Robin Hunt, age 10, of Chelsea, Okla., for her question:

ARE UFO' S REAL?

A group of scientists established an information center in 1973 to gather all facts about UFO sightings and to examine all details of the reports. Called the Center for UFO Studies, the organization's address is P.O. Box 11, Northfield, Ill. 60093. Many hope the center will answer this question: Are people from outer space visiting us?

UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object. A UFO is usually a mysterious light or object that is seen by one or more people in the sky or near the ground. There is usually no known cause for the strange object to appear.

Many people are convinced that UFOs are spacecraft from distant planets or other locations in outer space. Others are just as sure that UFOs are caused by some natural condition that cannot immediately be explained. Scientists have not agreed with either camp. While they have explained some UFOs easily, others cannot be properly identified.

There have been enough sightings of UFOs to give us every reason to be open minded about them. Some of the objects are said to look like saucers or glowing tubes that fly at very high speeds. There have been many cases where the objects have frightened animals or caused radio static. Some people have even pointed out marks on the ground where the flying objects were reported as landing.

Flying objects that can't be identified have actually been reported for hundreds of years. There were many sightings during World War II. Military and civilian pilots often have reported sighting strange moving lights, which have been called foo fighters. Some reports have come from extremely reliable observers who have photographed the unexplained objects.

Many UFOs have later been identified as meteors, weather balloons or artificial satellites. Exhaust trails from aircraft seen under unusual lighting conditions have also been reported many times as UFOs. Scientists tell us that quite often atmospheric conditions can produce optical illusions that could well be called UFOs at first sightings.

There's absolutely no proof that any sighted UFO has been a visitor from another world.

Between 1966 and 1968 the U.S. Air Force sponsored a study of UFO sightings. A team of scientists worked at the University of Colorado. while they could not explain all of the UFO reports, they found no evidence that any of the objects came from other planets.

Between 1947 and 1969 the Air Force checked out more than 12,000 UFO reports. Its official verdict on the subject: UFOs are no threat to national security: