Talk:UFOs

Close encounters

Is it just me, or are there other readers who think that asserting in any way that human beings have had close encounters with aliens from outer space is way beyond the scope of a travel guide and that we would do much better to avoid any kind of implication of taking a view on whether alien life forms do or don't exist, knowing that there is as yet no proof that even microbes exist in any other world? I think we'd do much better to simply present travel destinations associated with reports of UFOs and leave it at that.

In other words, I propose to delete the entire "Tips for travelers" section as not travel-related, beyond the scope of this guide, and implying that Wikivoyage takes a position in support of claims of "close encounters". Ikan Kekek (talk) 09:55, 21 October 2015 (UTC)

I view this as light humor rather than being serious and seeing as this is a little an off tangent topic anyway see no real issue with it. I would however give it less prominence and place it near the bottom of the article after places people can actually go and visit about this topic. --Traveler100 (talk) 12:36, 21 October 2015 (UTC)

I wouldn't be opposed to removing the "tips for travelers" section - a few throwaway lines might add some humor to the article, but an entire section makes it seem like the article is a joke rather than a serious attempt to provide information about supposed UFO sites, UFO hunting organizations, etc. -- Ryan • (talk) • 13:30, 21 October 2015 (UTC)

I think we should say more about the cold war dynamics that made UFO as in space-alien little green men the vastly preferable explanation instead of unidentified, probably military, possibly secret or even hostile thing in the sky... If I am not mistaken this is the main reason for the long time it took before relevant records were declassified... Hobbitschuster (talk) 18:38, 28 November 2015 (UTC)

I still think this section should be deleted. It looks like Ryan supported this. Any other opinions? Ikan Kekek (talk) 23:11, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

I am not entirely sure there is enough there there for the article as it stands right now,. Especially since it purports to talk about something that very likely doesn't exist (LGM UFOs as opposed to military secrets visible in the sky and paranoid uniformed people liking the people uninformed or misinformed) Hobbitschuster (talk) 23:57, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

In the abstract, I think this could be an interesting travel topic, so I'd be against deleting the article itself. But much of the content as it stands currently is, not to put too fine a point on it, pseudoscientific twaddle and/or insane conspiracy theory. The lede and the entire "Tips for travelers" section need to go, and it might also be good to tone down some of the one-liner blurbs in "UFO hotspots" and subsequent sections. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 00:25, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

I think there's enough at w:Unidentified flying object for us not to dismiss out of hand that some flying objects may not be explainable. However, that's a far cry from attributing them to extraterrestrial life forms. We don't want to do that. Ikan Kekek (talk) 01:32, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

Right. With "pseudoscientific twaddle and/or insane conspiracy theory" I was addressing mostly the "Tips for travelers" section, but there's also a lot of Captain Obvious stuff in the lede. Honestly, I think the best way to stay impartial is to simply sidestep the question of what UFOs are exactly. We're a travel guide, and we ought to limit ourselves to the travel-related aspects of the subject. It's a safe bet that anyone who types "UFOs" into our search box already has 1) a certain amount of preexisting knowledge about UFOs and 2) their own opinions on what's behind the phenomenon. Those who want to delve into the how's and why's should consult Wikipedia. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 01:58, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

Sounds reasonable to me, though I think there should be some kind of introduction, giving a quick definition and focusing on them as a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of many people. Ikan Kekek (talk) 02:37, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

[unindent] I plunged forward and made this edit. What do you think of it? Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:51, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

Looks good! -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 14:58, 14 April 2018 (UTC)

Merge to Fringe Phonemena?

At present this seems to be a short article. Would this be better as a subsection of Fringe phonemena? ShakespeareFan00 (talk) 06:18, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

I'm not sure, as that article links to several other articles. For example, Cryptozoology is linked instead of being covered in a lot of detail. I think someone with more knowledge of places where UFO sightings were reported might be able to add more to this article. Ikan Kekek (talk) 06:52, 13 April 2018 (UTC)