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The Role Of Skeptics The First Alien Abduction Military Abductions Abduction Hypnotherapist Who Uncovered Alien Abductions? Are YOU an Abductee? Alien implants The Role of Skeptics * Skeptics * Debunkers * Disinformation * A Word About Carl Sagan People who are skeptical of new information are very important and very valuable. A person who is truly skeptical approaches new information with an open mind, but wants clear proof to change his mind about what he previously thought. The fact is we need these guys. Skepticism is a process of evaluation; a way to integrate new information. A Process of Birth Skeptics are absolutely necessary when moving to a new paradigm. They provide a frame of reference and a brake, so to speak, so society can move forward without gaining so much speed that we crash. The greatest transitions in human history all had opposing and skeptical forces. In fact, without opposition there can be no growth or change. The Chicago Bulls or the Green Bay Packers can't win a championship if they don't have other teams like the Knicks or the Cowboys to oppose them. Copernicus discovered the earth was not the center of the universe. His views were met with tremendous opposition. The opposing forces withheld this information from the public for three hundred years. Once it was learned that the earth was round, it was still hundreds of years before all the world knew it. When the microscope was invented and revealed the existence of microorganisms ("little beasties"), the discoverers were widely ridiculed by physicians who continued to practice surgery without washing their hands first. Debunkers A debunker is a person who is committed to proving that his way of looking at the world is the only way. Debunkers have a clear agenda and are opposed to anything that does not conform to their view. Unlike a true skeptic, a debunker does not have an open mind and is not seeking the truth, but rather just support for his position. There are people who feel that their sole purpose is to "debunk" or offer disclaimers about the existence of flying saucers. It has long been suspected that some of these people are, in fact, paid by the U.S. government to do this. The most well-known of these debunkers is Philip Klass. Klass started his career as an aviation journalist. He's a pretty irascible old man. He can be very nasty in his attacks on people who know about UFOs. Here is one thing that you should know about Phil. Investigator and former police officer Ted Oliphant picked up the phone and called Phil Klass. He asked Phil this question: "What do you think about the existence of UFOs?" After a long pause, Phil answered: "Oh, I suppose another civilization sends a probe here about every hundred years." So clearly, Klass knows the truth. Disinformation One of the ways the truth of the existence of flying saucers is kept from the public is with an active and aggressive campaign of disinformation. It works by providing misleading information to people who research the UFO phenomenon. Here Is How They Do It During the years I have been observing the UFO phenomenon, a clear pattern of deceit has emerged. Legitimate scientists and researchers are contacted by someone who has government credentials. He says he wants to share secretly acquired government information, documents, or photographs. Later, after the researcher bites the hook and incorporates this information into his own material, another government employee or other information source shows up with completely conflicting official documentation. This is then used to discredit the original researcher's entire body of work. This conflict also leads to other researchers in the field disavowing any connection to the person or any of his research. In addition, different researchers are given different pieces of the puzzle, which leads to infighting and fragmentation among some investigators. Ironically, many of these bits of information are true, but all the pieces don't easily fit into any one picture. This is often clear to all parties involved, but like children they stay in the sandbox throwing sand at each other. Carl Sagan I have decided to include a few words about Mr. Sagan in this section. The decision to do this did not come easily and I wrestled with it for months while writing this book. A Giant in the Cosmos Carl Sagan's work was tremendous. The gift he gave the public was so great it cannot be measured. If there is one book every household should have (since we now know we are not alone in the universe) it should be Carl Sagan's book or videotape series Cosmos. Almost single-handedly Sagan taught the world about science and the unlimited possibilities of the universe. In Cosmos Sagan describes with great hope and promise the items that were put aboard the two Voyager spacecraft. They were items intended to show people from other worlds who we are. Included in these items are information on our genetics, culture, mathematics, civilization, and the location of our solar system. The Accusations Many people who have studied the UFO phenomenon and can clearly see the truth of the existence of alien beings felt Carl Sagan was holding out, or even worse, playing the role of a debunker and lying to the public through failure to disclose what he knew. This is the reason I have chosen to put something about Carl Sagan in this section. He Was Too Smart Not to Know Many felt he was too smart and too well-connected not to know the truth. Not only that; it is just too easy to discover the truth. If anyone has even the slightest interest and simply asks around with the same level of intensity you would use to find a good dentist, you will easily confirm the existence of flying saucers. It just seems that someone of Sagan's reputation could have easily picked up the telephone, made a few well-placed calls and confirmed something he spent his whole life searching for. Sagan was also chided in UFO circles about his off-handed comments inferring that UFOs were figments of people's imaginations. Scientists Sometimes Do Dumb Things Too Here is a statement made by Carl Sagan: I believe the search for extraterrestrial intelligence to be an exceedingly important one for both science and society... But I do not believe that the most efficient method of examining this topic is via the UFO problem. The best hope for such investigations is NASA's unmanned planetary program and attempts at interstellar radio communications. 2 It is interesting that Sagan saw UFOs as a problem instead of an opportunity. It sounds more like a military position. Even if there were only one chance in ten million that UFOs were craft from other planets, you would think a scientist would be ecstatic; people bet the lottery every day and the odds of winning are only one in 25 million. It never ceases to amaze me that the top brains in science use radio waves to try to communicate with other beings in space. WE don't even use radio to communicate between countries. It's too primitive. Several contactees have even been asked by aliens why we use radio for this attempt to communicate, this is like using smoke signals to call your friend. My Own Conclusion I have chosen to give Mr. Sagan the benefit of the doubt. I am going to accuse him of doing the very best he possibly could for humanity. A couple of points follow: I did a brief, but by no means complete, look into Sagan's past writings. I was unable to find any quotes or statements specifically denigrating anyone's claims of the existence of flying saucers. It is quite possible he really didn't know, as improbable as that seems. In reviewing some of his work, it is clear Sagan was steeped in the traditional Western methods of scientific thought. Even he recognized this. He may have simply been held captive by his own view of the world. "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." This is a well-known Sagan adage, and he is right. However, it does not take into account the question of whether or not you will be able to recognize the proof when you see it. In fact, the statement is self-limiting. Even though man watched birds fly in the sky for thousands of years, up until 1912 scientists were still claiming heavier-than-air flight was impossible. Yet the proof of the possibility was right in front of their faces all along. Sagan fought to apply rigorous scientific methods to the investigation on UFOs. It's ironic because this was one of his greatest abilities, yet it cost him the most cherished information he could ever imagine, confirmation that we are not alone in the universe. That is, if he truly did not know, as his statements indicate. Despite the tremendous opposition from many members of the scientific community, Sagan fought for and got a symposium held on UFOs at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1969. Here are two statements Sagan made about this effort: The Associations should include in their programs doubtfully scientific areas of current public interest, such as astrology, extrasensory perception, and unidentified flying objects to show how these can be considered in a scientific way. We believe the scientific community is honor bound to keep the lines of communication open and to aid constructive discussion. We do not see how such a symposium can fail to serve science well. The Last Word Before he died, Carl Sagan said that if we find so much as a single microbe on a rock from Mars, it means the universe is teeming with life. He was absolutely correct. Dr. John Mack M.D. David Jacobs, PhD Home Page
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