Page 42 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - September 2021

42 UFO Mania Is Out Of Control

UFO Mania Is Out of a dog, and all of a sudden two cats walk out. And was a moment when some outside-the-box
as crazy as that may seem, that’s precisely what thinking could have helped.
Control. Please Stop. we’re seeing in these observations with quantum
physics, proverbially speaking of course.” Indeed, some intellectual humility must come
into play in these debates about UFOs and other
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What this view does is create a kind of contentious topics. One of the first things you
epistemological can’t-miss landscape in which discover in science journalism is that the best
anything is possible. Because of the quantum scientists tend to be transparent about their
This is true, but it should be noted that the thing. But if anything is possible, then nothing is uncertainties. This is partly because much
intelligence report does not actually mention disprovable. And if it ain’t disprovable, it’s research is conducted on the edge of the known,
“alien spacecraft” or anything of the sort. Not arguably at the very outer limits of what science in fuzzy territory. But it’s also because scientists
only did it not produce “affirmative evidence” of can deal with. Other than to say that a dog tend to view knowledge as provisional.
such extraterrestrial vehicles, it did not broach walking into a box and coming out as two cats is
the topic. unlikely. Let’s cut to the key question: Are we
alone? The plaintive tone of that
The allusions to space aliens in the news reports the alien explanation for UFOs requires a question tells you how much we want
were not entirely out of the blue. Officials gave massive infrastructure of presumptions, not least the answer to be “no.” Unfortunately,
background interviews to journalists. Reuters of which is that the aliens, whatever their there’s only one solid answer: “We don’t
quoted an unnamed “senior official” saying, “Of motivation, have found a way to get here. Deep
the 144 reports we are dealing with here, we space is deceptive, because it is generally know.”
have no clear indications that there is any non- transparent and we see things that are incredibly
terrestrial explanation for them — but we will distant. The nearest star is about 25 trillion miles While covering the pandemic over the past year
go wherever the data takes us.” Make of that away, and although this sounds like hyperbole, it and a half, the statement I’ve heard most from
what you will. is, in fact, the correct number. So to do space scientists is “We don’t know.” When will the
travel you really need warp drive. And there is pandemic be over? “We don’t know.” Why do
Most amazing, stunning, mind-boggling no such thing as warp drive. some people get really sick or even die after a
coronavirus infection and others don’t even get
new concepts are wrong. The bolder the
Okay, now there is no such thing, but as we get the sniffles? “We don’t know.” Where did the
idea, the more likely it will evaporate in
better and smarter, we might figure it out, and virus come from, exactly? “We don’t know.”
the harsh glare of scientific sunshine. the aliens who are billions of years older than us This is not a failure of science; it’s what makes
Like cold fusion. may have solved warp drive long ago. This is science so effective. The good scientists don’t
speculation, though. It’s not based on anything start with the conclusion.
The presence of aliens in these stories is at all. It’s what scientists refer to as arm-waving.
understandable: It’s a possibility that is far more One thing I discovered while reporting my book
interesting than the sightings being caused by, You know the dictum that “extraordinary claims is that people who believe in ideas that I found
for example, classified military aircraft. The require extraordinary evidence.” This is a extremely improbable were not crazy or
headlines did not say “Pentagon Report Does gatekeeper rule of sorts: Your belief is welcome uneducated. Nor uninformed. They did research
Not Rule Out Classified Military Aircraft,” into the community of science provided it is too. They just processed information differently.
although that would have been more accurate backed by evidence, and provided that the They had different sources of information. They
since such things were actually mentioned in the evidence is solid and commensurate with the used different factors and probability estimates
report. novelty of the claim. in their mental equations as they searched for
answers. So their answers were different from
The intelligence report notes that a small subset Most amazing, stunning, mind-boggling new mine. They could be right. I could be wrong.
of the UAPs “exhibit unusual flight concepts are wrong. The bolder the idea, the (But I’m right.)
characteristics,” and UFO proponents say these more likely it will evaporate in the harsh glare of
vehicles move in ways that defy the laws of scientific sunshine. Like cold fusion. That Inside-the-box thinking has some considerable
physics. To my eye this suggests a prosaic doesn’t mean bold new ideas are always wrong. virtues, though. The biggest problem facing the
explanation, which is misperception, instrument Einstein’s theory of relativity was a bold new United States in the summer of 2021 is not that
malfunction, etc. The contrary cannot be ruled idea that was not universally embraced for many too many people refuse to think outside the box,
out, however: We cannot arrogate to ourselves years, indeed not until astronomers went to but that too many people think that what’s in the
the assumption that the known laws of physics tremendous lengths to measure the displacement box isn’t true. We need more people thinking
are incontrovertible or comprehensive. But I am of starlight as it passed near the sun during a inside the box. Science is a candle in the dark, to
reluctant to write about physics-defying objects total eclipse. That was the extraordinary use a phrase Carl Sagan chose for a book he
because I am busy enough covering stories evidence. And a century later, scientists are still wrote shortly before his untimely death in 1996.
involving things that obey the laws of physics. I prodding the theory to see if there are any soft There are millions of Americans who have been
do not think this makes the scope of my parts. lied to about the pandemic, lied to about the
journalism too narrow. vaccines, lied to about the motivations and
The unhappy reader thinks: This guy is refusing credibility of the nation’s scientists and the
Others are more open-minded. Among them is to think outside the box. And that’s a fair mainstream media. So they think they shouldn’t
Luis Elizondo, a former Pentagon employee criticism. Science writers tend to linger in the get vaccinated. They subscribe to outside-the-
involved in UFO research. Recently he gave a box, and that can lead them to miss important box claims that are outside the box for precisely
live-streamed interview to The Washington Post: developments. The pandemic comes to mind. one reason: The claims are not true. Please,
“This may not necessarily be something from people: Get in the box!
outer space. In fact, this could be something as We wrote a story in The Post on Feb. 22, 2020,
natural to our very own planet as us. We’re just saying this thing was probably going to be a UFO skepticism can sometimes be mistaken for
now at a point we’re beginning to pandemic. That was fairly early in the crisis, and anthropocentrism, a kind of biological
technologically be able to interact and collect sobering news. But the pandemic turned out to arrogance. The issue of whether a UFO sighting
data. This could be something from under the be much worse, more lethal, more protracted involves an actual alien spaceship can turn, with
oceans. This could be something from, yes, from and certainly more disruptive than anything we head-snapping speed, into a philosophical
outer space. We really don’t know.” imagined in those early weeks. None of us had debate, with an accusation at its core.
lived through a pandemic of this magnitude (the
He offered a brief tutorial on the history of 2009 influenza pandemic kind of fizzled). We
physics: “[S]omeone once described it as you didn’t see the scale of the disaster in advance (Continued on Page 43)
have this box sitting on the ground, and in walks because we had no template for it. Maybe that