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Cont: UFOs: The Research, the Evidence

Puppycow said:
Carter is 99 and last I heard he was in hospice care. His wife died last year. I don't think he's healthy enough to be going on any TV shows anymore.

His birthday is Oct. 1, 1924 so if he can make to October he'll be 100. He is already the longest lived US president ever.
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That's probably the alien implant.
 
I ker seeing a missing bit of the thread title every time I pop in here.

Research, evidence, but not results.
Typical crypto crap talk with " I seen lights I can't explain " or something equally profound.

When do we get a real, touchable flying saucer or alien?
 
Here's a nice analysis - illustrating how things should be done - from Kenny Biddle of CFI.

A UFO Over New York City?

While flying home to New York, Michelle Reyes was taking video from her window of the New York scenery. A black cylinder-shaped object suddenly rushed past just outside the plane. Was it a UFO? Well, it was certainly “unidentified!” Let’s take a closer look at this mystery, along with a guest appearance by Mick West, and see if we can figure out what this object most likely is
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Spoiler - it's a b*ll**n. ;)
 
Gord_in_Toronto said:
Here's a nice analysis - illustrating how things should be done - from Kenny Biddle of CFI.

A UFO Over New York City?



Spoiler - it's a b*ll**n. ;)
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Hey!! Spoiler tags!!! :mad:

;)


Yeah, that one is probably the world's easiest dubunk. Kudos for spinning it out into a half-hour video, as if that's necessary.

What is this???
Balloon. Next!!

Most UFOs that are identified turn out to be balloons.
 
Puppycow said:
Hey!! Spoiler tags!!! :mad:

;)


Yeah, that one is probably the world's easiest dubunk. Kudos for spinning it out into a half-hour video, as if that's necessary.

What is this???
Balloon. Next!!

Most UFOs that are identified turn out to be balloons.
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The problem with rational, reasoned UFO explanations is that True Believers won't accept a simple explanation and their noses have to be rubbed in it. The Phoenix lights were flares dropped from aircraft. Arnold's "flying saucers" were birds.

In the case at hand the observer saw it "fly by" the plane. This analysis shows it had all the characteristics of a helium filled party balloon. It did not fly by. This explains how it appeared to do so.

To a True Believer every unexplained UFO sighting is an Alien Spacecraft from Tralfamadore.
 
More comedy from Harvard:


(The video is where I first encountered it, but you don't have to watch if you don't care for YouTube videos.)

Found the actual study through this Newsweek article

A study by Harvard social science researchers suggests that aliens may have been living on Earth for a while.

The research paper—which is yet to be peer-reviewed—suggests that life forms from other worlds could be living underground on Earth or within the moon, and that UFOs and other unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) may be evidence of them getting around.
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Great work Harvard!! :rolleyes:
The study suggests an "unconventional" explanation for UAP, with the authors of the paper hailing from Harvard University's Human Flourishing Program, which researches the factors that contribute to human well-being and flourishing.

The paper has been taken down from ResearchGate since Newsweek published this article, but is still accessible using Internet Archive.
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It's still available via the trusty old Internet Archive. It's called "The cryptoterrestrial hypothesis: A case for scientific openness to a concealed earthly explanation for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena" and it appears to be just as wacky as the name suggests.

(Still the Newsweek article)
In the paper, the researchers discuss four theories of how aliens may be living alongside us, the first of which—the human cryptoterrestrials theory—suggests that there may be an ancient human civilization much more technologically advanced than our own that has somehow survived in secret. The second theory is that there is a technologically advanced non-human civilization that evolved on Earth in secret, created by an ape-like hominid or some "unknown, intelligent dinosaurs."
The third suggests that there are aliens or humans from the future that live on the Earth in secret, and the fourth suggests there are "magical cryptoterrestrials" akin to "earthbound angels," which the researchers compare to "fairies, elves, nymphs."

"The principal weakness of [the final theory], by contrast, is its utter strangeness, particularly for readers schooled to limit themselves to modes of explanation within the bounds of, say, the standard model of physics," the researchers write in the paper. "While belief in extraterrestrials is tenable, belief in (something like) fairies is simply not a live option for many scientists.

"Although this idea is likely to be regarded skeptically by most scientists, such are the nature of some UAP that we argue this possibility should not be summarily dismissed, and instead deserves genuine consideration in a spirit of epistemic humility and openness."
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LOL :pigsfly :dl:

Keep an open mind but don't let your brain fall out. What the hell?
 
Even Loeb seems relatively sober compared to these ideas. The common thread in all 4 "theories" is that these creatures or societies somehow exist "in secret".

And this "spirit of epistemic humility" seems to imply taking the stance that we don't know anything. Should we have "epistemic humility" about whether the world is flat? There's an astonishing level of ignorance here for people with PhDs.
 
"Epistemic Humility" reminds me of the mental laziness my LDS roommate always runs to whenever there is no evidence for his beliefs.

"We can't know the truth about this on this side of the vail. All will be revealed in the afterlife."

This is not humility, but laziness, irresponsibility, and an excuse for a lack of intellectual integrity.

I am happy to see that the paper in question was taken down by more responsible, or at least embarrassed, hands. That give's me a dollop of hope.
 
Puppycow said:
Keep an open mind but don't let your brain fall out. What the hell?
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I love how you can replace "aliens" or "extraterrestrials" with "angels" or "evil spirits" or "ghosts" in that paper and its scientific value isn't diminished. My first laugh came when they took Grusch seriously. "At the time of this writing, there is no way to know the validity of his claims. However, although they may seem extraordinary, myriad contextual factors mean they cannot be summarily dismissed." :eye-poppi Is there any way to be less critical about one's sources?

The authors presume to school the reader on the history of UFO research and its limitations to straightforward hypotheses. However, no one who has spent even a casual afternoon reviewing the state of the grift can fail to recognize that Grusch has simply regurgitated the same claims that have circulated among UAP fans for a couple of decades now.

Loeb is relatively more sober, but not by much. I see the same color of pseudoscience: "We're snobbishly better scientists than all of you..." Harvard really is turning into a joke.
 
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