Page 11 - 2018-02-15_june_july_2009.qxd

Pentagon UFO Debunked As Hoax 11

Pentagon UFO Video

Debunked as Hoax by
Expert

In December 2017, a series of reports amounted
to what seemed like a watershed moment when
the curtain was pulled back on a secret program
focused solely on the search for UFOs. The
program's leader, David Elizondo, said with
certainty that "We are not alone."
While later making the news rounds to
further explain himself, Elizondo, who resigned
from the Department of Defence, further
explained himself. " In my opinion, if this was a
court of law, we have reached the point of
'beyond reasonable doubt,' " he said.
The video footage that was released,
explain multiple interacting lines of evidence," ghost."
showing a UFO that completes maneuvers
one Redditor wrote, "you've got no business
seemingly impossible by any terrestrial
attempting to debunk the account." A fear of ghosts
technology we currently possess, seem to
further support Elizondo's admission.
Not everyone was convinced, though. The REAL reasons why Founder of the American Paranormal Research
Association (APRA) Brandon Alvis said
Noted astrophysicist and cosmic personality some people see ghosts,
Neil deGrasse Tyson said that the "O" in UFO is phasmophobia - the fear of ghosts and the
unknown - causes people to think they are
a "highly non-specific term. It is so non-specfic, according to experts encountering sinister entities.
it admits you don't know what you're looking
Speaking to The Sun Online, the
at."
COLD spots, creaking sounds and spooky paranormal investigator said: "A majority of the
Since the story made waves in
figures - whether or not the paranormal realm time, people become so consumed by the
mainstream outelets, the chorus of naysayers in
exists is an issue that has been debated for thought of a ghost inhabiting their home that it
the skeptic community has grown considerably.
centuries. affects the quality of life.
Now Mick West, the administrator of
But in a world filled with science and "It can cause panic attacks and keep
Metabunk.org, has focused on the video and
reason, these "hauntings" can often be boiled people apart from loved ones.
what he considers to be incomplete, highly
down to simple explanations - and it has nothing "Symptoms typically include shortness
specious proof of that pilot's encounter with
to do with the supernatural. of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat,
alien life.
sweating, nausea and the overall feeling of
"I'm thinking the black shape around the
'Waking dream' and insomnia dread.
object is some kind of IR flare/glare," he wrote
"Although everyone experiences fear of
in the site's forum."We know that the shape of a
Ever get that feeling when you're awake but ghosts in their own way and may have different
very bright IR source, like the engine of a plane,
you're having a terrifying dream and your body symptoms."
can be much bigger than the object itself."
is frozen? This is called "waking dream" - a "So when people go to a haunted place
West points to a seemingly visible 'cold
hypnagogic state when your mind is alert but expecting to see ghost, they often see something
glow' around the sources emitting heat in the
your body is still asleep - and can be associated moving in the corner of their eye - an illusion."
video, and says this phenomenon indicates that
with sleep paralysis.
what looks spectacular in the video is actually
Joe Nickell, a senior research fellow for Deprivation of oxygen
just a function of the camera not capturing
the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry - which
everything clearly. "If people try to describe this
promotes scientific inquiry and critical Cerebral anoxia - a medical term for a lack of
as some kind of 'aura' or 'field'," he adds, "then
investigation of paranormal claims - believes oxygen flowing to the brain - is said to trigger
they obviously have not done their homework."
ghosts are "all in the mind". sensory distortions and hallucinations.
In fact, West says the camera trickery of
He told The Sun Online: "In the 'waking It is believed to be the physical means by
the video says much more about the way it was
dream' state, people wake up and see a number which phenomena such as near-death
captured than the purported prescence of any
of things - aliens, dead people, ghosts and are experiences and out-of-body episodes might be
alien craft.
associated with feelings of dread. explained.
He notes that the plane is turning left
“They’ll often see the entity coming into He added: "We also believe that people
while the camera is turning right, claiming this
their room standing by their bed or trying to frequenting abandoned buildings with large
change in the camera's angle is fairly constant.
choke them and they’re not able to move or talk amounts of mould and other hazardous elements
This leads him to conclude that the object is a
or scream or do anything. can trigger cerebral anoxia, be that in a small or
distant aircraft because when the camera moves,
"It's a trick of the mind when the mental large scale.
"the position of the object moves in sync with
the far clouds, which tends to indicate it's part of image is being superimposed on the actual "This would lead people to believe that
visual scene. So the imagined events seem very they are experiencing something supernatural."
the environment."
real."
Reddit users told West to slow his
The US-paranormal investigator with 50 Carbon monoxide poisoning
skeptic roll a bit, though. They say that to
years of experience believes a ghost can also be
assume trained pilots are not capable of using
an illusion produced by the brain, particularly
their equipment properly, or distinguishing a The cause of all sorts of hallucinations -
when a person suffers from insomnia.
plane from something else, is skeptical in of carbon monoxide poisoning has been linked to
He added: "The mind is not at its
itself. haunted houses since the 1920s.
sharpest when we're tired or lost in thought.
They note that the events captured in Evidence from a research group led by
this footage were also corroborated by at least "People are more prone to see a ghost Olaf Blanke shows the brain can trick people
when they are in an altered state of
six other pilots, and that the source claims the into feeling the "presence" of a ghostly
consciousness. Wondering through a spooky
videos were captured from two different jets at apparition.
place while you're tired is a good recipe for a
two different times of days. "Until you can (Continued on Page 12)