A UFO is by definition something that exists on the very edge of perception. It is unidentified: little more than the blurring of a point of light. But is anyone really meant to see it? In 1956, T Townsend Brown took time out from his continued research into antigravity to establish NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena).

As early as 1926, Brown had declared that the saucer design was the most efficient for his electromagnetic propulsion system. Now it seemed that others had come to the same conclusion. Joining him at NICAP was Major Donald E Keyhoe, whose research into flying saucers suggested that the US Air Force knew more about the subject than they were prepared to admit.

As it was, the vast desert regions of the southwest US had become home to some of the most secret skies in the world. Here, under the tightest security, new aerial designs were put through their paces, including the U2 and SR-71 Blackbird spy planes. Higher altitudes and faster speeds meant less chance of being identified.

Although the Avro-Car had been scrapped by the early 1960s, its radial flow engines, which considerably reduced its infrared signature by dispersing exhaust gases, still had implications for the US Air Force's emergent 'stealth' technology. So too did its sleek, shallow fuselage, which diffused its radar cross-section, making it harder to detect.

More advanced applications of this principle, such as in the Dark Star reconnaissance plane and the F1-17 stealth fighter, have resulted in craft whose appearance greatly resembles a flying saucer when viewed head on.

Not surprising therefore that Area 51 in the Nevada Desert has become the subject of intense rumour and speculation. Is the US Air Force secretly 'back-engineering' alien propulsion technology from actual flying saucers? When it comes to UFOs, what you don't see is what you get.

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