Friday, December 26, 2014

Debunking Neil deGrasse Tyson on UFOs

NEW: Neil Doesn't Have A Clue... - PILOT Who Chased THIS UFO Reveals All

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson on UFOs:

"If you see an ET craft, you need to prove it. Other scientists will always require proof before discussing the subject. Proof is needed before acceptance of the idea. This can be done by distracting the aliens by telling them to 'look over there' while you grab evidence."

I'll get to some proof here in a second, but first here's a few comments I liked.

https://www.alien-ufos.com/ufo-alien-discussions/64116-dr-neil-degrasse-tyson-ufos.html
Oh boy, where to start.

So many points I can make here, but I have to say I am disappointed with Dr. Tyson.

He was speaking from a point of ignorance. Not saying he's stupid here, because clearly he is not, but ignorant in the true sense of the word - he is not aware of the huge mass of UFO research done by scientists, including astronomers.

I'll be the first to admit that the field of ufology has a way of attracting the 'ufo nuts,' but I think he discounts the data from 'regular' people way too much. Doesn't matter who you are, if you see a craft that defies modern technology at 30 feet - you know what you saw, scientist or not.

I think we have to remember that he is a scientist who, by his response, considers the scientific method as the only valid method for knowledge acquisition. And it absolutely is not. There are many other research methodologies that are just as valid. The scientific method manipulates a single variable in a controlled environment, which is just not possible in many fields. Like ufology.

Many things we study involve complex systems which if a single variable is manipulated, it crashes the whole system. I once heard someone illustrate this saying if the Wright brothers first tried to fly a plane without a left wing, then without a right wing to see if it made a difference, they would have never invented the airplane. Yes, silly example that doesn't really have anything to do with UFOs - other than saying that the scientific method cannot be used universally as 'the only' research methodology - certainly not in ufology. We can use devices that employ scientific principles, but I personally don't believe the scientific method alone will ever prove anything in the study of UFOs.
It's very interesting that this huge campaign of "debunking" is ongoing. Governments and military worldwide have been encountering "flying saucers" for decades. Not to mention the millions of people that have seen a UFO phenomenon that should be examined and/or explained by our scientific community; at very least, acknowledged. I like to differentiate between hardware "flying saucers" and "lights in the sky", though both are worthy of intense examination. However, we as a civilization, cannot even admit that THEY exist!
Neil comes off as a very condescending and arrogant person IMO.
 OK, now regarding the issue of proof that this champion of science speaks of.

Full Definition of PROOF

1
a :  the cogency of evidence that compels acceptance by the mind of a truth or a fact

Source: 


http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proof

Physical - also referred to as real evidence, consists of tangible articles such as hairs, fibers, latent fingerprints and biological material.

Source:

http://www.nfstc.org/pdi/Subject01/pdi_s01_m01_01.htm

PHYSICAL traces. Compressed and dehydrated vegetation, broken tree branches, and imprints in the ground have all been reported. Sometimes a soil sample taken from an area where a UFO had been close to the ground will be determined by laboratory analysis to have undergone heating or other changes not present in the control sample. CUFOS has a computer file of over 5600 such cases.

Source:

https://www.alien-ufos.com/ufo-alien-discussions/23552-ted-phillips-ufo-physical-trace-research.html#post9424301

PETER JENNINGS PROGRAM 2005

http://www.stantonfriedman.com/index.php?ptp=articles&fdt=2005.03.03

"Particularly irritating was the frequent mention of lights in the sky, billions of stars, and absence of physical evidence. There was not even the slightest mention of Ted Phillips’s 3000+ [now over 4000] excellent physical trace cases from 90 countries. Why show Chris McKay digging in desert dirt and not the traces left by a UFO?" - Nuclear Physicist-Lecturer Stanton T. Friedman received his BSc. and MSc. Degrees in physics from the University of Chicago in 1955 and 1956. He was employed for 14 years as a nuclear physicist by such companies as GE, GM, Westinghouse, TRW Systems, Aerojet General Nucleonics, and McDonnell Douglas working in such highly advanced, classified, eventually cancelled programs as nuclear aircraft, fission and fusion rockets, and various compact nuclear powerplants for space and terrestrial applications.
HARD EVIDENCE - PHYSICAL TRACE CASES:

ALIEN ENCOUNTERS: UFO FILES - Aliens... by artforall101


A Blog Visitor's Comments

Commenting on the post, "Debunking Neil deGrasse Tyson on UFOs," they write:
Tyson to me looks part of the disinfo crowd. He's cited Shermer as someone making a good argument. He's intelligent enough to recognise the errors in reasoning, including the false premise suppositions, used by Shermer to understand his arguments do not follow sound methodology and reasoning. I consider Tyson a heinous propagandist.

That 'statement' of his posted there has so many holes in it. He posits a ridiculous situation where (his scenario) the victims of an abduction, outwit their captors, who in many cases can reportedly read minds, to steel items from their vehicle?

This kind of demand of proof is a straw man argument. It's used to obfuscate all the other evidence of landing traces, pictures, and radar-visual encounters that indicate real phenomena (natural or ET) are active around our planet.

He further needs to consider if the ET hypothesis is true (which is assumed in his statement) that the visitors may not want overt contact with our species - just as human scientists bag and tag less cognizant animals, before releasing them back into the environment.

When it comes to the idea of proof he needs to look at those Stanton Friedman interview clips where he talks about four kinds of scientific proofs where you can collect data - controlled experiments, regular natural events (like eclipses), random but period events (like earthquakes), and then the actions of intelligent beings (where you cannot predict things but rather make measurements after the fact - like collecting data on car crashes etc)
I dislike Dr Tyson ...
Related:

Response to Neil De Grasse Tyson quote: UFOs are only unidentified, Not necessarily aliens.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

You Might Not Believe in UFOs, but the US Government Does!

By John-Michael Talboo

A little piece I penned at Care2.com a few years back.


Aug 5, 2007

Flying Saucers, little green men, little grey men for that matter, all really silly stuff, right?

Every government agency from NASA to the NSA officially denies the existence of true UFOs. Some don't only deny believing there is any validity to the subject, they also have tried at times to deny ever caring to even remotely study the matter. In 1973 the then FBI Director Clarence M. Kelly stated that it was "not and never has been a matter that is within the investigative jurisdiction of the FBI." That statement was made to be eaten by Kelly years later when documents surfaced to the contrary. These days you needn't look any further than the FBIs own website to find tons of info relating to the past study of UFOs.
http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/ufo.htm

Well at least no
US government officials were among the followers of UFO cult leader Marshall Applewhite who killed themselves in 1997 while awaiting a spaceship carrying Jesus!

And I'm sure these FBI files that surfaced were the only government documents on the subject brought to light by the 1966 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Just silly stuff that took place within one agency years ago, right?

Maybe similar thoughts, and the benefit of the doubt went through 15 year old John Greenewald JR's head when he embarked upon a fact finding mission regarding the topic of government interest in UFOs. Almost 10 years later, after writing letter after letter, and making request after request, he has compiled thousands of declassified government documents pertaining to that very subject. Maybe he wasn't sure, maybe he didn't believe, but he found out by sheer numbers that his government seemed to.

The CIA alone has 2,763 documents on the subject! That is a whole heap of files for the agency to have about something that according to many personal and official pronouncements by government officials throughout the years has no merit to it.
If you're thinking all of these files are from the 1970s like the aforementioned ones from the FBI you are wrong. The Defense Intelligence Agency for instance has UFO files from 1990 to date.  Greenwalds website http://theblackvault/.com covers a wide variety of government secrecy and  features over 440,000 declassified government documents.

Of course the government does not always make obtaining this information easy, or always put it out there in a way that isn't a pain to navigate. However, Greenwald has done a lot of the legwork and organized what the government won't. As his site states "The Black Vault has put organization to an unorganized world -- Government Secrecy."

Most of the information Greenwald has obtained has been through the FOIA. However, there a few serious problems that resemble tyranny more than freedom when it comes to getting to the truth that we deserve. FOIA documents are sometimes almost totally blacked out!

Nuclear physicist Stanton Friedman is a very well known UFO researcher and advocate for disclosure. He has detailed the blacking out of documents many times on his various TV appearances. In March 2001 Mr. Friedman spoke to a packed house at the University of New Mexico. There he showed slides of FOIA documents he and others obtained through years of requests. The CIA files they eventually received were 75% blacked out. So, as he commonly asks, if there is nothing to hide, then why won't they let us see all of the information?

I thought the whole point of the FOIA was that government was trying to become more transparent? There of course things covered in the exemptions to the FOIA that could possibly account for the lack of information. However, after reading them the only one that seems to be able to account for the extreme censorship is the first dealing with issues of national defense. But how could that be when as UFO researcher Richard M. Dolan put it "For nearly 60 years, the
United States government and military has told us that UFOs are not a matter of national security."

The information they have provided to us is mind-blowing to be sure, but the first exemption to the FOIA ensures that we will never see the really juicy stuff, it states...

1-A. specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and B. are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order;

So despite the fact that the establishment line is that no national security threat is posed, one person's warped view of what constitutes an issue of national defense in the "we the people" government is all it takes.

Grant Cameron of http://presidentialufo.com has cataloged many interesting facts regarding American Presidents and how they have dealt with the issue of UFOs. The first one of interest to many is Harry Truman since he was the first Commander and Chief that had to deal with the subject, and founded what would later become the UFO document haven of the CIA. As Camerons' site says
"There has always been a controversy as to what President Truman's views were on 'flying saucers.'" However many things detailed by Cameron point to Truman being very interested indeed.

Could a picture of Truman and UFO author Frank Edwards  I obtained through a friend of my grandmother be further evidence of his interest? It is hard to say seeing as how Edwards was also a newsman and I don't know the circumstances of their meeting. I also don't have any idea if Truman was fully aware of who Edwards was, or his UFO research. I no longer own the picture, but while I did I shared it with the world via the internet, it can now be viewed HERE.


 Truman and the UFO Author
This is an autographed photo of Harry S. Truman and Frank Edwards, a 1950's UFO author, taken in 1954. Frank also used to write for Fate Magazine. It was given to me by a friend of my grandmother because of my interest in UFOS. Kind of makes you wonder.

--John T.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/photo/view/truman_and_the_ufo_author/43569

In regards to more recent presidents Bill Clinton said "If the United States Air Force did recover alien bodies" in Roswell, the Air Force didn’t tell me about it, and I would like to know."

Well if Clinton wasn't briefed it seems that maybe Dick Cheney was. O
n April 2001 Grant Cameron 
asked Dick Cheney if he had been briefed on UFOs, and if so what had he been told. Cheney apparently could neither confirm nor deny stating "Well if I had been briefed on it, I'm sure it was probably classified, and I couldn't talk about it."

If he HAD BEEN briefed it PROBABLY WAS classified! Thanks for clearing that up sir! I'm guessing Mr.Cheney likes the executive order exemption in the FOIA!

We often hear about The Roswell Incident, but one person in the saga that is often left out is former Pentagon Official Colonel Philip Corso. In his book The Day After Roswell the former member of President Eisenhower's National Security Council details efforts led by him to reverse engineer alien technology found at the Roswell Crash.   But are there any modern day officials coming forward with similar stories?


Steven M. Greer, MD who founded a nonprofit research project known as The Disclosure Project has gathered "over 400 government, military, and intelligence community witnesses testifying to their direct, personal, first hand experience with UFOs, ETs, ET technology, and the cover-up that keeps this information secret." Just as in the case of the enormous amount of flies of the CIA and others, the question must again be posed.Why is there so much information from government sources about what is commonly still regarded as a fairy tale topic by so many including the media?

Documents are one thing, but an even better question is why would so many credible people come forward to Dr. Greer and put their reputations on the line? The best answer in my mind is beacuase they are being honest and believe humanity deserves all the facts. You generally don't get rich from telling wild stories about these type of things, you get ridicule, and these people already have good careers. Dr. Greers website
http://disclosureproject.org
has many ways the average person can get involved in calling for the truth of these matters. I strongly suggest all who read this take a look at his efforts and support him in anyway you can.

UFOs are of course not an exclusively US phenomenon. For lots of good info regarding official government study programs looking into the subject throughout the world, please click HERE.


To visit this article on the Care2 News Network click HERE.

Related:

Richard Dolan on Steven Greer

UFO Case Review Playlist - Flatwoods Monster, 1952

Saturday, November 8, 2014

The Greys & their plans for Mankind [FULL DOCUMENTARY]

Grey aliens (also referred to as "Roswell Greys", "Greys" or "Grays") are alleged extraterrestrial beings whose existence is promoted in ufological, paranormal, and New Age communities, and who are named for their skin color.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Ancient Aliens Debunked film review

Posted By on Oct 2, 2012

Just finished watching the entire 3-hour presentation on youtube of Ancient Aliens Debunked. Overall, it was well composed, clearly thought out, and reasonably logical. It will definitely change your opinion of the Ancient Aliens show after watching it, but please read this review before making a hasty damnation of the show. I’ll try to point out some of the things that brought up more questions or were off target, (in my amateur opinion). Let it be known that I am merely an independent researcher with NO knowledge of archaeology, minimal knowledge of ancient history, and I’m armed with only the internet and way too many hours of watching television and listening to radio talk shows to research some of these ideas. I’ve got engineering credentials elsewhere, but they’re mostly irrelevant to this topic.

The film gets off to a great start by covering Pumapunku, one of the more mysterious sites on the Ancient Aliens show. Reference number 34 at 16:25, claims that the stones are in disarray because locals looted for various buildings. Some questions that are raised are: Where are these buildings the looters constructed with the stones? Shouldn’t they be all around the local area still? I mean, since these scholars require so much evidence, surely they’ve found evidence for this?…

Also, some theorists (e.g. Giorgio Tsoukalos) make the statement that the scholars and experts label the ancient cultures as simple and unintelligent, and this gets reinforced when the film makes the claim that the Incans gave the historical tale of the gods building Pumapunku because they wouldn’t acknowledge an older civilization actually existing since the Incans were the first. Giorgio has said in many interviews that the scholars stop their investigation of ancient cultures at the point in which they worship deities. They don’t actually research why or how the cultures came to the conclusion of their gods, and this is somewhat repeated in this claim of the film.

Next, we go to the Egyptian Giza Pyramids section, which is sure to falsify all of the Ancient Aliens theories, but we’re still waiting to hear conclusively why the pyramids were built, and how, so to me this doesn’t lay the Giza pyramids to rest.

In the Incan Sites section, the film asserts that Mike Dunn’s theory of a patterned mold is impossible because none of the stones look alike, but the film shows a frame of several rocks that do in fact look alike, ironically at the same time that Dunn is describing it, at 1:00:10.

Pacal’s rocket sarcophagus is believed to be Pacal’s descent into the underworld by Mayan ‘experts.’ Ancient Aliens actually reveals this fact on their show. On the documentary, they claim the rocket is the World Tree with the branches in the heavens and roots in the underworld, with the celestial bird just above the branches (heavens), and the ‘rocket smoke’ is actually the roots (underworld). Why is Pacal riding the rocket into the underworld, when he is heading into the direction of the heavens, based on how the film describes this? See 1:08:00.

When it comes to the Nazca Lines, the film demonstrates how easy it is to remove the stones to create the lines and images seen from the sky. The ancient Nazca culture believed in nature gods that were animals and even decapitated people for these gods (as the show discusses). So again, as Tsoukalos emphasizes in most of his interviews, what purpose did they serve? The film seems to imply they used them for religious purpose, which circular reasoning brings us right back to worshiping gods! It doesn’t seem to clear anything up on this argument, besides debunking the idea of the cut off mountain tops (plateaus), which was quite humorous and did make a lot of sense. I would like to see a reply on that one though, because some of the images of these ‘plateaus’ do really look a bit odd, but I’m not an expert in that field so what do I know. They might be legitimate plateaus, which makes more sense than this ancient culture chopping off the tops of the mountains.

In the UFOs in ancient art section, the Sputnik-Earth painting doesn’t explain why there are antenna on the globe of the Earth, only that the Earth wasn’t believed to be flat in the Middle Ages.
In the portion of the film that discusses the Vimana and the nuclear explosions, it debunks the term “ten thousand suns” stating that it merely refers to an appearance of Vishnu and that many passages use that line to describe the deity. But why is that? Why would they use that term? Have we ever seen anything in our lives that appeared as bright as “ten thousand suns?” An explosion perhaps. Again, the Ancient Aliens theorists are merely presenting a theory that explains the motivation behind these ancient cultures and there descriptive language.

The video debunks the “UFO” spoken of in Ezekial by saying that he was well versed in writing and using descriptive terms, and there’s no way that he couldn’t describe a UFO. So it’s acceptable for the video to believe that Ezekiel saw these multi-faced cherubims and other supernatural phenomenon? There are several examples of the throne with the odd creatures and cherubims elsewhere in the Bible, but perhaps this is more evidence of the interpretation of the people when they were witnessing these other worldly, other-dimensional structures.

The Anunnaki definition from Giorgio Tsoukalos is debunked and described as the “princely seed” or the offspring of “An,” the god of the heavens. Giorgio says it’s “those who from heaven came,” and he got it from Zecharia Sitchin, who has been himself debunked somewhat, as we can see on Dr. Michael Heiser’s website. I’ve even heard some of those on Ancient Aliens explain that Sitchin isn’t 100% accurate in his books (Jason Martell on Coast to Coast AM and Giorgio Tsoukalos on Joe Rogan’s podcast), so I don’t think all of these Ancient Aliens theorists actually 100% fully subscribe word for word the Sitchin theories. Obviously he is huge inspiration for all of these ideas, but it seems to me that they explore ideas and use the Ancient Astronaut Theory as a springboard for them.

The debunk film discusses how the ancients all had flood myths and similar ‘immaculate conception’ tales and how there is a supernatural link between them and modern Christianity, which I liked. But then the film lays claim to the Christian religion as the most correct of the religious stories, which I’m still not convinced of. I believe in Christianity, but to discount all of the ancient stories seems a bit presumptuous. But again, I’m not a Theologian, so I’ll have to research this some more.

The fact that I only thought of this much questionable material, is quite telling of how enlightening this film is to an amateur like myself. The film is three hours of discussion and I only have a handful of questions, so that is pretty good. The Ancient Aliens show is entertainment and put together by an entertainment channel, not historical scholars. Is it slightly unethical? Sure. But I’m not apt to drop my job, personal life, and everything to worry about the Anunnaki coming back from Planet X just because the channel that airs a show about it says so. Not to mention this is the same channel that airs ‘Cajun Pawn Stars’ and ‘Ice Road Truckers’ more than they do actual historical shows.

The show has a lot of damning evidence and even some humor. For example, the part where the narrator talks about the Sanskrit texts from “6,000 BC” when in reality it is only 1,000 BC and the narrator says that they just arbitrarily added 5,000 years was quite humorous. I mean, the documentary is correct in pointing out the eccentricity of the theorists, they are a bit out there. But we need some evolutionary thinking to push our paradigm of beliefs out of our comfort zone, so I still find these theorists worth listening to. I also enjoy Dr. Michael Heiser’s commentary, I’ve listened to him on Coast to Coast AM and he presents good logical arguments. The narrator also does an eloquent job of defending his explanations with the references and such.

To play along with the film, let’s say that the entire Debunked film is correct, and the show Ancient Aliens is a fraud. Then why did these ancient cultures devote so much time and energy into these symbols of flying serpents? Where would they even get that idea? Why would the earliest form of writing (Sumerian cuneiform) be an exciting myth about star travelers? Are we to believe that the ancient cultures would rather write a make believe tale for their first writings instead of actual history? The debunking of Ancient Aliens begs all of these questions. What do the scholars actually believe? Do they simply think these ancient cultures believed in fairy tales and had over creative imaginations?

The popularity of the show Ancient Aliens partially comes from the respect of entertaining the idea of alien intervention and visitation. There is a growing population that is awakening to the duping of our culture. Some of us feel that the general attitude from ‘scholars,’ Egyptologists and ‘experts’ is that aliens are absurd, which stems from the socially engineered response that is indoctrinated into everybody from the Illuminati types with a secret agenda.  If you don’t believe that, then go ahead and bring up the idea of aliens to your coworkers and see how long it takes to get a smile, laugh, or labeling that you’re insane. Then to take the concept of a programmed society a bit further, go ahead and ask those same coworkers if they believe in Jesus Christ. Statistically, some of them will say yes, which is ironic since Jesus was an extraterrestrial who was immaculately conceived and brought back from the dead before an ascension into another dimension.  So how “absurd” is it really for aliens to have visited our planet in the past?

To shed light on why Ancient Aliens is a valuable show to keep, let’s take a look at the theory of evolution. Evolution is a theory, which indicates it’s not the 100% sure thing for an explanation of the human species. It ties facts together nicely, and has never been proven wrong. It doesn’t answer every question though. For example, if evolution is true, and there is a ‘survival of the fittest’ then why didn’t the Neanderthals out survive the Homo sapien-sapiens? The Neanderthals had larger brain capacity and were much stronger than the Homo sapien-sapiens. They should’ve destroyed us in every way. There are no known explanations for how this all went down and what the Neanderthals were, and if they are related to the modern day humans. And to zoom out a bit further, even if you could prove evolution exists, who is the Grand Creator of all of this? Ancient Aliens merely seeks to push some radical ideas. This is necessary in every way of scientific advancement. If you study the Adaptive-Innovation theory, you’ll see that science will have paradigms that get refined and evolve over time, only to be blown up and completely redefined through a revolutionary idea, which itself will get refined and evolved. Ancient Aliens seeks to be that revolutionary idea by seeding ‘outside of the box’ ideas into peoples’ minds. Also, is it a coincidence that Giorgio Tsoukalos hair is similar hair to another revolutionary fella? Einstein shattered the physical sciences with his Theory of Relativity, which sounded insane at the time to the Newtonian physics subscribers. I’m not saying that Tsoukalos is equivalent to Einstein, but his contributions could eventually be appreciated as much someday if proven correct.

I’m not going to defend everything the Ancient Aliens theorists say, but I feel that they are being perpetually labeled as liars, when in fact they are just proposing theories, even if some of them aren’t the most sound. I could see why the narrator and film maker, Chris White made the film. The show is quite persuasive and if you don’t do some fact checking you might be led to believe some fairly tall tales. My view of the show is that it proposes some ideas that should be investigated further and it is seeking to find that spark that evolutionarily changes our view of our past. Look, I get the Ancient Aliens show; it basically says that something happened in our past that is more significant than what the modern day scholars and archeologists give them credit for. For conspiracy theorists this isn’t a far stretch, because they already don’t buy into the formal education system, and label it as an ‘indoctrination’ that is set up by corporate interests to keep the people ignorant and blind to the actual truth. The history books are written by the victors, or in our modern day case, the rich and powerful. The ‘Debunked’ film seems to give the viewer the idea that scholars have got all of history’s mysteries figured out and there’s nothing supernatural or unexplained available. Surely there is a secret knowledge of our past that the layman isn’t privileged enough to learn about.

For an example, there must be a secret message behind all of Washington D.C.’s Greek, Roman and Egyptian structures and symbolism. The freemasons also have an admiration for these structures, as seen on their temples. Could it be simply because our founding fathers admired those cultures? Or is there something more to it that aren’t meant to understand. I feel that the elitist-Illuminati types have an understanding of the subliminal conscious mind, symbols, and unseen dimensions. There are spirits that exist at other frequency wavelengths that we can’t access with our five sense physical limitations, but perhaps the Illuminati understand how to. The point is, there seems to be something to this world that I can’t exactly put my finger on, but I do feel that I am being manipulated by an unseen force. This unseen force re-emphasizes material, five sense, thinking and breaks down empathy for one another (see David Icke)  for whatever reason. If you don’t believe that you’re being manipulated, pay attention to politics and the way of the world until you get what I’m saying. Everything is a bullshit illusion of prioritizing our lives into material objects and worrying about what others think of us. We are being duped into joining a political gang and campaigning for their beliefs which ultimately only serve the politician who is getting paid off by whichever industry can profit from their decisions. When we all go into this afterlife of collective consciousness and are unlimited in our abilities, we won’t want or need any of the material things, so why do we live our lives for these unrighteous reasons? It’s because there’s a manipulation out there, which some call evil or the Devil.

So perhaps there weren’t aliens visitations in the past. Ancient Aliens actually emphasizes the “theory” aspect of the “Ancient Astronaut Theory.” Watch the series again after viewing this debunking documentary. You’ll see that both the narrator and the theorists use terms like, “possible,” “theory,” and “potential,” but never “law.” It’s merely a theory that explains what happened in the ancient past and the message these cultures were trying to convey. It’s a bit beside the point to ‘debunk’ and say that the alien visitations were impossible. There’s plenty of unknown supernatural things in our world, and if we want to debunk all of them and pretend we’ve got it all figured out, then we truly are losing hope in an afterlife and a grand creator. Ancient Aliens is a bit misleading, I’ll agree to that. But like everything else, you’ve got to vet the information. If Ancient Aliens gets the audience to learn a few things about the past and open up our minds to potential to know that there’s something beyond our five-state physical awareness.

Check out the Ancient Aliens Debunked and Dr. Michael Heiser’s websites for more information:

http://ancientaliensdebunked.com
http://www.sitchiniswrong.com/index.html
http://www.michaelsheiser.com/
http://michaelsheiser.com/PaleoBabble/

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

This FBI File Has Been Read Over a Million Times - Is it proof we're not alone?

By Alison Caporimo
Also published in Reader's Digest Magazine October 2014


It’s the most popular file in the FBI Vault­—a high-tech electronic reading room that houses all kinds 
of bureau records released under 
the Freedom of Information Act. Yet this file is only a single page, relaying an unconfirmed report from an Air Force investigator, and was never even followed up on. Dated March 22, 1950, the memo is addressed to 
J. Edgar Hoover, and it reads:

“They [the saucers] were described as being circular in shape with raised centers, approximately 50 feet in 
diameter. Each one was occupied 
by three bodies of human shape 
but only 3 feet tall, dressed in 
metallic cloth of a very fine texture. Each body was bandaged in a 
manner similar to the blackout suits 
used by speed flyers and test pilots.”

The memo goes on to say that the saucers had been found because the government’s “high-powered 
radar” in Roswell, New Mexico, 
had interfered with “the controlling mechanism of the saucers,” which 
ultimately resulted in the crashes. 
It ends stating that “no further 
evaluation was attempted.”
Once the file went public, people wondered what had happened to the supposed saucers. Unfortunately, without any further research from the FBI, the case became just another unsolved mystery.

Did you know this was the file? Do you wonder what happened to the supposed saucers? 
 
Click Picture to Enlarge
Related:

Popular Unsealed: Alien Files Videos

Monday, September 15, 2014

Debunking the UFO Debunkers by Patrick Cooke



A common phrase, often heard in our modern world, is "that's a bunch of bunk", or some variation of that phrase. The word "bunk" has become synonymous with nonsense, lies, and myth, and is even tied to the type of criminal known as the con man, also called a Bunko artist. The word has a recent etymology, being a shortened version of the word "bunkum", which is an alternate spelling of Buncombe. In a February, 1820 session of the U.S. House of Representatives Representative Felix Walker from Buncombe County, North Carolina gave a rambling speech before that body. The speech had little relevance to the concurrent debate in the House, and Walker refused to yield the floor, informing his colleagues that his speech was not intended for Congress, but that he was "speaking for Buncombe." It became a widely-accepted synonym in Washington for any bombastic political posturing or an oratorical display not accompanied by conviction. To "debunk" now means to expose the sham or falseness of something, thus implying that the debunker is presumed to be unmasking, poking fun at, or exposing an imposter, or something that is pure nonsense.

As a ufologist, an autonomous theologian, and social researcher, I am the target of debunkers from the broadest range of debunkers imaginable. My work reveals the cover-up of UFOs and challenges the common concepts of UFOs, it uncovers the contradictions and misconceptions of mainstream Christian doctrines and beliefs, and calls into question many social, academic, scientific, political, and historical improprieties and misinformation and disingenuousness. Early in my research I had several confrontations with James Oberg, a UFO skeptic, whose style of debunking is almost legendary. His tactics led me into a study of debunking to counter his dismissive and completely illogical points, which were almost baffling in their ability to convince others proof of UFOs was a total sham. I found, through years of experience that his tactics were very similar to those used by almost every UFO skeptic in the field. Anyone armed with the knowledge of how debunkers operate can see common threads in the way they argue their points and counter them.

 It almost always starts with a condescending and self-assured attitude, which suggests that the debunker's points are backed by the full faith and credit of God. Dismissive terms such as ridiculous, absurd, trivial, or even pathetic are used to make the UFO believer seem ignorant and gullible. Science is used as the Holy Grail of reality, which bravely defending common sense against the unruly hordes of quacks and myth-worshiping infidels. Arguments are as abstract and theoretical as possible, but presented in a manner that makes science superior to any actual evidence that might challenge it, making such evidence seem to be completely worthless. They constantly reinforce the popular misconception that anything that challenges the status quo must be inherently unscientific. They deliberately confuse the “process” of science with the “content” of science.

The use of socially accepted authority figures, whether their expertise is in any discipline even related to the UFO field, or not, is common. The degree to which they can stretch the truth is directly proportional to the prestige of authorities they cite. This gives them the latitude of asserting that their statements are "facts", while those of the UFO believers are only "claims". They can, therefore, completely avoid examining the actual evidence and say, with impunity, that there is absolutely no evidence to support such ridiculous claims as the existence of UFOs. This technique has withstood the test of time and dates back to before the time of Galileo, when the Church, by simply refusing to look through his telescope, gave the ecclesiastical authorities centuries worth of denial that the world was not the center of the universe. It then becomes possible to dismiss a watertight body of evidence that has survived the most rigorous tests as without substance.

The debunkers use the science as a weapon and accuse UFO believers of viewing science in fuzzy, subjective, or metaphysical terms and downplay the fact that free inquiry, legitimate disagreement and respectful debate are a normal part of science. At every opportunity, they reinforce the notion that what is familiar is necessarily rational. The unfamiliar is, therefore, irrational and, consequently, inadmissible as evidence and, at best, an honest misinterpretation of the conventional. They also maintain that in investigations of unconventional phenomena, a single flaw or misstep invalidates the whole. They assert that if absolute proof is lacking, there is no evidence. Conversely, they claim that if sufficient evidence has been presented to warrant further investigation of an unusual phenomenon, evidence alone proves nothing. This will eliminate the possibility of initiating any meaningful process of investigation, particularly if no criteria of proof have yet been established for the phenomenon in question. And, in a seemingly logical argument, they insist that criteria of proof cannot possibly be established for phenomena that do not exist. No matter the weight of evidence proving the existence of UFOs, they simply claim that "extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence" taking care never to define where the "ordinary" ends and the "extraordinary" begins. This will allow them to manufacture an infinitely receding evidential horizon, which always lies just out of reach.

Another common practice of UFO debunkers is by lumping all phenomena, popularly deemed paranormal, together. In this way they can indiscriminately drag material across disciplinary lines from one case to another to support their views, as needed. If a claim, having some superficial similarity to the one at hand, has been or is assumed to have been exposed as fraudulent, it is cited as if it were an appropriate example. As in real estate where "location, location, location" is the best selling tactic, UFO debunkers use "ridicule, ridicule, ridicule" to hammer at the concept they are attacking As, far and away, the single most effective weapon in the war against discovery and innovation, ridicule has the unique power to make people completely limp, and fails to wither only those few of sufficiently independent thought.

Trivializing the case by trivializing the entire field in question is common with debunkers. Simply characterizing the study of unorthodox phenomena as "bogus" allows the debunker to state emphatically that there is nothing there to study. They accuse investigators of unusual phenomena of believing in invisible forces and extrasensory realities. They also try to discredit the whole story by attempting to discredit part of the story, taking one element of a case completely out of context and finding something prosaic that hypothetically “could” explain it. With one element having been "explained" away, they can then claim that the entire case has been "explained". They know that most people do not have sufficient time or expertise for careful discrimination, and will tend to reject the whole of a concept, if only part seems to be in question.

The tactic of labeling any phenomenon as occult, paranormal, metaphysical, mystical, or supernatural will turn off most mainstream scientists or people with religious or conservative leanings immediately, on purely emotional grounds. Asking unanswerable questions based on arbitrary criteria of proof is popular, as well. For instance, why hasn't religion or science addressed this, or if UFOs were real why aren't there clear pictures or videos? And, of course, as a last resort, why haven't they landed on the White House lawn? Another effective strategy used, with a long history of success, if the media reports UFO sightings, is to claim that it is for the shock or comedy value alone. Pointing out that the area where the sighting has occurred is using it for profit, (selling T shirts, etc.), or that those reporting the sightings are only looking for that elusive "15 seconds of fame" gives it an air of pure "hype". If an unusual or inexplicable event is reported in a sensationalized manner, they hold this as proof that the event itself must have been without substance or worth. When a witness states something in a manner that is scientifically imperfect, they instantly treat this statement as if it were not scientific, at all. If the claimant is not a credentialed scientist, they argue that his or her cliams cannot possibly be scientifically correct. And, the assertion that only scientists, particularly astronomers, are "trained observers" immediately dismisses police officers, pilots, air controllers, or virtually anybody else reporting a sighting as totally unqualified to verify anything they see.

If they are unable to attack the facts of the case, they attack the participants or the journalists who reported the case. Ad hominem arguments, or personality attacks, are among the most powerful ways of swaying the public and avoiding the issue. If an investigator or chronicler of the unorthodox has profited financially from activities connected with their research, this is positive proof that they are only in it for the money. If their research, publishing, or speaking tours constitute their normal line of work or sole means of support, that is used as conclusive proof that they are only profiteers of sensationalism. If they have labored to achieve public recognition of their work, they characterize them as publicity seekers. The tactic of "shooting the messenger" to ignore the message is common, and even extends to the ridiculous practice of claiming that if someone just investigating the incident is blemished, the whole incident is questionable. If experts in related fields are involved, debunkers focus on the most minor details of their credentials, again pointing out the erroneous assertion that only astronomers are experts on the UFO question, with the necessary knowledge to speak on such issue. This, even though, course credit in ufology has never been a prerequisite for a degree in astronomy. If all else fails, they fabricate entire research projects, by declaring that such claims have been thoroughly discredited by the “top experts in the field”, whether or not such experts have ever actually studied the claims, or, for that matter, even exist.

Finally, the tactic of choice is to debunk UFOs by debunking the concept of extraterrestrials. Debunkers declare that there is no proof that life can exist in outer space. They argue that all reports of extraterrestrials must be bogus because the evolution of life on Earth is the result of an infinite number of accidents in a genetically isolated environment. They completely avoid addressing the logical proposition that if interstellar visitations have occurred, Earth cannot be considered genetically isolated in the first place. They use nature's laws as proof that interstellar travel by extraterrestrials is impossible, because it would, obviously, violate nature's laws. They base their notions of logic on how terrestrials would, or wouldn't, behave on how "they" determine such behavior should be. Since terrestrials can behave in all kinds of ways, they can theorize whatever kind of behavior they want extraterrestrials to exhibit, to suit their arguments. They, of course, point out that the government-sponsored SETI program assumes, in advance, that extraterrestrial intelligence can only exist light-years away from Earth and, thus, this invalidates all terrestrial reports of ET contact.

There are, of course, many other tactics used by UFO debunkers and this writing covers only the most common tactics used. The important thing to consider is that debunkers are probably guiltier of practicing the very tactics they claim UFO believers are guilty of using. Being aware of the tactics debunkers use is important, but using logic in answering them, and not being intimidated by their self-assured and dismissive attitudes, is essential. They prey on weakness, thrive on ignorance, and survive, only on their ability to baffle the believer with the power of ridicule. While the attacked is defending against the attack, the debunker is constantly and rapidly shifting the argument in several different directions and changing the strategy of attack. They answer questions with questions, challenges with dismissal, and logic with unsupported facts. They must be nailed down and not allowed to bob and weave around the issue. Insisting that they back their assertions, answer questions and challenges, and engage in the debate, instead of skirting every issue with a constant attack on the credibility of any issue they confront, will change the outcome. They do not deal in honest discourse; they only know how to use the tactics they have learned, and any diversion from those tactics will turn the tide against them.

Hindsight is 20/20, and there is seldom a better time to realize how the debunker has won the argument or “seemed” to have, then by reviewing the encounter after the fact. In the heat of battle the obvious flaws in the debunker’s methods are blurry, but in reviewing the encounter those methods become blatantly obvious. Having appeared on many talk shows, several times with veteran debunkers, I have learned this, all too well. The best way to counter debunkers is to listen to their rhetoric, learn their methods, and how to counter them. This takes study and careful attention to the subtle details of the debunker’s methods. They are as weak as their baseless arguments and can be easily defeated, with patience and determination. They will always be with us, but they will always use the same time-worn and easily countered tactics. With minds filled with swamp gas and eyes that can only see Venus, they are easy to defeat.

http://ufodigest.com/news/0108/debunkers.html

Monday, September 8, 2014

Discussion on UFO film 'The Hidden Hand: Alien Contact and The Government Cover up'

JJ Hurtak, Richard Dolan and Duncan Cameron join Alan Steinfeld of http://www.NewRealities.com and director of the Hidden Hand to talk about the issues in the film, The Hidden Hand such as abduction, government cover-up and the coming disclosure.... To order the Hidden Hand go to: http://www.hiddenhandthemovie.com/wp/buy-now/buy-dvd/
 

 "The Hidden Hand: Alien Contact and The Government Cover-up" - Special guest Cinematographer and a Producer JAMES CARMAN

Tune in us as James Carman joins us on the program to talk about his movie The Hidden Hand which is a controversial Award-winning documentary that explores the possibility of an extraterrestrial presence here on Earth. The film takes a keen look at a spectrum of topics like alien abduction, human/alien hybridization, the military's reverse-engineering of alien technology and the government cover-up of anything related to extraterrestrials. Is preoccupation with E.T.'s a form of cultural madness, or is something really going on? How would E.T. contact change the religious and political institutions of our society? The Hidden Hand is full of riveting interviews with experts and experience's alike: Whitley Strieber, Dr. Edgar Mitchell, the 6th astronaut on the moon, Paul Hellyer, a former Canadian Defence Minister, Richard Dolan, Jim Marrs, Linda Moulton Howe, Col. John Alexander, Lyn Buchanan, Clifford Stone, Nassim Haramein, David Icke, Dr. Roger Leir, Graham Hancock and Paola Harris, among others. The shadowy world of UFOs is suddenly brought to light.

Tune in for this in-depth interview about an Extraterrestrial Cover-up within our government..

UFO Debunker last handhold from Insignificance

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Best Selling UFO Book Persuades the Skeptics!

Published on Aug 19, 2014
The UFO Death Bed Testimony! Donald Schmitt's efforts in the search for the Truth of the Roswell UFO Crash, as well as many others around the world, has concluded to factual evidence that what happened in the desert of New Mexico was indeed an actual Alien Spacecraft Debris Field.

Interview by Chance Buell at the UFO Museum and Research facility in Roswell, New Mexico during the International UFO Festival and Alien Convention.

If You want to know the Truth, The Book: "Witness to Roswell" by Donald Schmitt & Thomas Carey - Unmasking the 60 Year Cover Up is the Best Selling UFO Book in the World... There's a Reason.

Aliens Have Taken Over! UFO & Aliens Crash Land in Roswell for the 66th Anniversary of the Roswell Incident. The Historical Crash Landing of the Alien Spacecraft and Pilot. The World Famous UFO Light Parade at the International UFO Festival..! Thanks Everybody for making it so much fun..!

Sunday, August 17, 2014

UFOs Caught By Canadian News Crew During Forest Fire Coverage

Crew During Forest Fire Coverage

Posted: Updated:
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CANADABOLIDEUFO 
A video shot outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, during a forest fire unexpectedly captured a lot more than firefighting efforts.

On July 17, 2014, Castanet.net, a news organization in Western Canada, posted a video shot in West Kelowna -- northeast of Vancouver -- featuring efforts to stop the Smith Creek Wildfire.

Here's the original Castanet.net video report, showing the UFO at approximately 26 seconds. 




 "In the news piece, a bright object appears from behind clouds above the fire area quickly moving left to right," according to Castanet.net. The news site revealed the following description from a witness who noticed the unusual aerial object in the video:
Shot out from the clouds above the mountain during a forest fire near our neighborhood. It pulled a wisp of cloud with it as it exited.
A forest fire broke out on the mountain behind us and during the attempt to put it out, this event took place.
I was watching a video online of the fire from a little earlier in the day and I spotted the UFO 37 seconds in. I have no idea whether anyone else has noticed this or not. Most folks would be focused on the fire.
37 seconds into the video the UFO comes shooting out from a cloud right above the mountain and passes through a clear spot back into the next cloud. I was quite startled and surprised when I saw it.
The UFO left a thin trail of cloud vapor as it exited the cloud. This, to me, eliminates any thought that this might be a camera lens artifact or light phenomenon effect.
The event lasted only a few seconds. Judging by the distance I was from the object it had to have been moving very fast. The scene cuts away while the UFO is still visible. I'm left to assume that there must be more footage of it than I saw.
I phoned the website's news department to ask if it would be possible to see the full footage, but was met with disapproval. In retrospect, perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned the word UFO.
While no official explanation has surfaced about the UFO, OpenMinds.TV asked Marc Dantonio, chief photo and video analyst for the Mutual UFO Network, aka MUFON, to look at the video. He suggests the object could have been a bolide, a type of very bright meteor that streaks through Earth's atmosphere.

"I am convinced that this was a really good find," Dantonio told Open Minds. "It is an Earth-grazer, a meteor that approaches the atmosphere at a shallow angle, and continues on, skipping off the atmosphere back into space. Some of them will slow down enough to become trapped and fall to Earth but they many times just skip on off and keep going.

"This one does indeed show a vapor trail as it moves through, it does come out from behind the cloud, and it moves at a speed completely consistent with Earth-grazers."

Watch this similar video of a bolide meteor from Mexico in 2013. 



There's one other interesting thing about the Canadian news video that may have been overlooked. YouTube commenter Joe Edwards observed something else in the sky in the same video footage:
"Did anyone notice the very next scene, it seems something dark and very fast flew from right to left across the screen, that was just as interesting," Edwards wrote. "It occurs at about the 32-second mark."

This object moves from the far right of the image to the far left, literally, at the blink of an eye. At first, one might assume it's probably just an insect streaking by the camera. But, depending on how you look at it, it appears to slip behind trees and a telephone pole.

We asked HuffPost video editor Eva Hill to isolate the fast-moving object to see if it could be determined to fly in front of or behind the trees. We've included several screen grabs of the object in the following slideshow.

What do you think?

Monday, July 14, 2014

UFO Debunkers Hate Logical Thinking

Debunkers have used the same terms big tobacco and big oil use to deflect logical thinking,,, which is that the sun in the sky can't be held nor the stars or moon yet they are accepted as real objects but when a phenomenon such as 2 mile long black discs or giant craft that resemble shelled walnuts bigger than 2 aircraft carriers is seen its called a slow moving meteor or swamp gas or a falling satellite even when reported by expert witnesses with both airborne radar and ground radar verification it blown off as hallucination.

Leslie Kean asks: "Is this the case UFO skeptics have been dreading?"

http://metamorphosis.democraticunderground.com/11352800

Answer: It probably is! Ms. Kean has an article over at HuffPost: UFO Caught on Tape Over Santiago Air Base, and it's going viral!

Journalist Leslie Kean is the author of UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record. The book has received praise from people as diverse as Dr. Michio Kaku, Astronomer Derek Pitts of the Franklin Institute, and Rudy Schild of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

The case mentioned is a sighting from Chile in 2010, presented to the public in a March 13 press conference. In Ms. Kean's words:

It was a glorious, sunny morning on Nov. 5, 2010, when crowds gathered to celebrate the changing of the Air Force Command at El Bosque Air Base in Santiago. From different locations, spectators aimed video cameras and cell phones at groups of acrobatic and fighter jets performing an air show overhead. Nobody saw anything amiss.

But afterward, an engineer from the adjacent Pillán aircraft factory noticed something bizarre while viewing his footage in slow motion. He turned it over to the government's well known Committee for the Study of Anomalous Aerial Phenomena, or CEFAA, for analysis.

The stunning conclusion: The Chilean jets were being stalked by a UFO.

Please note: Chile's CEFAA is only one of a number of agencies established by governments that think UFOs are worthy of serious, scientific study. Those other countries are: Brazil, Peru, Equador, Uruguay, Argentina, Belgium, France and Britain. France's GEIPAN is part of their national space agency: CNES.

What makes this particular incident harder to dismiss? 

CEFAA officials collected seven videos of the El Bosque UFO taken from different vantage points. Bermúdez commissioned scientists from many disciplines, aeronautical experts, and air force and army photogrametric technicians to subject the videos to intense scrutiny. They all came to the same conclusions.

As I said, this has gone viral: There are articles on Business Insider, and MSNBC.com.

'Debunkers' like Robert Shaeffer are already weighing in on the case:  

"They're 'unexplained cases' only if you ignore the explanation. That's what's going to happen in this case."

Sheaffer has admitted that he hasn't examined any of the videos: \
Sheaffer said there wasn't yet enough data available to judge what really happened at El Bosque. "It's going to be like the Phoenix Lights in 1997. We're going to have to go and sit down and look at it," he said. (Coincidentally, Kean and Blumenthal's story came out on the 15th anniversary of the Phoenix Lights incident in Arizona.)

Here's one of the videos:


Ms. Kean has a Facebook page, linked from her website

Edited to add - for those who think the Phoenix Lights case has been thoroughly debunked: The explanation usually given was that witnesses saw flares dropped by Air Force jets during a training exercise. That's disputed by Ms. Kean and by Former Arizona Governor Fife Symington III:
Symington says he saw a large triangular "craft of unknown origin" with lights. "It was dramatic. And it couldn't have been flares because it was too symmetrical," he says. "It had a geometric outline, a constant shape."

Other witnesses also related the fact that the lights maintained a constant spacing throughout the sighting, unlike parachute flares which would drift with the wind. Also, the timing is off:
People sometimes confuse the sightings of the objects at around 8:30 that evening with the row of lights videotaped at 10 p.m. and shown repeatedly on television news. These later lights most likely were flares, according to video analysts. People who saw the earlier objects were outside watching the Hale-Bopp Comet, and saw something entirely different.

Source.
Each video included three different, mainly horizontal loops flown by the UFO within seconds of each other. The object made elliptical passes either near or around each of three sets of performing jets. It flew past the Halcones, F5s and F16s at speeds so fast it was not noticed by the pilots or anyone on the ground below.
 
2012-03-13-Screenshot20120313at4.10.26PM.png

2012-03-13-Screenshot20120313at4.11.53PM.png

The UFO passes the F5s.

Images show it as a dome-shaped, flat-bottomed object with no visible means of propulsion. The rounded top reflects the sun and appears metallic; the bottom is darker and flat, emitting some form of energy which is visible in photo analysis. Infrared studies show the entire object is radiating heat, just like the jets.
2012-03-13-Screenshot20120313at4.07.18PM.png

Close up of the UFO from the Halcones video.

This extraordinary machine was flying at velocities too high to be man-made. Scientists have estimated the speed, depending on the size of the object, to be at least 4000 - 6000 mph. Humans inside this object could not survive. And, somehow, it made no sonic boom, a noise similar to thunder which occurs whenever something exceeds the speed of sound (750 mph at sea level).

The shock waves generated from an object at such high velocities would normally be enormous. But no known aircraft or drone could possibly fly this fast at such low altitudes anyway. Our fastest air-breathing jet, the SR-71, has a maximum speed of just over 2,000 mph, but that's at high altitudes.
 
And, this strange object is clearly operating under intelligent control. It zooms toward each set of jets at about their height, circles around and zooms back out again. Pilots who were shown the trajectory of the object in the three flybys were amazed that this maneuver is characteristic of reconnaissance aircraft coming in for a quick look at others in the sky.

Astronomer Luis Barrera from the Metropolitan University of Sciences in Chile, who has an asteroid named after him, was one of eight highly skeptical scientists who analyzed the footage. He was able to rule out a meteoroid, pieces of meteors or comets, space junk, a bird or an airplane.

"The object performed a risky flight maneuver in front of the Halcones from W-E-W, at low altitude and high speed," Barrera concluded. "It had intentional movements. It moved east with 25 degrees inclination, which is the same angle of spacecraft when entering the atmosphere."

Sunday, July 13, 2014

DEBUNKING EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE


DEBUNKING EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE

• Point out that an "unidentified" flying object is just that, and cannot automatically be assumed to be an alien spacecraft. Do this whether or not anyone involved has assumed it to be an alien spacecraft.
 
• Label all concepts such as antigravity or interdimensional mobility as "mere flights of fancy" because "phenomena having no conventional explanation cannot possibly exist." Then if an anomalous craft is reported to have hovered silently, made right-angle turns at supersonic speeds or appeared and disappeared instantly, you may summarily dismiss the report.

• Declare that there is no proof that life can exist in outer space. Since most people still behave as if the Earth were the center of the universe, you may safely ignore the fact that Earth, which is already in outer space, has abundant life.

• Concede that life elsewhere in the universe is statistically probable, but that if it existed it couldn't possibly get here from there because we can't get there from here.

• Point out that the SETI program (which believes ET civilizations communicate via Earth's 20th-century radio technology, and which listens fruitlessly for such signals from deep space) assumes in advance that extraterrestrial intelligence can only exist light-years away from Earth. Equate this faith-based assumption with conclusive proof; then insist that this invalidates all terrestrial reports of ET contact.

• If compelling evidence is presented for a UFO crash or some similar event, provide thousands of pages of detailed information about a formerly secret military project that might conceivably account for it. The more voluminous the information, the less the need to demonstrate any actual connection between the reported event and the military project.

• When someone produces purported physical evidence of alien technology, declare that no analysis can prove that its origin was extraterrestrial; after all, it might be the product of some perfectly ordinary, ultra-secret underground government lab. The only possible exception would be evidence obtained from a landing on the White House lawn -- the sole circumstance universally agreed upon by generations of debunkers as conclusively certifying extraterrestrial origin!

• If crack military pilots flying state-of-the-art aircraft report having closely pursued or radar-tracked UFOs, assert that in most cases they must have seen Venus or Jupiter, and that pilot incompetence and poor equipment must have accounted for the rest. If one of these objects was confirmed to have hovered motionlessly for a matter of minutes before taking off at blinding speed, attribute it to a "government missile test gone wrong."

• If photographs or videos depicting anomalous aerial phenomena have been presented, argue that since images can now be digitally manipulated they prove nothing. Assert this regardless of the vintage of the material or the circumstances of its acquisition. Insist that the better the quality of a UFO photo, the greater the likelihood of fraud. Photos that have passed every known test may therefore be held to be the most perfectly fraudulent of all!

• Declare that "95 percent of all UFO sightings have been explained, and the remaining five percent are probably cases of mistaken identity." This will get people arguing about the remaining five percent, effectively heading off any embarrassing questions about the actual grounds upon which the claimed 95 percent might originally have been "explained."

• Argue that all reports of humanoid extraterrestrials must be bogus because the evolution of the humanoid form on Earth is the result of an infinite number of accidents in a genetically isolated environment. Avoid addressing the logical proposition that if alien visitations have occurred, Earth cannot be considered genetically isolated in the first place.

• Insist that extraterrestrials would or wouldn't, should or shouldn't, can or can't behave in certain ways because such behavior would or wouldn't be logical. Base your notions of logic on how terrestrials would or wouldn't behave. Since terrestrials behave in all kinds of ways you can theorize whatever kind of extraterrestrial behavior suits your arguments!

• Stereotype contact claims according to simplistic scenarios already well established in the popular imagination. If a reported ET contact appears to have had no negative consequences, sarcastically accuse the claimant of believing devoutly that "benevolent ETs have come to magically save us from destroying ourselves!" If someone claims to have been traumatized by an alien contact, brush it aside as "a classic case of hysteria." If contactees stress the essential humanness and limitations of certain ETs they claim to have met, ask "why haven't these omnipotent beings offered to solve all our problems for us?"

• When reluctant encounter witnesses step forward, accuse them of "seeking the limelight with their outlandish stories!"

• Ask why alleged contactees and abductees haven't received alien infections. Reject as "preposterous" all medical evidence suggesting that such may in fact have occurred. Categorize as "pure science-fiction" the notion that alien understandings of immunology might be in advance of our own, or that sufficiently alien microorganisms might be limited in their ability to interact with our biological systems. Above all, dismiss anything that might result in an actual investigation of the matter.

• Travel to an isolated, indigenous village in the heart of the Amazonian jungle. Upon returning, report that "nobody there told me they had seen any UFOs." Insist that this proves no UFOs are reported outside cultures whose populations are overexposed to trashy science fiction.

• Though hypnotic regression by a multitude of therapists and researchers has yielded consistent contactee testimony in widespread and completely independent cases, declare that hypnosis is unreliable at the best of times and is always worthless in the hands of non-credentialed practitioners. Be sure to add that the subjects must have been steeped in the ET-contact literature, and that, regardless of their skills, credentials and codes of ethics, the hypnotists involved must have been asking leading questions.

• Avoid mentioning the many contact and abduction cases in which the experiencers' memories were readily recalled, with no need for hypnosis.

• If someone claims to have been emotionally impacted by a sighting or contact experience, point out that strong emotions can alter perceptions. Therefore the claimant's recollections must be entirely untrustworthy.

• Maintain that there cannot possibly be a government coverup of the ET question . . . but that it exists for legitimate reasons of national security!

• When government agencies, with their state-of-the-art security measures, multiple clearance levels, impenetrable compartmentalization and so forth, are accused of a UFO coverup, insist that a coverup is impossible because "everyone knows the government can't keep secrets!" Ignore the legacy of the Manhattan Project, any number of other top-secret military and intelligence operations , and the entirety of those incalculably costly, utterly opaque activities funded by the United States Congress' Black Budget.

• Accuse conspiracy theorists of being conspiracy theorists and of believing in the existence of conspiracies! Insist that only accidentalist theories can possibly account for repeated, organized patterns of suppression, denial and disinformational activity.

• If you represent the military, assure the public that the military doesn't study UFOs because "it's been determined that UFOs are not a threat to national security." Sidestep the questions of how in heaven's name such a determination could even have been made, and why the military, which has always been first in line to diligently analyze advanced foreign technology, has abandoned all curiosity and is now diligently looking the other way.