Subscribe to
The Search Light

More Info

• a UFO
• a ghost
• a Bigfoot
  or creature
• a crop circle
• an animal
  mutilation
• an abduction
  or missing time
• something else

What is the UFO Wave Level Meter?

This meter is a visual representation of UFO reports submitted to the Anomaly Response Network's Paranormal Occurrences Database (POD) in the past 18 months. The POD is currently under development, so this meter is not yet available for publication on your own website and is not fully functional on the ARN website.

What is a UFO Wave?

A UFO Wave, commonly known as a UFO sightings "flap," is a period when an increased number of sightings happens in a relatively short amount of time. Flaps can last anywhere from six months to a few years. For the purposes of this meter, flap levels will be determined from the last 18 months of data.

History of UFO Waves

The first modern UFO wave happened in 1946 when "ghost rockets" were spotted over Scandinavia. Famed UFO researcher Jacques Vallee argued that if UFO sightings were motivated by some mechanism through which the public can release hidden fears and satisfy a psychological need for fantasies, why do "UFO waves" not coincide with such science-fiction feats such as Orson Welles' radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds in 1938, or the motion-picture versions of Flash Gordon (1936-37)? Vallee pointed out that the theory regarding how the general public generates and propagates UFO reports as a way of releasing psychological tensions is denied by the absence of correlation between notable periods of interest in science fiction and major peaks of UFO activity. A wave of UFO sightings in June and July of 1947 prompted the US government to begin officially studying UFOs. The 1952 Wave of UFO sightings over Washington, DC (KYA Article) led to the CIA organizing the Robertson Panel. Project Blue Book commissioned the Condon Committee to study UFOs after another wave of sightings in 1965-1966. More information is available in the Wikipedia entry on UFOs.