Creative Speculation
Related: About this forumKicking the Hornet’s Nest (UFO-related article)
http://devoid.blogs.heraldtribune.com/12935/kicking-the-hornets-nest/I wouldve hoped they wouldve been more open-minded instead of going ad hominem and calling me clueless and stupid, said Michael from Montgomery, Ala. Thats where he teaches nuclear counterproliferation and deterrence theory, at the Air War College, as an associate professor. I know they categorically reject UFOs, I just didnt know how deep it went.
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For Bad UFOs blogger Robert Sheaffer, Michaels review was totally uncritical, fawning, either completely clueless, or else complicit in Keans attempts to mislead. The title of his rebuttal The Day The Skeptical Society Wasnt Skeptical wouldve been more accurate if Predictable had been the last word in the headline, because the prevailing reaction among the insular Skeptics was a sense of betrayal. As Fortean Times contributer Peter Brookesmith lamented, How come the review was published by eSkeptic at all?
Being limber enough to challenge the status quo of ones own belief system is the true measure of skepticism (small s). One of the original organizational Skeptics, Marcello Truzzi, abandoned the group he co-founded when he realized it was becoming an entrenched ideology. (emphasis mine frogmarch)
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Yesterday, Shermer published Michaels rebuttal to Sheaffers rebuttal and Sheaffers subsequent rebuttal to Michaels rebuttal. But the real question here is: Will Shermer evolve into a true skeptic and risk agitating the disciples again by making the same mistake twice?
The review by George Michael of Leslie Keans book, which Id also posted in LongTomHs thread, Leslie Kean asks Is this the case UFO skeptics have been dreading?:
http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/12-03-28/
Michaels book review certainly caused a ruckus in the Skeptics community. As the Herald Tribune article stated, Unfortunately, the concept of alternative perspectives was as alien and disruptive to eSkeptic readers as a tossed Coke bottle to Stone Age bushmen. In the article, a clip from The Gods Must Be Crazy follows that statement.
NoMoreWarNow
(1,259 posts)But that's because the intelligence community, which controls the media, actively suppresses the evidence at the same time putting out a lot of disinfo on the topic. In general, it never fails to amaze me how some people can so adamantly deny the mere possibility of ETs visiting the earth. It's one thing to be skeptical, but another to have such a closed-mind on the topic.
frogmarch
(12,226 posts)the idea that ET is visiting Earth, but I dont dismiss the possibility out of hand. There are some real wackadoodles (to put it mildly) in the UFO community, but I wish the debunkers would stop lumping together everyone who thinks its possible ET could be zipping around out there. Sure, some of us are stupid and gullible and some of us are just plain nuts, but some of us are reasonably intelligent and sensible people who would just like to know the truth, one way or the other.
Unexplained UFO sightings and UFO reports, especially those made by experienced airplane pilots and other reliable witnesses, warrant investigation. Instead of scoffing at such reports and dismissing them outright, scientists and other qualified people should investigate them. I dont know if theres a cover-up of information going on pertaining to UFOs, but I know theres a lot of scornful pooh-poohing by people who claim to be skeptics but who are really just die-hard debunkers.
Logical
(22,457 posts)they could not even keep the Manhattan Project secret. You think they could keep the UFO stories from leaking?
It is a fun and exciting area. I wish it was true with all my heart. But it is not. Aliens have not visited earth.
NoMoreWarNow
(1,259 posts)What kind of proof do you seriously expect they could offer?
Anyway, look up the Rendlesham Forest incident. There is damn good evidence there.
Logical
(22,457 posts)People do not get it. Just because a seasoned pilot says they saw a UFO does not mean they saw a ET.
Real evidence is needed!!!! Not just weird lights and personal accounts.
We expect real evidence with medicine, engineering, etc. Have skeptics been wrong before? Yes. But the scientific method is the only way to judge things. Not feelings or whims.
The proof of ETs has NOT increased even with more Cameras and Videos and technology. That is the same with ghosts, etc.
ETS are not visiting earth. I think there is life on other planets, but they cannot visit us.
frogmarch
(12,226 posts)That is why properly investigating unexplained sightings reported by reliable people is important.
You state that ETs are not visiting Earth. I say ETs are probably not visiting Earth.
You say you think there is life on other planets, but they cannot visit us. I too think there is life on other planets, but I do not know whether they can visit us.
Logical
(22,457 posts)I have not seen any evidence to make me even think it is possible they are visiting earth.
There is no more proof of ETs visiting earth than there is of ESP or Ghosts.
Anything is "possible" but we don't really discuss those things with no real evidence.
frogmarch
(12,226 posts)natural phenomena (and I dont mean ETs) that we know little or nothing about, and I have an idea that at least some unexplained sightings could be placed in this category.
This UFO was identified as a sprite: ( http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/745032/red-sprites-and-blue-jets )
Amazing, isnt it? I wish all seemingly credible UFO sightings could be investigated and the UFOs properly identified.
I dont know if charged plasma can follow airplanes, but its been observed traveling along electrical power lines. Maybe pilots reporting UFOs following them are being stalked by plasma.
NoMoreWarNow
(1,259 posts)you can't do experiments with UFOs. It's a different standard of proof than with science. The preponderance of evidence AT MINIMUM says there is something out there we don't understand, that the govt is keeping secret from us, and that is beyond our current technology.
Logical
(22,457 posts)You can scientifically analyze the UFO evidence. And when you do it fails!
Quantess
(27,630 posts)I am so glad I am not one of the people in the video! I have to think they have difficult lives.