8. Consensus lists : Kimball’s expert poll (2007)

Best UFO Cases

“Best UFO Cases” by Isaac Koi

PART 8:    Consensus lists : Paul Kimball’s expert poll (2005/6)

 

A documentary entitled “Best Evidence : Top Ten UFO Sightings” premiered on “Space: The Imagination Station” in Canada during May 2007 (see Footnote 8.01).

 

The opening words of that documentary, produced and directed by Paul Kimball, stated the following:

 

“In 2005 and 2006, documentary filmmaker Paul Kimball surveyed a select group of the world’s leading UFO researchers. He asked each of them for a list of their ten best UFO cases of all time. The cases were assigned point values, based on their rank, and then averaged together. Over seventy UFO incidents from around the world received votes. At the end of the process, the following ten incidents comprised the best evidence UFO cases of all time”.

 

(As discussed below, that statement is somewhat misleading…)

 

9. Consensus lists : Fortean Times expert poll (2007)

Best UFO Cases

“Best UFO Cases” by Isaac Koi

PART 9:    Consensus lists : Fortean Times expert poll (2007)

 

Earlier Parts of this article have considered several earlier polls of ufologist to determine any consensus as to the “best” UFO cases. In particular, I have discussed a poll by Jacques Vallee in 1965 (see PART 5), by Ronald Story in 1979 (see PART 6), a “Vox Populi” poll by Paul Kimball in 2006 (see PART 7) and a poll of experts by Paul Kimball in 2005/2006 (see PART 8).  This Part considers a poll of ufologists by “The Fortean Times” Magazine in 2007.

 

The “Fortean Times” magazine is a British publication devoted to “The World of Strange Phenomena”. It has a website at the link below:

http://www.forteantimes.com/

 

The June 2007 edition of that magazine (issue FT 225) celebrated “60 Years of UFOs” and the front cover refers to “The Best Evidence”.

 

For that issue, the Fortean Times indicates that it “asked 16 prominent researchers from very different backgrounds” to answer several questions, including the following:

“What do you believe to be the most evidential – or, to look at it from a slightly different angle, genuinely unexplained – UFO case from the period 1947-2007” (Footnote 9.01).