FROM the dawn of time, man has always been interested in space, and there are many records of visits from creatures ‘not of this world’ who have somehow contributed to the advancement of human civilisation.
These creatures have been called gods, angels and celestial beings. Strange flying objects in the sky have been sighted for centuries, leading many of us to believe that there is a possibility that there is intelligent life out there, and that they have been making contact with us for a very long time.
The term UFO, which was coined in 1953, serves as a catch-all for all unidentified aerial sightings.
The acronym was coined by United States Air Force (USAF) Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, who headed the secretive US military’s Project Blue Book, then the USAF’s official investigation of UFOs.
World UFO Day is usually celebrated on July 2 to commemorate the crashing of a UFO in Roswell in 1947.
Students of mass communication were probably taught about how a 1938 radio play called War of the Worlds was presented as a news show reporting an alien invasion, and caused nationwide panic in the US.
This brainchild of the legendary Orson Welles (of Citizen Kane fame) is notorious for the mayhem it caused, but it is a great study on the influence of broadcast media.
There have been songs sung about UFOs and extraterrestrials since the 1950s. Most of them are fun sing-along numbers such as Purple People Eater (by Sheb Wooley).
However songs from the 1970s such as Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (originally recorded by Klaatu but made famous by The Carpenters) and Starman by David Bowie (known for his otherworldly persona of Ziggy Stardust during this time) were better crafted.
Of course the movie industry has thrived on making films about aliens, both friendly (E.T: The Extra Terrestrial), and terrifying (Predator, Alien).
However the most iconic of these films, such as Close Encounters of the Thirds Kind (1977) and Arrival (2016), show that these beings just want to communicate with us.
On television, the premise of “the truth is out there” made The X-Files a huge hit in the 1990s. Other series which focus on UFOs and visitors from other worlds, such as Ancient Aliens, seem to be never ending, but to those who believe, the science seems pretty solid.
There is no doubt that the US seems to be a hotspot for aliens, but Malaysia has had its own share of sightings as well. Unfortunately they have never been substantiated by the relevant authorities.
In 2016, a spaceship of sorts was spotted circling above a fishing village in Kuala Krai. A video of the UFO was said to be lifted from another video that was created using CGI.
Though authorities dismissed it, there are still believers to this day.
In 2002, there were sightings around Kota Kinabalu’s International Airport, where a large flying cigar-shaped object was first spotted on air traffic control radar.
Witnesses claim it came from the direction of the sea, and flew over the airport before disappearing behind some hills. There were a few other sightings of UFOs that same year near the vicinity.
In 1995 and 1996 there were a few UFO sightings in Tanjung Sepat, Selangor. No one was sure if the sightings were credible, or if people were caught up in the X-Files mania that was heating up then.
The most recent sighting was on May 3 this year, when a young couple spotted a UFO in Cyberjaya. They took a video showing the object, a round spiral-shaped disc, changing colours. You can see it on the Filmi React Youtube channel.
Believe it or not, it is fun (and also scary) to think that we may not be alone in this vast universe, and that there might be some advanced race out there who would like to drop by for a visit.
