Prejudice or Proof – UFO’s and the Debunkers Dilemma

 

How can the mystery of UFO’s be unravelled, when the researchers appointed by government struggle to separate fact from fiction?

This difficulty is explored by two UFO sceptics in a recent article by Luis Cayetano Simmari and Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos that reviews the historical record of UFO investigation by the US government dating back to the 1940’s.  

According to the article after decades of virtual inactivity, the U.S. government has now decided to restart investigating UFOs, through a new agency called the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) established in 2022. The goal of AARO is to examine the veracity or otherwise of military reports of UFO encounters by using the most up-to-date technology.

The result has been a surge in claims from military personnel and whistleblowers, who claim to have witnessed possible alien encounters, all motivated by the heightened interest by the government. However, the authors doubt the veracity of many of these witness statements and their accompanying narratives which they see as being promoted by supporters of a non-human intelligence theory. They claim that rather than being the results of impartial scientific research, many of the accounts authorised for release by Defence officials frequently incorporate elements that are synonymous with supporters of a network of advocates who possess a religious-like devotion to the cause of UFO acceptance.

Furthermore, the authors claim that AARO have spent more time speculating on long-standing hypotheses about extraterrestrial technology and theoretical investigation into the paranormal rather than concentrating on scientific examination to evaluate potential aerospace threats.

Nevertheless, while the authors are quick to point out  the perceived bias of the UFO investigations, they appear to be less forthcoming about their own prejudice which clearly compromises the quality of their research and this article. Simmari in particular has an inclination to label many of those who support the existence of UFO’s as nazis or paedophiles, while accusing others of suffering from mental problems. He questions the veracity of the New York Times article that disclosed the military footage of UFOs, claiming that the paper was too accepting of the UFO activity, but neglects to mention that Defence officials and sceptics are still unable to provide explanations for the aircrafts’ properties.

Sceptics often deny the existence of UFOs due to what they argue is a lack of reliable, accurate proof. But some scientists claim that when releasing military footage of UFOs, governmental authorities intentionally restrict the release of much of this data. This is to hide the distances travelled to prevent researchers from being able to accurately gauge both the speed and acceleration of the craft, therefore preventing an accurate examination of the phenomena.

Many of these skeptics frequent ignore evidence that contradicts their beliefs while discounting reliable military reports and pilot statements as misunderstandings or fabrications. 

 This selective approach, instead of objectively evaluating all available data, compromises the search for truth by focussing only on explanations that align with their own worldview.   Furthermore, these same sceptics seem to be easily influenced by obsolete cultural narratives  that stigmatises UFO believers  as either superstitious or prone to conspiracy theory. The whole of UFO scepticism is preoccupied with expending enormous amounts of energy into either ignoring the most recent disclosures such as those by Harvad-Smithsonian scientists of possible alien/solar hybrid vessels, or treating them with ridicule.

It is clear from the most recent round of government inquiries that some reports of UFO encounters are not easily refuted, but nevertheless, sceptics will remain unwilling to reconcile new information with their long-held beliefs. This unwillingness to change their viewpoint raises the possibility that in t least in the field of UFO research, scepticism is more likely to be concerned with preserving the status quo as opposed to searching for the truth.











References

Barlow, R. (2023, February 3). Are UFOs Visitors from Space? Government Report Won’t Rule It Out. Boston University. https://www.bu.edu/articles/2021/government-ufo-report/

Dresner, D.W. (2019) UFOs exist and everyone needs to adjust to that fact - the Washington Post, The Washington Post. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/05/28/ufos-exist-everyone-needs-adjust-that-fact/ (Accessed: 01 October 2024).

Ford, M. [@GoodTroubleShow]. (2024, September 27). If you want a window into who is writing articles for Scientific American, @sciam, one of the authors, @LuisECayetano83 [Tweet]. Twitter. https://x.com/GoodTroubleShow/status/1839450568030659042

Levitz, E. (2018, November 6). Oumuamua: Cigar-Shaped UFO Might Have Been an Alien Probe. Intelligencer. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/oumuamua-cigar-shaped-ufo-might-have-been-an-alien-probe.html

Mounce, M. T. (2024, April 23). USS Nimitz Tic Tac UFO: unveiling inexplicable physics. Meer. https://www.meer.com/en/79187-uss-nimitz-tic-tac-ufo-unveiling-inexplicable-physics

Quirk Zone. (2024, September 29). Scientific American Platforms Fanatical UFO Debunker who Likens Disclosure Advocates to Neo-Nazis [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABYVJfdB5tU

Simmari, L. C., & Olmos, V. B. (2024, September 27). What really happened at the Pentagon’s Once-Hidden UFO Office? Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-really-happened-at-the-pentagons-once-hidden-ufo-office/

Williamson, E. (2023, June 5). Despite Stigma, UFO Survey Finds 19% of Academics Say They’ve Had Strange Sightings. UVA Today. https://news.virginia.edu/content/despite-stigma-ufo-survey-finds-19-academics-say-theyve-had-strange-sightings


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