ROCK SPRINGS – Looking for something a little different to do this year and have an interest in the sky and possible life among the stars. The UFO and Extraterrestrial Life Discussion Group will have the first meeting of the year at the White Mountain Library this Wednesday  at 7 p.m. The group meets on the first Wednesday of every month.

The focus will be on the core issue but may extend to topics such as physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry, science and technology, artificial intelligence, consciousness, interstellar travel, telepathy, world, cultural and religious views regarding ET life, the importance of critical thinking and application of the scientific method and more.

All members of the public, including believers and skeptics regardless of age or educational background are encouraged to attend. Members of the public who possess advanced degrees in any field in combination with an open mind are especially invited to educate and enlighten.

In popular culture, the term UFO–or unidentified flying object–refers to a suspected alien spacecraft, although its definition encompasses any unexplained aerial phenomena. UFO sightings have been reported throughout recorded history and in various parts of the world, raising questions about life on other planets and whether extraterrestrials have visited Earth. They became a major subject of interest–and the inspiration behind numerous films and books–following the development of rocketry after World War II.

The first well-known UFO sighting occurred in 1947, when businessman Kenneth Arnold claimed to see a group of nine high-speed objects near Mount Rainier in Washington while flying his small plane. Arnold estimated the speed of the crescent-shaped objects as several thousand miles per hour and said they moved “like saucers skipping on water.” In the newspaper report that followed, it was mistakenly stated that the objects were saucer-shaped, hence the term flying saucer.