Myriad reports of UFO sightings exist and are well documented in the literature of the study of UFOs. This field is widely known as ufology. The history of UFO sightings and their socio-political context and consequences constitutes the broad subject of this study and provides a site for analysis of how scientists address, both publicly and privately, anomalies that appear to pertain to science. The Condon Report, the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, commissioned by the Air Force in 1968, provides a complex case for the exploration of how the outcome and conclusions of the study were influenced by all that had gone on before in ufology.AB / Master of Science

Over the last years the UFO-phenomenon has created considerable attraction in US-media. The reasons are twofold: 1) Since the fall of 2017 there has been an increased official acknowledgement of the phenomena 2) Several spectacular revelations have been publicized, both triggering a lager media coverage. But why is this topic so salient in the US? How are media and UFO-coverage interrelated?  Our thesis investigates the coverage of the phenomena in one of the largest US media outlets, The New York Times. Focusing on the period 15 December 2017 – 1 August 2023, when the acknowledgement of Pentagons secret UFO-program also known as Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) happened. Then on 26 July 2023, a whistleblower by the name of David Grusch testified in front of congress with allegations of a government conspiracy – including the possession of Alien vehicles and non-human biologics. Therefore, we have selected 51 articles and carried out a thematic analysis. We have not studied other US news outlets because The New York Times brought some serious legitimacy to the UFO-phenomena with their 2017 article about the Pentagons secret UFO-program and got financial resources to dig deep – a sensationalism you might not find elsewhere.  In the results, we were able to present two themes that emerged during the process. These were rivalry between two nations and public disclosures and reactions from the public. The rivalry between the two nations resulted in three subcategories: the near space area, spy balloons, and technological threat perception. In the theme of public reactions, we used six subcategories. These included scientific skepticism, UFO observations and reports, the desired understanding of the public, government confirmation of the secret UFO program AATIP, increased transparency and scientific discussion, and also whistleblower testimonies. This made us to answer our research questions, which were as follows: How has The New York Times' reporting on the UFO phenomenon been shaped from December 15, 2017, to August 1, 2023? Are there patterns and variations in how The New York Times has treated UFO-related articles during the aforementioned time period?

Orientador: Eliane Moura Silva / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-14T12:09:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Santos_RodolphoGauthierCardosodos_M.pdf: 6709640 bytes, checksum: 1ab0d83d0b6a7940ad3e01ada763d52e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Este trabalho analisa a história das idéias relacionadas aos discos voadores, expressão utilizada para se referir a objetos e fenômenos aéreos não identificados no final dos anos 1940 e na década de 1950. Ao longo do texto, acompanhamos as mutações sofridas por esse conceito e sua cristalização num complexo sistema simbólico relacionado à noção de visitantes extraterrestres. Observamos especialmente as particularidades desse processo no Brasil entre os anos de 1947 e 1958. As principais fontes lidas foram produzidas pela imprensa. Através desse material, examinamos também o comportamento da própria imprensa, da comunidade científica nacional e de outros atores da sociedade brasileira no debate público a respeito do assunto. Desse modo, reconstituímos parcialmente lutas e tensões a respeito dos significados atribuídos aos discos voadores naquela época. / Abstract: This work analyses the history of the ideas related to the flying saucers, an expression used during the 1940s and 1950s to mean aerial unidentified phenomena and objects. Alongside the text, we follow the changes suffered by this concept and its crystallization into a complex symbolic system related to the extraterrestrial visitors idea. We also observe the specificities of this historical process in Brazil between 1947 and 1958 years. The main sources analyzed in this research were produced by the press. By reading texts from these sources, we could examine the behavior of the press, of the Brazilian scientific community and other actors from Brazilian society in the public debate related to this subject. In this manner, we reconstituted part of the struggles and tensions regarding the meanings attributed to the flying saucers at that time. / Mestrado / Historia Cultural / Mestre em História