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	<title>Comments on: Nonsense is easy</title>
	<atom:link href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/10/27/nonsense-is-easy/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/10/27/nonsense-is-easy/</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>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:08:30 -0600</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>By: John</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/10/27/nonsense-is-easy/comment-page-2/#comment-223421</link>
		<dc:creator>John</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:43:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/?p=6503#comment-223421</guid>
		<description>Imminent?

Great, they&#039;ll be here just in time to fix the imminent global warming catastrophe we&#039;re causing. Maybe they&#039;ll even help with the imminent swine flu pandemic that&#039;s set to wipe us out imminently....</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Imminent?</p>
<p>Great, they&#8217;ll be here just in time to fix the imminent global warming catastrophe we&#8217;re causing. Maybe they&#8217;ll even help with the imminent swine flu pandemic that&#8217;s set to wipe us out imminently&#8230;.</p>
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		<title>By: whb03</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/10/27/nonsense-is-easy/comment-page-2/#comment-223243</link>
		<dc:creator>whb03</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:55:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/?p=6503#comment-223243</guid>
		<description>BTW - I CAN&#039;T WAIT unitl next Tuesday. Even if V is probably going to be as stupid as it looks...</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>BTW &#8211; I CAN&#8217;T WAIT unitl next Tuesday. Even if V is probably going to be as stupid as it looks&#8230;</p>
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		<title>By: whb03</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/10/27/nonsense-is-easy/comment-page-2/#comment-223242</link>
		<dc:creator>whb03</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:53:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/?p=6503#comment-223242</guid>
		<description>@#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...</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>@#19 Dan Gilbert &#8211; dang, you beat me to it:</p>
<p>“a 2-hour international TV special has already been booked that will introduce an alien species, similar to humans, to the world.” </p>
<p>Yup. We are the Visitors. And we are in peace. Always.</p>
<p>Sounds like a plug for V if I ever heard one&#8230;</p>
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		<title>By: Aerimus</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/10/27/nonsense-is-easy/comment-page-2/#comment-223210</link>
		<dc:creator>Aerimus</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:52:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/?p=6503#comment-223210</guid>
		<description>@70.   Richard Hunter

Well I, for one, welcome our giganormous gigantic alien overloads.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>@70.   Richard Hunter</p>
<p>Well I, for one, welcome our giganormous gigantic alien overloads.</p>
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		<title>By: Richard Hunter</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/10/27/nonsense-is-easy/comment-page-2/#comment-223164</link>
		<dc:creator>Richard Hunter</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:05:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/?p=6503#comment-223164</guid>
		<description>&quot;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.&quot;

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&#039;ll include transformin&#039; fighter jets. ^_^</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;</p>
<p>Is it just me, or has this joker been watching too much Super Dimension Fortress Macross?</p>
<p>Ooh, maybe if the do reveal some of that Extraterrestrial Over-Technology it&#8217;ll include transformin&#8217; fighter jets. ^_^</p>
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		<title>By: Neil Haggath</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/10/27/nonsense-is-easy/comment-page-2/#comment-223161</link>
		<dc:creator>Neil Haggath</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:36:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/?p=6503#comment-223161</guid>
		<description>#45 Strahlungsamt:
You missed the best one: Divert the rover to run over and kill the poor little Martian bunny!!! That is, after you&#039;ve already released the pictures showing said bunny, for the entire world to see.
Ahem.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>#45 Strahlungsamt:<br />
You missed the best one: Divert the rover to run over and kill the poor little Martian bunny!!! That is, after you&#8217;ve already released the pictures showing said bunny, for the entire world to see.<br />
Ahem.</p>
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		<title>By: Nigel Depledge</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/10/27/nonsense-is-easy/comment-page-2/#comment-223159</link>
		<dc:creator>Nigel Depledge</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:26:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/?p=6503#comment-223159</guid>
		<description>E. Kaye (62) said:
&lt;blockquote&gt;There’s enough evidence of Extraterrestrial visitation to fill an airplane hangar.&lt;/blockquote&gt;

Oh, dear.  Not this old chestnut again.

&lt;blockquote&gt; Thousands of first-hand reports from military people, airline pilots, police officers and other trained observers from all across the world.&lt;/blockquote&gt;

None of which is actually evidence of anything.  Even &quot;trained observers&quot; can misidentify familiar things in unfamiliar settings.  What are these people &quot;trained&quot; to observe?  Human activities.  Are any of them meteorologists and astronomers too?

Even the best-trained human eye can be fooled.  That&#039;s what optical illusions are.

Eyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable, which is why a modern law court will never convict on eyewitness testimony alone.

&lt;blockquote&gt;Thousands of computer authenticated photos and videos. Many taken before computers were part of mainstream society.&lt;/blockquote&gt;

OK, show me just one that simply &lt;b&gt;could not&lt;/b&gt; be some terrestrial object or phenomenon misidentified as an alien spaceship.

&lt;blockquote&gt; Trace evidence from landing spots that among other things have tested positive for radioactivity.&lt;/blockquote&gt;

Proving what?

If you&#039;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?

&lt;blockquote&gt;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.&lt;/blockquote&gt;

You should feel bad for yourself, because the &quot;evidence&quot; 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&#039;t know is orders of magnitude more plausible than alien spaceships.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>E. Kaye (62) said:</p>
<blockquote><p>There’s enough evidence of Extraterrestrial visitation to fill an airplane hangar.</p></blockquote>
<p>Oh, dear.  Not this old chestnut again.</p>
<blockquote><p> Thousands of first-hand reports from military people, airline pilots, police officers and other trained observers from all across the world.</p></blockquote>
<p>None of which is actually evidence of anything.  Even &#8220;trained observers&#8221; can misidentify familiar things in unfamiliar settings.  What are these people &#8220;trained&#8221; to observe?  Human activities.  Are any of them meteorologists and astronomers too?</p>
<p>Even the best-trained human eye can be fooled.  That&#8217;s what optical illusions are.</p>
<p>Eyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable, which is why a modern law court will never convict on eyewitness testimony alone.</p>
<blockquote><p>Thousands of computer authenticated photos and videos. Many taken before computers were part of mainstream society.</p></blockquote>
<p>OK, show me just one that simply <b>could not</b> be some terrestrial object or phenomenon misidentified as an alien spaceship.</p>
<blockquote><p> Trace evidence from landing spots that among other things have tested positive for radioactivity.</p></blockquote>
<p>Proving what?</p>
<p>If you&#8217;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.</p>
<p>How many of those alleged landing sites had their radioactivity measured before the alleged landing?</p>
<blockquote><p>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.</p></blockquote>
<p>You should feel bad for yourself, because the &#8220;evidence&#8221; 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.</p>
<p>Even the most mysterious and inexplicable UFO reports could still be some hitherto unknown terrestrial or atmospheric phenomenon.  Certainly, something we don&#8217;t know is orders of magnitude more plausible than alien spaceships.</p>
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