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Like many true believers, the moment arrived when I began to question my faith. After years of devoutly believing in a greater power, of being convinced that the only salvation for our flawed species lay in the heavens, doubts began to emerge.
Where, after all, was the evidence? Where was the irrefutable proof - anything from a rusted artifact to a truly miraculous global event - that something better, kinder and far, far smarter was watching over us?
Nah, I eventually decided. UFOs and their swollen-headed alien pilots did not exist.
So along with all the other New Age detritus of the 1970s - Erich Von Daniken's shamelessly flawed books about extra-terrestrials influencing human history, photographs of floating logs purporting to be the Loch Ness monster and blurry snaps of Bigfoot - I discarded my UFO obsession and settled into the real world.
But in case you haven't noticed, the UFO phenomenon is back in a big way.
Reports of strange objects in the sky are rising around the globe. Former US President Barack Obama fuelled the controversy by admitting "there is footage and records of objects in the skies [and] we don't know exactly what they are". Last week the Director of National Intelligence revealed to the US Congress that hundreds of recent sightings - many reported by military pilots - are being actively investigated by the Pentagon, NASA and intelligence agencies.
Logic tells you there's an obvious explanation for all this renewed activity. Advanced drones now fill our skies, while American defence officials concede that China and Russia are experimenting with newly developed hypersonic craft capable of moving and shifting direction with great speed.
This belief was reinforced eight years ago when US Navy pilots claimed to have regularly witnessed flying objects with no detectable exhaust fumes or visible engines achieving phenomenal speeds at high altitudes.
With levels of post-pandemic distrust in institutions and science rising as rapidly as misinformation and conspiracy theories, it's understandable why the belief that we are being visited by beings from space - or even another dimension - is undergoing a revival.
Scratch the surface and there is a hint of religious-style fervour underpinning it all, a deep-seated, almost visceral desire on the part of some believers that aliens, like angels, will one day descend from the heavens to save us from ourselves.
So let's apply a little more logic.
The number of smartphone users on our planet is predicted to go past seven billion this year - or almost 90 per cent of the entire global population. Embedded in each of those phones is at least one, if not several, camera lenses boasting advanced zoom and automatic focusing functions.
Now let's imagine you're wandering down a lonely country road - alien visitors apparently prefer flying their craft over regional and rural areas, comforted perhaps by the sight of all those craters we humans call potholes.
You see a strange floating object, whip out your phone and within seconds you have gifted the world with sharp photographs and clear video providing incontrovertible proof that we are not alone.
So why is it that out of all those seven billion smartphone users who can take sharply defined and beautifully lit selfies - tastefully edited to disguise a second chin or unsightly mole - not a single one of them has produced a clear, high resolution snap of an alien spacecraft?
To paraphrase Carl Sagan, absence of evidence is not evidence of their absence. And our phones do tend to be pointed more often at our faces and not the sky. But surely that flotilla of orbiting spy satellites that can read your car's licence plate from space might have picked up a clear UFO image by now.
By all means turn a hopeful gaze toward the heavens. There are things happening there that are definitely deserving of our awe and curiosity.
The newly launched James Webb telescope is sending us incredible images of how our infant universe looked more than 12 billion years ago.
Our robotic explorers on Mars are gathering more evidence that water - and life - may have existed on the Red Planet.
There are now five spacecraft that have either left our solar system or are close to leaving it, an astonishing achievement given we relied on horses and carts little more than a century ago.
And in three years humans will once again be walking on the moon as part of NASA's Artemis mission.
The truth really is out there. And it's far more captivating than any tired sci-fi cliche of alien visitors stalking our skies.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Where do you stand in the UFO debate? Ever had a close encounter of your own? Do you believe intelligent life exists elsewhere? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced her retirement from politics within the next month. Ms Ardern choked back tears on Thursday as she said she did not have the energy to seek re-election.
- The Liberal Party has urged the government to reverse a decision to allow public servants to work on Australia Day, accusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of trying to "deliberately undermine" the national holiday. Public servants will be allowed to work on January 26 if they do not wish to celebrate Australia Day after the Labor government reversed a previous government directive which forced APS staff to take the holiday off.
- The national jobless rate held at 3.5 per cent, with 14,600 jobs disappearing from the economy. "With employment decreasing by around 15,000 people, and the number of unemployed increasing by 6000 people, the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.5 per cent," Australian Bureau of Statistics head of labour statistics Lauren Ford said.
THEY SAID IT: "Two possibilities exist. Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying." - Arthur C. Clarke
YOU SAID IT: John had a spray at silly season and the dross that's served up when the news cycle takes a holiday.
Mark says: "For me the return of Insiders marks the end of (well at least a decrease) in all this stupidity. Horrified to see it is still a few weeks away. The reporting of cricket I find the most tiresome, particularly the faux controversies that pop up from time to time."
Stuart points out an omission: "You missed Jeremy Clarkson. The Palace won't give any back so left it up to Jeremy."
Heather, too, is fed up with the royal shenanigans: "H & M should just shut up and disappear. Don't buy the book, don't read media rubbish, and don't watch."
Old Donald says: "Wow, John! Victor Meldrew lives!"
Laurence is tired of the reporting of expats' reactions to Australian habits: "Such extremely facile comments appear in the media throughout each year, although possibly more frequently in January. Quite why these witherings from none too bright try-hards elicit responses from Australians baffles me. Such comments shouldn't be dignified by any form of reaction."
Jan wears her monarchism proudly on her sleeve: "Admiration, respect, loyalty and love are my feelings for the Royal Family. Disappointment, disbelief, dissatisfaction and distaste are my concerns for Prince Harry. He's had a life of privilege. He has taken but now he is attempting to wreck all without doing the obvious - give back all titles and live an ordinary life, in an ordinary suburb and send his children to ordinary schools. He needs to keep right away from media and ghost writers. Merge into an ordinary community and join the local RFS or whatever is around. God save the King!"
Bill says: "Like the way that the first buds of blossom trees mark the start of spring, my wife reckons the first shock article about private school fees marks media silly season."
Rob says: "Thanks, Echidna, a great summary of the nonsense of January but unfortunately most of it will continue through the year. Big stories this year? The demise of Putin; Living with COVID - what we got wrong."
And this cheekiness from Paul: "The irony of the Echidna doing an article on the reporting of twaddle is not lost on me. Well done on putting a smile on my face before 6am."