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From the year one thousand to the year 1500, chroniclers mentioned various sightings of luminous spheres, wheels, lances, or bars moving more-or-less rapidly in the sky. The monastery at Detchani, built in Yugoslavia between 1327 and 1335, is decorated with frescoes that represent angels enclosed in sorts of vessels flying in the sky. (Even further back in time), during the reign of Charlemagne, it is reported that Agobard, Bishop of Lyons, succeeded in saving from the stake three men and one woman who had descended from an airship, claiming to be returning to earth after having been kidnapped by celestial beings who allegedly showed them wonders. Elsewhere, luminous celestial phenomena similar to modern UFOs seem to have been relatively frequent in China and Japan, particularly in the Middle Ages. Several other Latins, Dion Cassius, Pliny the Elder, Titus Livy, Julius Obsequens, and even Cicero relate the appearance of lights in the sky, glowing shields, multiple moons and suns, [and] golden flying spheres. As for the testimonies reported by the Greek chroniclers, these are fewer in number. - Daimachos recounts that a globe of fire crossed the sky several times during the 78th Olympiad. Anaxagoras asserts that he saw celestial lights the size of a large beam. Appearances of beams and shields of fire are described several times, by Homer among others. Appendix 7 - Reflections on Various Psychological, Sociological, and Political Aspects of the UFO Phenomenon Note: these reflections apply primarily to the United States; many of them, however, can be transposed to other countries A large number of Americans are convinced of the physical reality of UFOs, of their extraterrestrial origin, and of the fact that the U.S. government is systematically covering up the truth with lies and disinformation. Most of the recent American works that have been published on the subject end with this conclusion, and almost all of them close with a demand for a partial or full lifting of the alleged secrecy. The media frenzy surrounding the Roswell affair (cf. Appendix 5), which experienced a resurgence at the end of the 70s after a more than thirty-year blackout, and which has not ceased to go from new development to new development for 15 years, is a typical illustration of this line of thought. By admitting that the extraterrestrial hypothesis is the good one, the secret, say some, would be kept out of fear of panic reactions, which, they assure, would not fail to occur, as demonstrated by the unfortunate experience of the radio program “Zhe War of the Worlds” broadcast by Orson Welles in the United States in 1938 (only nine years prior to Roswell). This explanation should not necessarily be rejected; however, it does seem a bit narrow. In fact, the roots of the matter probably go deeper, and the sociopsychological motivations seem to be more complex. 7.1 The UFO Paradox While a majority of Americans seem to support the idea of the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial [beings], a very strong resistance remains in scientific circles, among leaders, and in most of the media to the idea that these entities, whatever they may be, have been able to or continue to visit our planet and travel our solar system. The idea is ridiculed by much of the media. At the same time, in this spirit, most