A History of Scientific Approaches to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Time to Rethink their Relegation to the Paranormal and Engage Seriously?
Tim Lomas
Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 38, No. 1
Summary
Systematic historical review of scientific approaches to UAP from 1947 to present, tracing how the subject moved from relative openness in the 1950s-60s to dismissal as paranormal following the Condon Report, and arguing it now warrants serious re-engagement by the academic community. Lomas contends that UAP constitutes a legitimate empirical phenomenon that has been improperly excluded from scientific inquiry - not because evidence is absent but because of sociological and institutional stigma. Published in JSE, the primary peer-reviewed venue for anomalistics research.
Abstract
The subject of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) has long faced scientific skepticism and institutional dismissal. Following a period of relative openness during the 1950s and 1960s - including Project Blue Book and the early USAF investigations - the topic was effectively classified as paranormal and excluded from serious academic inquiry, a status reinforced by the Condon Report (1969) and subsequent decades of stigma. This paper traces that history of scientific engagement and disengagement, examining the organizational, sociological, and epistemological factors that led to UAP's marginalization. Given recent developments - including congressional hearings, the NASA UAP study group, and renewed institutional interest - the author argues that the scientific community has improperly avoided what constitutes a potentially important phenomenon meriting genuine empirical scrutiny. The paper calls for the rehabilitation of UAP as a legitimate subject of academic research and proposes criteria for rigorous, stigma-free scientific engagement.
Citation
Tim Lomas. (2024). Journal of Scientific Exploration. Vol. 38. No. 1. DOI: 10.31275/20243163
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