As we continue to explore all things space and the stars this month at The Archive, we thought we’d delve into a more unexplained aspect of our night sky – UFOs. Standing for ‘Unidentified Flying Objects,’ a term coined by the United States Air Force in 1953, the term ‘UFO’ can be applied to any aerial phenomenon that cannot immediately be explained or identified. The appearance of UFOs is often linked to speculation around the existence of extraterrestrial life, and sightings of …
Space
Space Race The Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States experienced a significant ratcheting up at the end of the 1950s with the Sputnik Crisis, which saw the successful launching and orbit of the satellite Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union in 1957. This development was a key factor in the creation of NASA the following year by the United States as well as the investment of federal funds into national security and research and development. An …