3 ms·

This article didn't really live up to my expectations based on the title. What I would say, based only on information that almost everyone should agree on (ie.

This article didn't really live up to my expectations based on the title. What I would say, based only on information that almost everyone should agree on (ie. public statements and a very small number of authenticated videos) is that there are three possibilities. 1. Surprising government incompetence This would be the case if all reported military encounters with UAP's could be explained by misinterpretations and mistakes (possibly including failure to identify foreign adversarial technology), as people like Mick West propose, and the government has been unable to determine this. 2. Surprising government competence This would cover scenarios where the government has either created the UFO phenomenon from scratch as some kind of disinformation campaign (for unclear reasons) or has secretly developed technology far in advance of the publicly known state of the art and has kept it hidden for many decades. 3. A real phenomenon unknown to science This covers aliens in the broadest possible sense of the term as well as unknown natural phenomena that somehow seem to exhibit intelligent behavior.

saberdancer 5y ago
I don't agree with #1. Why would it be surprising government incompetence? Government is not one person with infinite knowledge, plenty of them are elected officials with questionable level of understanding of various phenomena. Most sightings can be easily explained with misinterpretations and mistakes just like Mick West shows. Recent number of videos (gimbal, tic tac, ...) are probably released to muddy the waters and the Navy knows what they are showing.
- tgflynn 5y ago
  Because the government presumably has access to large numbers of highly competent individuals, some at least as smart as Mick West, who should have been able to conclude that all of these sightings amount to nothing, if that is indeed the case. They also presumably have access to far more data on the subject than West or anyone else.
  - saberdancer 5y ago
    My suggestion is that they did conclude that. Best proof is that there is no widespread research into UFOs funded by the government or the military. Military even released couple of videos captures by their own aircraft, if it was anything sensitive or secretive they wouldn't release these videos to the public (and to the adversaries).
    - tgflynn 5y ago
      > My suggestion is that they did conclude that. Then why haven't they said so instead of telling the American people and Congress that the objects shown in the videos are considered unidentified, to the extent that Congress has ordered a report on UAP's and that an investigation by the DoD Inspector General has been initiated ?
      - Loughla 5y ago
        Because funding? We need better equipment, better sensors, and more data due to the investigation. That requires more funding. Call me cynical, but I legitimately believe anytime a government agency releases information like this, it is just a cash grab.
zionic 5y ago
I for one look forward to the hacker news posts titled "How did we get it so wrong for so long?" analyzing the systemic and sociological failures that lead to the "taboo" which blocked progress/investigation for so long. The comments of course will be how it was obvious, documented for decades, and how they knew all along.

saberdancer 5y ago

I don't agree with #1. Why would it be surprising government incompetence? Government is not one person with infinite knowledge, plenty of them are elected officials with questionable level of understanding of various phenomena. Most sightings can be easily explained with misinterpretations and mistakes just like Mick West shows. Recent number of videos (gimbal, tic tac, ...) are probably released to muddy the waters and the Navy knows what they are showing.

tgflynn 5y ago
Because the government presumably has access to large numbers of highly competent individuals, some at least as smart as Mick West, who should have been able to conclude that all of these sightings amount to nothing, if that is indeed the case. They also presumably have access to far more data on the subject than West or anyone else.
- saberdancer 5y ago
  My suggestion is that they did conclude that. Best proof is that there is no widespread research into UFOs funded by the government or the military. Military even released couple of videos captures by their own aircraft, if it was anything sensitive or secretive they wouldn't release these videos to the public (and to the adversaries).
  - tgflynn 5y ago
    > My suggestion is that they did conclude that. Then why haven't they said so instead of telling the American people and Congress that the objects shown in the videos are considered unidentified, to the extent that Congress has ordered a report on UAP's and that an investigation by the DoD Inspector General has been initiated ?
    - Loughla 5y ago
      Because funding? We need better equipment, better sensors, and more data due to the investigation. That requires more funding. Call me cynical, but I legitimately believe anytime a government agency releases information like this, it is just a cash grab.

zionic 5y ago

I for one look forward to the hacker news posts titled "How did we get it so wrong for so long?" analyzing the systemic and sociological failures that lead to the "taboo" which blocked progress/investigation for so long. The comments of course will be how it was obvious, documented for decades, and how they knew all along.