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	<title>Comments on: Aliens? Yes. UFOs? No.</title>
	<atom:link href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/</link>
	<description>I am an astronomer, writer, and skeptic. I likes reality the way it is, and I aims to keep it that way. My real name is Phil Plait, and I run the Bad Astronomy blog.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:53:42 -0600</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>By: Alan Haggard</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/comment-page-12/#comment-223405</link>
		<dc:creator>Alan Haggard</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:42:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/#comment-223405</guid>
		<description>Hello,

I would like to formally retract all statements made previously regarding this topic. 

UFO&#039;s are nothing more than the definition of the acronym: Unidentified Flying Objects.

This does NOT equate to &quot;alien spacecraft&quot;. It simply implies the object is unknown in nature. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Anyone who implies the United States government knows more than they have disclosed prior regarding UFO&#039;s is making an assumption. An assumption that cannot be backed up nor substantiated by evidence, physical, circumstantial, or otherwise. 

Any claims that UFO&#039;s are anything other than natural or man-made phenomena are undeniably false and should be ignored.

Regards,
Alan Haggard
San Diego, CA</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I would like to formally retract all statements made previously regarding this topic. </p>
<p>UFO&#8217;s are nothing more than the definition of the acronym: Unidentified Flying Objects.</p>
<p>This does NOT equate to &#8220;alien spacecraft&#8221;. It simply implies the object is unknown in nature. Nothing more, nothing less. </p>
<p>Anyone who implies the United States government knows more than they have disclosed prior regarding UFO&#8217;s is making an assumption. An assumption that cannot be backed up nor substantiated by evidence, physical, circumstantial, or otherwise. </p>
<p>Any claims that UFO&#8217;s are anything other than natural or man-made phenomena are undeniably false and should be ignored.</p>
<p>Regards,<br />
Alan Haggard<br />
San Diego, CA</p>
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		<title>By: The ABCs of skepticism &#171; Athena</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/comment-page-12/#comment-223049</link>
		<dc:creator>The ABCs of skepticism &#171; Athena</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:45:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/#comment-223049</guid>
		<description>[...] Unidentified, the definition’s specific, But it doesn’t stop cranks thinking they’re [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] Unidentified, the definition’s specific, But it doesn’t stop cranks thinking they’re [...]</p>
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		<title>By: keith</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/comment-page-12/#comment-213576</link>
		<dc:creator>keith</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:57:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/#comment-213576</guid>
		<description>Let&#039;s  throw  away  all  the  evidence  that  the  debunkers  argue  against  and  clear  the  playing  field...  so  to  speak.

We  have  enough  scientific  data  through  years  of  exploration  and  development  right  now  from  geology,  archeology,  astronomy,  chemistry,  biology,  engineering,  history,  etc.,  etc.,  to  realize  the  vastness  of  space,  our  galaxy,  distances,  gravity,  masses,  gases,  and  many  aspects  of  the  known  universe,  to  easily  rationalize  the  abundance  of  life  throughout  the  universe.   I  think  we&#039;ve  all  come  to  terms  on  that  front.

Four  billion  stars  in  our  galaxy  alone !     And  how  many  galaxies  in  the  universe...  probably  trillions  !

You  need  proof  of  aliens  and  ufos  ?    Well,   we  don&#039;t  have  a  clue  as  to  how  vast  and  complicated  life-forms  could  possibly  be  in  this  universe,  so  we  may  not  recognize  evidence  even  if  it  were  right  up  under  our  nose  !      On  the  astronomical  scale,  humans  have  the  life-span  of  a  tic  or  a  fly,  and  the  universe  is  at  least  13.5  billion  years  old.   Don&#039;t  you  think  that  there  are  things  and  life-forms  so  old  beyond  our  comprehension  that  we  may  not  be  capable  of  detecting  it  with  our  limited  senses  ???  

My  point  is  simple.   Earth  grounded  human-beings  need  to  get  up  off  their  arrogance  and  skepticism,  and  start  thinking  with  an  open-mindedness  rather  than  a  closed  minded  approach  to  life  and  aliens. 

Think  of  the  size  of  an  ant  compared  to  a  human-being.  Think  of  the  size  of  earth  compared  to  the  size  of  the  sun.    There  are  layers  and  scales  beyond  our  imaginations.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Let&#8217;s  throw  away  all  the  evidence  that  the  debunkers  argue  against  and  clear  the  playing  field&#8230;  so  to  speak.</p>
<p>We  have  enough  scientific  data  through  years  of  exploration  and  development  right  now  from  geology,  archeology,  astronomy,  chemistry,  biology,  engineering,  history,  etc.,  etc.,  to  realize  the  vastness  of  space,  our  galaxy,  distances,  gravity,  masses,  gases,  and  many  aspects  of  the  known  universe,  to  easily  rationalize  the  abundance  of  life  throughout  the  universe.   I  think  we&#8217;ve  all  come  to  terms  on  that  front.</p>
<p>Four  billion  stars  in  our  galaxy  alone !     And  how  many  galaxies  in  the  universe&#8230;  probably  trillions  !</p>
<p>You  need  proof  of  aliens  and  ufos  ?    Well,   we  don&#8217;t  have  a  clue  as  to  how  vast  and  complicated  life-forms  could  possibly  be  in  this  universe,  so  we  may  not  recognize  evidence  even  if  it  were  right  up  under  our  nose  !      On  the  astronomical  scale,  humans  have  the  life-span  of  a  tic  or  a  fly,  and  the  universe  is  at  least  13.5  billion  years  old.   Don&#8217;t  you  think  that  there  are  things  and  life-forms  so  old  beyond  our  comprehension  that  we  may  not  be  capable  of  detecting  it  with  our  limited  senses  ???  </p>
<p>My  point  is  simple.   Earth  grounded  human-beings  need  to  get  up  off  their  arrogance  and  skepticism,  and  start  thinking  with  an  open-mindedness  rather  than  a  closed  minded  approach  to  life  and  aliens. </p>
<p>Think  of  the  size  of  an  ant  compared  to  a  human-being.  Think  of  the  size  of  earth  compared  to  the  size  of  the  sun.    There  are  layers  and  scales  beyond  our  imaginations.</p>
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		<title>By: The ABCs of skepticism &#124; Bad Astronomy &#124; Discover Magazine</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/comment-page-12/#comment-169159</link>
		<dc:creator>The ABCs of skepticism &#124; Bad Astronomy &#124; Discover Magazine</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:06:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/#comment-169159</guid>
		<description>[...] Unidentified, the definition&#8217;s specific, But it doesn&#8217;t stop cranks thinking they&#8217;re [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] Unidentified, the definition&#8217;s specific, But it doesn&#8217;t stop cranks thinking they&#8217;re [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Jeff Vachon</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/comment-page-12/#comment-157696</link>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Vachon</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:18:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/#comment-157696</guid>
		<description>Granted, the vast majority of UFO sightings are frauds, geese, balloons etc.  But when a government sends plane after them to &quot;shoot them down&quot;, as several governments have, I think twice.  There are 200 billion stars in our galaxy.  The thought that at least a few have intelligence and abilities far beyond us is not so far fetched.  The fact that they don&#039;t land on the White House lawn may mean that they don&#039;t know what the White House is!  They are here to look around, not to mess with us.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Granted, the vast majority of UFO sightings are frauds, geese, balloons etc.  But when a government sends plane after them to &#8220;shoot them down&#8221;, as several governments have, I think twice.  There are 200 billion stars in our galaxy.  The thought that at least a few have intelligence and abilities far beyond us is not so far fetched.  The fact that they don&#8217;t land on the White House lawn may mean that they don&#8217;t know what the White House is!  They are here to look around, not to mess with us.</p>
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		<title>By: Fizzy</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/comment-page-12/#comment-156824</link>
		<dc:creator>Fizzy</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:00:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/#comment-156824</guid>
		<description>A Mission To Earth.

Let’s look at this simple story of an intelligent being who wishes to travel from his home planet to Earth then return safely to his home planet.  Just for the sake of easy math we’ll say that Earth is only 100 lights years away from his  planet.

Mission one:  View Earth from our home planet.
The image of Earth that the viewer sees is 100 years old given the fact of the speed of light.
So the image is Earth year 1509.

Mission two:  Send a probe to Earth and get information.
The probe is launch and will take one hundreds years to arrive Earth.  (now 1609) Once it lands it will send us  information back to our home planet.  The information will take one hundred years to arrive. Earth year is now 1709

Mission Three: Launch a manned craft to orbit the Earth.
The round trip manned mission will take us two hundred years.  Photos of Earth’s technology will assist us in learning about it’s inhabitants.  (Images would be Earth in it’s year 1809) Of course given the time difference for information, fact gathering is expected to not be up to date by the end of mission three. Earth year is now 1909

Mission Four:  Walk on the Earth.
Our  third mission taught us that the Earth beings do no have the technology of manned flight.  They also are now capable of electronic communication.  So a two hundred year mission is planned.  Send a being one hundred light years to Earth.  Land on the blue planet. Slaughter a cow. Draw designs on hay fields.  Do not celebrate joyously of the successful mission or attempt to greet the Earth people.  Do not leave a flag or any other evidence of your landing.   Arrive back to the home planet. The Earth year is now 2109

Our crew members arrived Earth on Earth’s year 2009.  The advancements of their technology took us slightly by surprise given the fact that this project has taken 500 years to achieve. 

Was the trip worth it?

Mission Five: Fake future Earth landings.
Much less expensive and we can claim to travel faster than the speed of light.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A Mission To Earth.</p>
<p>Let’s look at this simple story of an intelligent being who wishes to travel from his home planet to Earth then return safely to his home planet.  Just for the sake of easy math we’ll say that Earth is only 100 lights years away from his  planet.</p>
<p>Mission one:  View Earth from our home planet.<br />
The image of Earth that the viewer sees is 100 years old given the fact of the speed of light.<br />
So the image is Earth year 1509.</p>
<p>Mission two:  Send a probe to Earth and get information.<br />
The probe is launch and will take one hundreds years to arrive Earth.  (now 1609) Once it lands it will send us  information back to our home planet.  The information will take one hundred years to arrive. Earth year is now 1709</p>
<p>Mission Three: Launch a manned craft to orbit the Earth.<br />
The round trip manned mission will take us two hundred years.  Photos of Earth’s technology will assist us in learning about it’s inhabitants.  (Images would be Earth in it’s year 1809) Of course given the time difference for information, fact gathering is expected to not be up to date by the end of mission three. Earth year is now 1909</p>
<p>Mission Four:  Walk on the Earth.<br />
Our  third mission taught us that the Earth beings do no have the technology of manned flight.  They also are now capable of electronic communication.  So a two hundred year mission is planned.  Send a being one hundred light years to Earth.  Land on the blue planet. Slaughter a cow. Draw designs on hay fields.  Do not celebrate joyously of the successful mission or attempt to greet the Earth people.  Do not leave a flag or any other evidence of your landing.   Arrive back to the home planet. The Earth year is now 2109</p>
<p>Our crew members arrived Earth on Earth’s year 2009.  The advancements of their technology took us slightly by surprise given the fact that this project has taken 500 years to achieve. </p>
<p>Was the trip worth it?</p>
<p>Mission Five: Fake future Earth landings.<br />
Much less expensive and we can claim to travel faster than the speed of light.</p>
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		<title>By: Heinrich Schultzz</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/comment-page-12/#comment-155960</link>
		<dc:creator>Heinrich Schultzz</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:51:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/11/25/aliens-yes-ufos-no/#comment-155960</guid>
		<description>&quot; Those who know, don’t speak. Those who speak, don’t know.&quot;

Not always true.  

Your governments lie to you.  Why? They don&#039;t think you can handle the truth. The real truth is mixed in with the untruth. If I told you the truth which is so simple it could set you free, but those of you who don&#039;t believe in God will have a difficult time of it.  What does God have to do with it?  He arranged for us to be here for a reason.  For His reason.  What do other beings have to do with it? He made them for a reson too, only not all of them did what He asked.  That&#039;s why he arranged for us to be here. Out time is approaching its end.  Oh don&#039;t worry.  If you&#039;re reading this the end won&#039;t be in your time unless it is you&#039;re end.  There is a reason for much of the visits from these &quot;other&quot; beings. Get right with your maker before your time runs out. Don&#039;t worry about any thing else.  You might write me off as another nut but just remember the remark right after the quote at the top of this message.  Auf Wiedersehen.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8221; Those who know, don’t speak. Those who speak, don’t know.&#8221;</p>
<p>Not always true.  </p>
<p>Your governments lie to you.  Why? They don&#8217;t think you can handle the truth. The real truth is mixed in with the untruth. If I told you the truth which is so simple it could set you free, but those of you who don&#8217;t believe in God will have a difficult time of it.  What does God have to do with it?  He arranged for us to be here for a reason.  For His reason.  What do other beings have to do with it? He made them for a reson too, only not all of them did what He asked.  That&#8217;s why he arranged for us to be here. Out time is approaching its end.  Oh don&#8217;t worry.  If you&#8217;re reading this the end won&#8217;t be in your time unless it is you&#8217;re end.  There is a reason for much of the visits from these &#8220;other&#8221; beings. Get right with your maker before your time runs out. Don&#8217;t worry about any thing else.  You might write me off as another nut but just remember the remark right after the quote at the top of this message.  Auf Wiedersehen.</p>
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