---- ## Overview - **Source**: Wikipedia - **Topic**: Extraterrestrial Hypothesis and Theory - **Author**: Unknown - **Date of Research**: N/A ## Summary The **extraterrestrial hypothesis** (**ETH**) proposes that some [unidentified flying objects](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unidentified_flying_object "Unidentified flying object") (UFOs) are best explained as being physical [spacecraft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft "Spacecraft") occupied by [extraterrestrial intelligence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_intelligence "Extraterrestrial intelligence") or non-human aliens, or non-occupied alien probes from [other planets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrasolar_planet "Extrasolar planet") visiting [Earth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth "Earth"). Although the extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH) as a phrase is a comparatively new concept, one which owes much to the flying saucer sightings of the 1940s–1960s, its origins can be traced back to a number of earlier events, such as the now-discredited [Martian canals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_canals "Martian canals") and ancient Martian civilization promoted by astronomer [Percival Lowell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_Lowell "Percival Lowell"), popular culture including the writings of [H. G. Wells](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells "H. G. Wells") and fellow science fiction pioneers such as [Edgar Rice Burroughs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Rice_Burroughs "Edgar Rice Burroughs"), who likewise wrote of Martian civilizations, and even to the works of figures such as the Swedish [philosopher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher "Philosopher"), [mystic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysticism "Mysticism") and scientist [Emanuel Swedenborg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Swedenborg "Emanuel Swedenborg"), who promoted a variety of unconventional views that linked other worlds to the [afterlife](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterlife "Afterlife"). In the early part of the twentieth century, [Charles Fort](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fort "Charles Fort") collected accounts of anomalous physical phenomena from newspapers and scientific journals, including many reports of extraordinary aerial objects. These were published in 1919 in _The Book of the Damned_. In this and two subsequent books, _New Lands_ (1923) and _Lo!_ (1931), Fort theorized that visitors from other worlds were observing Earth. Fort's reports of aerial phenomena were frequently cited in American newspapers when the UFO phenomenon first attracted widespread media attention in June and July 1947. The modern ETH—specifically, the implicit linking of unidentified aircraft and lights in the sky to alien life—took root during the late 1940s and took its current form during the 1950s. It drew on [pseudoscience](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience "Pseudoscience"), as well as popular culture. Unlike earlier speculation of extraterrestrial life, interest in the ETH was also bolstered by many unexplained sightings investigated by the U.S. government and governments of other countries, as well as private civilian groups, such as [NICAP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Investigations_Committee_On_Aerial_Phenomena "National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena") and [APRO](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_Phenomena_Research_Organization "Aerial Phenomena Research Organization"). ## References - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis