三分之一的美國人相信UFO的存在，但他們尋找的對象卻不盡相同

三分之一的美國人相信UFO的存在，但他們尋找的對象卻不盡相同

Behind every alleged unidentified flying object sighting, every creepy alien story and every first-contact theory, there's a person. An earthling who believes a little — or a lot — in the idea that aliens have visited Earth or are trying to.

在每一個所謂的不明飛行物目擊，每一個令人毛骨悚然的外星人故事和每一個第一次接觸的理論背后，都有一個人。一個地球人，他或多或少地相信外星人曾來過地球，或正試圖來地球。

The sun begins to rise along Nevada Highway 375, also known as the Extraterrestrial Highway, just north of Groom Lake or 'Area 51.' (Photo: Will Pedro/Shutterstock)

So who are all these people? Writer Sarah Scoles was interested in finding out, and it's the people behind the science, philosophy and conspiracy theories of UFOs who she focuses on in her book, "They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers."

那么這些人都是誰呢?作家莎拉·斯科爾斯對這個問題很感興趣，她在《他們已經(jīng)在這里:UFO文化和我們?yōu)槭裁磿吹斤w碟》一書中重點探討了有關UFO的科學、哲學和陰謀論背后的人物。

Belief in UFOs is currently at a high point, with a 2019 Gallup poll showing that 33% of Americans "believe that some UFO sightings over the years have in fact been alien spacecraft visiting Earth from other planets or galaxies." About 60% of Americans are skeptical and 7% aren't sure — but 16% of people who answered the poll said they have personally witnessed a UFO.

目前，人們對UFO的信仰達到了一個高峰，2019年蓋洛普民意測驗顯示，33%的美國人“認為過去幾年看到的一些UFO實際上是來自其他行星或星系的外星飛船造訪地球。”約60%的美國人持懷疑態(tài)度，7%的人不確定，但16%的受訪者稱他們親眼目睹過UFO。

The moderate skeptics

溫和的懷疑論者

Sheer curiosity — and a feeling that information is being withheld — is the drive that keeps many people engaged in the UFO conversation. (Photo: Dean Clarke/Shutterstock)

"I was surprised to find the moderate types," says Scoles, pointing out that when you think about someone who spends a lot of time thinking about UFOs, you're unlikely to picture a science-minded person who thinks there are likely good explanations for UFO sightings. She was curious, "If you don't believe in this thing, why would you spend time or energy to figure this out?"

斯科爾斯說:“我很驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)了溫和的類型。”他指出，當你想到那些花大量時間思考UFO的人，你不太可能想象出一個有科學頭腦的人，認為UFO目擊事件可能有很好的解釋。她很好奇，“如果你不相信這件事，你為什么要花時間和精力去弄明白呢?”

Scoles says this group is a "large minority" of UFO-interested people, and discovered that what drives them is probably similar to what drives a scientist: plain old curiosity. Like a good researcher, they're not out to "prove" a belief; instead they're focused on the question, and how to answer it. This group is focused on how they can use science to understand, explain, explore or disprove the idea of alien life.

斯科爾斯說，這群人是對UFO感興趣的“少數(shù)”人，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)驅動他們的動力可能與驅動科學家的動力類似:純粹的好奇心。就像一個優(yōu)秀的研究者，他們不是去“證明”一個信念;相反，他們關注的是問題，以及如何回答。這個小組關注的是他們如何利用科學來理解、解釋、探索或反駁外星生命的觀點。

The spiritualists and the hopefuls

唯心論者和有希望的人

A tall metal alien sculpture greets visitors to the Alien Research Center, an extraterrestrial-themed gift shop in Hiko, Nevada. (Photo: BrianPIrwin/Shutterstock.com)

Another subset of UFO fans are those who treat the idea of extraterrestrials as a kind of secular religion. While there are some cultists (including those who see aliens as some kind of gods), many of those who see the possibility of advanced alien life regard it as a sign of hope. If they survived, then humanity may be able to overcome our current challenges and keep advancing to the stars. This idea is behind plenty of sci-fi franchises as well, especially "Star Trek," which directly addresses the idea that we live in perilous times and that there can be positive visions of humanity's future.

UFO迷的另一個子集是那些把外星人當作一種世俗宗教的人。雖然也有一些信徒(包括那些把外星人視為某種神的人)，但許多認為外星生命可能存在的人認為這是希望的跡象。如果他們幸存下來，那么人類也許能夠克服我們目前的挑戰(zhàn)，繼續(xù)向星星前進。這個想法也出現(xiàn)在很多科幻系列電影中，尤其是《星際迷航》，它直接闡述了我們生活在一個危險的時代，可以對人類的未來做出積極的展望。

The true believers and conspiracy theorists

真正的信徒和陰謀論者

There are some people who believe that, odds are, there is life in the universe outside Earth, and those life forms have have visited our planet. This group might overlap with the spiritualists, but not necessarily. After all, some people fear the idea of aliens: "There's people who talk about aliens and UFOs who see them as an existential threat," says Scoles.

有些人相信，在地球之外的宇宙中存在生命，而這些生命形式已經(jīng)造訪過我們的星球。這個群體可能與唯心論重疊，但不一定。畢竟，有些人害怕外星人:“有些人談論外星人和不明飛行物，認為他們是存在的威脅，”斯科爾斯說。

But others look at the statistics around the number of stars and habitable planets and see the possibility of life having arisen on other planets as not just possible, but probable. They think first contact has already likely happened, or they believe enough of the conspiracy theories that their judgement says it's more likely than not that we've already had some alien contact.

但另一些人研究恒星和宜居行星數(shù)量的統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)，發(fā)現(xiàn)在其他行星上出現(xiàn)生命的可能性不僅是可能的，而且是存在的。他們認為第一次接觸可能已經(jīng)發(fā)生了，或者他們相信足夠多的陰謀理論，他們的判斷是很有可能我們已經(jīng)有了一些外星人的接觸。

Of course, there are those who believe in UFOs almost entirely due to their belief that it's been covered up for years, "whether they think the conspiracy is hiding aliens or their classified technology," says Scoles. Their belief is rooted in what they see as the "cover-up."

當然，有些人幾乎完全相信UFO的存在，因為他們相信它已經(jīng)被掩蓋了很多年，“不管他們認為陰謀是隱藏外星人還是他們的機密技術，”斯科爾斯說。他們的信念根植于他們所認為的“掩蓋”。

So with all these different groups of people interested in alien life and spacecrafts, is there anything that unites them?

那么，有這么多對外星生命和宇宙飛船感興趣的人，有沒有什么東西能把他們聯(lián)系在一起呢?

"I think everybody across the whole UFO spectrum from skeptics to true believers is motivated by a sense of wonder, encountering a thing that they don’t know fully," says Scoles.

斯科爾斯說:“我認為所有人，從懷疑論者到真正的信徒，都是出于好奇，遇到了他們不完全了解的東西。”