BUTTE -Here on the campus of Montana Tech, you can study science, mathematics, engineering, biology, even nursing, but here in the Chemistry Biology Building in this classroom, you can learn about UFOs. Yeah, I’m serious, and so is Dr. Michael Masters, so let’s go check out his class.
“Fiber optics technology may have come from reverse engineering these craft,” Montana Tech Professor Michael Masters told his class Thursday morning.
WATCH: Montana Tech joins a select group of universities offering academic courses on UFO phenomena
The Butte university is one of only a handful of colleges around the country with a class on unidentified flying objects.
“One of my students was very honest and said that she saw the posters and thought it was a joke and registered to see if it was actually a joke," Masters said.
It’s no joke. The anthropology class studies the history and science behind the UFO phenomenon.
"This is a real phenomenon happening, whether you believe in UFOs or not, it’s not a belief system anymore, it’s an evidence-based inquiry, and the more we take it seriously,” he said.
Masters earned his doctorate in anthropology from Ohio State University and has written several books about UFOs. Students in this new class are challenged to research and examine the topic through credible sources.
“I don’t know, I’ve kind of mixed feelings about it, but after taking this class, I’ve kind of shifted toward, yeah, there could be something out there,” student Izzy Arave said.
Student Nate O’Neil added, “We couldn’t have had this class 10 years ago; we would have all been called crazy for just taking it, probably.“
Masters said Montana Tech has been very supportive of his class and believes this subject is not just for the fringe and should be a topic of serious study.
“We have whistleblowers, we have intelligence insiders coming out and saying there is a legacy program, there are craft, there are bodies, they are reverse engineering these craft, and when people are saying that under oath in front of the United States Congress, we need to pay attention to that and we need to take it seriously,” Masters said.
