Close encounter

For the film, see Close Encounters of the Third Kind

A close encounter in ufology is an event where a person witnesses an unidentified flying object. This terminology and the system of classification behind it was started by astronomer and UFO researcher J. Allen Hynek, and was first suggested in his 1972 book The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry. He introduced the first three kinds of encounters; two more sub-types of close encounters were later added by others, but these additional categories are not universally accepted by UFO researchers.^[1]

Sightings more than 500 feet from the witness are classified as "Daylight Discs", "Nocturnal Lights" or "Radar/Visual Reports". Sightings within about 500 feet are subclassified as various types of "close encounter."

First kind

A sighting of one or more unidentified flying objects:

• Flying saucers
• Odd lights
• Aerial objects that are not attributable to human technology

Second kind

An observation of a UFO, and associated physical effects from the UFO, including:

• Heat or radiation
• Damage to terrain
• Human paralysis
• Frightened animals
• Interference with engines or TV or radio reception.
• Crop circles found in the vicinity of a UFO sighting.^{[citation needed]}

Third kind

An observation of what Hynek termed "animate beings" in association with a UFO sighting. Hynek chose the somewhat vague term "animate beings" deliberately, as it described the beings associated with UFOs without making any unfounded assumptions regarding the beings' origins or nature. Hynek did not necessarily regard these beings as "extraterrestrials" or "aliens", and in his 1972 book, he further expressed discomfort with such reports, but felt a scientific obligation to include them, at the very least because they represented a sizable minority of claimed UFO encounters.

Bloecher subtypes

The UFO researcher Ted Bloecher proposed seven subtypes for the close encounters of the third kind in the Hynek's scale.

A: An entity is observed only inside the UFO

B: An entity is observed inside and outside the UFO

C: An entity is observed near to a UFO, but not going in or out.

D: An entity is observed. No UFOs are seen by the observer, but UFO activity has been reported in the area at about the same time

E: An entity is observed. But no UFOs are seen and no UFO activity has been reported in the area at that time

F: No entity or UFOs are observed, but the subject experiences some kind of "intelligent communication"

G: Abduction (same as close encounter of fourth kind)

Subtypes D, E, and F may be unrelated with the UFO phenomenon.^[2]

Fourth kind

A human is abducted by a UFO or its occupants.

Fifth kind

Named by Steven M. Greer's CSETI group, these purported encounters are joint, bilateral contact events produced through the conscious, voluntary and proactive human-initiated or cooperative communication with Extraterrestrial intelligence. This is very similar to some "contactees" of the 1950s.

References

See also

• Abduction phenomenon
• Extraterrestrial life
• Unidentified flying object
• List of UFO sightings

es:Encuentro cercano

fr:Système de classification de Hynek it:Classificazione Hynek ja:接近遭遇 sv:Närkontakt