From: Seth
Shostak <sshostak@seti.org>
Sent: 11
November 2005 00:03
To: ad.johnson@ntlworld.com
Subject: UFOs
Dear
Mr. Johnson:
Thanks for your e-mail. As for SPACE.com's choice of title for my recent
article... That's something they do: my original title was something altogether
different, but they always change them.
As for your suggestion that (1) we should believe testimony when it's given by
astronauts, and (2) SETI should broaden its scope, I won't address the former,
as it suggests that, just because someone is trained to fly the Space Shuttle,
their word is a substitute for objective scientific evidence. That's
silly, and it's not science. As for (2), it is not SETI's mission to
investigate claims of sightings of alien craft around Earth. We do a
different experiment, one that could be quickly checked by any number of
observers and observatories. If I suggested that MUFON, for instance,
should broaden its activities and do detailed radio searches of F through K
star systems, would you think that a major desideratum? I suspect
not.
I'm certainly open to being convinced we're being visited. But I would
ask you what the BEST piece of evidence is... the one that would make it into a
museum on Exhibition Road. Not the thousands and thousands of
"testimonies" -- after all, many people have seen ghosts, too.
I want ONE VERY GOOD piece of evidence. That would, at least, be
something to start with...
Sincerely,
Seth Shostak
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Recent Article By Seth Shostak
Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2005 19:08:30 -0000
From: Andrew Johnson <ad.johnson@ntlworld.com>
Reply-To: <ad.johnson@ntlworld.com>
To: <education@seti.org>
Dear Madam/Sir,
I skimmed to the end of Seth Shostak's recent article entitled "Public
Split on Alien Invaders and Spooky Specters". It is a shame that a
scientist should choose such an unscientific title for this article, but
there it is I suppose.
I fundamentally disagree with the conclusions of this article:
"These sorts of polls, which invariably show the shortcomings of Homo
sapiens' ability to make deductions based on repeatable, objective
evidence, are nothing new. Indeed, they may be difficult to eradicate,
since, as children, we fabricate intuitive theories to deal with the
unobservable. This explains much of the world for us, but also, as an
English astronomer pointed out to me, leads us to assume that it is
inhabited by magical forces - a point of view that the polls continue to
reveal as highly ingrained."
This conclusion is unscientific because it does not properly consider
"repeatable, objective evidence". One needs only to listen to the
documented testimony of people such as Gordon Cooper and Dr Edgar
Mitchell - themselves form NASA astronauts - to begin to realise that
the SETI program is simply not broad enough in its scope.
*Apollo 14 Astronaut, Dr Edgar Mitchell, As Reported in Florida St
Petersburg Times, Feb 18, 2004
<http://www.checktheevidence.com/audio/Dr.%20Edgar%20Mitchell%20Coast%20to%20Coast%20-%20Oct%2004%202004.mp3>*
/The aliens have landed. Thus declared Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar
Mitchell on Saturday to a crowd of more than 200 admirers. "A few
insiders know the truth . . . and are studying the bodies that have been
discovered," said Mitchell, who was the sixth man to walk on the moon.
Mitchell, who landed on the moon with Alan B. Shepard, said a "cabal"
of
insiders stopped briefing presidents about extraterrestrials after
President Kennedy. "Presidents Carter and Clinton tried to get it opened
up," he said, adding that only insistence by the public will produce the
truth. For those who might consider his statements farfetched, Mitchell,
who has a doctorate in science from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, noted that 30 years ago it was accepted that man was alone
in the universe. Few people believe that now, he said./
Original story:
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/546961411.html?FMT=FT&FMTS=FT&date=Feb+18,+2004&desc=Former+astronaut:+We%27ve+had+otherworldly+visitors
<http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/546961411.html?FMT=FT&FMTS=FT&date=Feb+18,+2004&desc=Former+astronaut:+We%27ve+had+otherworldly+visitors>
*Mercury Astronaut Gordon Cooper, As Reported on CNN Web site, Oct 5,
2004
<http://www.checktheevidence.com/audio/Gordon%20Cooper%2009-09-1999.mp3>*
/In his post-NASA career, Cooper became known as an outspoken believer
in UFOs and charged that the government was covering up its knowledge of
extraterrestrial activity. "I believe that these extraterrestrial
vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets,
which obviously are a little more technically advanced than we are here
on Earth," he told a United Nations panel in 1985. "I feel that we
need
to have a top-level, coordinated program to scientifically collect and
analyze data from all over the Earth concerning any type of encounter,
and to determine how best to interface with these visitors in a friendly
fashion." He added, "For many years I have lived with a secret, in a
secrecy imposed on all specialists and astronauts. I can now reveal that
every day, in the USA, our radar instruments capture objects of form and
composition unknown to us."/
Original Story:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/10/04/gordon.cooper/
Gordon cooper also described how his team filmed a saucer landing near
Edwards Airforce base.
http://www.checktheevidence.com/Disclosure/Video/sighting.wmv
Is he an unreliable witness too?
And with the speech of Paul Hellyer, Former Canadian Defence Minister,
at a Toronto Conference on Exopolitics
<http://www.checktheevidence.com/video/PaulHellyerAtTorontoConference-25-09-05.wmv>,
people like Seth Shostak are going to have a harder and harder time when
they deny evidence which has not been Fourier transformed through a
radio telescope. You may choose to argue that Paul Hellyer isn't a
scientist - that's fine - would you then assume that /only/ scientists
can decide what is and what is not valid evidence?
If you want repeated video evidence, then watch a compilation I made -
from over 200 "unscientific" clips. Seth Shostak and people like him
can
deny the validity of this evidence if they wish. I personally feel very
uncomfortable calling all the people in this video idiots or bad
observers, nutcases, pranksters and hoaxers. As ever, you decide for
yourself - I have.
http://www.checktheevidence.com/video/Open%20Your%20Eyes%20-%20What%20Are%20These%20Things%20in%20Our%20Skies.wmv
(This is 200 megabytes and plays for 95 minutes.) I made it out of
frustration with the bulk of scientific communities denial of evidence.)
Regards and Best Wishes,
Andrew Johnson
UK
--
Dr. Seth Shostak
Senior Astronomer
SETI Institute
515 N. Whisman Rd.
Mountain View, CA 94043
Tel: 650-960-4530
Fax: 650-961-7099
Web: www.seti.org