The Truth is Out There. But With New UFO Report Expected to Land Soon, Talk of Alien Life is Also Becoming More Common in the Nation鈥檚 Science Classrooms
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David Black once saw a UFO.
At least that鈥檚 how he gets his students鈥� attention before revealing that it was only a sundog 鈥� a bright light caused when the sun鈥檚 rays refract through ice crystals in the atmosphere.
Researching more famous accounts of UFO sightings and purported alien abductions with students is how he鈥檒l be spending the summer. And with the federal government鈥檚 report on 鈥渦nidentified aerial phenomena鈥� 鈥� or UAPs 鈥� expected as soon as this week, they鈥檒l have new grainy videos to analyze and debate.
鈥淚f you have a current event that comes along, as a teacher you want to weave that in,鈥� said Black, who at New Haven School, a private boarding school for girls in Saratoga Springs, Utah.
When former President Donald Trump signed a $2.3 trillion funding bill in December, educators were eye-balling the $54 billion in relief funds included for school reopening. But tucked into the more than 5,500 pages of legislative text was a Sen. Marco Rubio-sponsored directing Naval intelligence to uncover what they鈥檝e been tracking in the skies. The bill asked for detailed reports of UAPs and knowledge of whether 鈥渁 potential adversary may have achieved breakthrough aerospace capabilities鈥� that might harm Earth, or at least the U.S. The report, combined with Navy pilots鈥� of aircraft displaying unusual movements, provide fresh material for teachers who find that questions about alien visitors are a great way to engage students in science.
Highly trained admit they are taking the sightings of these unusual aircraft seriously 鈥� and think others should, too. With both interested in the report鈥檚 findings and respected news shows like 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� following the topic, the possibility that otherworldly beings are patrolling our atmosphere is no longer just the stuff of sci-fi movies and paranormal conventions.
The upcoming release of the report is perfectly timed for the search-for-extraterrestrial-intelligence unit Black teaches each summer. He hooks students with tales of close encounters and uses hands-on projects and 3-D models to explore the math and physics involved in aliens traveling for tens of thousands of years to reach Earth.
His students learn the , a formula for the probability of finding intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. They read news reports of alleged sightings 鈥� like that of , a lumberjack whose 1975 account of being abducted by aliens was featured in the 1993 film 鈥淔ire in the Sky.鈥� Then they present the skeptics鈥� side, offer their own opinions and lead their classmates in a discussion.
鈥楽tudying these things for decades鈥�
UFO conspiracy theories teach students to have an open mind, 鈥渂ut also to have a skeptical filter,鈥� said Jeff Adkins, an at Deer Valley High School in Antioch, California, near Oakland.
He has students consider the sheer size of the universe when deciding whether alien life forms would bother conducting experiments on humans or jamming the military鈥檚 radar systems.
鈥淚 still have a childhood fascination with aliens, but now I know that there must be 鈥� solid evidence to support aliens before I truly believe they are real,鈥� said Dennis Gavrilenko, a senior in Adkins鈥檚 astronomy and space exploration course this year. 鈥淚 find it unlikely that aliens traveled thousands of lightyears to get to Earth just to fly around super fast and not make themselves known.鈥�
But physics professor Kevin Knuth, at the University of Albany in New York, thinks there is something 鈥� or someone 鈥� observing us from above. He鈥檚 among the UFO researchers who have shared their expertise with high school students.
His suspicions that UFOs are more than a hoax began while he was in graduate school at Montana State University. In 1988, two cows from a nearby herd were mutilated with surgical precision, and a professor mentioned UFOs often interfered with nuclear missile systems at Malmstrom Air Force Base three hours away.
Years later, UFO researcher held a press conference with Air Force officers talking about the same occurrences at Malmstrom. That鈥檚 when Knuth became convinced, and he thinks the report to Congress will tell only part of the story.
鈥淲e now know that the government has been studying these things for decades and not telling anybody about it,鈥� Knuth said.
A paper Knuth co-authored in 2019 focuses on of 鈥渦nidentified aerial vehicles鈥� that display 鈥渢echnical capabilities far exceeding those of our fastest aircraft and spacecraft.鈥�
Knuth鈥檚 calculations of speed and acceleration are also good high school physics problems, said Berkil Alexander, who teaches at Kennesaw Mountain High School, outside Atlanta. His fascination with UFOs began when he saw 鈥淔light of the Navigator,鈥� a 1986 film about an alien abduction, and in 2019, he was chosen to participate in focusing on increasing student engagement in STEM.
In the final days of each school year, he holds an 鈥淓.T. exoplanet symposium鈥� in which teams of students, taking on the roles of astronomer, astrobiologist, historian and a Pentagon investigator, compete against each other to make a case using the evidence they鈥檝e collected.
Alexander thinks the truth has been concealed for decades because it might provoke panic. But now he thinks, 鈥減eople are pretty well prepared to handle whatever it is.鈥�
鈥楧on鈥檛 take a side鈥�
Teachers who touch on UFOs might find a place for the topic when they introduce students to the solar system in elementary school 鈥� think colorful Styrofoam balls dangling from wire hangers. Space science gets even more attention in middle school.
At Coles Elementary in Virginia鈥檚 Prince William County Schools, aliens turned up in an afterschool 鈥渃ryptozoology club鈥� in which students studied crop circles and interviewed a UFO researcher from 鈥� the site of the alleged UFO crash in 1947.
How to report a UFO sighting and whether there are baby aliens are among the questions students asked the experts, said Tara Hamner, one of three teachers who started the program four years ago. Like the other cryptids they study, including Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster, she believes the club is one of a kind and is a fun way for students to learn how to collect evidence, evaluate online sources and interact with scientists.
The group didn鈥檛 meet this year because of the pandemic, but Hamner said she鈥檚 sure the government鈥檚 report will spark additional questions from students in the fall. 鈥淲e love it when we have current news to use our inquiry-based learning to investigate,鈥� she said.
In high school, standalone astronomy classes aren鈥檛 common and are typically offered as . Those teaching the subject might have a personal interest, but didn鈥檛 study it in college 鈥� like Alec Johnson, who asked for a day off work in 2017 to watch the solar eclipse but ended up turning the expedition into a school trip with 150 students and 20 adults.
Afterwards, his students at Morgan County High School in central Georgia pushed for a separate astronomy class. The possibility of alien life is the topic they get the most passionate about, perhaps because of the stereotype that are more common in rural areas like theirs.
鈥淭he kids get into it, especially if you don鈥檛 take a side,鈥� Johnson said, adding that he鈥檚 looking forward to the government鈥檚 report including previously unreleased footage and photos to share with his students. 鈥淚t makes the History Channel and the teachers happy.鈥�
Bennett Evans, a senior who took Johnson鈥檚 astronomy class this year, said his teacher鈥檚 enthusiasm for the subject rubs off on students.
鈥淗is class made me more conscious of science in general,鈥� said Evans, recalling an image Johnson uses to get students thinking about whether aliens exist. 鈥淚f you take a glass of water from the ocean, we know there are whales in the ocean, but we can鈥檛 tell from that glass. That鈥檚 like our universe.鈥�
Georgia science standards require students to study whether there are other 鈥渉abitable鈥� zones and planets besides Earth. But Johnson goes all out, enhancing his lessons with 鈥淭he X-Files鈥� theme music and classroom decor.
鈥淎ny self-respecting astronomy teacher has to have a Fox Mulder poster on the wall,鈥� he said.
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