[Lanny_McDonald]

I don't want this to turn into a dogpile on Snuffleupagus, because dogpiles are no fun and don't lend itself to quality discussion, but just some comments.

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

This UFO got lots of attention in Columbia, news stations carried it and has a large amount of hits on youtube

Was the attention a result of the content, or the person reporting it? The person who shot the video is a big celebrity in Colombia. I'm not sure the video has garnered much attention through youtube as it only has 236,000 views. Conversely, the CNBC report on the tic tac UFO - the start of this thread - has over 2,080,000 views.

Personally, I think this video is pretty poor and quickly to debunk. It looks like a fly moving in the frame. Not overly convincing at all, and if it were not shot by a very famous person, probably would have been quickly dismissed and ignored. Because this was shot by a famous person and could lead to quick clicks or traffic, the media is naturally driven to pick it up without first vetting it.

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Uhhhhh that was one of the worst “ufo” videos I’ve ever seen… yeah it looked a bug. One of the first questions anyone asks or looks into is if the video is a bug. It’s the most likely answer in every ufo video.

I don’t see how posts like this are either helpful or interesting. Did you find the first video convincing? Was this really a popular video somewhere? Or are you just being a bit of a jerk now?

I can understand the desire to post the video. It's a quick hit and can show how hysteria can develop through media repetition. Unfortunately, this does not appear to have those earmarks. So I can understand your skepticism and questioning.

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

I don't find any UFO video convincing if it means aliens on this planet, ET would have to touch me with his red index finger before I ever believe aliens are here.

That's not skepticism. You've actually just moved beyond even cynicism and straight to denialism. Michael Shermer would agree with this, suggesting we guard against this when he said, "Skepticism is integral to the scientific process, because most claims turn out to be false. Weeding out the few kernels of wheat from the large pile of chaff requires extensive observation, careful experimentation and cautious inference. Science is skepticism and good scientists are skeptical. Denial is different. It is the automatic gainsaying of a claim regardless of the evidence for it - sometimes even in the teeth of evidence. Denialism is typically driven by ideology or religious belief, where the commitment to the belief takes precedence over the evidence. Belief comes first, reasons for belief follow, and those reasons are winnowed to ensure that the belief survives intact."

The fact that it would require ET probe you personally, that is denialism.

I posted that particular vids because apparently a lot of dummies believed it was a UFO. It was shown on news stations and the fellow who made it was trusted because he was a well known news reporter.

I don't see much support for this claim. Googlefoo seems to show the Colombian media jumping on this just because of who reported it, not the quality of the content itself. Celebrity made this of interest.

My point is people are gullible, whether it be bugs, flares, aircraft out of focus or hoaxes people jump on these things because they want to believe. It's like religion.

So is denial, and as Shermer said, even more so in many cases. My challenge with skepticism, cynicism, and denialists, is it is really easy to take the negative position in any argument. You always get to play the "prove it" card, while providing zero proof yourself. The skeptic always gets to provide weak theory without proving anything conclusively. They just need to cloud the issue enough to make something appear to be on shaky ground, or less than believable. This type of skepticism has found its way into the academy as well, because proving something happens/is happening is much more difficult than taking the negative position and proving it doesn't.

There's a reason there has not been one compelling piece of evidence that these UFO's are from aliens.

What would be compelling to you? Clear makings on the ground after a purported landing? Burn makes in the ground or foliage? Changes in the chemical makeup of the soil? Exothermic evidence in soil? Radiation spikes in the samples? I mean beyond the personal probing from ET, what would make you open your mind to the possibility?