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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
 Posted - 12/06/2010 : 11:36:04
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Get a load of this:
"Wonders in the Sky": Why we've always been obsessed with UFOs
Salon:
UFO skeptics take note: Strange flying objects have been haunting our planet for much longer than many people think. Over 3,000 years ago, in the Egyptian Nile Valley, a man reported looking into the sky to see a "shining disk" descend and tell him to build a new city. On Sept. 11, 1787, in Edinburgh, Scotland, a group of people reported, "a fiery globe larger than the sun" moving eastward in a horizontal direction and dipping below the horizon before exploding behind a cloud. Eight years later, in the Quangxi province of China, a "large star" rose and fell three times, followed by another star that "crashed in a village."
According to Jacques Vallee, the French-born astronomer and co-author (with Chris Aubeck) of the hypnotic new book "Wonders in the Sky: Unexplained Aerial Objects from Antiquity to Modern Times," these stories are important not only because they show that flying things have been capturing our imagination for centuries, but because of what they say about our most cherished beliefs and deepest fears. In the book, Vallee and Aubeck list 500 claims of sightings, in chronological order, between the years 1460 BC and 1879, and argue that the commonalities -- references to light, round shapes, erratic flight and terror in the observer -- offer us real insight into human behavior and our need to find explanation for things we cannot explain.
Salon spoke with Vallee from his home in San Francisco about our religious connection to UFOs, the controversy surrounding his own work -- and our endless cultural obsession with flying objects. |
I’m going to jump directly to the end of the interview, which you can read all of by clinking on the link.
Salon:
There seems to be a very common visceral reaction to the issue of UFOs, whether people believe in them or don't believe them, the reaction tends to be fairly certain. Why do people have such strong reactions?
Jacques Vallee:
Especially in journalism, the typical reaction is ridicule. It's a human reaction to ambiguity, because it's a big challenge [to explain] and what people describe is, in many cases, terrifying. Given that you don't have an explanation and there aren't people doing really good research, humor is one way to react. The other way is to jump to some conclusion and become a believer. Or a skeptic, which is another form of irrational belief. |
So, either you should withhold belief, which would be, to my way of thinking, the skeptical thing to do, or be a skeptic which is irrational according to Vallee. Hmmm…
Here’s the wiki lowdown on Jacques Vallée.
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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The Rat
SFN Regular
Canada
1370 Posts |
Posted - 12/07/2010 : 06:49:34 [Permalink]
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Just seeing the name Vallée tells me all I need to know...
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Bailey's second law; There is no relationship between the three virtues of intelligence, education, and wisdom.
You fiend! Never have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the Church? - The Bishop of Bath and Wells, Blackadder II
Baculum's page: http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=3947338590 |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 12/07/2010 : 07:25:09 [Permalink]
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I see UFOs constantly. Some nights ago, I saw what appeared to be a perfect twin of the New Moon floating gracefully about the sky.
As soon as I get these cataracts taken care of, the double vision will cease. I confess, I'll miss it a little; you get to see some amazing and amusing things when you have it.
Until someone comes up with evidence a lot more solid than anecdote, and blurry and/or possibly 'shopped photos, I think I'll remain irrational on the topic. It's less stressful.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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The Rat
SFN Regular
Canada
1370 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2010 : 18:21:51 [Permalink]
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Pink elephant on a bicycle? You need to try harder stuff filthy, I see them on unicycles while juggling flaming chainsaws. Try mixing a little absinthe into your daily imbibation.
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Bailey's second law; There is no relationship between the three virtues of intelligence, education, and wisdom.
You fiend! Never have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the Church? - The Bishop of Bath and Wells, Blackadder II
Baculum's page: http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=3947338590 |
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Wonders in the Sky. UFO book
