I just lost a member of the community today. Apparently, the subject of UFOs came up during a wine tasting party and she was upset that I dismissed the subject in such a mocking manner. Here’s her note:
I believe in UFOs 100%. There’s more than just one website that offers historical documentation, videos, pictures that prove we are not alone in this universe. It’s a difficult and scary subject to explore for most and easier to disbelieve than to go beyond ones “comfort zone”. Sorry, your very nice but it was a real turn off to see the group organizer mock the subject and be so close minded. All the best.
I was going to reply to her note directly but since she believes 100%, it would be unlikely for her to consider any response. In fact, it’s a bit hypocritical for someone to say that they believe something 100% then call someone else “close minded.” Also, Nancy was there at the party and remembered our conversation. She did not consider my response as mocking.
However, I did take the time to flesh out three rational arguments that someone might find convincing.
- The universe is vast.
- We are an evolved product of the specific conditions present on Earth.
- Many of the observations ascribed to alien activity have mundane explanations.
Here is the note (that I didn’t send):
So you believe in UFOs 100%. So what? Tucson Atheists is not about UFOs, although I also run the Skeptics of Tucson that is concerned with such subjects. As far as believing in something 100% that is something that is not really possible and to accuse me of being “close minded” is quite ignorant and hypocritical.
Over the many years that I’ve been around, I’ve believed in many things. I read all the Van Daniken books about alien visitation along with other material but as I learned more and more about the physical world and the scientific method it became apparent that it is not possible. I also follow SETI and keep up with the search for inhabitable planets in distant solar systems.
There are trillions of stars but our nearest star is Proxima Centauri 4.24 light years distant from us and the nearest exoplanet that we’ve been able to find that may be able to support life is a 13 light years away.
For just a minute, let’s assume that there is a space faring alien civilization 10 light years away. How long would it take to get there? For comparison let’s look at our most recent visit to Pluto. Pluto is about 4 light hours from earth. We sent our fastest space ship to Pluto. It traveled 36,373 mph and took 9 years, 5 months, and 25 days to get there. In terms of spacial distances, Pluto is fairly close, only 4 light HOURS.
A light year is 8760 light hours or about 6 trillion miles. The New Horizons spacecraft traveling at over 36,000 miles per hour would take 19,000 years to travel ONE light year or 190,000 years to go 10 light years.
Also consider that we are a product of this planet. We evolved from conditions existing here and nowhere else. We can’t assume that visitors from the stars would have any resemblance to our forms. Space travelers would not know up from down and actually have little need for solid ground.
The most damning evidence that there are no alien UFOs is the fact that with all the pictures being snapped around the world with the ever available recording devices on millions, perhaps billions, of people, there is no overwhelming evidence. Sure, you might be able to misinterpret a smudge or a bright light now and again, but I’d expect more.
Science has been able to find alternate rational reasons for many of the so called UFO sightings. For example, there are mundane reasons that the Egyptians built their pyramids which included Pi out to many digits. They didn’t need help from space travelers. They simply used rolling wheels to make some of their measurements. A wheel that is one cubit across when rolled would produce a length exactly cubits.
Early on, I wanted to believe but I’ve given UFOs a lot of thought and now I consider their existence improbable.
Feel free to check my math. By the way, I know that these aren’t the only reasons to doubt the existence of UFOs but it’s a start.
EDT: By the way, I believe we may not be alone in the universe. Odds are pretty good that there are others. However, I don’t believe they’re regular visitors.
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There’s no upside to being mean to someone just to be mean. That said, ridiculous assertions deserve to be ridiculed and this sounds like such a situation. Whether or not you were “mocking”, the routine assertions made by UFO believers deserve to be mocked.
Traditional assertions about UFOs, not to mention healing crystals, homeopathy, scientology, ESP, psychokinesis, and ghosts have a well-deserved place alongside gods and devils in the catalog of ridiculous beliefs. Doing so may not be part of “Atheism” with a capital “A”, but it’s definitely part of having an approach to knowledge that relies on reason rather than faith and wishful thinking.
Key distinction though: Ridiculous beliefs are ridiculous not because they are a small or minority view or widely diverge from existing consensus or are confidently held or are commonly held by people with lower education or social status. All of that is, on some level, fine. Not to mention, some of the ridiculous assertions (like ghosts, gods, and devils) are held by quite a number or majority of people. Some are held by people with lots of education or prestigious titles. Even a leading presidential candidate has unfortunately given a nod to some UFO beliefs (see: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3383221/Hillary-Clinton-vows-reveal-truth-UFOs-Area-51-president-Bill-admits-aliens-visited-Earth.html)
But reality is not a popularity or prestige contest, and even majority opinions can be ridiculous.
The reason such beliefs are ridiculous is that devastating, unanswered criticisms for these beliefs already exist and are widely available for anyone who cares to make a reasonable effort to investigate. That means if someone wants to assert that i.e. the Earth has been visited by aliens, they need to first address the existing major criticisms including the ones you posted above with thoughtful, reasoned rebuttles. *IF they do that*, then they may still be wrong (as may we all) but they’re not ridiculous. They’re worth talking to, and its worth considering their arguments carefully. That’s part of the rational process.
If they don’t do that, and aren’t interested in doing it when prompted, then they’re just being ridiculous and deserve to be mocked. For knowledge to progress, people cannot start at square 1 with every argument.
To be fair, most people don’t understand this difference. They don’t understand that discussing even way “out there” ideas is perfectly fine if you’re saying something new, but ridiculous if you’re just repeating long-invalidated assertions out of ignorance. So they take any “mocking” tone as equivalent to closed mindedness, which it isn’t.