn't be bothered with it or if they did pay any attention in the Blue Book days, they might send someone out to tell you it was swamp gas? Call the newspapers/TV station? Find a UFO group, which may be comprised of a few people with some scientific interests or those who "channel" aliens and are awaiting the return of Zardoz? To investigate what? Something that you saw & then it left? Not like it left behind a calling card with a return address.

Meanwhile, let's say you have a life with responsibilities and aren't the type to afterwards obsessively shape a mountain out of your mashed potatoes at dinner. Why disrupt your ordinary life to get no definitive answers and be considered a "kook" in your community. It's not at all difficult to imagine why ordinary people, who aren't seeking publicity and are not interested in becoming an UFO afficionado, don't try to "follow up" on such things and don't "buy a long coat, a pipe, a magnifying glass, and a checked hat, to figure the thing out."

And no I haven't seen anything particularly remarkable. I saw something decades ago I figured at the time was space junk. Although years later when I saw pics/video of space junk and meteorites in the atmosphere, I kinda wondered since what I had seen was different, kind of trapezoidal shaped, not a fireball. Not losing any sleep over it.

What I do know I saw was back in the days of the very first satellites and space flights, the news would announce when the satellite or craft would be visible in our area. It was pretty cool in the early days to see this one little light moving seemingly past the stars way up in the sky. :)