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154 Two issues have complicated the debate: witness reliability and the bias of the investigator. Ardent believers and hard-core skeptics will reach dif- ferent conclusions about a case that is ambiguous, as most UFO sightings are.*° Yet, the most articulate reports came from obviously intelligent people, including some observers who have seen UFOs at close range and reported their sightings in detail. Sociologist Robert Hall cited the parallel case of Galileo’s telescope. After Galileo discovered the moons of Jupiter, many people refused to look through the instrument. They “knew” that there could not be such bodies around Jupiter; therefore, they “knew” that the telescope was deceptive.” Goldsmith and Owen were more skeptical. They argued that reports by people who claim to have seen extraterrestrial visitors or their spacecraft are in the least credible category and must always be subject to error (emphasis added). To explain the many UFO sightings reported each year with the spacecraft hypothesis requires the assumption that we are doing something special to draw attention.“ Science writer James Gleick found that unbelievable: “How infinitely unlikely it is that our corner of the universe should be receiving alien visi- tors in such strikingly near-human form at just the eyeblink of history when we have discovered space travel.” Bracewell added a practical objection. No doubt it would be feasible to design an elaborate probe that can descend to a planetary surface, but that would not be an optimum search strategy.” In the murky world of ufology, said UFO researcher Jenny Randles, it can be difficult to know whether to take some things as fact, speculation, or disinformation. She saw this mystery as a powerful tool that can be used to manipulate public opinion. The UFO phenomenon provides a perfect smokescreen if you want to test fly a secret aircraft; people will report what they see as an alien spaceship, and most of the world will dismiss that pos- sibility. (In 1997, a declassified CIA report stated that over half of all UFO reports from the late 1950s through the 1960s were accounted for by manned reconnaissance flights.) Randles speculated that alien visitors often have served as scapegoats for some very terrestrial events. She also suggested that there is a huge social and financial incentive to maintain the illusion of alien invaders.*” Hynek’s 1972 book The UFO Experience brought the study of UFOs to a new level of sophistication. While making clear his disenchantment with the extraterrestrial hypothesis, he concluded that there exists a phenomenon that is worthy of systematic, rigorous study. The body of data points to an aspect or domain of the natural world not yet explored by science. Investiga- The UFO Controversy Real But Unknown Phenomena?