If UFOs represent alien spacecraft, don't you think it's one of the most worthwhile scientific endeavours?
Yes- but the "If" is important. From the evidence at present, it's not likely that UFO reports represent alien spacecraft.
If we're not being visited by alien spacecraft- and there is no testable evidence that we are- it doesn't matter how much money is spent, what resources are co-opted or how many people are employed, we won't find any.
And- at least in the developed democracies- there will always be arguments about what the government/ public-funded bodies spend money on. To make an emotive example, the parents of a child with an incurable illness might well think,
"Why is the Government spending money on
this?"
The point I was making earlier is that people are describing structured vehicles with unconventional flight characteristics
...I think a similar point was made by member Bill Ferguson in the (now closed) thread,
"Are All UFO Reports Wrong, Or Are They Evidence That UFOs Exist?"
External Quote:
"But eliminate cell phone videos, eliminate video and include only those photographs developed from negatives taken from the 40's through the 80s that show a structured object. ...[A] structured object or craft of some kind. A disc for example."]
Bill Ferguson's post 11/04/23
(apologies to Bill Ferguson- the "Reply" function isn't working for me on your post, maybe because the thread is closed?)
You're right, DaveG, that people have reported seeing structured objects which they believe are vehicles.
But there are
no photos, and no filming, that unambiguously show an object where it is reasonable to say, "this is a technological artefact of unknown origin". I don't think that is a sceptical claim- it's objectively true (IMHO).
If anything, more recent photos tend to show much less surface detail than the claimed photos of UFOs from the '50s, '60's and 70's. The "best" photos, unambiguously showing intelligently manufactured objects (George Adamski, Billy Meier- whose photos put many 1970s TV special effects departments to shame- and "Patrick's" 1990 Belgian triangle") are all hoaxes.
Many people- most of them leading otherwise "normal" lives, and with no obvious reason to deceive anyone- report strange sightings and experiences. For example, appearances of "the Blessed Virgin Mary" (the title often used for apparitions of Jesus' mother Mary) have been reported by people who seem profoundly decent, and are (I would guess) presumably believed to be true by many millions of people who hear of such appearances. They are no less sincere in their beliefs than UFO "enthusiasts"
Should we give Theology departments a budget for IR cameras, motion sensors, etc. etc.?
Proof of a "BVM" visitation might arguably be of greater significance than proof that a UFO is an alien craft...