Surveys consistently find that one-fourth of adult Americans believe Unidentified Flying Objects are visitors from outer space. Why is this belief so common when there is no hard evidence for such an extraordinary claim? All we have are great stories and blurry photos. Perhaps the most likely explanation is our irresistible urge for making up answers rather than simply admitting ignorance. A strange light in the sky is just that -- a light; nothing warrants jumping to the conclusion that it must be aliens. Always remember that there is nothing wrong with using the simple and honest phrase: I don’t know. “I have the mind of a UFO skeptic,” says Harrison, “but I’ll always have the heart of a UFO believer. My hunch is that there is probably life beyond the Earth and I really do hope that someone discovers it one day -- whether it be SETI, NASA or some lonely farmer in an Iowa cornfield. But I won’t pretend to know something so important until it’s proven.”

^{Image by Kevin Hand/Prometheus Books}