DESCRIBING THE INCREDIBLE

"It was like a ......."

Fill in the blank. An individual sees something they have never witnessed before, something they have no ready words for description or communicating what was seen, and so they fall on what the object or being or "thing" was that they saw.

It was like a " platter on its side", it was like a "wash tub turned upside down", it was like a "football" or a "cigar", or a "lightbulb", it was like a "pie plate" or " it was like a saucer." When language lacks the mind seeks to find a close match to convey some aspect or a majority of aspects perceived in the experience. 

Since the majority of people are visual in how they remember or identify things that is not surprising. The mind has a vast "photo file" to call on in times of need.  Rather than always being the lucky triple on a slot machine with an exact match there is sometimes more a "which one is slightly different?" aspect to the process.

Sometimes, these witnesses were attempting to describe one aspect of what was seen. Such as Kenneth Arnold who described the movements of the nine objects he witnessed as having the up and down movement of a saucer skipped over water. Listeners would have been familiar with what he was saying; a rock skipped across a pond would make a dipping motion as it briefly skimmed the water and moved forward. His drawing of the object he saw revealed a "heel shape" or a "U" with a slight bat wing look to the rear and on edge a slim line profile.

The Yukon, Oklahoma woman who reported seeing a "wash tub turned upside down" was using something she no doubt saw every day in June 1947. She was no doubt referring to the galvanized or porcelainized metal tubs used to wash dishes, clothes and dozens of other uses in homes of the day.  Since most of the witness statements infer a metallic finish (shiny, dull, white, silver, aluminum like, etc.) she might also have been trying to express its configuration and its color.

Often the only thing seen is a blinding light or lights that obscure detail. The moving lights far away are often, as explained in official reports, an aircraft, a balloon, or a satellite. When they are much closer, hovering or stationary, or are acting in a manner they do not fit into our vast catalogue of normal things seen they are harder to define. When a witness stated he saw a light low to the trees, the size of car's headlight that did not move, did not grow larger or smaller, and did not curve away as an aircraft might, what was he seeing? When twin lights swirl around each other, join together, split apart and then dash off into opposite directions, what did the witness see? How does one find a term to describe that? 

In the 21st century and history of movies, television series, and art that both establishes and defines a "look" the witnesses will tend to be discounted by using a new set of descriptions. It was like a shuttle from "Star Trek", it was like the "Millennium Falcon" from "Star Wars", or it was like - - - . For the skeptics imagery such as those will be a source of ridicule as much as the "saucer skipping over a pond" was for a previous generation. 

What was seldom understood in previous decades was that terms were fluid and based not a standardized understanding but individual image associations. One infers a blueprint design plan form approach to identifying an object (a specific aircraft or vehicle design, performance or lighting pattern). The Air Force presupposition was that objects reported were objects that would be normal objects misunderstood. They did not accept that their understanding of scientific principles might be in error, might change with new discoveries over time, or might negate physical laws believed immutable. In short, most of the scientific world at the time was as Carl Sagan put it: "Earth centric."  WE - humans from the planet Earth, in the system of SOL - defined scientific knowledge.  We had it solved, nothing to learn, moving right along.

There were attempts to categorize sighting into classification families. A few copies are found hidden in the files of Project Blue Book.  As can be readily seen, there is a striking commonality to described shapes and often only angle or view creates a different perceived shape and generates a new "It was like a ...." description.