You know why science is hard and nonsense is easy?
Because as an adherent to reality, I’m not allowed to just make stuff up. Sadly, others need not follow that rule.
"An official announcement by the Obama administration disclosing the reality of extraterrestrial life is imminent", indeed. What does imminent mean? A year? 10? I’m guessing never. But as long as the antiscience advocates can use words like soon, imminent, and impending, they can keep their believers on the hook.
And why am I not surprised to see Richard Hoagland’s name in that article?
Every now and again I have to do that comical rapid-shaking-of-the-head accompanied by that wugga wugga wugga sound when I think that people actually buy into this, um, stuff. Wow.
Tip o’ the tin foil beanie to Sandra Prow.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
The truth is out there!!!! Couldn’t hold myself back, I had to say that
I wonder, do these aliens have pointy ears a la Spock? More important question, since they came here from their planet, which I guess is at least a few dozen light years away, do they have warp drive capability? Wow, that would be very cool…
October 27th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
But, Phil, it was in the EXaminer! How could it possibly be wrong? The article actually referred to that unimpeachable source Coast to Coast, too. We all know they are never wrong either.
I hope you are wrong, too. I would love to have just the tiniest clue from SETI, or anyplace else, that there was something out there to look for. I’ll bet you would, too.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
“The President of the United States will soon announce that scientists have discovered ruins on the moon, he added. Nobody saw the LCROSS debris plume because the probes struck a building which swallowed the effects of the explosion”
Simply can’t wait!
October 27th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
All of a sudden, that YouTube clip posted by PZ Myers earlier with a woman telling us about how homeopathy works doesn’t sound so crazy…
October 27th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Im still on the edge about UFO’s, statistically they almost HAVE to exist, but i’m not sure why they would want to visit a back water, underdeveloped little planet like ours (much less steal our people).
None the less, im looking foward to what the world governments are willing to “disclose”.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
One day Plait will actually begin to think. Instead of falling back on his 19th century scientific conservatism on every little thing that doesn’t fall into his little world. Nonsense is indeed easy with Plait and his followers leading the way. More silly rambling from Plait..nothing here as usual.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
It’s a no lose proposition for the CT’s. If something is announced, like an organic source for the Methane in Mars’ atmosphere, then they can claim they have real inside knowledge. If nothing is forthcoming then the CT’s will just claim that the Whitehouse has backtracked under pressure from the MIB/NWO/NSA…
October 27th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Phil, be careful with that head shaking. It could cause your hair to fall off,,,oops,,,oh well, never mind,,,
I personally would LOVE to see some indication of intelligent life out there. So far, the only place I’ve found any evidence of intelligence on THIS planet is on this Blog and with all the OTHER Blogs out there, that’s a pretty slim indication. One might almost say it’s statistically insignificant.
Bummer!
Gary 7
October 27th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Um, wait. That is a parody of some kind, right? From the article:
“Finally, two independent and confidential sources have revealed to me that face to face meetings have recently occurred between U.S. military officials with one or more groups of extraterrestrial visitors.”
Seriously. It’s not hooey; it’s gotta be an early April Fool’s joke.
October 27th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Hell I’d like to see some indication of any life beyond our atmosphere!
edit: and no, the people floating around in the ISS don’t count
October 27th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
FTFA: There have been various sources that have revealed deliberations are underway to make an announcement concerning the existence of extraterrestrial life by the end of 2009.
Look, this article seems ridiculous. Maybe there are secret UN delegations debating whether or not to “spill the beans” about some evidence of ETs that is not yet public. Most likely there are not.
BUT! Anyone with reading comprehension skills can see that the announcement of supposed evidence is supposedly imminent, as in by the end of this year.
This article is probably total BS, but the imminent event would be an announcement.
October 27th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Well, Jesus’ return is imminent. So obviously this could be real, BA.
October 27th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Imminent by an Obama administration can’t be more than 8 years, right? Unless they change the U.S. constitution?
October 27th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Calling that cretin Hoagland a “popular NASA and space researcher” makes him sound rather official, dunnit? Bozos… They’re giving my home state a bad name! [shudder]
October 27th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
I love his byline,
Exopolitics Examiner
What on earth is that?
October 27th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
JayHawk2000 (#6): Thank you for that content-free comment. Or do you have some actual, y’know, specifics instead of vague tut-tutting?
October 27th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Wow!! I knew it all along. Those mysterious ‘them’ have kept the Truth from Us for far too long!
I hear statements like that every day. Only it usually goes like “An official announcement by the Parental administration disclosing the reason for my missed exam is imminent”,
October 27th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
I’ve seen this Salla guy before. Crazy guy! However, I did actually manage to make him admit he was wrong in an insane article he put out earlier this year about UFOs in SOHO data: http://www.examiner.com/x-2383-Honolulu-Exopolitics-Examiner~y2009m7d11-UFO-captured-on-SOHO-coincides-with-crop-circle-prediction
He even posted the correction and “thanked” me. Still felt like a hollow victory though…
October 27th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Maybe it’s part of a viral marketing campaign to advertise the upcoming (imminent?) remake of the TV series “V” on November 3rd. Ha!
“To Serve Man” comes briefly to mind.
October 27th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Did anyone read the original ‘release’ carefully? I just did and found the award-winning statement:
“United Nations held closed doors discussions where approximately 30 nations secretly agreed on a new openness policy on UFOs and extraterrestrial life in 2009. The openness policy was implemented but never publicly announced ”
Bureaucrats having “Closed doors discussions…on a new openess policy” and implementing an openess policy but never announcing it? This is a hoax or a ‘Onion’ style story right?
October 27th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
@JayHawk2000 (#6): That’s DOCTOR Plait to you.
Eliminating the person’s title as a sign of disrespect does not lend credibility to your case. It simply comes across as childish.
October 27th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
I just call ‘em like I see ‘em and send ‘em to Phil. I’m not even sure how I ran across this gem. But if Hoagland’s involved you know it’s going to be fun.
October 27th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Presuming this announcement doesn’t materialize by the end of 2009, how about getting in touch with the editor of this publication and demanding a retraction?
October 27th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
#5 Freyr:
Well, you are right! UFOs do exist! People see Unidentified Flying Objects all the time. However, just because an object is unidentified does not mean it is extraterrestrial, or, that it cannot be identified with a little digging. Most people that report UFOs are not trained sky observers. I am sure that thousands of sightings are meteorological phenomena, aircraft, the planet Venus, the Moon (yes, you heard that right, people have reported the Moon as a UFO). Let’s not forget about the military, and the things they are testing.
October 27th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Some people I know have been on me about this for the upside of a week. Some uber special disclosure is “imminent” regarding UFOs.
I’m hoping there is a disclosure. I’d like to see a big block of US Network TV set aside, and Obama get up there and say “there are no UFOs and if you really believed I was going to say there are, then our new national health plan will cover your trip to the psychiatrist.”
That would make my day.
October 27th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
I love things like this. Do people realize had bad the government is at keeping keeping secrets? Everything gets out, eventually. If the government had proof of E.T, we would have known about it before now.
In the Navy, I had a classified briefing. Know what’s funny? It’s all known by the public despite non-disclosure by the Navy. You can read about it online but no, I can’t tell you what it is.
So no. The government isn’t hiding a secret that big.
October 27th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
6. JayHawk2000 Says: “One day Plait will actually begin to think. Instead of falling back on his 19th century scientific conservatism on every little thing that doesn’t fall into his little world. Nonsense is indeed easy with Plait and his followers leading the way. More silly rambling from Plait..nothing here as usual.”
If this is a parody, then it’s not very good because it isn’t very clear that’s what it is.
If this is a troll, it’s not bad, except that trolls are stupid.
If this is a Poe, it’s pretty good, although that makes you look ignorant.
If this is for real, then you need to go back to your playpen and let the grownups talk.
- Jack
October 27th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
MichaelL (post 24) Don’t forget the shuttle waste dump that recently caught so much attention!
Evolving Squid (post 25), that was pretty funny!
And Chris (post 26), I’ve been saying stuff like that for years, only I don’t have the military veteran status to add to it. Thanks!
October 27th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
In the EVE Online community, we have a saying that “soon” is an ancient icelandic word (CCP is an icelandic company) defined as “sometime before the next ice age.” Do you think the lunatic usage of “imminent” is similar?
October 27th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Another reason nonsense is easy compared to science: when you make predictions that don’t come to fruition, you can rest assured that your followers are not keeping tabs, unlike science, where your predictions will be carefully scrutinized against the results.
October 27th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Dang science. Always going around checking facts. You’d think they just didn’t trust people.
I saw a UFo once: at Malmstrom Airforce Base in Great Falls, Montana in 1975. It was a dark night when a bright light, that never wavered but just kept getting bigger, with no sound,appeared to be approaching the base and this big, black, nearly silent jet landed on the base air strip. Didn’t hear a thing until it was nearly ready to touch down. I thought sure I was seeing something special and it was just a darned stealth jet.
Bummer!
Gary 7
PS: Jesus wasn’t an alien. He was just your ordinary, garden variety, super powered mutant.
October 27th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
@MichaelL
Drat, you beat me to it.
October 27th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
JayHawk2000 (#6): That “19th century conservatism” is the process that has given us all modern science, technology and medicine. Everything from the elimination of smallpox to satellite television to the mobile phone to computers to automobiles to aircraft to the huge reduction in birth death rates to the huge number of cancers now cured. What has the “accept it because it sounds cool regardless of real evidence” or the “anecdotes are good enough, we don’t need no steenking evidence” process ever done, other than sell books?
Oh, and there’s really not a lot of “little things” that “don’t fit into our little world”.Science is totally willing to accept aliens, dimensional travellers, time travellers, ghosts, zombies, pixies and the possibility that Elvis is in fact alive and well and working in a hamburger restarant in Des Moines. But it doesn’t accept *anything* without some evidence – real evidence, that comes from repeatable tests and documented, repeatable observations. Provide samples of extra-terrestrial alloys, creatures or put a flying saucer on the roof of the UN building and scientists will take that as evidence. Lots of blurry photos that look just like clouds or thrown hubcaps and unreliable stories all of which seem to match the current view of aliens in Sci-Fi movies and television (from the cigar-shapes with fire coming out of the back in the 30’s, just like Flash Gordon to the flying saucers of the 60’s, just like Forbidden Planet and Earth Vs the Flying Saucers to the myusterious lights and glowing shapes in the 80’s, just like the ones in close encounters to the modern ones which often sound suspiciously like X-Files episodes).
Show me a colony of pixies, allow me – or the scientific community as a whole, properly documented and peer-reviewed — to examine them and interact with them and I’ll believe in pixies. Announce that “there are pixies at the bottom of my garden and there’s a world-wide conspiracy of hundreds of governments many of whom hate each other to hide them!!!!!!” and I probably won’t.
October 27th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
I read it as ETs are eminent and got ready to get to say… I, for one, welcome our new eminent ET overlords. But… oh well.
October 27th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Hey guys – by the end of the article “by the end of 2009″ is changed to “end of 2009 or beginning of 2010.”
Then it says that if an announcement isn’t made by the end of 2010, Obama is going to try to use the UN to take over the world.
October 27th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
LOL. THE ANOUCEMENT has been “imminent” for as long as I’ve been on the online, since about ‘83.
Every-time we get a new POTUS, the loons come out and say we’re gonna get THE ANOUNCEMENT real soon. At ANY MOMENT.
October 28th, 2009 at 12:58 am
Wonder who the thirty countries are? The USA obviously so I’d presume also major powers China, Russia, Britain, France, etc… plus close US allies like us in Oz, Canada, Israel, etc… Maybe even Mexico knows? (Hmm.. maybe some illegal aliens are y’know illegal *aliens*
)
Plus it seems the United Nations does. So thirty nations, one international organisation at least – total it up. How many people would know this secret exactly? For how long too?
How many of these leaders are uber-convincing liars who haven’t ever been tripped up or haven’t suffered politically motivated leaks? How plausible is it that something this big can be kept for this long by this many?
Not very, I’d suggest.
Also if the US knew about ET for so long how come they didn’t know enough to shift LCROSS’es impact point away from those “Lunar buildings”?
Oh & Hoagland’s involved. What a surprise. Not.
How dumb are some people to believe this tripe?
October 28th, 2009 at 3:01 am
I wonder if this revelation is to be linked to the fact that ‘United States [is] “probably in the process now of legalizing marijuana.”‘
October 28th, 2009 at 3:09 am
UFOlogists have been doing just fine without blessings from U.S. presidents for several decades, we’ll keep going strong thanks. There are a lot of interesting mysteries in our immediate skies and they aren’t going to investigate themselves. But hey, at least we have shills like Flying Sardines to put us in our place by filling their posts with emoticons in place of rational discourse.
Even a blind baby could figure out that there are some pretty strange things in those old Moon photos and it’s common knowledge that NASA/JPL have a filtering system for “anomalous” images (see: airbrushing). But don’t take my word for it. Google!
October 28th, 2009 at 3:43 am
39. Damon – yes, because Google is always the “authoritative” source for everything right and true with the world.
In fact, I just found out I’m a dead 83 year old gentlemen from Michigan. Oh that Google – so true!
October 28th, 2009 at 4:11 am
@ #15: very good, was that intentional?
@ #39: and what about the emoticonless points comment #33 raised? I think PeteC covered all the (moon) bases there…
October 28th, 2009 at 5:14 am
Ancient Structure On The Moon Filmed By Armstrong, 1969
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWkGTJEK0Mc&feature=related
Need I say more?
Except that a 300 mile wide Dr Who phone box is on the Moon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPwzkMOQt-s&feature=related
October 28th, 2009 at 6:36 am
Damon (39) – it’s “common knowledge” in the same way that it’s “common knowledge” that the gubmint was responsible for Sept 11th and that the United Nations Jewish Communist World Government Conspiracy has weather control satellites causing droughts in the US midwest in order to create starvation and round up Americans into labour camps.
Which is, of course nonsense. We’re planning to round up the Japanese, they work a lot harder.
Lets be honest, if these enormous conspiracies run so well with the hundreds of thousands of people that must be involved all part of it without breaking ranks, without visible internal dissent and without incompetance leading to it all coming out, then we really ought to let them rule the world. It would be nice to believe that our leaders were fiendishly intelligent and phenomenally competent, rather than the inept bunch of morons they usually come across as. Heck, our overt leaders can’t even cover up a consensual sexual act in the Oval Office, one of the most secure rooms on Earth.
And asking us to go visit conspiracy web sites is not in any way evidence. How about setting up some larger telescopes and taking some anomalous pictures yourself? How about then putting that evidence up to the world’s scientific community for peer review (not every one of the millions of scientists worldwide are part of The Conspiracy, honest). How about some evidence that isn’t easily and better explained as jpeg artifacts and self-wish-fulfillment? The number of times I’ve looked at a picture “obviously of alien buildings on the moon” and seen nothing but craters and rockscape…
October 28th, 2009 at 6:38 am
Speaking of Hoagland: click my nick for some nonsense about ‘REAL’ mission of LCROSS.
October 28th, 2009 at 6:50 am
How NASA detects alien life, according to Richard C. Hoagland:
1. Build multi-million dollar probe and land it on Mars.
2. Find evidence of life.
3. Accidentally post evidence on Nasa website for all the World to see (including such luminaries as Hoagland, Art Bell, Alex Jones, David Icke, and the Underpants Gnomes).
4. Find some way to destroy said evidence, including (but not limited to) losing contact with the (multi million dollar) probe, filing down surface of rocks destroying fossils, enhancing images with false colors and melting the rocks with onboard lightsabers.
5. Plant Freemason flag on Mars and make sure nobody photographs that. (All Martians are Jewish Freemasons!)
October 28th, 2009 at 6:53 am
< sarcasm >
Not that any of this really matters cause the Earth is going to go all explodey in December of 2012. Unless the Aliens are here to save our sorry butts! Until either event unfolds, I’ll be waiting with bated breath and/or shaking my fists at the sky with rage. Depends on how much coffee I’ve had.
< /sarcasm >
In truth, I’d love for there to be such an announcement in my lifetime. Just like I’d love to see humans on Mars. However, given the vast interstellar distances that E.T. would have to travel and our current understanding of the universal speed limit, I find it highly unlikely that any such announcement would be more than simply remote detection via S.E.T.I. or the discovery of microbial life elsewhere in our own solar system.
October 28th, 2009 at 6:53 am
Freyr (5) said:
I think you are conflating two different things here.
UFOs do exist – people see things in the sky that they cannot identify. However, if any of these things really were alien spaceships, I’m sure we would have had concrete evidence by now.
Statistically, it is highly likely that life exists elsewhere in the universe, but that doesn’t mean advanced civilisations with a high level of technology. Alien life could mean a planet covered with bacteria.
However, the only way to judge the likelihood or otherwise of technologically advanced societies is to look for the evidence that they might exist. So far, we have found none, which means that they are not common. There is nothing that says these have to exist, though.
October 28th, 2009 at 7:24 am
This could true see Obama poll rateings are droping like a rock so to reverse the trend frist he says there are aliens and then he will say they are going to invade with hollywood doing the specal fx and hes got the program to save America and the World form the aliens thus everyone rallys around Obama his poll rateings go up and this shows how stupid the World is to fall for it because they think if it comes from Obama it must be true he never lies to us
October 28th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Just look at the name on the top of the article: Michael Salla – not a trustworthy source at all – and move on. The best strategy with the Exopolitics folks is just to ignore them, IMO.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:13 am
I’ll have to check with my friend at NASA, who’s a Planetary Protection Officer. She’ll tell me what’s really going on.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:38 am
@48. mike burkhart:
Well, the problem is going to occur when, despite the current ongoing war with HR 8799d, he decides to also wage war against Fomalhaut b due to “Saucers of Mass Abduction” claims.
October 28th, 2009 at 9:10 am
The idea for the what I said came from the tv show the outer limits (60s verson) in one episode some sciencetists planed to unite the World by fakeing an alien invasion of couse the plan backfired same as it will if Obama realy tries it
October 28th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Damon (39) said:
And in – what? 50+ years of making claims – you have not one piece of actual evidence.
Perhaps this is so. And perhaps they all have mundane explanations. But, either way, they are not worth investigating after the event unless there is some actual data to examine.
And yet you do not address any of the points (s)he raised. I am left to assume this is because you are unable to.
Yup! The surface of the Moon! That really is strange. An environment with no air and no water (to speak of) and no weather apart from bombardment by micrometeorites and the solar wind. That is weird!
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
It may be “common knowledge” among you conspiracy loonies, but this means nothing. Completely aside from the fact that anyone with a suitable receiver can intercept signals from e.g. LRO or MRO or Cassini or the Apollo missions, you have made no attempt to support your slander with evidence.
IOW, it’s just the same as every other groundless CT claim.
I certainly shan’t take your word for it, and I daresay I could find dozens of websites that claim the same thing you do, but this makes neither you nor them correct. Unless you can come up with some actual evidence to support your accusations, they are no more than fantasy.
October 28th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Aerimus (51) said:
No, hang on.
I thought it was the Tau-Ceti Imperium that were responsible for all the mass abductions. It’s just the conference that was on Formalhaut b.
PS, to anyone who doesn’t get the geekdom reference – Google “Skizz”.
October 28th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Richard Conspiracy Hoagland has his own debunking page. LOL. He should feel honored to get that much respect. I’m not sure he deserves it.
Now to dispense of the utter nonsense and get on with actual science.
Ares 1-X is alive! It’s alive! Hand shakes and hugs all around.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:25 am
When I first read the article I thought it was an april foods day joke then I realized it’s Oct 28, 2009. I can’t believe that Hoagland still gets any press.
Keep up the good work Phil
What would Mr. Spock say about all this!!!
October 28th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Man, I get SO tired of the “oogedy boogedy” wing of the UFO-Conspiracy-Psychoceramics Complex coming up with this wishful-thinking nonsense. If they spent half as much time on reality as they do on this utter load of mule muffins (in the immortal words of Col. Sherman T. Potter), they’d probably learn something.
But noooooooo….. it’s a far better use of their time to cluster in hidden locations, put on the tinfoil hats, and mutter among themselves about gubmint conspiracies and putting forth never-proven “claims” that NASA hides things.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:55 am
popular NASA and space researcher, Richard Hoagland,
Bwwwwhahahahahahaha!!!!!
October 28th, 2009 at 11:04 am
42 Strahlungsamt:
Any ideas what the first video actually is? Looks to me like someone went filming round an abandoned or unfinished building (on Earth of course).
The 2nd one is easy. It’s just the rim of the very large crater giving a shadow.
October 28th, 2009 at 11:18 am
This SO sounds like a Faux Snooz release, as in”First, we’ll recount a RUMOR about little green men(So, how come there are never any Little Green Women. Is that why they keep coming here?) Then, the next night, some bozzo will call in and confirm that HE heard of the rumor, so NOW it’s a “fact” and pretty soon, every nut on the web will be SEEING Little Green Men. Presto. Instant Snooz.”
Jon Stewart caught Faux Snooz doing that very thing. They are SO fallacious.
Sometimes these whakos remind me of a Phase Locked Loop circuit,ie, when it fails, you can’t figure out where the error started, because each component is triggered by the previous component. I SO hated working on those, back in the ’70s.
“News” on the web sometimes reminds of those Phase locked loop circuits. Apply power and watch it explode and go.
GAry 7
October 28th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
To believe that we are alone in the universe is a belief steeped in anti-science. It’s the equivalent of believing the earth is flat or that we live in a geocentric universe. Sadly, some of the “reasoned” thinking out there, performed by “professional” skeptics and the like, is wholly anti-reason, literally drowning in counterintuitive thinking.
October 28th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO66afmxWKA&feature=fvw
There’s enough evidence of Extraterrestrial visitation to fill an airplane hangar. Thousands of first-hand reports from military people, airline pilots, police officers and other trained observers from all across the world.
Thousands of computer authenticated photos and videos. Many taken before computers were part of mainstream society. Trace evidence from landing spots that among other things have tested positive for radioactivity.
You all either don’t know of the plethora of evidence or conveniently ignore it. Very small-minded people here. I actually feel bad for you all.
October 28th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Part of the evidence for extraterrestrial life will no doubt be this photo returned by one of the Mars rovers: http://www.starfleetcommand.us/4_jan_MarsProbeMarvin.jpg
October 28th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Seriously guys, when I read it (what, about a week ago?) I immediately thought here is another Black Helicopter conspiracy. The implication is that Obama will announce that there are aliens, then he will go to the U.N. and ask that “The New World Order” be established, etc., etc.
I just laughed and clicked, “DELETE.”
October 28th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
HaHA! At last the truth will emerge. Obama really wasn’t born in the US. He also wasn’t born in Kenya…….
October 29th, 2009 at 12:34 am
[...] this, however, I was still surprised to find this article posted on Bad Astronomy, which describes the Obama Administration’s “plans” to tell the world all about [...]
October 29th, 2009 at 1:22 am
“To believe that we are alone in the universe is a belief steeped in anti-science. It’s the equivalent of believing the earth is flat or that we live in a geocentric universe. Sadly, some of the “reasoned” thinking out there, performed by “professional” skeptics and the like, is wholly anti-reason, literally drowning in counterintuitive thinking.”
Dear John; No professional skeptic has ever said this, I love for you to pull out an article where a “professional” skeptic says that we are alone in the universe. It’s not counterintuitive thinking to ask for evidence of UFO’s being flown by sentient beings from another planet. I also argue that the only reason we know that the earth isn’t flat or that we live in a geocentric universe is wait for it…
SCIENCE PLUS REASON not blindly proclaiming negative evidence and crying foul while jumping on your dead high horse, because people don’t believe you.
PS.
E. Kaye, I love me some video of nothing.
October 29th, 2009 at 6:12 am
John (61) said:
First, no-one has claimed we are alone so this a just a straw-man. Alien life of some kind is considered fairly likely to exist by most scientists. However, just because alien life is likely to exist does not make it any more plausible that Earth has been visited by alien spaceships. The evidence for Earth having been visited is zero.
The rest of your comment is mere dribbling.
October 29th, 2009 at 6:26 am
E. Kaye (62) said:
Oh, dear. Not this old chestnut again.
None of which is actually evidence of anything. Even “trained observers” can misidentify familiar things in unfamiliar settings. What are these people “trained” to observe? Human activities. Are any of them meteorologists and astronomers too?
Even the best-trained human eye can be fooled. That’s what optical illusions are.
Eyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable, which is why a modern law court will never convict on eyewitness testimony alone.
OK, show me just one that simply could not be some terrestrial object or phenomenon misidentified as an alien spaceship.
Proving what?
If you’re anywhere near Dounray, a radioactivity hot-spot means a plutonium particle from the poer station, not alien visitation. There are thousands of places that are naturally more radioactive than the average background, even before westarted messing about with uranium.
How many of those alleged landing sites had their radioactivity measured before the alleged landing?
You should feel bad for yourself, because the “evidence” to which you refer does not actually prove anything. Even if alien technology is vastly superior to our own, the challenges of interstellar travel are still huge. To believe that they are overcome routinely on the basis of some blurry photos that could as easily be hubcaps as anything else is lunacy.
Even the most mysterious and inexplicable UFO reports could still be some hitherto unknown terrestrial or atmospheric phenomenon. Certainly, something we don’t know is orders of magnitude more plausible than alien spaceships.
October 29th, 2009 at 6:36 am
#45 Strahlungsamt:
You missed the best one: Divert the rover to run over and kill the poor little Martian bunny!!! That is, after you’ve already released the pictures showing said bunny, for the entire world to see.
Ahem.
October 29th, 2009 at 7:05 am
“If extraterrestrial disclosure does occur at the end of 2009 or early 2010, President Obama will lead an unprecedented effort to promote global governance through the United Nations.”
Is it just me, or has this joker been watching too much Super Dimension Fortress Macross?
Ooh, maybe if the do reveal some of that Extraterrestrial Over-Technology it’ll include transformin’ fighter jets. ^_^
October 29th, 2009 at 10:52 am
@70. Richard Hunter
Well I, for one, welcome our giganormous gigantic alien overloads.
October 29th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
@#19 Dan Gilbert – dang, you beat me to it:
“a 2-hour international TV special has already been booked that will introduce an alien species, similar to humans, to the world.”
Yup. We are the Visitors. And we are in peace. Always.
Sounds like a plug for V if I ever heard one…
October 29th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
BTW – I CAN’T WAIT unitl next Tuesday. Even if V is probably going to be as stupid as it looks…
October 30th, 2009 at 6:43 am
Imminent?
Great, they’ll be here just in time to fix the imminent global warming catastrophe we’re causing. Maybe they’ll even help with the imminent swine flu pandemic that’s set to wipe us out imminently….