Phone this home: UFOs in decline

ON THE X-Files, the former TV series, FBI agent and paranormal investigator Fox Mulder had a poster of a UFO on his office wall with the legend I want to believe plastered on the bottom. Because strange things happened to Agent Mulder every week, he had more than enough confirmation that something was out there, even if he couldn't always explain it.

But UFO enthusiasts in Britain are losing faith in the notion that aliens or interdimensional travelers are among us. The Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena, a British group, reports UFO sightings have dropped 96 percent since 1988.

The number of groups doing UFO research is also dwindling, from 100-plus in the 1990s to 30 today. Many UFO researchers fear that UFO-logy as we've known it might not exist in 10 years.

Still, there will always be a remnant of those who believe. They're not at all deterred by the lack of evidence. For these intrepid souls, Fox Mulder's other mantra, Trust no one, is far more relevant.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette