Archive for the ‘UFOs and Abductions’ Category

Now on the BBC

I can’t help but think that whoever wrote this article had their tongue firmly planted in their cheek. It’s the picture captions that really do it for me. “A flying saucer” succinctly describes a very obviously computer-rendered scene (including the obligatory Photoshop lens flare), and “UFO over house” underscores a picture of something that looks impressively similar to the Goodyear blimp.

Regardless, it is clear that interviewee Mr. Timothy Good believes in aliens visiting Earth, and even claims that they have their own terrestrial bases and are in contact with governments around the world. Also, western militaries have classified “advanced technology” to deal with some unspecified alien “threat”. I’m not so naive to think that the military doesn’t conduct top secret research into futuristic weapons systems, but it seems a bit far-fetched to imagine that the enemy is not of this world (cynical note: we seem to have plenty of use for weapons right here against other members of our own species; why drag aliens into it too). I must also say that if there are aliens who for some reason are hostile towards humans, there is nothing we could do that would prevent a civilization with technology for interstellar travel from destroying us completely. It would be like cavemen with sticks and rocks trying to fend off a modern army.

My response is still the same to all believers: where is the proof? Extraordinary claims and all that.

SETI@Home status: still running…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1037471/Apollo-14-astronaut-claims-aliens-HAVE-contact–covered-60-years.html

And not only have they made contact, this has been going on for at least the past 60 years! They have been consorting with various governments who have conspired to keep it a secret for this long. But now, the word is out. Unbelievable, you say? Well, I have proof. Hard evidence. I have… wait, no, I just heard this third-hand from some old guy. But hey, it must be true, because he was an astronaut on Apollo 14! He walked on the Moon! Which of course automatically makes him a reliable source; after all, there has never been any cases of astronauts being at least slightly crazy. Okay, so maybe that’s a low blow. But is there any evidence anywhere to suggest that aliens have been here?

No. Besides some blurry faked photos and CGI videos, there is not a scrap of proof of alien visitation. Crop circles are hoaxes. Abductions are psychological tricks. Supposed “wreckage” from crashed UFOs has remarkably similar properties to man-made amorphous metal. Not to mention that to cover up something as monumental as contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence for 6 decades would require a degree of competence in “the government” that frankly strains credulity. Although on the flip side, they don’t seem to have done that great a job, since a frighteningly large number of people believe aliens have visited Earth, and apparently our artistic depictions of aliens as small humanoids with big heads is completely accurate. I won’t even get in to the discussion of how incredibly unlikely it is for a species to evolve on a different planet and end up looking pretty much the same as us.

But, of course, I can’t prove a negative. So I can’t state with certainty that we are not being visited by beings from another world. But I *can* say that for me to believe in something as extraordinary as this, it is going to take more than some grainy photos of flying hubcaps and the word of a former NASA astronaut to convince me. In honesty, I would love to see evidence of the existence of alien life. It would be just about the most exciting scientific discovery of all time. But for now, I’m just not seeing the proof.

Side note: I still run SETI@Home on my computer though…