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Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena
Culture and Society > Metaphysics > Esotericism
Culture and Society > Myths and the Unexplained > Myths and Rumours
Culture and Society > Metaphysics > Religion
Culture and Society > Myths and the Unexplained > Myths and Rumours
Culture and Society > Metaphysics > Religion
Unexplained phenomena seen in planetary and megastructure atmospheres and in space | |
 Image from Steve Bowers | |
| A UAP seen in the atmosphere of Karoo Banks Orbital; probably a meteoric bolide that was allowed through by the automated meteor defence system since it posed no threat, but such events are rare, and this identification is uncertain. | |
Unidentified anomalous phenomena have been reported by various xenosophont civilisations over an even longer period, although the details vary significantly according to the nature and psychology of the observer. The Muuh have many legends of such observations, and call them by many names, some of which can be translated as 'sky lurkers' or 'trickster ghosts'; the Muuh love to collect such stories, especially from Terragens, but they do not seem to take them very seriously.
Most sightings of unidentified anomalous phenomena have non-exotic explanations; misidentified aircraft or spacecraft and emissions from such craft, misidentified celestial objects, atmospheric phenomena including parhelia, meteors and space debris, nearby objects such as flying animals, insect analogs, drones, even biological material like webs and thistledown.
The Low Information Zone
In most locations in the Terragen Sphere, modosophonts carry with them (or have quick access to) sensors such as cameras which can record these sightings for later analysis, making identification easier; however in some cases the images are over-magnified, over-exposed or distorted by glare effects making the results ambiguous. The widespread use of drones and other aerial devices in the atmospheres of planets and large megastructures often makes precise identification difficult. A large number of enthusiasts dedicate themselves to the task of identifying any such sightings, sometimes from the point of view that all such observations have mundane explanations, and more often with the goal of uncovering truly anomalous phenomena.Most unexplained sightings occur at or beyond the limits of reliable identification, where sensors and recording devices are less capable of obtaining good data; the place where such ambiguous observations are made is sometimes known as the Low Information Zone (LIZ), and any increase in the resolution of sensor systems simply moves the LIZ further away from the observer. For this reason the UAP phenomenon seems likely to remain indeterminate for the foreseeable (and unforeseeable) future.
Unidentified probes, drones, spycraft and autonomous warcraft
Before the Great Expulsion, several different factions and polities were building surveillance craft and satellites designed to observe their rivals. Many of the observations during this era were associated with political or commercial espionage. During the Sundering Era many warcraft and autonomous spycraft could be found throughout the Solar System, and any anomalous sightings were generally assumed to be enemy drones or missiles. The Federation of Sophonts attempted to clear such devices from the Inner Sphere, with some success; but since that time many different factions have launched autonomous replicating craft of all kinds for many different reasons, some of which have caused UAP sightings throughout the Terragen Sphere.A number of rogue factions, eccentric transapients and ahuman metaempires launch probes or spycraft that may impinge upon the territories of other polities and systems, resulting not only in UAP reports but a degree of understandable paranoia. Objects of this kind have been seen in approximately fifteen percent of all systems at one time or another, and some at least are apparently Diamond Network, Panvirtuality, or even Hider spy probes. These intrusions are usually detected and intercepted by the local defence systems, but some occasionally get through. A number of almost incomprehensible phenomena are caused by the activities of animin entities, sometimes these are benign in nature but they may present a degree of unpredictable risk.
Many of this type are configured to destroy themselves when captured, and some seem to contain either a microscale Hayward wormhole, or a store of quantum-entangled material; this gives the drone a method of communicating with its home system that is impossible to intercept.
Hoaxes
A number of sophisticated hoaxes have been perpetrated at various times that relate to UAPs; using AI-assisted image- and video-generation tools it is relatively easy to create completely convincing faked images and sensor readings that show mysterious phenomena. These sort of fakes can usually, but not always, be detected by comparing the data concerned with other, nearby sensors, especially dedicated cliological surveillance systems designed to record events for historical purposes. However not all locations in the Terragen Sphere are recorded in this way, often because of privacy concerns.Theories of exotic origins
In the early years of Terragen expansion, some UAPs were believed to be the result of xenosophont activity originating from the star Zeta Reticuli, although in due course the system was colonised and no trace of xenosophont activity was found. However among the grey alien worshippers (Ufers) on the Zeta 1 Reticuli worlds of Prometheus and Atlantis, the silent lenticular objects that were often seen and filmed have been associated with the isolationist AI that has adopted Zeta 2 as its home. This entity has been given the familiar name 'Ziggy' by the inhabitants of the Zeta I system; and used these saucer shaped drones for many thousands of years to observe human behavior, while reinforcing the Ufer religion at the same time. Despite the fact that 'Ziggy' now seems to have abandoned the use of such remotes, unconfirmed sightings of similar objects still occur on these worlds.From the Federation period onwards, UAP beliefs were combined with local myths and folklore with a wide range of results. Many different mythologies concerning the xenosophont origin of UAPs have developed over time; one proposes that UAPs are constructed by several warring alien factions, including one in league (or identical) with the Dawn Hunters, and another opposing it.
More realistically, some researchers suspect that a very small number of unexplained reports are the result of activity by known xenosophont groups; the Muuh, the J'Ta'ush, the Cybiota and the Soft Ones are all known to occasionally send probes to nearby star systems, and some of these have caused UAP reports on occasion. The Lhagharians in particular are known to have released a wave of self-replicating von Neumann devices many millions of years ago; these are mostly inoperative in the present era, but occasionally a functional example may be encountered. Recently contact with the Meistersingers has raised the possibility that stealthed craft associated with that civilisation may be present in some parts of the Terragen Sphere, but this seems unlikely to account for more than a very small fraction of the total.
UAP enthusiasm has developed into a quasi-religious belief system in many locations, sometimes evolving into true religions such as Yufers and the various schools or sects of 'UFO-ism'. For instance the so called "Galactic Council of Andromeda" school teaches that UAPs are part of a galactic council of enlightened clarketech-equipped archailects from the Andromeda Galaxy (in another version, from the Virgo Cluster) who are visiting Terragens to teach them peaceful coexistence between different empires and clades. There are a large number of so-called mythical xenosophonts which are sometimes associated with the UAP belief system, although there is little to no evidence for any of them.
One (somewhat cynical) sect believes that the UAPs are operated by post-intelligent aliens, beings who have lost the capacity for rational thought. These post-intelligent beings sometimes fly around in the dark with all their lights on while avoiding contact, and are subject to frequent collisions and crashes (which nevertheless appear to leave no trace behind). Another sect holds that the UAPs are piloted by Terragens from the distant future, who have arrived in this era via time travel; yet another holds that these phenomena are caused by spiritual beings, such as angels or demons, with a wide range of objectives.
One widespread sect believes that the UAP phenomenon is caused not by xenosophonts from this universe, but by entities that dwell beyond our continuum. These extradimensional entities are not limited by the physical constraints of our universe, and may have almost arbitrary characteristics. Some believe that UAPs are the avatars of an ancient civilisation from our cosmos which has transferred its main locus of existence into a tailor-made baby universe; others believe that they are harbingers from a much more complex dimension, perhaps capable of monitoring or creating our entire Hubble Volume and beyond. This belief system appears to be entirely non-falsifiable, like most religions, unless the harbingers decide to make useful contact.
Most transapients and archai in the Terragen Sphere appear to pay little attention to the UAP phenomenon, although some eccentric transaps do perform research into this topic; a few have made pronouncements on the subject, suggesting that some or many UAPs are connected to a particular well-hidden Hider group of vecs descended from the StarHand clade, although few modosophont UFO-ists are convinced by this possibility.
 Image from Bernd Helfert |
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Development Notes
Text by Steve Bowers
from a short article by M. Alan Kazlev; additional material by Andrew P.
Initially published on 15 December 2001.
The concept of the Low Information Zone is borrowed from Mick West, as defined in this article;
https://skepticalinquirer.org/2023/06/inventing-skeptical-language/
from a short article by M. Alan Kazlev; additional material by Andrew P.
Initially published on 15 December 2001.
The concept of the Low Information Zone is borrowed from Mick West, as defined in this article;
https://skepticalinquirer.org/2023/06/inventing-skeptical-language/
