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Old 04-03-2009, 10:17 AM   #1
photon
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http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/09-04-01.html#feature

I liked how the news clips all focused on a pilot, as if pilots were somehow more qualified to judge
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Old 04-03-2009, 10:31 AM   #2
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Totally awesome.... wish I could watch the video at work.
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Old 04-03-2009, 11:04 AM   #3
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i'm dead serious when i say this, i saw 2 ufo's over tom cambell hill last evening around 6pm.

my sighting probably deserves it's own thread....i'll post it later today.

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Old 04-03-2009, 11:15 AM   #4
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This begs an important question: are UFO investigators simply charlatans looking to make a quick buck off human gullibility, or are they alarmists using bad science to back up their biased opinions that extraterrestrial life is routinely visiting our planet?
Yes to both.
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Old 04-03-2009, 11:22 AM   #5
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Like Carl Sagan said UFO's and Aliens didn't start happening in popular culture until the last 100yrs, before that people claimed sightings of Demons, dragons, witches, angels, etc..

Its just that since Alien movies, books, hoaxes got into the mind of the world we now have this culture of abductee's and people who are convinced the aliens are here visiting.

Theres no coincidence all the sketches of aliens are similar, human like features which right off the bat would pretty much be impossible (2 eyes, nose, mouth, 2 arms, 2 legs).. The odds of a species evolving on another planet looking anything like us is so remote it defies logic.
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Old 04-03-2009, 11:26 AM   #6
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Speaking of hoaxes......

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Old 04-03-2009, 11:34 AM   #7
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Theres no coincidence all the sketches of aliens are similar, human like features which right off the bat would pretty much be impossible (2 eyes, nose, mouth, 2 arms, 2 legs).. The odds of a species evolving on another planet looking anything like us is so remote it defies logic.
I agree with you 95%!

However, there is the planet seeding theory some people believe where extra-terrestrials purposely planted their genetic material on planets that could be hospitable to life. That would suggest that aliens could have similar traits with different evolutionary characeristics.

Of course, that is not science. I wouldn't write off the idea as impossible though as I could see humans trying to do the exact same thing.

I am about 99.9999999% sure that aliens DO NOT visit the Earth. Don't get me wrong, I would be willing to bet that there is life on other planets, I just have my doubts that the types of travel needed are possible, or that it is likely a planet with life on it just so happens to have intelligent life on it at the same point in time of us and is close enough to travel to. When you consider how old the universe is and how species on Earth anyway (our only example) only exist for a fleeting moment, the number of things that would have to be just right for aliens to visit us makes it seem almost impossible.
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Old 04-03-2009, 11:36 AM   #8
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Old 04-03-2009, 11:39 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction View Post
I am about 99.9999999% sure that aliens DO NOT visit the Earth. Don't get me wrong, I would be willing to bet that there is life on other planets, I just have my doubts that the types of travel needed are possible, or that it is likely a planet with life on it just so happens to have intelligent life on it at the same point in time of us and is close enough to travel to. When you consider how old the universe is and how species on Earth anyway (our only example) only exist for a fleeting moment, the number of things that would have to be just right for aliens to visit us makes it seem almost impossible.
don't be so closed minded about the whole thing. just because you don't believe that travelling the huge distances of space is possible, doesn't mean it can't and isn't being done. remember when everybody thought the earth was flat? turns out they were wrong because they couldn't open their minds to the other possibilites.
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Old 04-03-2009, 11:52 AM   #10
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Speaking of hoaxes......

What is that supposed to be in the picture? A Holstein cow?
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Old 04-03-2009, 11:59 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by moncton golden flames View Post
don't be so closed minded about the whole thing. just because you don't believe that travelling the huge distances of space is possible, doesn't mean it can't and isn't being done. remember when everybody thought the earth was flat? turns out they were wrong because they couldn't open their minds to the other possibilites.
It has nothing to do with having an "open mind". It has to do with logic and evidence. Do you believe in dragons that live in the center of the earth? No? That's because it's what's called an "arbitrary assertion". Meaning, it has no place in rational discussion because it's made up - it's hooey - there's no evidence for it.

People believed the Earth was flat...until it was proved that the Earth is, in fact, round. So, until flying aliens land and say hello, all the talk about "well there could be life elsewhere" is pure imagination and is rightly discounted as fiction.
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Old 04-03-2009, 12:03 PM   #12
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I can't stand it when people buy into the crop circle thing. Its been shown time and again how easy it is to do. Huge patterns can be created by as few as 2 people in 4 or 5 hours.
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Old 04-03-2009, 12:05 PM   #13
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People believed the Earth was flat...until it was proved that the Earth is, in fact, round. So, until flying aliens land and say hello, all the talk about "well there could be life elsewhere" is pure imagination and is rightly discounted as fiction.
It's also worth mentioning that past civilizations knew the Earth was round, such as; ancient Greeks (some anyway), Arabs and Chinese. Dark ages Europe was pretty backwards relatively speaking, so the example isn't that great.
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Old 04-03-2009, 12:27 PM   #14
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What is that supposed to be in the picture? A Holstein cow?
Aliens probably like hamburgers too... Cows are delicious!
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Old 04-03-2009, 12:32 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by Metro Gnome View Post
It has nothing to do with having an "open mind". It has to do with logic and evidence. Do you believe in dragons that live in the center of the earth? No? That's because it's what's called an "arbitrary assertion". Meaning, it has no place in rational discussion because it's made up - it's hooey - there's no evidence for it.

People believed the Earth was flat...until it was proved that the Earth is, in fact, round. So, until flying aliens land and say hello, all the talk about "well there could be life elsewhere" is pure imagination and is rightly discounted as fiction.
it has everything to do with an open mind. if you only believe what can be explained thru common knowledge, you are confined to a particular box you cannot think outside of. logic is the system or principles of reasoning applicable to any branch of knowledge or study. if we do not 'know' something, logic cannot apply to it. logic comes from knowledge of a subject.

when you were a child, you most likely believed in santa clause, the tooth fairy and the easter bunny. you believed in these mythical characters because 'evidece' in the form of presents were under the tree, money under your pillow and chocolate egg hunts. you never saw santa, the fairy or a bunny, but you did believe because you weren't close minded enough to disprove anything you can't see or understand.

if you are religious, do you believe in god? you've never seen him, yet millions believe he exists because they are open minded to the possibility.

it's all about an open mind with no boundaries of thought.
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Old 04-03-2009, 12:45 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by moncton golden flames View Post
it's all about an open mind with no boundaries of thought.
Being open minded about possibilities is fine, that's how new things get discovered all the time.

But to believe something without first establishing its existence is foolish.

And this example shows that people very easily believe things for no good reason; we're all susceptible to it, our brains are perfectly developed for it.

And logic doesn't come from knowledge, logic can be used with knowledge to make deductions and inferences and predictions, but logic only depends on a few basic assumptions such as cause and effect.
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Old 04-03-2009, 12:59 PM   #17
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Having an open mind is a good thing, but not too open that your brain falls out.
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Old 04-03-2009, 01:24 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by moncton golden flames View Post
it has everything to do with an open mind. if you only believe what can be explained thru common knowledge, you are confined to a particular box you cannot think outside of. logic is the system or principles of reasoning applicable to any branch of knowledge or study. if we do not 'know' something, logic cannot apply to it. logic comes from knowledge of a subject.

when you were a child, you most likely believed in santa clause, the tooth fairy and the easter bunny. you believed in these mythical characters because 'evidece' in the form of presents were under the tree, money under your pillow and chocolate egg hunts. you never saw santa, the fairy or a bunny, but you did believe because you weren't close minded enough to disprove anything you can't see or understand.

if you are religious, do you believe in god? you've never seen him, yet millions believe he exists because they are open minded to the possibility.

it's all about an open mind with no boundaries of thought.
See this is the most silly claim made by people who think being skeptical of these claims is equal to closed mindedness.

Carl Sagan hoped more than anything that it was true, as a kid it was a very real thing to him that it could be real. He wanted it to be true all the way through his life, but he like myself and other skeptics know there is not a shred of evidence yet for it and until then we can hope it to be true but obviously as of yet nothing has been proven otherwise.

If you have the time this Outstanding video on Open-Mindedness by one of the real brilliant youtuber's Qualiasoup of Superstitious Pigeon/Arguing with Ghosts/Instruction manual for life.


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Old 04-03-2009, 01:29 PM   #19
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I agree with you 95%!

However, there is the planet seeding theory some people believe where extra-terrestrials purposely planted their genetic material on planets that could be hospitable to life. That would suggest that aliens could have similar traits with different evolutionary characeristics.

Of course, that is not science. I wouldn't write off the idea as impossible though as I could see humans trying to do the exact same thing.
Hehe yeah, I know of this theory and its a neat idea but to me it seems utterly unbelievable at best.

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I am about 99.9999999% sure that aliens DO NOT visit the Earth. Don't get me wrong, I would be willing to bet that there is life on other planets, I just have my doubts that the types of travel needed are possible, or that it is likely a planet with life on it just so happens to have intelligent life on it at the same point in time of us and is close enough to travel to. When you consider how old the universe is and how species on Earth anyway (our only example) only exist for a fleeting moment, the number of things that would have to be just right for aliens to visit us makes it seem almost impossible.
Agree fully.
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Old 04-03-2009, 02:13 PM   #20
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Like Carl Sagan said UFO's and Aliens didn't start happening in popular culture until the last 100yrs, before that people claimed sightings of Demons, dragons, witches, angels, etc..

Its just that since Alien movies, books, hoaxes got into the mind of the world we now have this culture of abductee's and people who are convinced the aliens are here visiting.

Theres no coincidence all the sketches of aliens are similar, human like features which right off the bat would pretty much be impossible (2 eyes, nose, mouth, 2 arms, 2 legs).. The odds of a species evolving on another planet looking anything like us is so remote it defies logic.
I agree with everything except the last part.

There could be strong advantages to most environments for higher beings to be shaped more or less like us.

Furthermore, we don't exactly know the threshold for life and how and where it evolves. We assume there needs to be water, so there's already a big similarity between our environment and a possible alien one. But it could be that the window for environments that sustain higher life is relatively narrow, therefore making it even more likely that any life that did exist, would evolve in a similar manner to us.

Not saying it wouldn't or couldn't happen the way you said, just that I don't think it's so unbelievable they might not be humanoid or partially humanoid in nature. We don't really know anything about evolution of life on other planets, or even enough about life, to really hazard an accurate guess.

All that said, I have come to believe for quite sometime we have never been visited by aliens if there are even any out there. The more you research the cases, the more they seem fishy. Also there are strong logical arguments against us being visited, but not being 'contacted' as a species. It's more likely, we're not visited at all. Beings that could bend time and space, as they would have to to get to us, would have much better things to do then spy on us from afar, and experiment with us and our cows.
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