From alienviews: "Odd Observation #7"

Writing about how we tell ourselves we shouldn't be seeing what we clearly are seeing, even if we don't know what it is we are seeing, Alfred Lehmberg shares a memory, and much more:

alienviews: Odd Observation #7: Back at the barbecue, I would suggest, now, that my two fellow aviators and I followed the programming hypnosis of "polite" society and ignored a sighting that should have been VERY interesting to two professional military instructor pilots and one candidate astronaut, one would have thought!We reflexively and very neatly self-hypnotized ourselves with the calming mantra: "It's got to be something... It's got to be something..." Meaning, of course, It's got to be something prosaic. I remember doing it.  At the time it made perfect sense... there were "bigger" (hah!) fish to fry. (Alfred Lehmberg)

So many times this has happened to me as well. One memory -- and, like Alfred's experience at the barbecue party where the sighting took place -- I too was at a barbecue party. Summer, outdoors, near the evening but still light out. Standing around in a little circle, talking, and I'm looking up into the sky. Waaay up there, a cigar shaped object, brilliant turquoise blue, slowly traveling through the air. The blue color appeared to be more light than the color of the material of the object. Meaning, it appeared to be lit from within. It was moving slowly and seemingly randomly. Turning a little. Could have been a blimp, but I have never seen a blimp blue like that, and so high up!



We all looked up, agreed it was "weird," and went back to more mundane matters. No one offered an explanation, no one said "It's a blimp," or "That's a jet" or some such. No one said anything after that. I was the one considered an annoyance, by the fact I would still look up and comment on the object. My continuing to acknowledge its existence seemed to anger others. I've had this experience many times, as have others. Once you look up, and point out what you observe, well, how dare you upset the paradigm.



So accusations of you being a "UFO nut" or "believing in little green men" are made, jokes about anal probes and tunes from X-Files and Twilight Zone whistled all to denigrate and trivialize. When in fact, the weird-thing-in-the-sky could very well be man made, a drone, weather monitoring, spy technology, who knows. Or as yet unknown natural event. Or, indeed, a UFO from outer space. Anything, but something decidedly strange, different, unique and so far unexplained. Something that demands our attention and curiosity, regardless if it's alien or other. And yet, many reject the further investigation and dismiss the weird thing seen as unimportant.