tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post7991079561998415197..comments2024-03-19T11:13:40.642-07:00Comments on A Different Perspective: Bad Astronomy and UFOsKRandlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333125414889883920noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post-57672115873798377242014-06-11T16:37:35.599-07:002014-06-11T16:37:35.599-07:00Here is a response by Plait on content like the on...Here is a response by Plait on content like the one one above:<br />http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/09/01/why-astronomers-dont-report-ufos/#.U5jmz9q9KSMAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04030727487931085394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post-31961871330291683072008-12-10T23:12:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:12:00.000-08:00Jean-Michel wrote:"In this blog entry on the "Skep...Jean-Michel wrote:<BR/><BR/>"In this blog entry on the "Skepticblog", Phil Plait gives a very good reply to your argument: "UFonies"... With this clarification, I agree completely with him. If the extraterrestrial hypothesis was true, the balance of witness should be really different. Good job Phil!"<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure what Phil Plait should be applauded for in this new post. Basically, he comes to the conclusion that all intelligent ufologists came to fifty years ago - that "that the majority of UFOs reported are not flying saucers, but misidentified mundane objects". The short reply to that would be..."duh?"<BR/><BR/>Further to that, he does a hatchet job on Chris Rutkowski without having an ounce of knowledge about his research or background. When Phil suggests that Chris probably doesn't know many amateur astronomers, it seems pretty ignorant considering the fact that Chris was a long-standing member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (heading up one of their chapters even).Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18164314383452692355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post-51085448089638868022008-12-10T08:00:00.000-08:002008-12-10T08:00:00.000-08:00Hello,In this blog entry on the "Skepticblog", Phi...Hello,<BR/><BR/>In this blog entry on the "Skepticblog", Phil Plait gives a very good reply to your argument: <A HREF="http://skepticblog.org/2008/12/10/ufonies/" REL="nofollow">"UFonies"</A>.<BR/><BR/>Phil Plait writes:<BR/><BR/><I>The problem is, this doesn’t show me wrong. It misses the point entirely, which is the majority of UFO reports would be made by amateur astronomers if these were in fact alien spaceships. I don’t care if you can find a handful of reports from astronomers. This shows conclusively that the majority of UFOs reported are not flying saucers, but misidentified mundane objects.</I><BR/><BR/>With this clarification, I agree completely with him. If the extraterrestrial hypothesis was true, the balance of witness should be really different. Good job Phil! <BR/><BR/>Sincerely,Jean-Michel Abrassarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07727238103453031813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post-66455919383933717172008-12-04T01:55:00.000-08:002008-12-04T01:55:00.000-08:00The Bad Astronomer needs to speak with Jacques Val...The Bad Astronomer needs to speak with Jacques Vallee, a respected astrophysicist. In his book Dimensions, Vallee states that many astronomers, both professional and amateur, have confided to him that they have seen UFOs they can not explain by conventional means. <BR/><BR/>Why should astronomers be the last argument on UFOs anyway? UFOs are mainly seen in the Earth's atmosphere, at altitudes we fly at, not out in space where the astronomer's eye is focused on specific distant stars and comets. <BR/><BR/>If anyone's more qualified to speak for the UFO phenonemon, it would be aircraft pilots. But pilots are saying what skeptics like the Bad Astronomer don't want to hear -- the truth.<BR/><BR/>Cheers for the great piece Kevin, keep up the great work.<BR/><BR/>Rick MG<BR/>The Daily GrailAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post-67780944262530388202008-12-02T16:18:00.000-08:002008-12-02T16:18:00.000-08:00Menzel was also part of MJ-12 if we are to accept ...Menzel was also part of MJ-12 if we are to accept some of the documents as real. (I do. Not all, but some).Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15832458895924691193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post-5650857801789782702008-12-01T11:27:00.000-08:002008-12-01T11:27:00.000-08:00I was closely associated with Clyde Tombaugh for o...I was closely associated with Clyde Tombaugh for over 20 years and can verify that he knew the sky better than 90% of today's astronomers, many of whom rarely ever have any reason to even look upward!<BR/><BR/>Donald Menzel, on the other hand, was a brilliant astrophysicist but not a very experienced observer. Nevertheless, he had been involved in the early development of radar, and <B>had</B> to be well aware of the absurdity of the "mirage" explanations he kept touting; so why did he do it?<BR/><BR/> The only thing that makes sense to me is that he was deliberately spreading disinformation ... but here again, why?JRobinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02607832947646270829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post-91286853565849162842008-12-01T06:25:00.000-08:002008-12-01T06:25:00.000-08:00PS. I forgot to mention La Paz's own UFO sightin...PS. I forgot to mention La Paz's own UFO sighting in New Mexico on July 10, 1947, listed in LIFE magazine. He was the anonymous astronomer in question. He evidently did not want publicity at the time, even though he later became very interested in the phenomenon.cdahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01005702597775594084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post-14011249451909939402008-12-01T06:09:00.000-08:002008-12-01T06:09:00.000-08:00I have Phil Plait's book and see his website now a...I have Phil Plait's book and see his website now and again. You're right that he should keep off UFOs until and unless he reads and learns a lot more about the subject. <BR/>This applies to many scientists who pontificate about the subject. One only has to go through old astronomical journals to see that strange sightings are made by astronomers, professional and amateur, from time to time. True, most of these are later explained, but not all of them. Also, don't forget that the arch-skeptic Menzel himself had one notable sighting whose explanation eluded him. There were different accounts of it but I believe Menzel did once admit it had him baffled. La Paz saw at least one green fireball. I never discovered what La Paz's final conclusion on these objects was. Did you? I know he originally suspected they were possible Russian test missiles, but presumably he dropped this idea later.cdahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01005702597775594084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post-35386513170639142602008-11-30T16:20:00.000-08:002008-11-30T16:20:00.000-08:00I can only speak about personal experiece. I was a...I can only speak about personal experiece. I was an amerture astronmer and I lived in New Jersey. Although I had witness a UFO it was in daytime. My neighbor was an amerture and much better than me. Neither had he see anything with a scope but he had witnessed a UFO in fact it landed in the desert. Phil gave us nothing more than his opinion. My friend never told any of his friends and asked me not to. So there are many amature astronmers who don't want to talk about. This is never part of Plait universe. I have no more respect for his opinion than any other layman on the this subject. I find his slide rule explantions for everything nonsense. Human beings are little brighter and carefull when it comes to this subject; Hey Phil it's called human nature you and some of your followers should read a book on it some time.. get out of the class room talk to some flesh and blood people UFO witnesses. sometimes like pilots.<BR/>Joe Capp<BR/>UFO Media Matters<BR/>Non-Commercial BlogJoseph Capphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12428219762980782866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post-81358380662726512062008-11-30T10:00:00.000-08:002008-11-30T10:00:00.000-08:00Phil Plait and Kevin Randle--two of my favorites, ...Phil Plait and Kevin Randle--two of my favorites, together in once convenient location--though I'm certainly with Kevin on this one, mostly, anyway.<BR/><BR/>I do think there may be non-e.t. explanations for most if not all of the sightings of amateur astronomers, but I agree that Plait failed to take the existence of those reports into account.<BR/><BR/>Keep up the good work, Kevin--I've read almost all your books, and thoroughly enjoyed them.Mike Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05442821176279356017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post-33376966159422093572008-11-29T11:05:00.000-08:002008-11-29T11:05:00.000-08:00I do not mind if you email a copy to Mr. Plait. I ...I do not mind if you email a copy to Mr. Plait. I have not done so.<BR/><BR/>If you do, you might mention that a survey was made of about 1800 amateur astronomers and about a quarter of them (23%) said they had seen something in the sky they could not identify. That seems like such a large number that he should have known about it.<BR/><BR/>I too am a fan of the Bad Astronomy site, but, if you're going to be skeptical, you need to be sure of your argument. Too often the scientists refuse to look at the data. <BR/><BR/>And we are quite familiar with the UFO folklore, including skeptical arguments that are little more than myths... astronomers don't see UFOs, there is no physical evidence, or my personal favorite, that only poorly educated, rural people see UFOs... like CLyde Tombaugh... he lived in New Mexico after all.KRandlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06333125414889883920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post-87869803961142267232008-11-28T21:06:00.000-08:002008-11-28T21:06:00.000-08:00Hello,Phil Plait is a great skeptic. I'm a big fan...Hello,<BR/><BR/>Phil Plait is a great skeptic. I'm a big fan of him. But he's really good at explaining science to the general public, and he's really good at debunking the Moon Hoax Conspiracy Theory. On the other hand, he's not so good about debunking UFOs. He doesn't write or talk that much about it, and when it does... Well, he could do better than that.<BR/><BR/>If you want a good skeptic talking about the ufo folklore, check out <A HREF="http://www.pointofinquiry.org/james_mcgaha_lights_in_the_sky/" REL="nofollow">James McGaha interview on Point of Inquiry</A>.<BR/><BR/>I thought it was really good.<BR/><BR/>I deal a lot with the UFO phenomena from a skeptical point of view on my blog, but it's in French...<BR/><BR/>Sincerely,Jean-Michel Abrassarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07727238103453031813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11558306.post-9662003866124199632008-11-28T18:33:00.000-08:002008-11-28T18:33:00.000-08:00Did you e-mail a copy of this to Mr. Plait? Or, i...Did you e-mail a copy of this to Mr. Plait? Or, if you didn't, do you mind if I e-mail a copy to him? -- Louis J. SheehanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com