Why are people so skeptical of UFO's?

[Thundercrack85]

Most people probably didn't hear about it, but they recently had (maybe they're still having it?) a sort of "hearing" on UFO's (the supposedly extraterrestrial kind). The group who sponsored it, even paid former congressmen and senators 20,000 bucks a piece to show up. Waste of good money if you ask me. But presumably they were thinking that it would make the news cover them. I guess it sort of worked.

So, an acquaintance brought it up, and I asked him what he thought. And he laughed. Though I'm certain that he believes somethings I would deem crazy.

But why is the subject treated so dismissively? There's certainly no lack of credible witnesses. Thousands of police officers, military personnel, pilots, public servants, etc. There's even radar data.

Given what people do believe (without any evidence), it just seems odd that they're so dismissive.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

I'm not skeptical of UFOs. I'm skeptical of light-speed. Of course I believe extraterrestrial life exists. Considering there's billions of galaxies that each contain billions of stars it would almost be impossible for there not to be other life-forms out there. But consider how vast space is. If the nearest solar system is thousands of light years away, how could an alien reach our planet within his/her/it's lifetime? And even if they did reach us and they had the technological capacity that would come with light-speed travel, do you think they'd be content with anal-probing a few backwoods rednecks? No, they'd send a delegation or perhaps try and colonize us. That's why I doubt UFOs have ever visited us.

 

[Howlett]

It's like Bigfoot. There are tons of "credible witnesses," but no real hard evidence. It's a lot of, "I know what I saw," with no real evidence to back up their stories. Or their stories have more logical or more likely explanations. Bears or other large animals in the dark woods for example with Bigfoot sightings are generally the culprits.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Actually, the closest neighboring star system is a "mere" 4.4 lightyears away. That's a huge distance for us currently, but certainly not insurmountable, even without breaking our current laws of physics.

I will admit that I am rather skeptical of the alien abduction claims.

But I can't dismiss "flying saucers". Not after having read so many accounts by credible people.

 

[Thundercrack85]

It's like Bigfoot. There are tons of "credible witnesses," but no real hard evidence. It's a lot of, "I know what I saw," with no real evidence to back up their stories. Or their stories have more logical or more likely explanations. Bears or other large animals in the dark woods for example with Bigfoot sightings are generally the culprits.

I don't think that's a fair analogy. Bigfoot has never violated DC airspace (repeatedly). Bigfoot has never been caught on multiple radar arrays. Bigfoot has never been pursued by jet fighters (multiple times). Bigfoot has never been seen by dozens of trained observers on the ground and in the sky simultaneously. No passenger aircraft has ever had a near collision with Bigfoot. Bigfoot has- okay, you get my point.

You really can't compare the two.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Actually, the closest neighboring star system is a "mere" 4.4 lightyears away. That's a huge distance for us currently, but certainly not insurmountable, even without breaking our current laws of physics.

I will admit that I am rather skeptical of the alien abduction claims.

But I can't dismiss "flying saucers". Not after having read so many accounts by credible people.

How do you know those "flying saucers" are alien ships and not classified US military aircraft being tested? I'd think that'd be the more logical explanation. The fact aliens would visit us, but have no interest in making contact with our leaders seems extremely suspect. With their technology it's not like they'd have to be afraid of us. We would be the scared Mayans to their Spanish conquistadors.

 

[Howlett]

Actually, the closest neighboring star system is a "mere" 4.4 lightyears away. That's a huge distance for us currently, but certainly not insurmountable, even without breaking our current laws of physics.

I will admit that I am rather skeptical of the alien abduction claims.

But I can't dismiss "flying saucers". Not after having read so many accounts by credible people.

Even legitimately credible people can see things. The mind can play tricks on you, and there are all kinds of things in the sky that can appear to be UFOs.

The universe is so huge that I do think that there almost has to be life on other planets, I just think it's highly unlikely that they've ever visited here.

 

[Thundercrack85]

How do you know those "flying saucers" are alien ships and not classified US military aircraft being tested? I'd think that'd be the more logical explanation. The fact aliens would visit us, but have no interest in making contact with our leaders seems extremely suspect. With their technology it's not like they'd have to be afraid of us. We would be the scared Mayans to their Spanish conquistadors.

The main reason the US launched its initial investigations into flying saucers was because they were buzzing very sensitive testing sites (Muroc, or what's now Edwards AFB for example). It created quite a stir. At the time, they believed them to be Soviet aircraft based on German designs (it was 1947). It was actually the military's first report that suggested they were of extraterrestrial origin.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Even legitimately credible people can see things. The mind can play tricks on you, and there are all kinds of things in the sky that can appear to be UFOs.

The universe is so huge that I do think that there almost has to be life on other planets, I just think it's highly unlikely that they've ever visited here.

Multiple trained observers and radar at the same time though?

Ah well. Distance it is.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

The main reason the US launched its initial investigations into flying saucers was because they were buzzing very sensitive testing sites (Muroc, or what's now Edwards AFB for example). It created quite a stir. At the time, they believed them to be Soviet aircraft based on German designs (it was 1947). It was actually the military's first report that suggested they were of extraterrestrial origin.

I will freely admit I've read no such report, but if you link it here I'll check it out.

In this day and age of ubiquitous smart-phones, there's yet to be any definitive footage of a UFO. There's tons of videos of a comet crashing in Russia or a 747 falling out of the sky in Afghanistan, but somehow no one can get anything with a UFO except old blurry polaroids where it's never the focus of the picture, but off in the distance in some corner.

You also didn't address my point about why they would make such a long journey and not make official contact. I'd assume they'd want to do trade or find out about our system of government and study us. Or they might at least have some demands. It seems awfully pointless and incurious of them. If they had the technology to come here, I'd also assume they'd want to catalogue life and collect animal and plants specimans. But I've never heard anyone give an account of an abduction who didn't already seem like a fringe crank.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I will freely admit I've read no such report, but if you link it here I'll check it out.

In this day and age of ubiquitous smart-phones, there's yet to be any definitive footage of a UFO. There's tons of videos of a comet crashing in Russia or a 747 falling out of the sky in Afghanistan, but somehow no one can get anything with a UFO except old blurry polaroids where it's never the focus of the picture, but off in the distance in some corner.

You also didn't address my point about why they would make such a long journey and not make official contact. I'd assume they'd want to do trade or find out about our system of government and study us. Or they might at least have some demands. It seems awfully pointless and incurious of them. If they had the technology to come here, I'd also assume they'd want to catalogue life and collect animal and plants specimans. But I've never heard anyone give an account of an abduction who didn't already seem like a fringe crank.

God damn these Iron Man ads are annoying.

The report was never declassified. We only know of it because of the later reports making reference to it. The director of Project Blue Book (that was the later, public study the US Air Force did) talks about it in his autobiography. That's where I get my info on that (the USAF reviewed it, naturally). You can find it online easily enough, but it's quite a read.

Honestly, I can only speculate why flying saucer sightings have decreased (though they certainly haven't stopped). Some say it's because they have obtained enough information. Others say they simply hide themselves better because we now aggressively chase them (something we couldn't do when they first showed up).

As for why they don't land on the White House Lawn. Let me put it this way. If we entertain the original military study's hypothesis (that they are aliens). These people came here in the wake of World War II. Half of the planet was in ruins. They could probably see our nuclear tests from orbit. Why would they land and make their presence known? Remember the original Day the Earth Stood Still? The moment Klaatu stepped out of his spaceship he got shot? What would we do if that was us?

 

[Marvolo]

I believe there is or has been life elsewhere in the universe or multiverse, and I'm intrigued by the ancient astronaut theory. As for UFOs...idk...the US military has so much classified stuff that I'm more inclined to lean towards most UFOs being military tech. That being said, the "weather balloon" story that we always hear when there is a UFO sighting is complete horse ****.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

God damn these Iron Man ads are annoying.

The report was never declassified. We only know of it because of the later reports making reference to it. The director of Project Blue Book (that was the later, public study the US Air Force did) talks about it in his autobiography. That's where I get my info on that (the USAF reviewed it, naturally). You can find it online easily enough, but it's quite a read.

I replied to this in the pm, so I won't repeat here.

Honestly, I can only speculate why flying saucer sightings have decreased (though they certainly haven't stopped). Some say it's because they have obtained enough information. Others say they simply hide themselves better because we now aggressively chase them (something we couldn't do when they first showed up).

If you're speculating, so will I. We cannot "chase" ships that would be this advanced. Those excuses seem a bit too convenient.

As for why they don't land on the White House Lawn. Let me put it this way. If we entertain the original military study's hypothesis (that they are aliens). These people came here in the wake of World War II. Half of the planet was in ruins. They could probably see our nuclear tests from orbit. Why would they land and make their presence known? Remember the original Day the Earth Stood Still? The moment Klaatu stepped out of his spaceship he got shot? What would we do if that was us?

I imagine being brilliant enough to master light-speed technology means they would have prepared for any eventuality. I don't think we'd get the best of a race so advanced. I imagine we'd be like the natives approaching Columbus for the first time (or like I said before the Mayans meeting the Spaniards). There's no way they'd travel here by light-speed and be naive and/or simple enough not to wear some protective gear.

 

[Marvolo]

Maybe its a prime directive type thing. They can't contact or interact with us. They can only observe. For all we know the ones we have spotted have gotten their ass chewed out by some intergalactic council charged with maintaining a species natural development.

 

[Thundercrack85]

But why would they even try to interact on such a scale?

I just don't see what they would gain. It would just be a headache. It's the same reason we don't bother the so-called "uncontacted" people in the Amazon rainforest, and other remote parts. All we would do is throw their worlds into chaos.

It would be one thing if we too were an interstellar civilization. But then, and now, we're little more than glorified chimps. Instead of feces wee fling missiles at each other.

Quite frankly, if these are aliens, they have some balls entering our atmosphere.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

If you take into account all the so called credible stories it appears that it is not just one kind of alien/UFO that is visiting us but many different types/races/whatever, it's like Earth is the DisneyLand of the Universe.

Alien kid: grabatock gnagna beurk ? ( where do we go for Hollydays daddy )
Alien dad: gnagna brousouf blick ( we go to Earth son )
Alien kid: flurik grobouzouf, rhoda paka ya yoyo di ( cool, my friends from Alpha Centauri and Tau Ceti are going there too )

 

[Marvolo]

But why would they even try to interact on such a scale?

I just don't see what they would gain. It would just be a headache. It's the same reason we don't bother the so-called "uncontacted" people in the Amazon rainforest, and other remote parts. All we would do is throw their worlds into chaos.

It would be one thing if we too were an interstellar civilization. But then, and now, we're little more than glorified chimps. Instead of feces wee fling missiles at each other.

Quite frankly, if these are aliens, they have some balls entering our atmosphere.

But we do bother these Amazonian tribes. Journalists and other off the books groups sneak in and poke around in tribes. There are laws prohibiting it, but those laws don't stop curious people with the resources to get in and out. Maybe a curious alien wanted to pop in and just screw around for a day in their off time. Or maybe they are doing research. Its hard telling.

This stuff is fun to think about.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I have wondered about that.

Not all UFO's are flying saucers. The second most common reported UFO with a physical shape is "triangular".

Though, we humans fly some pretty different aircraft, so who knows.

 

[Thundercrack85]

But we do bother these Amazonian tribes. Journalists and other off the books groups sneak in and poke around in tribes. There are laws prohibiting it, but those laws don't stop curious people with the resources to get in and out. Maybe a curious alien wanted to pop in and just screw around for a day in their off time. Or maybe they are doing research. Its hard telling.

This stuff is fun to think about.

Certainly would explain some of the stranger stories.

But I focus primarily on the less "fantastic" cases, which have the best witnesses.

 

[Marvolo]

Certainly would explain some of the stranger stories.

But I focus primarily on the less "fantastic" cases, which have the best witnesses.

A thought ive toyed with is, our planet or quadrant of space could be like one of those backwater dirt roads you end up on if you miss a turn. Doesn't have a name and doesn't show up on a map. No one thinks its worth the time of day. It could be near a naturally occurring hyperspace lane/wormhole and sometimes a craft pops up in our atmosphere by mistake. Something like that could explain the mundane cases and the way the crafts just fly around and disappear. They come out in our atmosphere and think "oh crap this isnt where I want to be" fly around til they get there instruments back in order then zapp off towards their destination.

 

[Piper Maru]

I think it's wise for alien travelers to stay far, far away from our planet.

 

[Breogan]

Topic:

(the supposedly extraterrestrial kind)

There's certainly no lack of credible witnesses. Thousands of police officers, military personnel, pilots, public servants, etc.

Do they have any credible evidence?
Link?

There's even radar data.

That it's Extraterrestrial?
Link?

And ok, you have thousands, but pleas just link to the most credible ones, with the hard evidence it's Extraterrestrial.
Thanks!

And it's not something I seek out, I'm honestly just asking because I've just never knew they had it.

 

[Destructus86]

I used to believe....not so much anymore. If aliens had that advanced of technology why would they keep visiting Earth for centuries? There's no logic too it. They would have learned all they could about us in the first year or visits.

 

[C. Lee]

If aliens had that advanced of technology why would they keep visiting Earth for centuries?

Why do people like Jane Goodall keep going into the jungle to watch chimps.....

 

[jonathancrane]

I believe there is life elsewhere in the universe; however, I hope we do not discover it. If we manage break the current barrier in space travel - which is impossible, but, hypothetically speaking-the best course for life that we would discover would be for it to destroy itself, before we arrived. Depending on the circumstances, we would either exterminate the life and claim the planet for ourselves, make the inhabitants scientific curiosities, and destroy them, culturally and biologically, and/or destroy the environment, as we have done here.

As Jeff Goldlbum said in Jurassic Park, " ...what's so great about discovery? It's a violent, penetrative act that scars what it observes."

Hence, that is why I hope we never discover alien life.