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The Top 5 Things We Learned About Aliens and UFOs in 2021

As the year concludes, you will be seeing a lot of “year in review recaps,” but here is one you may not see in too many other places. With all that went on and went wrong in 2021, it was also a banner year for revelations about UFOs and alien encounters.

Here in no particular order, are the top seven things we learned about UFOs and Aliens in 2021.

1. The US Government Admits UFOs are Real

Perhaps the biggest UFO bombshell that dropped in 2021 was the long-awaited release of the Pentagon’s report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). And while some Ufologists and Alien Hunters still found the report lacking, it revealed one astounding fact, that the US government admits that “UAPs” exist and bear further investigation.

2. Alien Inhabited Planets May Look Nothing Like Earth

Traditionally,  the search for alien life begins with the search for Earth-like planets — but there may be another class of alien worlds that are just as conducive to life, a study published in the Astrophysical Journal in August of 2021 contends. “Hycean” planets, which are up to 2.5 times larger than Earth and sport huge oceans of liquid water beneath hydrogen-rich atmospheres, could be the ideal spot for microbial life similar to the “extremophiles” that thrive in some of Earth’s harshest environments (such as hydrothermal vents), the study authors said. The researchers said that such planets are “abundant” in the Milky Way – and should be the target of explorations of life outside of our solar system.

3. One of Saturn’s Moons Could Potentially Support Life

In addition to the reveal of Hycean planets, researchers in 2021 did not rule out the search for life closer to home. Researchers say that the methane wafting from Enceladus, Saturn’s sixth-largest moon, maybe a sign that life teems in the moon’s subsurface sea. In 2005, NASA’s Cassini Saturn orbiter discovered geysers blasting particles of water ice into space from “tiger stripe” fractures near Enceladus’ south pole. That material is thought to come from a huge ocean of liquid water that sloshes beneath the moon’s icy shell — but it wasn’t just water the orbiter found; numerous other compounds, including dihydrogen (H2) and a variety of carbon-containing organic compounds, including methane (CH4), also appeared in the geysers. The expulsion of gasses by microbial life could be the source of these organic compounds.

4. There Could Be Alien Artifacts Floating About Our Solar System

According to Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb’s recent book “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, the strange, cigar-shaped object “Oumuamua” — which zoomed through our solar system in 2017 — is almost certainly a piece of alien technology. In his book, published this year, Loeb argues that the object’s unusual, elongated shape (unlike any known comet), extreme brightness, and apparent acceleration away from the sun suggest that “Oumuamua is not natural in origin, but a piece of alien technology — possibly jettisoned into our solar system accidentally.” 

“A buoy. A grid of pods for communication… Other intelligent living organisms’ defunct technology or discarded technological trash,” Loeb wrote. “These all are plausible explanations for the Oumuamua mystery — plausible because here on Earth, humanity is already doing these things, albeit on a far more limited scale.”

5. Alien Abductions May Be Lucid Dreams

A study published in July of 2021 suggests that lucid dreaming, in which people are partially aware and can control their dreams during sleep, could explain stories of apparent alien abductions. Claims of such abductions date to the 19th century; the circumstances of the kidnappings often sound dreamlike and trigger feelings of terror and paralysis. Certain dream states are also known to produce such feelings, so Russian researchers wondered whether dream experiments could provide clues about alleged extraterrestrial experiences. 

The scientists prompted 152 lucid dreamers to dream about encounters with aliens or UFOs and found that a number of sleepers reported dreams that resembled actual descriptions of alleged alien abductions. Of those who described their dream encounters as “realistic,” 24% also experienced sleep paralysis and intense fear. Such emotions often accompany reports of supposed alien abductions, and though individuals who describe being kidnapped by aliens might truly believe that what they experienced was real, these people were likely experiencing an extraterrestrial meeting while in a lucid dream, the study authors reported.

All and all, 2021 proved to be an interesting year for UFO and Alien enthusiasts. What will the New Year ahead bring? Who knows? But you can be sure to read about it on these pages. 

Have a safe and wonder-filled New Year!