The U.S. military takes UFOs seriously. Why doesn't Silicon Valley or academia?

The U.S. military takes UFOs seriously. Why doesn't Silicon Valley or academia?

By Rizwan Virk, founder of Play Labs @ MIT

In February, for instance, one of the biggest innovators of this century, Elon Musk, was asked what he thought about the recent Pentagon acknowledgment that Navy pilots have seen objects flying in our airspace using advanced technology we can’t identify, let alone understand or explain or reproduce. Musk’s answer was, “Honestly, I think I would know if there were aliens,” and, honestly, this response could have come from any number of prominent scientists or industry figures.

Unfortunately, when scientists are asked about UFOs, they generally laugh off the subject. The well-known astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, for one, said he would only take the idea seriously when aliens send him a dinner invite.

Thankfully, small cracks are appearing in academia’s wall of mockery. Avi Loeb, chief astronomer at Harvard University, was willing to say in his new book, “Extraterrestrial,” that he thinks that ‘Oumuamua, the first object we have spotted in the night sky whose origin is definitely from outside our solar system, was most likely a technological artifact of a long-vanished alien civilization.

Super frickin' interesting and it does boggle my mind a bit that there seems to be so little interest from the scientific community.

If nothing else I would have expected the skeptic, debunking motivation to have shone through.  To whit: Shouldn't a few in science been already motivated to show that this was radar artifacts or trick's of the pilot's minds?

I wonder what the June report will show.  Fascinating stuff really.

Super frickin' interesting and it does boggle my mind a bit that there seems to be so little interest from the scientific community.

If nothing else I would have expected the skeptic, debunking motivation to have shone through.  To whit: Shouldn't a few in science been already motivated to show that this was radar artifacts or trick's of the pilot's minds?

I wonder what the June report will show.  Fascinating stuff really.

Metabunk

The site linked above is run by Mick West, who takes the process very seriously and tries to be respectful. He's good at taking UFO videos and offering mundane explanations. And he's not a jerk about it. He published a book about his process a few years back, but I don't think enough people care about any of it for his message to even penetrate mainstream science. The difference between him and most mainstream scientists who debunk from their armchairs is that he is actually engaging with the material.

The site linked above is run by Mick West, who takes the process very seriously and tries to be respectful.

I would like to know if he thinks that all such incidents can be explained away, if he does then he’s probably just yet another sceptic that we can and should ignore. 

Saying he ‘takes the process very seriously and tries to be respectful’ doesn’t give me much confidence. 

I would like to know if he thinks that all such incidents can be explained away, if he does then he’s probably just yet another sceptic that we can and should ignore. 

Saying he ‘takes the process very seriously and tries to be respectful’ doesn’t give me much confidence. 

Well, you could actually engage with it, or just talk shit from the sidelines. Up to you!

Well, you could actually engage with it, or just talk shit from the sidelines. Up to you!

That’s the whole point. You can’t engage with people who’s minds are made up, no matter how they spin their image.

That’s the whole point. You can’t engage with people who’s minds are made up, no matter how they spin their image.

That's so rich, seeing that you haven't even read what he has to say.

That's so rich, seeing that you haven't even read what he has to say.

I had a quick look at his site to see if he gives a quick summary of what he’s about. I couldn’t find anything apart from this page...

https://www.metabunk.org/home/authors/

Anyway, my first post on the thread started by asking a question...

I would like to know if he thinks that all such incidents can be explained away,

 Can you answer it, or point me to someone that can?

He just deals with the incidents on a case by case basis. You can read his posts. Or don't. Three cheers for intellectual laziness!

I guess that means you can’t answer my question.