I have an interest in the theories regarding extra-terrestrial life, life after death, reincarnation and various other alternative viewpoints that are outside the mainstream, but I am also a staunch realist with a scientific background and a healthily cynical attitude. Given this caveat you are probably, if you are a “believer” in UFO stories and the like, already switching off, and this is at the root of the problem that I am going to address. Let us be clear about this. Forget conspiracy theories for the moment, forget Area 51 and Roswell, and everything else you have read of heard about for a moment. Whatever the various governments and secret societies may or may not know one think is absolutely clear. There is NO conclusive evidence regarding the existence or otherwise of UFOs, ghosts, ESP or anything else in the public domain. None, not one piece. But how can I say this? What about the Phoenix lights? What about Rendelsham Forest? What about x,y and z? These are reports, not evidence. They may be very credible reports, from very credible witnesses, but this is irrelevant to the premise being discussed. They are not evidence. If I went to court and claimed that you had just stolen my car and I had seen you this might be enough to have you investigated by the police but certainly wouldn't be enough to convict you. This is not evidence, it is a report. The reason that the police would perhaps investigate this is to gather evidence to prove or disprove the report to the satisfaction of the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK, and then a Judge and jury to gain a conviction.
The point is that the report is just that, a report, an opinion of an event, real or not, and that is all that we, the general public have with regard to any of these things. This presents a problem, because this is not the impression that many people have when they think about these phenomena. There is a general confusion regarding what constitutes evidence, and of course in this area it is always argued that any evidence that is found is immediately hidden and those finding it are silenced. This may well be the case, and at no point am I dismissing the possibility of UFOs, alien contact or anything else, but this is the problem. Whether there has been evidence hidden, or no real evidence at all, the result is the same. There is no evidence in the public domain. Consequently the only thing that we can reliably say about these areas is that they are interesting, and that there are possibilities that these phenomena exist and may have an influence, and yet the majority of people in the UK believe that UFOs and ghosts exist. It is a small majority, depending on which figures you believe, between 52% and 63% of the British public believe in at least some of these things, but a greater number than vote for our Government.
This is a problem, because it means that whenever reports are made in the media, it becomes impossible, in my opinion to investigate these reports effectively because of the belief that is generated. A classic example of this has already been mentioned, the Phoenix Lights report. A UFO sighting report from multiple witnesses in Phoenix, Arizona of a series of lights in the night sky. According to the reports these were anything from a line of lights that appeared in sequence, a report corroborated by the video footage available, to a gigantic triangular craft the size of two football pitches, or at least 250 metres long flying silently and slowly over the city, a report uncorroborated by any video evidence available. Having studied the evidence and communicated with witnesses personally I am satisfied that this is not a UFO sighting but is a case of a military aircraft dropping battlefield illumination flares over a military exercise some considerable distance from Phoenix. This is in part similar to the official story presented by the US official investigators, and therefore not accepted by UFO believers, however, it is by far the most likely explanation, and using Occams Razor it is the default position until such time as additional information is uncovered.
The problem is that there are many more people, some of whom are witnesses to these lights, some of whom aren't who go beyond disputing the official story, or putting forward alternatives, to categorically stating that this is a genuine alien craft sighting, which is of course not the case. The investigation has not reached a conclusion, nor is it likely to, but that is another story....
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