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    UFO

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    kokisko
    The document summarizes arguments against theories of UFOs being alien spacecraft. It argues that many supposed UFO sightings can be explained by more straightforward natural or human-caused phenomena. The author claims that proponents of the alien spacecraft theory often ignore simpler explanations, such as mirages, secret military aircraft, or the mind seeing patterns where none exist. The document concludes that Occam's Razor, the principle that the simplest explanation is usually the best, does not support theories of visitation by alien spacecraft for many reported UFO sightings.

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    UFO

    Uploaded by

    kokisko
    96 views2 pages
    The document summarizes arguments against theories of UFOs being alien spacecraft. It argues that many supposed UFO sightings can be explained by more straightforward natural or human-caused phenomena. The author claims that proponents of the alien spacecraft theory often ignore simpler explanations, such as mirages, secret military aircraft, or the mind seeing patterns where none exist. The document concludes that Occam's Razor, the principle that the simplest explanation is usually the best, does not support theories of visitation by alien spacecraft for many reported UFO sightings.

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    UFO

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    The document summarizes arguments against theories of UFOs being alien spacecraft. It argues that many supposed UFO sightings can be explained by more straightforward natural or human-caused phenomena. The author claims that proponents of the alien spacecraft theory often ignore simpler explanations, such as mirages, secret military aircraft, or the mind seeing patterns where none exist. The document concludes that Occam's Razor, the principle that the simplest explanation is usually the best, does not support theories of visitation by alien spacecraft for many reported UFO sightings.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    96 views2 pages

    UFO

    Uploaded by

    kokisko
    The document summarizes arguments against theories of UFOs being alien spacecraft. It argues that many supposed UFO sightings can be explained by more straightforward natural or human-caused phenomena. The author claims that proponents of the alien spacecraft theory often ignore simpler explanations, such as mirages, secret military aircraft, or the mind seeing patterns where none exist. The document concludes that Occam's Razor, the principle that the simplest explanation is usually the best, does not support theories of visitation by alien spacecraft for many reported UFO sightings.

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    of 2

    Flying Saucers and Fraudulent Science

    Jeff Koch
    Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science
    Pseudoscience is often conducted as the result of a complicated explanation for a
    simple occurrence. The scientists carrying out the research will oftentimes postulate an
    intricate theory where a more straightforward one will suffice. To shave this metaphorical
    hairy evidence from the smooth surface of a clean and simple interpretation, these
    scientists need to use the principle of Occams Razor. This is a method of investigating a
    scientific problem with the idea that unless one has strong evidence to the contrary, the
    most obvious explanation is probably the best one.
    The promulgators and proponents of UFO phenomena would do well to apply
    Occams Razor to their beliefs. As far back as 240B.C., people have been ascribing
    mysterious cosmic events to visits from alien spacecraft (Unidentified flying object,
    2009, Section 1), now commonly called unidentified flying objects (UFOs). With the
    advent of modern astronomy, we now know that many early UFO sightings were actually
    comets or other well-known galactic anomalies. But this has done little to quell the
    growth in report of UFO sightings in the past half-century. On June 24, 1949, Kenneth
    Arnold started the firestorm when his report of a strange flying saucer became a national
    news item (Unidentified flying object, 2009, Section 1.1). Three years later, the U.S.
    Air Force coined the term UFO for objects in reports like Arnolds that could not be
    explained (Unidentified flying object, 2009, Section 2). The Air Force command also
    formed Project Blue Book, a secret investigation into supposed alien sightings and
    numerous crashes that allegedly concealed evidence from events such as the Roswell
    Incident, in which a flying saucer was rumored to have crashed (Hatzopoulos, para. 2).
    Throughout these events, especially in accidents involving UFOs, witnesses seem to
    believe that the government somehow conspired to hide the truth from public knowledge
    (Hatzopoulos, 2009, para. 5).
    Witnesses to UFOs often ignore the obvious and relatively simple explanation for
    any type of secretive military action: to cover up previous secretive military action. In
    nearly every supposed UFO crash, a world government has moved quickly to collect the
    evidence and limit public knowledge (Unidentified flying object, 2009, Sections 3, 4,
    5). Advanced militaries, notable the United States armed forces, have a history of running
    top secret aviation programs that are not declassified until decades after they have ended
    (Unidentified flying object, 2009, Section 7). Many supposed UFO witnesses are likely
    seeing the modern day version of the SR-71 reconnaissance plane program or the F-117
    stealth bomber development. Furthermore, the flying saucer excuse provides an excellent
    explanation for the military in case of an accident or a sighting because it could simply be
    explained as a UFO. Although it is unlikely a legitimate, full-scale conspiracy, it is
    understandable that the government would do little to stop the propagation of rumors that
    protect covert programs.
    Another logical explanation for UFO incidents is fata morgana phenomena, a
    mirage effect that causes objects that are actually below the visible horizon to appear as

    though they are aloft in the sky and distorts them from their original shape (Unidentified
    flying object, 2009, Section 6). A large object such as a commercial airliner or even a
    bright star going in and out of fata morgana could appear as the oddly shaped, fastmoving object with blinking lights that many UFO reports describe. At night, when most
    UFO sightings occur the human ocular system is much less effective in making
    judgments such as depth perception that would aid in correctly identifying objects seen
    through fata morgana. Moreover, the human mind is also susceptible to premature
    judgment in identifying objects. According to the UFO researcher Ted Bloecher, the
    number of sightings grew exponentially in the year following Kenneth Arnolds wellpublicized story: from a small number of unofficial incidents in 1946 to 843 incidents in
    the 365 days following Arnolds initial report on June 24, 1947 (Unidentified flying
    object, 2009, sect. 1.1). What might once have been dismissed as a blurry light in the
    distance and was likely an incidence of fata morgana was now reported as a UFO
    sighting because the mind now encountered the possibility of the object being an alien
    spacecraft rather than a radio tower or some other relatively benign object.
    The phenomena of UFO sightings and the pseudoscience that is present in UFO
    investigations do not fare well under the blade of Occams Razor. Rather than a visit
    from an alien spacecraft, many strange sightings are better explained as an instance of
    fata morgana. Rumors of fantastic spaceships with otherworldly characteristics are likely
    to have been caused by the sight of a military craft that the government would rather
    witnesses think is a UFO. Along with numerous simplified explanations for strange,
    unidentifiable flying objects, no researcher has been able to give a good reason for an
    alien spacecraft to behave in the manner of a stereotypical UFO. As Bill Bryson writes in
    A Short History of Nearly Everything, it is absurd to think that alien beings travel
    billions of miles to muse themselves by planting crop circles in Wiltshire or by
    frightening the daylights out of some poor guy in a pickup truck on a lonely road in
    Arizona (Bryson, 2003, p. 241).

    Literature Cited
    Bryson, B. (2003). A short history of nearly everything. New York: Broadway Books.
    Hatzopoulos, D. (2009). UFO Technical overview. Retrieved from http://www.hyper.net/
    ufo/overview/html
    Unidentified flying object. (2009). Wikipedia. Retrieved fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/
    wiki/Ufo

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