ENOUGH! Manners in the Aliens/UFO Forum and those who habitually deride, insult, and just LOVE being

reply to post by bezerker


These two off-topic posts above by beserker are prime examples of a lack of decorum by what I will call the "true believers" who have to bring their tired arguments into any thread they care to. No, this isn't incivility per se; however, the act of hijacking a thread from its intended topic, to his/her pet views is still inappropriate, and many would also call it rude. In any case it's certainly inconsiderate, and should be dealt with as strongly as one is dealing with rude behavior if the health of the forum is the point.

For example, in the notorious/epic "Show Me Just One Piece of Evidence of an ET UFO" (or whatever it is called), one poster goes on for several pages worth of the thread on how he/she is a reptilian or some such thing, and adds nothing to the discussion of the OP. This is annoying and rude to me, as I find offensive: people wasting my time. Frankly, I'd call this trolling, although many of the true believers called the OP a troll, even though his challenge to the community was a legitimate one. Seems true believers calling legitimate skeptics trolls is about as rude as a skeptic or debunker calling a commenter or thread creator a dingle-berry for bringing up some long-discredited meme or citation, or showing some very dodgy video or picture.

And with respect to the OP, I, as a UFO agnostic/skeptic, was put off by the complaint that skeptics and debunkers are the primary source of incivility in this forum. Besides the type of inconsiderateness described above, I've seen plenty of painting of skeptics and debunkers (S&D) as narrow-minded purveyors of swamp gas and weather balloons, along with rudeness on par with what some skeptics and debunkers dishout. By the OP addressing the criticism at a particular viewpoint demographic, the opposing viewpoint gains unwarranted vindication/validity -- and is plain inequitable. This is why the OP has taken a lot of heat from the S&D contingent, and why a lot of this thread has tread away from the main issue of reaffirming the importance of civility -- and I would add decorum/considerateness.

Related to all this, but certainly tangential, is this thought: given the tens of thousands of threads in the A/UFO Forum, and the way new threads are made on old topics because most people don't have the wherewithal to check before unknowingly creating a new, but redundant thread -- and some people are just too lazy to check even a little -- and a goodly segment of the forum readership is tired of sensationally titled new threads and threads with some dubious YouTube footage or its like, couldn't there be an alternative forum for more serious (perhaps even scientific) UFO investigation/research, in order to sort the wheat from the chaff, so to speak?

For example, I, for one, do not want to ever read another post or thread about ancient cave paintings and such as being proof positive of visitation by ETs. Sure, people ought to be able to regurgitate this stuff ad naseum in some forum, but more discerning folk don't want to devote another photon-neuron interaction to such matters. And frankly, most anyone still writing on this topic has nothing new to add to the conversation. Separating the forum into a more objective one and a more speculative/subjective one would make for less friction/annoyance and hence less cause for tempers to flare and manners to deteriorate.

As it is now, the most highly viewed threads -- i.e. the most readily accesible/viewable ones -- are the usual suspects, most of which I would consider to be inconsequential to serious/objective UFO researchers/aficionados. This leads to a feedback/response system that goes ever more towards noise, rather than useful information. Creating two paradigms of UFO/Alien forum boards would breath new life into the more serious/objective discussion of the topic.

may i politely ask-- as a frequent lurker but a member with not enough posts to post a topic for me?
im curious and i though here would be a great place to ask if someone will do so?

www.youtube.com...

oh geez nm.. i really looked through past few posts and figured this was a very new subject so it would have been on the top few if it had been posted yet
did a search and realized that there is like a bazillion posts on this already!
sorry

Hello I'm a noob so go easy.

My name is captaincosmic, original no, protect my true identity yes. I live in London and I have come here because it's a great place even if filled with debunkers and a good place for me to share my experience.

I'm noone special, I'm a computer engineer by trade which means I'm basically a swap out monkey of failed server components.

I would like to tell you about what I percieved to be an ET ufo/probe.

I was standing on my balcony of my flat in the sumer of 2005 I cant give you the exact date and I have no photographs or videos. I was smoking a cigarette and just pondering about what I'd been doing at work when I noticed the sound of a helicopter about 1/4 of mile away I also noticed a second helicopter to the right of the first one, both helicopters were circling a really bright orb type object that was as bright as the sun. The hellicopters were keeping their distance from this bright object which was stationary. I observed the object for about 30 seconds and then it shot straight up out of sight. This happened in broad daylight around 4:00pm.

Although it was a fleeting glypse I'm now a converted ufo researcher.

I'd take any lie detector test or truth drug or what ever else anyone would care to throw at me. I am convinced that we are being visited by aliens and they are monitoring us.

This is only the second time I've posted my story, the first time I posted it on another site they were more interested in my spelling than my life changing experience????

There are an awful lot of crazy theories on the net perpetuated by attention seeking mid life crisis suffering never wases that are deperate for the attention and they have dreamed up some real crackpot ideas.that really do damage to the real ufo sightings.

It doesn't matter if people think I'm lying or I have fabricated this story but let me just add that I feel very privaleged to have seen a real ufo in the middle of London during the day and it has driven me to seek out the truth and study this subject for over six years.

UFO's of ET origin are real but it doesn't mean # because in 2011 no one really gives a flying rats arse about the subject, I was the same until that day in the summer of 2005.

reply to post by captaincosmic


Hi there Captaincosmic.
Just a heads up becuase your story may get lost here.

I would suggest that you get 20 posts, then make your own thread about your experience.

Regards.

reply to post by defuntion


Will do

Thanks

i feel its wrong to go after the investigators, they do a good job

reply to post by CHRLZ


You're not just speaking for yourself; I agree with everything you said. In particular, I like the idea of a separate forum for youtube videos (for that matter, I'm one for a separate forum for more speculative UFO/Alien-related posts as well, as I am sick and tired of "Ancient Aliens" threads and posts) and for closing threads where a reasonable explanation is given, but people keep posting that they are sure it proves alien visits (or something like that). Of course, for the latter, who is the arbiter what is the "final word" on a particular observation/phenomenon? -- There's the rub.

here's the thing though; debunkers have to be allowed to state their opinions as well. I'm a skeptic, I don't know that Earth has been visited but i am not so naive as to believe that we are the only beings out there. The issue here is that just because you do not agree with something someone has supposedly "debunked" something doesn't necessarily mean they have. have respect and let them say what they will, ignore it and move on or risk giving yourself an ulcer or burst blood vessel.

In my not-so-humble opinion, debunkers provide a most important service to the ATS community. ATS has some of the most ardent skeptics on any conspiracy and/or UFO related site. If your video/picture/story can stand up under the scrutiny of ATS skeptics then there is a good chance your evidence is legitimate.

There's just no need to be rude.

Originally posted by Blarneystoner

There's just no need to be rude.

You're exactly right.

reply to post by Springer


Can someone please help me out here? Wednesday night (01/04/12) at approx. 11:15, I heard an extremely loud noise outside of my house. It sounded like a plane of some sort was stuck flying over my house, but different somehow. I have NEVER heard this before and know what a plane sounds like! To make matters even more frightening, my dog that normally barks at a everything, stopped barking for the entire 60 seconds this "thing" made the noise. Afterwards, he went crazy barking and growling like I've never heard him before. Look, I'll be honest and say I'm sort of a skeptic when it comes to aliens and ufo's, but also won't discredit that there is ALOT I don't know. Would anyone have any idea of what this might be? Besides the unidentified, are there planes or military that can do this? My next questions would be, why so late at night? Thanks for any responses!

Sorry to have posted my question here, as I'm relatively new to this. Please go easy on me. I'm only posting because I'm desperate to find an answer. I'm not usually a person who is easily scared or too terrified to look out the window upon hearing a suspicious noise. Needless to say, this one made my heart thump a little faster than normal. Can you say, "depends"? If anyone has ever heard this before, please ease my mind by telling me it's something weather related or government stupidity. Otherwise, I might have to dig a hole and call it mine.

Hi,

I agree to with posters above that people should add more to a thread than just a vid with little to no opinion or support. For the most part I have seen members remind them in a respectful way and am grateful for the members that handle the quandaries with patience and consideration, and maybe a little humor, but respectfully nonetheless.

Originally posted by ceetee
IMO you should implement the ability for the original poster to edit his first post with the latest info. It would also be nice to mark posts as solved & hoax to help people get the latest info when they drop onto a 20 page thread. Recent UFO threads of late have been answered on page 2 but continue on page after page with people telling you it's real. People also need to spend the time reading the threads, but the current state of affairs makes that quite soul destroying due to the amount of spam and trolling. Hopefully these new changes will rectify that.

edit on 7-11-2010 by ceetee because: (no reason given)

edit on 7-11-2010 by ceetee because: (no reason given)

I definately agree with some sort of Hoax/Solved/Unsolved marker. This would make things easier for interested researchers and slow down random debunking!

Oh and just a thought... Many people are afraid to put detailed descriptions for fear of ridicule... Maybe a forum for new posts where people with minimul information can post si that collectively forum users can build a decent thread beform hitting the walls

Just a thought

reply to post by Springer


That was the most professionally written piece on board ethics I have seen to date. I will enjoy this forum even more. Shannon.

Gotta have manners.

I agree totally. Alex