UPDATE: This competition is now closed. Click here for answers, and a selection of our favourite limericks.

We present Brain of Ufology 2008, a quiz made up of questions both easy and tough. Some you should know the answers to; for others you can probably find clues in back issues of FT; a few might require an educated guess. The UFO-themed sections cover people, places, cases, books, and odds and ends. This can be a personal challenge, a competition at a local group, or an offic­ial entry emailed to nufon@btinternet.com or posted to: Brain of Ufology 2008, Fortean Times, Dennis Publishing, 30 Cleveland Street, London W1T 4JD. Closing date is 29 May 2008.

Aside from the perhaps dubious honour of being named Brain of Ufology 2008, the winner will receive a sizeable goody bag of UFO-related items. To win this unique prize, submit your answers AND your very own entry for the Tie-Breaker. The best will be published in FT238. Be creative – but answers must be printable in a family magazine!

CASES
1:Cave paintings in Southern France and Northern Spain, thought by some to depict the earliest UFO sightings, are believed to be approximately how old?
a) 4,000 years
b) 14,000 years
c) 40,000 years

2: Which future British Prime Minister issued a public statement about unidentified flying craft following a wave of mystery airships seen across the UK in 1914?

3: At the time of the famous July 1947 UFO event, what unique role was played by the nearby Roswell air base?
a) It housed the only nuclear weapons bomber flight.
b) Early astronaut training occurred there.
c) Secret weather balloon projects were undertaken in its hangars.

4: Which US astronaut first reported a UFO sighting from space in June 1965?

5: When a Hampshire woman met aliens and a landed UFO in November 1976, how did she reply when they assured her that they had not come to invade?
a) You can invade my car anytime, love.
b) That’s what Hitler said!
c) Can I quote you when I phone The Sun?

PEOPLE
6: Which celebrated astronomer discovered a new planet in our Solar System and later reported a UFO sighting?

7: Farm worker Antonio Villas Boas is renowned for being the first witness to report an alien abduction. Following his 1957 encounter, what new career did he adopt?
a) Author
b) TV journalist
c) Lawyer

8: Which well known UFO researcher was the model for the character Lacombe (played by Francois Truffaut) in the 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

9: In 1987, the British entry into the Euro­vision Song Contest came 13th – the worst UK result that decade. What did reports suggest was a unique selling point of the Rikki Peebles song?

10: Which celebrated alien abduction researcher died after being hit by a car while visiting Britain in 2004 in order to lecture at Oxford?

BOOKS:
11: In what year were the first American and British UFO books published, and who were the authors?

12: During the 1950s, George Adamski wrote a series of books claiming contact with aliens from where?
a) Venus
b) Uranus
c) Neptune

13: What was unusual about the book An account of a meeting with denizens of another world, 1871 attributed to manuscripts from cabinetmaker William Loosley?

14: Which respected psychoanalyst wrote just one UFO book, in 1959?

15: During the 1960s and 1970s, scient­ists in the USA, including Hynek and Vallee, created a loose affiliation of underground researchers known by what title?

PLACES
16: In which country was the first recorded UFO photograph taken?

17: What city and state in the USA was home to the first Air Force UFO project, being set up in December 1947?

18: The first alien abduction report in the USA was made following a journey by a couple in September 1961 – through which mountain range?

19: Self-confessed crop circle hoaxers Doug and Dave claim to have been inspired to fake crop patterns across southern England after seeing real swirled marks supposedly left by a UFO – in which country?

20: In 1987 a hotly debated colour photo­graph of a little green alien was allegedly taken on:
a) Bodmin Moor
b) Ilkley Moor
c) Patrick Moor

POT LUCK
21: What are foo fighters, apart from a rock band?

22: In UFO research, what does the term UAP stand for?

23: Which UFO-related movie was given a Royal performance in 1978?

24: Name the British TV soap that features a regular character who is a ufologist called Elliot who runs his own web site about classic cases.

25: What is a close encounter of the fourth kind better known as?

26: The French government sponsored a new UFO research organisation during 1977. What were its initials?
a) G.E.P.A.N.
b) S.O.S.P.A.N.
c) B.E.D.P.A.N.

TIE-BREAKER
For your final task, we want you to create a (more or less) clean limerick. It can start with the first line of the following example, or you can create your own, provided that it has a UFO-related theme:

A saucer arrived as a sign
Of super intelligent minds
It fell from the blue
In a field of cow poo
Close encounters of the turd kind

We are confident that you can do better than that! So, good luck!