Sir, – James Heatley's letter (November 15th) questioning the oddities surrounding the witnessing of unidentified aerial phenomenon in Irish skies by several commercial aircraft is welcome and refreshing to see in your publication.
However, as is almost always the case regarding this particular topic, raising it is met casually with derision, laughter, ridicule and sarcasm. I say this because your newspaper, which ran the story on November 12th, in an otherwise sound reporting, debased the whole article by stating, “If there are little green men and women visiting earth for the first time, they have proved to be very elusive” (“UFO reported streaking across Irish skies”, News, November 12th).
This is yet again the archetypal and oversimplified response that occurs in these type of circumstances.
Whether people want to accept it or not, the UFO phenomenon is real. The tens of thousands of witnesses, and some people who claim to have been abducted, will attest to this. There is also a tenable argument that “little green men and women” might have been visiting Earth for centuries, as evidenced by ancient artefacts, cave paintings, etc, rather than the supposition that it could be “for the first time”, as your reporter has surmised.
Rarely is there ever any discerning discussion or public debate on this matter, and unless there is a profound change in how we try to understand this sibylline subject, this debate in our society will continue to be wilder. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL REDMOND,
Clongriffin,
Dublin 13.