Alien Visitations “The liberation of the human mind has never been furthered by such learned dunderheads [priests and pedants]; it has been furthered by gay fellows who heaved dead cats into sanctuaries and then went roistering down the highways of the world, proving to all men that doubt, after all, was safe -- that the god in the sanctuary was finite in his power, and hence a fraud. One horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms. It is not only more effective; it is also vastly more intelligent.” HL Mencken Space Travel
As we discussed last week: • Space is big • Space travel is slow
Barring unknown physics, it is unlikely that alien beings are flitting around our planet in flying saucers
Close Encounters • I: Visual sighting of aerial object (UFO) • II: Observation plus physical effects • Heat • Electrical interference • Paralysis; frightened animals • Physical damage • III: Direct observation of extraterrestrials • Little green men • Tall grey aliens • IV: Abductions UFOs What is a UFO?
• All are indeed unidentified. • Most are Venus. • Almost certainly none are alien spacecraft
Picture from Robert Sheaffer: http://www.debunker.com/ufo.html
Fata Morgana (mirage)
Extraordinary Claims
Require
Extraordinary Evidence
Is UFOlogy a science ahead of its time? Consider • Scientific study of Witchcraft • Phrenology • Fairies • Homeopathy • N-rays • Orgone • … • Cf Shaeffer 1980 (http://www.debunker.com/historical/ SmithsonianUFOtalk.html) Evidence for Visitations?
If they are surveiling us, they have been sloppy • Equivalent of anthropology grad students? Nazca Lines
Nazca Desert, southern Peru Created 450 600 AD 10-30 cm deep depressions in desert Crop Circles Crop Circles
• Mostly found in southern England • Have gotten more complex with time • Doug Bower and Dave Chorley have admitted to making hundreds, and demonstrated how on BBC
Cereologists still maintain that not all crop circles can be hoaxes If you had physical evidence of UFO visitations,
Could you keep it a secret?
Could the government?
Area 51 Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Groom Lake Dayton Ohio Nevada Roswell
Something happened in Roswell NM in June 1947 • Yes, there was a cover-up • No, flying saucers were not involved
Roswell: Anatomy of a Coverup • July 1947: Top secret Air Force balloon payload (project Mogul) crashes • Military rushes in to clean up evidence; • Plants cover story of crashed “flying disc” • USAF retracts story next day and shows debris • Nobody cares until 1980s
• Pentagon releases top secret reports in 1994 Reports by Pilots
• Jan 7 1948: T.F. Mantell chases UFO in P51. Crashes. Chased top secret high altitude Skyhook balloon. • Nov 17 1986: K. Terauchi flying JAL 1628 over Alaska reports UFO (2 lights) following for 50 minutes. 2 other planes fail to confirm. Saw Jupiter and Mars. UFOs are • Usually Venus • Or lenticular clouds • Or insects • Or weather balloons • Or bolides/rockets • Or hoaxes Do (did) they walk among us?
Dogu figurine, Japan, 1000-400 BCE
Oannes Spacemen? Ecuador
Robot or Astronaut? Kiev, ~4000 BCE
Medieval spaceship? Kosovo Ancient Aircraft?
Ceiling Beam, Temple of Seti I, Abydos, Egypt Ancient Astronauts?
Woodcut: Arabia, 1479 Summer's Triumph,1538, Bayerisches Museum The Mystery of the Dogon
Inhabitants of Mali Legends written down in the 1930s speak of • Sirius B (faint white dwarf star) • 4 moons of Jupiter • Saturn’s rings
• Elliptical planetary orbits How could they have known this? cf. James Oberg in http://www.debunker.com/texts/dogon.html Extraordinary Claims
Require
Extraordinary Evidence
Who Needs Ancient Astronauts?
• Human beings 10,000 years ago were just as intelligent as we are today. • Given time, labor, and state-of-the-art technology (inclined planes, pulleys, rollers, chisels), pharaohs built the pyramids Don’t sell your ancestors short!
Who Needs Ancient Astronauts?
• We need to save ourselves – help will not come from the skies.
How to Serve Man