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Don't get me wrong: I am baffled by some of the reports (especially, as you note, those that have multiple witnesses or multiple independent pieces of evidence)
by md_ 5y ago
Don't get me wrong: I am baffled by some of the reports (especially, as you note, those that have multiple witnesses or multiple independent pieces of evidence).
But of course alien civilizations—or (non-human?) co-terrestrial civilizations—are such an extraordinary hypothesis that I do not see why they should be treated as more plausible than (as you note) something like shared delusions.
Let me expand upon that a bit. My (tongue in cheek) explanation is this:
Humans have an undiscovered facility for shared perceptual delusions and (seemingly deliberate) confabulation. That is to say, individuals with shared cultural contexts may respond to the same environmental triggers (weird reflections, social stressors, I don't know!) by hallucinating the same things. Moreover, upon experiencing such a hallucination, some subjects will confabulate corroboratory evidence, perhaps even (unconsciously) going so far as to tamper with radar recordings or (unconsciously) colluding with other "witnesses"—and individuals who engage in this confabulation have no memory or recollection of it later.
This is a totally wild explanation, and I don't actually believe it. But is it as plausible as alien civilizations? I sorta think so!
- quacked 5y agoI wouldn't even go that far. We have to remember where this information is coming from. This is the U.S. Military. We don't have "pilot confirmation", we have files, transcripts, and audio that are allegedly pilot confirmation. Given the amount of evidence released so far, which seems more likely? - Alien civilization - Some other form of hyper-advanced technology - The U.S. Military and/or various U.S. intelligence agencies are perpetrating a hoax in order to further some kind of strategic goal I know which one I'm picking, barring much more widely acknowledged and damning evidence.
- gfodor 5y agoWell, you've gotta dig but these reports now by the US military are highly similar to other reports that have leaked out over the decades from on-the-record military officers from the US and other states. The reason this is a noteworthy topic now all of a sudden is precisely because the US military is making these claims - the material claims are not new but have been brushed off for the usual reasons.
- quacked 5y agoI definitely can't claim to know anything, but I would have a very hard time believing that other claims that are similar to these aren't part of a wider agenda. To be clear, I'm fairly conspiracy-friendly. I am just very skeptical of this new tech angle. More reports from states that have obviously opposed the US would definitely make me think more about the veracity of the leaked "evidence".
- mladen5 5y agoMost of conspiracy theories narrative was being controlled by Russia in recent years and now USA wants some of that. Probably with nothing to gain but conspiracy theories is all i hear from boomers these days.
- gfodor 5y agoI love the way you are thinking about this, and you're a really solid skeptic! I hope we get more people questioning this the way you have, instead of saying it's clouds :)
- thelastinuit 5y agoAny of them is... terrifing. damn. i hope it's just nothing.
- gfodor 5y agoIt's not nothing - time for us to grow up a little :) (No pain no gain)