Critical Thinking Tips for Close Encounters With UFO Claims |
UFO claims continue to excite the public, despite the absence of scientific confirmation.
Eyewitness accounts of UFOs are not strong evidence due to the fallibility of human vision and memory.
A deep review of claims by a special NASA committee found no conclusive evidence of alien visitation.
Are we alone? This is one of the ultimate questions and, so far, there is no definitive answer. This reality is at odds, however, with the steady flow of confident but unsubstantiated UFO claims coming from prominent politicians, journalists, and podcasters.
Add to this the broad and persistent influence of entertaining films, deceptive pseudo-documentaries, and sensationalized releases of government and military files, and it’s not surprising that more than a third of Americans believe intelligent extraterrestrials have visited the Earth. According to a Chapman University survey, 35.3% of American adults believe that aliens have visited the Earth in modern times, and 42.7% believe aliens visited in ancient times.1 These are disturbing numbers for claims that have not even remotely approached scientific confirmation.2
A story is only a story until someone backs it up with enough appropriate and verifiable evidence. To date, all we have for UFOs are eyewitness accounts, ambiguous images and data, and conspiracy theories. This is why there is still no rational reason to conclude that aliens have ever been here.
Tips for Evaluating UFO Claims
The following list of points can help defend the mind against delusion-capture during those inevitable close encounters with UFO hype. After reading, please share the list with others to help promote clearer thinking about this topic.
UFO enthusiasts often emphasize the sanity and honesty of people who claim to have seen alien........