<p>For the intellectual essay, I’m thinking of writing on UFOs. The thing is, does that sound a bit too “out-there”? Also, I might have to waste a lot of valuable space explaining away some common misconceptions 'n such like little green from Mars.</p>
<p>Is this a viable topic?</p>
<p>Of course, just as long as you don’t make it really dry I think they’ll appriciate it. As long as you’re sincere about the subject matter it should show through (i.e. don’t pick a topic just because you think it will impress them)</p>
<p>stressingout: not trying to be mean at all…but do you think talking about UFOs would come under an “intellectual” topic?..i guess i’m asking what exactly you want to say about them in your essay…if you can make it sound like a real issue then sure…go for it!!!</p>
<p>Look for anything written by Prof. J. Allen Hynek. He was my astronomy professor at Northwestern years ago and a big believer in UFOs. It might strengthen your case.</p>
<p>i would say take the risk and stand out, especially if you can make it absurd enough to make them laugh</p>
<p>“absurd enough to make them laugh”</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for dissing my interest. And for your information, UFOs are complex phenomena that strain our knowledge of light, energy, matter, and to some degree, time. They’re not the absurd notion of flying saucers, but rather unexplained behavior of light/energy.</p>
<p>Also, UFOs have a deep social significance. For example, many of the “divine encounters” in the writings of various religions (christianity included) closely resemble accounts of people who’ve seen UFOs first hand. Thus, did religion stem from UFOs? If so, does that mean religions are all false? Or are UFOs in themselves divine?</p>
<p>Moreover, many of the paranormal engimas like ghosts, vampires, angels, demons, poltergeists, etc. have a VERY close assosciation with UFOs. Very often, areas that have UFO activity quickly become haunted by ghosts, spirits, and so forth.</p>
<p>Thus, UFOs aren’t an isolated case of strange lights/energy that defy our scientific knowledge. Instead, they are a broad subject that encompasses many of man’s strangest experiences since the dawn of time. In understanding UFOs not only will we vastly increase our scientific knowledge, but we’ll understand many of the early influences on mankind that will possibly explain religion, our value systems, and maybe even how we came to this point in the first place.</p>
<p>sorry StressingOut</p>
<p>Heh, no prob. I know you didn’t mean to offend me.</p>
<p>Or maybe, all UFO sightings are just classified military aircraft flying at supersonic speeds that a random civilian happened to see…did you know, that government technology is 12 years ahead of the private sector? Just an interesting fact…or maybe I’ve been reading too much Dan Brown.</p>
<p>It’s highly unlikely government technology is 12 years ahead of the private sector. Do you know how inefficient the governemnt is? Knowing that they’ll be given $x million a year regardless of their performance, the military brass easily become complacent. It’s sort of like the “Communist” effect. If everyone is given his “fair share” of the wealth, why bothering work? No matter how hard you work, you’ll get the same amount. If you work less, you still get the same amount. Likewise, the military won’t be THAT motivated to make groundbreaking research. Of course they’ll do a good job, but they certainly won’t have the motivation to get 12 years ahead of the private sector.</p>
<p>And yes, you’ve been reading too much Dan Brown. Most UFOs move in ways aircraft will never be able to (stop at a dime, move vertically, etc.). And why would a military aircraft (and especially a “secret” one) have a bunch of glowing lights? Isn’t that like putting a giant “SECRET HIDEOUT” sign next to a top secret base?</p>
<p>Without going into the physics of supersonic flight, it is possible that an aircraft flying at 10 times the speed of sound could have an eerie glow to it…but I admit, it is quite convenient to attribute it to the military…in any case, I still don’t believe in UFO’s.</p>
<p>Do you not believe in their existence altogether? Or just the contrived explanations for them?</p>
<p>From all the first-hand reports and video tape, it seems pretty clear that they do in fact exist. However, they aren’t spaceships from Mars or military aircraft or whatever mumbo-jumbo people make up. Instead, they’re like aura borealis (sp?). Strange and mystifying natural phenomenon.</p>
<p>Yeah, of course UFOs exist. That is, if you define UFO the way most do (Unidentified Flying Object) – all you’re saying is that people see things in the sky and they can’t be exactly sure what they are. </p>
<p>Regarding “government technology” being 12 years ahead of the private sector: Yes, it’s true that in many fields the classified technology monopolized by the military and defense departments is ten, twelve, or more years ahead of the technology available to civilians. This is not because the government has chosen to be industrious and “get ahead,” it is mainly because, in these fields, the technology that is open to the private sector is just the cutting edge tech. that has been declassified because it’s ten or more years old. Take satellite imagery for example: look for a program called “Keyhole.” It graphically synthesizes millions of satellite photos from around the globe into a GUI in the form of a globe. Enter an address anywhere in the world and it “flies” there, zooming in to resolutions simulating altitudes of less than 200 feet. Amazing…but at least 10 years out of date.</p>
<p>-Ender</p>
<p>Thanks for backin me up Ender, but I still do not believe UFO’s exist. The aurora borealis isnt an unidentified flying object…first of all, its identified, second of all, it doesn’t fly, third, its not really an object, its a phenomenon as you have already said. So if UFO’s loosely translates to “weird, unexplainable stuff that happens in the sky,” then sure, I believe in them, but I don’t believe in unidentified flying objects because I believe that all flying objects have been identified.</p>
<p>This is slightly off topic, but i wanted to ask you all a question. Northwestern has a personal essay question of basically ‘what new thing would you like to see in your life time, and why it’s important to you’. I think i’ve decided on interplanetary colonization, but i find myself preaching about greenhouse gasses, and hunger, etc. Maybe i’m not preaching, but maybe i am. Is preaching basically expected for this type of essay (because you have to say why its important to you), or not?</p>
<p>Yeah, to clarify:</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say the aurora borealis is a “UFO” or even a “mystifying natural phenomena.” We know exactly what causes the aurora borealis (charged particles accellerating along magnetic field lines to collide with gas atoms, causing them to give off light).</p>
<p>I guess you could say that UFOs exist in the sense that there have been sightings that people are unable to classify; that is not to say that these are alien spacecraft. 99.9% of these sightings are probably military aircraft/weather balloons/etc. Technically, though, I guess these would count as UFOs because the observer doesn’t know exactly what they’re looking at.</p>
<p>-Ender</p>
<p>I would say that to truly be called a UFO, no one would should be able to identify it, not even the gov’t or the military, leading to the somewhat dissapointing conclusion that UFO’s don’t actually exist…</p>