Article/Document:
New website on UFOs in India - UFOINDIA.ORG (press article)
Ramesh Kumar, Khaleej Times, 29 November 2003
original source | fair use notice
Summary: A new website that addresses Indians across the globe has a sole purpose. To document and discuss UFO sightings. The initiative of former journalist, Prashant Solomon, the site is called www.ufoindia.org, and endeavours to document sightings by those based within India and without.
A new website that addresses Indians across the globe has a sole purpose. To document and discuss UFO sightings. So, if you have ever seen a UFO or have knowledge about Extraterrestrial Intelligence, alien races and paranormal phenomenon, you need to report it now, ...
because, you are not alone in such adventures. There are millions of people around the world who have had such experiences, states www.ufoindia.org - the country's first cyber forum of its kind.
ON February 26, 2003, a student of the American University of Sharjah, Talal Hajjar, came rushing to the Khaleej Times office with a video clip of a meteor-like fiery object that he claimed to have sighted in the sky above Sharjah. While he or those he reported the sighting to could shed little light on the phenomena, people like Hajjar can now discuss their experiences on-line. A new website launched in India opens the doors for discussions on a subject that's long been in the dark.
The initiative of former journalist, Prashant Solomon, the site is called www.ufoindia.org, and endeavours to document sighting by those based within the country and without.
'While the onus of this site is mainly for sightings within India, we may, list a UFO sighting or alien encounter outside of India, too,' it declares. So if you have had a UFO sighting, abduction or contact with extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), you must report it. For you are not alone, there are millions of people around the world who have seen UFOs, had contact with aliens or have experienced something paranormal in nature,' it states.
Unidentified flying objects have long inspired science, fiction and Hollywood and even as nothing conclusive has been said on the subject, the website provides enthusiasts a platform to exchange notes on their sightings.
While scientists are divided on the existence of extra-terrestrial life, Prashant Solomon is steadfast in his interest in the subject. Having received considerable response from India and abroad, which is evident from the sightings reported on the site, Prashant, says, "My aim is not to spread rumours, but to create a forum for discussion as we are not yet sure if such things as alien intelligence and UFOs exist."
UFOs first caught the American imagination in the 1940s when some people saw strange flying saucers which brought alien creatures. Among the various endeavours looking into the phenomena are NASA's Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) programme and the FBI's undercover department.
In the 20th century, there was a marked increase in UFO sightings two years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki and it all began in the country that first used the nuclear bomb - the United States.
Prashant believes there must be truth in the similar sightings of UFOs or alien-like creatures by people who do not even know each other. "One cannot dismiss something as supernatural just because one does not have proper explanation for it. Hence the need for a website that can give anyone who has seen a UFO a sympathetic hearing," he says.
To back up his faith in what may not appeal to sceptics, Prashant cites from experiences chronicled by ancient Hindu, Buddhist and Christian writers and artists. Long before the 20th century, the idea of beings flying in aerial crafts was prevalent in the social psyche. Some medieval paintings clearly indicate that the painters were aware of disc-shaped and cigar-shaped flying objects.
In the year 1680, France even issued a commemorative coin of a UFO sighting which shows that the phenomenon dismissed by cynics actually played a visibly important role in the society of those days.
The context is outer space and the destination is anywhere on Planet Earth. Then what necessitated a regionalised site, as it were, for India? Says Prashant, "Reports of UFO sightings in India are rare compared to those in the West. So any such experience is usually met with disbelief. There was this software engineer from Mumbai on vacation in Goa where he had a sighting. Even his own family did not believe him. Being disappointed and frustrated, he could not get over his anxiety and insomnia. Surfing the Net, he came across my web site," says Prashant.
However, the site is not restricted only to India. Prashant is open to listing sightings from anywhere outside even the Arabian Gulf.
Talking of the credibility of his case further, Prashant points to the one that occurred in Phoenix, Arizona, US, on March 13, 1997. "In an extremely rare case, credible footage of the UFO sighting was not only available but was also broadcast on CNN. And the video footage was taken by different people in different parts of the town."
Prashant sees the ultimate purpose of his website as spreading awareness of matters related to space. "Eventually man has to colonise space and that lends relevance to any discussion on extra-terrestrial life. More and more people should start talking and learning about what lies beyond this world," he says.
THE bottom line is, we are not alone. Look up to the skies and you can rest assured that there is indeed life out there. Life of a different sort, alien and unidentified, but life no doubt.
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