International Corpus of Learner English V2

The goal of this PhD thesis is to present what we can currently say about the belief in the extraterrestrial origin of UFOs from a human sciences point of view. We will defend the Psychosocial Model, which tries to explain sightings, abductions and waves in a mundane way. It is part of the broader project of anomalistic psychology, which aims at explaining the paranormal without bringing into the discussion paranormal processes. We will deconstruct the ufological discourse based on our participant observation of the community. A special focus will be on the Belgian UFO Wave (1989-1992), about which we will argue that it is possible to account for it as a mass delusion.