Flying flapjack, anyone?
I learnt today that what were once referred to as flying flapjacks, but what most of us probably remember as unidentified flying objects (or UFOs), now have an even more fun-sapping label: unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
So, why the name changes?
Well, both changes mark attempts by the United States Air Force, and subsequently by NASA, to be less restrictive in their definition. Thus, UFO meant that flying objects of all sorts of shapes, and not just those resembling flapjacks, could be included. The more recent UAP has now extended this further, to phenomena spotted beneath the sea or up, up and away in space.
However, in becoming more inclusive both terms have become decidedly less colourful too, as the coiner of ‘unidentified flying object’, Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt, himself admitted. The more recent of the two, ‘unidentified anomalous phenomena’, is also less plain in the sense of it not being easy to understand.
And that made me wonder: while generalising naturally means being less precise, does it have to mean being less colourful and less understandable too?
Far more importantly, though, can you think of a snappier label than ‘unidentified anomalous phenomena’? If so, please let us know, and perhaps NASA too while you’re at it 😁.
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