nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Russ Nelson) (03/30/89)
UFO drivel is NOT welcome in sci.space [1], but there is no talk.ufos.
Followups to sci.misc.
[1] Fortunately, this isn't drivel. Yet. We're still operating in the
sci.entific realm here.
In article <7765@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes:
In article <NELSON.89Mar29145346@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>, nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Russ Nelson) writes:
> In article <7751@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes:
>
> This is patently ridiculous, ... Most likely ...
>
> How do you know that? I counter your skepticism with my
> skepticism.
I will admit, the evidence for my conclusion is as skimpy as the
evidence for the UFO theory, but let's be realistic.
So why do you advance further guesses below? Your skepticism seems to be
as hard a belief as the UFOnatics. Skepticism means looking at the facts,
and if the facts say "we don't know", then we don't know.
Astronauts have been seeing 'UFO's' since the dawn of the space
age, and the vast majority, if not all, have been sightings of
expended booster segments, ejected garbage, and frozen urine.
So? Most lottery tickets aren't winners either. That doesn't mean that
*all* lottery tickets are losers.
Each time, the UFO crowd came running, and each time there was a
very reasonable explanation for the phenomenon.
Not true. There is always a small percentage of unexplainable occurrences.
Whether you believe these are noise or genuine UFOs depends upon your beliefs.
Each time, the UFO crowd then claimed that there was a massive
coverup.
Unfortunately for you, the coverup explanation fits many facts just as well
as the no-UFOs explanation. For example, many of Philip Klass's objections
to the MJ-12 papers can be answered by "of course that would happen if it were
being covered up."
Well, it's been a quarter of a century now since these sightings
from space have started, and I find it difficult to believe that an
event of such magnitude as contact with alien life or alien
technology could be kept secret.
Unfortunately, you can't prove a negative, so we're back to beliefs again.
When alien life *does* contact us (and I am of the opinion that we
are not alone in the universe, although I am not on the edge of my
seat, waiting for them to come along), it will hit us like a ton of
bricks. Two tons of bricks.
More guesses.
A very possible explanation of this occurrence comes to mind: since the
frequency of the alleged transmission is in the middle of the commercial
radio band, it is possible that someone with a radio set to that frequency
broadcast the two items to see what happened, knowing that someone might be
listening. A pretty good joke, if you ask me.
More guesses. If you don't know, just say so.
--
--russ (nelson@clutx [.bitnet | .clarkson.edu])
If you can, help others. If you can't, | Leftoid and proud of it
at least don't hurt others--the Dalai Lama |