Question for the skeptics

Just out of curiousity, what evidence/footage/video/testimony has your scratching your heads? what's something you can't easily explain away that you have seen?

Most of the skeptics never look into any cases and just dismiss all of the UFO phenomenon as "Nothing".


Most skeptics will also never ever consider the idea of anything which goes beyond their narrow-minds, dispite the evidence presented to them.


What I'm trying to say is that its rare that a skeptic will ever scratch their heads when confronted with a alternative topic.





[edit on 28-12-2005 by Spreadthetruth]

First off, everyone should be a skeptic. Even the most hardcore believer.

Why? Because the people that go around saying that every scrap of UFO evidence is real are fools and look like fools when they try to discuss UFO's with others.

In my case the Phoenix lights have me wondering what really went on.

www.cnn.com...


The battle of L.A. has me wondering
www.abovetopsecret.com...

The 1967 Falcon Lake encounter
ufocasebook.com...






[edit on 28-12-2005 by Dulcimer]

Originally posted by Dulcimer
First off, everyone should be a skeptic. Even the most hardcore believer.

Why? Because the people that go around saying that every scrap of UFO evidence is real are fools and look like fools when they try to discuss UFO's with others.

[edit on 28-12-2005 by Dulcimer]

Yes, exactly.

Its the same with the skeptics (bad ones)

saying that every scrap of UFO evidence is fake, nonsance, etc, makes the skeptic a fool.


Keep an open mind. Use skepticism.

Hey, I'm a skeptical head-scratcher. I haven't seen anything that says to me conclusively there is an extraterrestrial presence. But there are many events that are puzzling, to put it mildly.

I'd agree with the Battle Of LA being one of them.

Also, the Washington DC buzz in 1952.

[url=http://www.ufocasebook.com/washingtondc1952.html]>>LINK

i can't remember any that really puzzled but i must admit i haven't looked too hard, and if i do see some i'll just say i don't know what it is, but i doubt it's aliens. i bet that annoys you but if you read on i'll explain.

see its not that i don't believe that aliens exhist, they almost certainly do, but i can't see a reason why they'ld come all this way and then not show themselves,why on earth would an alien race choose to hide it's presance from the public, it doesn't make any logical sence to me, and i'll stop being so skeptical of grainy footage and abduction accounts as soon as someone gives me a good answer.see even if we can't classify somthing as a known terrestrial craft or weather phenominum(sp) saying it must be a flying saucer rather than an unknown craft or weather phenominum makes no more sence to me than saying its a dragon but i'm open to a convincing argument.

Closed-minded skeptics are the same as close-minded believers.
Both are detriments to their own cause. To dismiss or to believe
a THING without reason does not change the fact of the THING.
Neither has any bearing on the THING being true or false.

To believe that a thing CANNOT be simply because it is beyond the scope
of your intellect is the same as believing that a thing CAN be simply because
you dreamed it.

*sigh* I suppose i'm a closed minded believer..... I don't believe every ufo footage out there, but I really really really (and know *g*) that they exist.

Kind Regards
Merger

"First off, everyone should be a skeptic. Even the most hardcore believer." == Dulcimer

Right on. Skepticism and Belief are not mutually exclusive. But gullibility and belief are very bad combinations.
Of late, a trademark for this very forum area. I think its a healthy sign that the skeptic question continues to be addressed.
Otherwise I would retitle the Aliens and UFO forum to be something like
Gullible's Travels, by Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

I do not believe in extraterrestrial contact with our planet but there is never an image, account or otherwise that doesn't make me wonder. I have no doubt that people see UFOs but wish more people would allow for explanations other than the alien one. Years ago I saw a UFO. I couldn't identify it and still can't. But I grew up near a major Air Force Base where we now know they ran some of the tests for the Stealth Bomber. This is a more reasonable explanation, although personally I would prefer the aliens flying over my house. The Bermuda Triangle still mystifies me as does whatever exactly happened in Roswell. The scientific leaps necessary to allow for extraterrestrial contact is vast, however, to the point that holding the belief is more akin to a religious faith.

As has been said, you can be a skeptic and still be a believer. I am very much skeptic of pretty much EVERYTHING said on these forums. More often than not people have mistaken one thing for something else - like being unable to scream in a dream as being proof that they were abducted... when really it could just be because your body doesn't let you scream in your dreams (try it - it's actually very difficult to do, even in a lucid dream!).

Or when people say they saw green flashes, and they think it's a UFO... when really it's a fireball.

Or people that base real-life theories soley on dreams.

Or secret societies and new world orders and such...

I am skeptic of everything.

However, I believe in UFOs, alien abductions (for whatever purposes), and a government that keeps the majority of the truth (of whatever they know - alien or not) a secret not just from the populace, but from other parts of the government.

Somebody presents me with something new, like this whole "reptilian shape-shifter" bizzaro stuff that a number of hard-core conspiracists have going on, I will thoroughly analyze it before I give it any kind of respect. So far, for these reptilians, I have seen and heard nothing which gives any kind of credible accounts. It's all conjecture and fifth-hand rumour, or even worse, purposefully dreamt up to rack in sales and money.

The truely sad thing about skeptics is that they have tunnel vision that is directed to a computer monitor. It's to much trouble to go outside and try to get a firsthand experience. While those of us that spend a lot of time outside and see things that are unexplainable are vilafied and labled wingnuts or tinfoil hat people. I don't even bother to relate my experiences anymore because i'm tired of being called a lier or some other derogatory name. I'm as skeptical as the most ardent skeptic but first hand experience trumps internet BS any day.

Unexplainable events, anomalies and high strangness frightens some people so their comfort level is maintained by knee jerk skepticism and ridicule of those that threaten their view of the cosmos.

Not only is it stranger than we know, it's stranger than we can even imagine.

I am a skeptic because IMO aliens and UFOs for the most part are a creation of the US government. The concept of aliens and UFOs has been fueled by hollywood qnd other governments have found the public distraction conventient.
The other reason I am a skeptic is that most UFO sightings have logical explations. The trick is to find the cases that lack a logical explanation.
Despite my beliefs I cant entirely rule out the possablity that aliens are visting earth after all closed mindness is dangerous.

As a certainty of life that death and taxes are the only sure things in life, everyone is a skeptic, for at some point of time everyone would had been fooled before and learnt their mistakes. If someone tries to sell you the Manhattan Bridge, you would certainly be skeptical if not laughed outright at him.

However, there are 'good' and 'bad' skeptics around. Good ones reserve judgement and adopt a wait and see attitude or research facts first. Bad rabid ones will not hesitate but just scoff and ridicule others, to show their 'superior' juvenile intelligence over others. Even more sinister are the disinformation specialist for they have something to hide, just as Nixon's staff would deny watergate ever happened if anyone got close until they were debunked.

Ignorance is not a crime and can be corrected over time. Nor do the ignorants deserved to be made a fool of. Education is a long process of learning and requires patience, so too if someone wish to change the perception of someone else - patience and time. In the absence patience, only mean spirits abound which only creates enemies and achieves nothing. Better not to teach if one has not the time than to create a mess out of issues when genuine serious debate without juvenile anger can sort things out better. Unfortunately, its easier to put people down than to raise the mentality of others and this is the trademark to differentiate between the good and bad rabid skeptics.

Charlettans and hoaxers abound, but the more dangerous are ones who makes money out of the ignorant. And these are the ones who should be found out quicky, not rabidly and persecutively, but by a combination of irrefutable facts and figures, not with another set of hypothesises qouted from scholars who cant even agree on what they are saying or using other hoaxes as evidence that 'ANYTHING' out of the ordinary, 'against the law of physics or logical reasoning' is therefore a hoax, for there are still too much unknown in our world.

On a personal level, i still cant figure out the mass flight of UFOs in mexico, witnessed by many, including political leaders. Something is indeed up there and if other nations say those FO dont belong to them, not meteors or weather balloons. then who is flying those objects not listed in any scholar researched peer reviewed aircraft books?

Originally posted by Spreadthetruth
Most of the skeptics never look into any cases and just dismiss all of the UFO phenomenon as "Nothing".


Most skeptics will also never ever consider the idea of anything which goes beyond their narrow-minds, dispite the evidence presented to them.


What I'm trying to say is that its rare that a skeptic will ever scratch their heads when confronted with a alternative topic.
[edit on 28-12-2005 by Spreadthetruth]

Okay, what you're saying there really, really bothers me. Anyone who is like that is not a real skeptic. It's just someone claiming to be a skeptic. A skeptic goes in and tries to determine objectively, from the evidence, if something is plausible or not. So don't you badmouth skeptics again without knowing what they are, 'kay?

There is a difference between "skeptic" and "debunker", and often these two are confused.... I think that's where much of the trouble comes from....

The cases that really stick out in my mind are of course, Roswell, Rendlesham, The Hill Case (especially the star map), the DC buzz of '52, and the Battle of LA. All of these are really a challenge for the skeptics to try and "explain away".....

Originally posted by Solasis

Originally posted by Spreadthetruth
Most of the skeptics never look into any cases and just dismiss all of the UFO phenomenon as "Nothing".


Most skeptics will also never ever consider the idea of anything which goes beyond their narrow-minds, dispite the evidence presented to them.


What I'm trying to say is that its rare that a skeptic will ever scratch their heads when confronted with a alternative topic.
[edit on 28-12-2005 by Spreadthetruth]

Okay, what you're saying there really, really bothers me. Anyone who is like that is not a real skeptic. It's just someone claiming to be a skeptic. A skeptic goes in and tries to determine objectively, from the evidence, if something is plausible or not. So don't you badmouth skeptics again without knowing what they are, 'kay?

Just to clear this up, I'm bad mouthing the general ignorant narrow-minded "skeptics" (Idiots, to be blunt), not professional UFO 'skeptics' who are an essential part of UFOlogy.

Or even those with a skeptical mind, like myself.



[edit on 31-12-2005 by Spreadthetruth]

To be honest, I'd say there are FAR MORE narrow minded "believers" than skeptics. This is why most skeptics don't take the UFO believers seriously, which in turn is why the believers dislike the skeptics.

Those amature videos/pictures of tiny white lights in the sky doesn't help things either. Somtimes bad evidence can do more harm to an idea than no evidence at all.


[edit on 31-12-2005 by futureafter]

Originally posted by Spreadthetruth

Originally posted by Solasis

Originally posted by Spreadthetruth
Most of the skeptics never look into any cases and just dismiss all of the UFO phenomenon as "Nothing".


Most skeptics will also never ever consider the idea of anything which goes beyond their narrow-minds, dispite the evidence presented to them.


What I'm trying to say is that its rare that a skeptic will ever scratch their heads when confronted with a alternative topic.
[edit on 28-12-2005 by Spreadthetruth]

Okay, what you're saying there really, really bothers me. Anyone who is like that is not a real skeptic. It's just someone claiming to be a skeptic. A skeptic goes in and tries to determine objectively, from the evidence, if something is plausible or not. So don't you badmouth skeptics again without knowing what they are, 'kay?

Just to clear this up, I'm bad mouthing the general ignorant narrow-minded "skeptics" (Idiots, to be blunt), not professional UFO 'skeptics' who are an essential part of UFOlogy.

Or even those with a skeptical mind, like myself.



[edit on 31-12-2005 by Spreadthetruth]

And just to clear up exactly what i'm saying, those "skeptics (idiots)" that you're talking about are not real skeptics. They're people who may call themselves skeptics, but they aren't skeptics.

As for the original question of the thread... A lot of things stump me. But i'm not a very good skeptic, because i'm too lazy to research things. I watch documentaries and read websites, and consider what i know empirically and from those. For example, i have figured out that it is very unlikely, but vaguely possible, that the moon landing was faked. But, the biggest thing that's got me is some lights that my dad says he saw when he was young, dancing in the skies of okinawa and making geometric shapes. I have no flippin' idea what those could've been.

I'm a skeptic of aliens. because there is no absolute proof. to me beleiving in aliens exist..for now...is the same as faith in christainity. with no valid proof..and just faith. the government is hiding something but, imo I think people shouldn't make brash decisions of claiming that its all aliens. before I started scrounging the net for information...yeah, I did beleive in aliens...but, once I've read 10,000 different stories...it starts to get kind of silly...like the whole reptillian taking over illuminati mcdonalds thing...is just totally ridiculous...everything from bigfoot being an alien to all children are born eben...is just funny. I like ats...because theres alot of sound mind people...and seem to have less "bias" of people who don't neccesarily beleive in this sort of thing...and look at facts..but, doesn't push away the dreamers also...which is how it should be...a medium...to truely get an understanding of the whole situation.



"just raid area 51....the government can't stop 10'000+ people or more for a giant sneak attack!"

"if their were that many aliens visiting earth..why are we just sitting around! to arms!"