UFO believers in general, and Roswell visitors in particular, possess a religious fervor in their other-world proselytizing that would make a televangelist blush. Their insistence that we are regularly visited by extraterrestrials can only be compared to religion in terms of its irrational beliefs. The media regularly stokes the embers of this delusion because it sells. Most recently, the ET hype went into overdrive due to some grainy footage released by some Navy pilots of glowing objects “that defied the laws of physics.”
Don’t misunderstand my skepticism. I stand in line behind no one in my desire to make extraterrestrial contact. Lord only knows that this planet could use a good shake-up from beyond our solar system. Hell, I’d even be excited by some ET tardigrades. But pardon me if I need better evidence than gun camera footage from a couple of Tail Hook survivors. Okay, maybe that’s a bit harsh. I’m not really suggesting that these pilots were hung over and sucking down pure oxygen to alleviate their symptoms. I’m saying a pilot ought to know better than to say something defied the laws of physics. Something can “appear” to defy the laws of physics. But, by definition, nothing can defy the laws of physics or we have to rewrite the laws. Worse, no one would trust an airplane to fly.
My point is that Navy pilots are human and therefore subject to all of the cranial foibles of other humans. I have only known a couple of Navy pilots in my life. And one of them believed in magic underwear and that he would inherit an entire planet when he dies. But I have known a ton of Air Force and Army pilots. And all of them were subject to confirmation bias, perceptual illusions, and just plain being wrong. In other words, they are like any other human. The fact that most of them drank heavily is probably beside the point.
Objects appearing to defy the laws of physics, particularly at night, is something that happens all of the time. The planet Venus is the cause of many a UFO sighting in which excited 911 callers claim that the object (Venus) is defying the laws of physics. Newton would be amused. Such callers even include law enforcement officers. Wearing a uniform doesn’t make one a more accurate observer than someone in a lab coat. Skills used in one’s day job do not automatically transfer to astronomy or exobiology.
I see examples of “defying the laws of physics” all of the time. They are called magic shows. Penn and Teller are famous, as an example, for an illusion in which Teller catches a bullet in his teeth. David Blaine levitates while doing street magic. Famous buildings, mountains, and even elephants vanish and reappear at the whim of professional illusionists. Of course, these are tricks and are acknowledged as such by their perpetrators. They don’t really defy the laws of physics, because that is impossible.
The problem is that people want to believe in the impossible. There is a yearning, so strong that it almost defines being human, for miracles, life after death, and other phenomena that defy the laws of nature. Carl Jung wrote about this in his book, Flying Saucers. It’s part of our DNA and science has even identified some of the regions of the brain responsible. For example, injury to or poor development of the right parietal lobe can lead to spiritual experiences. Regular practice of meditation also slows down this area of the brain, leading to higher spiritual feelings.
Our ancestors have been looking at the sky and wondering what the hell they were seeing forever. Lightning, eclipses, comets, meteors, storms, and the Aurora Borealis are just some of the phenomena they struggled to understand. My point is that we have always had atmospheric events that we could not explain. Flying saucers and ETs didn’t became part of the global memes until we understood the size and scope of the universe and our place in it. Starting in the late 1800s, artists used their preferred medium imagine possible alien neighbors and push their creations into the public consciousness.
I have a good friend who has become a true believer in the church of Roswell. He has been baptized and consumes the sacraments with the vigor of all religious converts. He thrusts “proofs” at me and derides me for my scientific skepticism. It is a sad statement of our times that I have to defend my preference for real evidence as opposed to anecdotal, uncorroborated, or unreproducible “facts.” He is convinced there is a government conspiracy keeping “the truth” hidden. I understand his skepticism in government and even the media. As a Vietnam veteran, I am well aware of the government’s efforts to contain unpleasant truths as well as the media’s potential complicity. Although to be fair I trust the media a little bit more than the government, mostly due to the scoop mentality.
But our government is made up of people. Some of them even belong to the Church of Roswell. And no, they are not lizards in disguise. Exhibit A is Bill Clinton. He couldn’t get a blowjob in a closet (something no lizard is capable of experiencing for reasons that require an anatomy lesson) without the whole world finding out. Even the North Korean government has trouble keeping secrets. And they execute blabbermouths.
Proof of extraterrestrial life would be the biggest story in human history. The people who prove its existence will be rich and be remembered forever. Personally, I trust that the greed of humanity and the hunger for immortality would expose any plot to hide ET from the rest of us. This is especially true for the current administration which is arguably the most corrupt and greedy in modern history. Can anybody really imagine Trump keeping ET on ice? Eric and Junior would already be printing up tickets for the exhibit at Mara Lago. Roswell would become a ghost town.
As for unexplained atmospheric events… they will probably be unexplained for a long time. Scientists are okay with not knowing something and so am I. The reality is that we have different kinds of radar that cover the skies all over the industrial world. We also have blanket coverage of the Earth from satellites that can take pictures of golf balls from space. We have tens of thousands of astronomers, both amateur and professionals, scanning the sky every night with different kinds of telescopes and other instruments. They have yet to confirm any alleged ET activity. When they do, I will put out the welcome mat and jump for joy. Until then, I will continue to be an apostate for the Church of Roswell.
