While I have seen several Unidentified Flying Objects, I seriously doubt they are illiegal aliens from the outside the solar system. To me, "unidentified" is commensurate with "inexplicable".

We're way out on the spiral arm, and until a little over a century ago, there was no way any alien race could possibly know we existed by any standard I can think of.

And, of course, I also believe that if a race of aliens discovered us, it would be akin to the Europeans discovering the Americas.

So, yes, I believe there are UFOs, However, assuming they are extra-solar alien ships is akin to assuming there are undiscovered humanoid creatures living in the rain forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Or that the hoofbeats you're hearing outside your window are coming from zebras.

The primary proponent of the Fifth Planet theory was 18th Century astronomer and scientist Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers, who was also a follower and firm believer in the Titus-Bode Theory. Olbers' theory was buttressed by the fact that there were many large asteroids sharing the same basic orbit around the sun, but the sizes varied widely, creating a probable debris field. They called the hypothetical planet Phaeton.

If you're at all interested in UFOs, John, check out (if you haven't already) John Keel and Dr. Jacques Vallee on the subject. They left the Extra-Terrestrial Hypothesis in tatters back in the 70s.

The UFO phenomenon is weird indeed.

so, getting back on subject, since I apparently just DREAMED that I read that the world of Jack was in the fifth age of mankind, what age are we supposed to be living in? The 2nd? Third? what? Since the "first age" ended apparently 15,000 years ago, we have to be a least in the 2nd, RIGHT?


I wasn't about to reread all of the RJ novels just to find a reference, just to post it here, and have everyone go "Oh, Yeah, now I remember", so since I appear to be having a senior moment, someone tell me please, what age of mankind is this?

Lex

Nobody has said that you "dreamed" anything. What I said was that you may have been thinking of something that you have read somewhere else. In THE KEEP Glaeken spoke of the First Age, which implies that this is the Second Age, and there were no dates mentioned except to say that the First age was the time when Continent Atlantis existed.

Ken V.