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[[Image:ufo-05-small.jpg|frame|Alleged UFO]]

In [[ufology]], a '''close encounter''' is an event where a person witnesses an [[unidentified flying object]]. This system was developed by [[J. Allen Hynek]], and was first suggested in his [[1972]] book ''The UFO Experience: A Scientific Study''.

== Types ==

Sightings more than 500 feet from the witness are classified as "Daylight Discs", "Nocturnal Lights" or "Radar/Visual Reports". Sightings within about 500 feet are subclassified as various "close encounters". This classification system supplied the title for the [[1977]] [[Steven Spielberg]] film ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]''.

=== First kind ===

A close encounter of the ''first kind'' is a sighting of an [[unidentified flying object]] or objects.  Reports of "flying saucers", odd lights, or aerial objects unattributable to human technology, can all be considered close encounters of the first kind.

=== Second kind ===

A close encounter of the ''second kind'' is an observation of physical evidence of extra-terrestrial visitation.  Footprints, [[heat]] or [[radiation]] damage to terrain, and [[crop circles]] found in the vicinity of a UFO sighting could be considered examples of close encounters of the second kind.

=== Third kind ===

A close encounter of the ''third kind'' is an observation of one or more occupants associated with one or more crafts.

==Expansion Of Hynek's Scale==
Some have added more types of encounters to Hynek's Scale

=== Fourth kind ===

A close encounter of the ''fourth kind'' is abduction by an extraterrestrial intelligence.  There are two types of CE4 encounters, the first type involving forcible abduction by an extraterrestrial intelligence by an unwilling abductee.  The second type of CE4 contact involves willful agreement to be taken.

* In a Class 1 CE4 encounter abductees may experience severe reality distortion, memory lapses, "post abduction trauma" symptoms such as fear and anxiety, physiological effects, paralysis, and time-space disorientation.
* Events classified as a Class 2 CE4 are events that are technically classified as an abduction, but occur when a witness voluntary assists or willfully follows an entity.

=== Fifth kind ===

A close encounter of the ''fifth kind'' involves direct communication between an extraterrestrial intelligence and a human being.  This is the rarest and most controversial form of close encounter.  Many people in the [[New Age]] movement have asserted fifth-kind encounters.

Persons who claim to be in regular contact with alien life forms are known as ''[[contactees]]''.

=== Sixth kind ===

A close encounter of the ''sixth kind'' involves the death of a human being or other animal during a witnessed encounter.  Witnesses reporting UFOs flying above fields where cattle had been mutilated (''[[cattle mutilation]]'') would be classified as a sixth-kind encounter (CE6).

=== Seventh kind ===

A close encounter of the ''seventh kind'' involves genetic interchange
between aliens and humans, and the [[fecundation]] of a human [[ovocyte]] with alien seed (maybe some type of blend of human [[sperm]] and alien 
[[chromosomes]], with or without further [[pregnancy]] of a human being until the development of a [[chimera|chimeric]] embryo that can develop and grow inside an alien's body or inside some type of nurturing machine. <br>
Some [[Abduction phenomenon|abductees]] claim that they met a blended human-alien race in space.


== External links ==
*[http://www.forteantimes.com/ Fortean Times]
*[http://www.rense.com/ufo/ufo.htm Jeff Rense's UFO Data Page]
*[http://www.unknowncountry.com/ Whitley Strieber's Unknown Country]
* [http://www.paranormalnetwork.net/wiki/index.php/Star_cruiser A collection of possible extraterrestrial ships photographed by the SOHO sun-watching satellite]
*[http://www.ufocasebook.com UFO Casebook Homepage]
*[http://www.maar.us Malevolent Alien Abduction Research Homepage]
*[http://www.mufon.com Mutual UFO Network Homepage]
*[http://www.auforn.com Australian UFO Sightings]

== Copyright ==
"Original data received from Wikipedia on April 01, 2006. Credit given to original authors can be seen [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Close_encounter&action=history Here]."


[[Category:UFOs]]