If we were to find totally alien creatures who reason as well as we do then we would have to conclude that it is not reason that makes us human.
Bate
*************************
Hello Barrow, Alaska. May you soon have some warm days.
************************
Let us set aside for now the discussion of whether there is a Sasquatch or not and take up the argument about UFOs. Are there UFOs? Of course there are. A UFO is an Unidentified Flying Object. If you see it flying and you can't identify it it's a UFO, whether it's a Frisbee, a kite, a bird, a weather balloon, a fancy new piece of aircraft the military has come up with or a visitor from outer space.
Now I don't intend to treat any humorous topic seriously and I don't intend to treat any serious topic humorously (well, al right, yes I do).
There have been too many sightings, photographs and videos that haven't been explained not to be certain that such things do not exist as the "flying saucer" and not the one thrown by an angry housewife. There have also been a lot of stories of encounters, beginning with Betty and Barney Hill in 1961. There are two interesting details about that experience. One is that under hypnosis their accounts agreed with each other. Also, the Hills lived in New Hampshire. The incident happened in the White Mountains, where I used to live. I knew an artist up there. When the Hills came to visit him he asked them to describe the way the space creatures looked. He drew what they were describing and when he showed it to them they became quite upset. That picture has never been shown to anyone else and yet it resembles all the other pictures of the space aliens that have been made since.
There are a number of serious scientists investigating the UFO phenomena, some with the hypothesis that they don't exist and others that they do. They are all set out to prove their various theories. To date no one has been able to prove either side of the issue.
And now the question has arisen that if they are visiting us from Zeta Reticuli, or some other place, what do they want? One theory is, perhaps because we've only just discovered it ourselves, they want our DNA. Well, maybe, but I personally think that's as absurd an idea as saying they want our recipe for chicken soup.
That theory is partly based on the observation that they don't seem belligerent toward us. If they are so advanced scientifically they could probably do away with us in a moment, unless one wants to believe they are responsible for brewing up all the hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes and tsunamis, in which case they are playing a very nasty game and they're a bunch of bullies.
It's clear that no nation on this planet is strong enough to do battle with them if it came to that. We cold never blow any one of those UFOs out of the water (sorry, skies).
So what's left? Negotiation? Very difficult since they don't sit still long enough. Besides, who wants to negotiate with a bunch of shrimpy, bug eyed, skin heads?
I would truly like to meet one someday. I'd give him a beer, play him some Mozart or rock and get to know the guy.
YOU HEAR THAT, YOU, OUT THERE? COME VISIT ME. I WON'T LET THE NIGHBORS SHOOT YOU. I PROMISE.
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.
Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
4 answers so far
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
******************
Showing posts with label UFOs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UFOs. Show all posts
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, October 5, 2009
Visionary Virtue 10/05/09
May all the beings on all the worlds be happy.
Rig Veda
**************
Step across the welcome mat.
________________________
I'm relieved that the situation with my leg has improved. It still hurts some, but the joint has loosened up and I don't have to hold on to the back of my chairs and table to walk. No crutches this time around.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
One of the advantages of being human is the ability to accept the possibility of things about which we have no evidence. Imagine where science would be if the only things accepted as true were things that could only be observed by a human eye ball. When we see a flower or a tree we know there are roots because some inquiring individuals dug them up and discovered roots. When we see a waterfall we know there is a major source of water somewhere and we can follow the river up stream to its source. But then there are things we can't so easily prove by simple observation, things that scientists tell us must be there because of calculations based on observable phenomena: wind, magnetism, molecules.
We have deniers in our world. There are people who, for some strange and unknown explained reason, deny that certain things ever happened. There are those who deny the Holocaust. They will site very flimsy evidence while overlooking the real facts. There are those who deny that the Apollo moon missions ever took place, ignoring the thousands of people who were involved in them.
I love the conspiratorial thinkers. They make for very interesting reading. They are convinced that one or the other form of a vast fiction has been fed to the world through some international means of intrigue and cover up. It's fun to imagine that we've been fooled into believing something of world wide importance that actually never happened. I like to joke that the American Revolution never happened. That it was just a conspiracy between the founding fathers and the British government and that hence we are all still part of the British Empire. That our elections are all rigged and Well Street is just a game.
Now how about those UFOs? A UFO is nothing more than an unidentified flying object. It could be a weather balloon, or some unusual piece of Air Force equipment, or a reflection on the lens of a camera. It could be. It could also be an interplanetary visitor to our atmosphere. But the UFO deniers are determined to prove there is no such thing.
Why are there such deniers? I think the answer is fear. Fear of the unknown and inexplicable secretly motivates people to deny things they can't comprehend. They will look past the accounts of holocaust survivors, the testimony of concentration camp guards, the newsreel footage and the buildings which are now museums in Germany, because they cannot comprehend or believe that the Nazis could have killed so many people.
They will look past the accounts of the astronauts who went to the moon, the pictures, both photographs and videos taken from there and the remarkable geological pieces returned to earth, because in their fearful minds setting foot on another planer defies any explanation or possibility of safety or survival. It just simply couldn't be, according to the deniers. Note: not that it didn't happen, but that it couldn't happen.
They will look past those photographs and videos of UFOs that are not explained by any technical or scientific means, past the accounts of respected and respectable people who have witnessed such things, past the testimonies of air line pilots and claim that there are no intergalactic visitors to our planet, not because there aren't, but because there couldn't be. So, I wonder, what sort of an intrigue is going on that makes a case for UFOs? If the Holocaust and the moon walks were all conspiracies, what kind of a conspiracy is trying to convince us of UFOs? Here the deniers are caught in a paradox.
If there is a conspiracy it is more likely a cover up. It has been said by people who ought to know that there is more evidence of UFO activity than we have the information about. But then here's another paradox. If we are being visited by beings from other worlds why aren't we told about it? Why hide the facts?
If that is so the answer once again is fear. Fear of the unknown, inexplicable and "impossible." It is assumed, ipso facto, that all creatures from another planet are hostile, dangerous in their technical superiority and out to destroy our civilization.
If and when a world Air Force develops a flying machine that can go as fast and maneuver as well as some UFOs are reported to do, it will probably trail one and shoot it down.
We have been convinced that any visitor from outer space is by nature an evil creature intent on destroying the earth or taking it captive. But why is that necessarily so? We are all trying to improve the earth and make it a better place for all of us, and we're exploring outer space ourselves not to destroy but to discover. As far as anyone knows, we mean no harm to the planets we may travel to. We are merely claiming our rights as curious and exploratory creatures. If we have visitors from another planet why can't we allow them the same rights?
DB - Vagabond Journeys
****************
Have lots of happy thoughts, friend.
__________________
AUTUMN QUESTION
This is not a contest.
If you could be remembered for one thing, what would it be and why?
You have all Fall to answer if you wish,
Reply here or at dbdacoba@aol.com
1 response so far
Thank you
DB
Rig Veda
**************
Step across the welcome mat.
________________________
I'm relieved that the situation with my leg has improved. It still hurts some, but the joint has loosened up and I don't have to hold on to the back of my chairs and table to walk. No crutches this time around.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
One of the advantages of being human is the ability to accept the possibility of things about which we have no evidence. Imagine where science would be if the only things accepted as true were things that could only be observed by a human eye ball. When we see a flower or a tree we know there are roots because some inquiring individuals dug them up and discovered roots. When we see a waterfall we know there is a major source of water somewhere and we can follow the river up stream to its source. But then there are things we can't so easily prove by simple observation, things that scientists tell us must be there because of calculations based on observable phenomena: wind, magnetism, molecules.
We have deniers in our world. There are people who, for some strange and unknown explained reason, deny that certain things ever happened. There are those who deny the Holocaust. They will site very flimsy evidence while overlooking the real facts. There are those who deny that the Apollo moon missions ever took place, ignoring the thousands of people who were involved in them.
I love the conspiratorial thinkers. They make for very interesting reading. They are convinced that one or the other form of a vast fiction has been fed to the world through some international means of intrigue and cover up. It's fun to imagine that we've been fooled into believing something of world wide importance that actually never happened. I like to joke that the American Revolution never happened. That it was just a conspiracy between the founding fathers and the British government and that hence we are all still part of the British Empire. That our elections are all rigged and Well Street is just a game.
Now how about those UFOs? A UFO is nothing more than an unidentified flying object. It could be a weather balloon, or some unusual piece of Air Force equipment, or a reflection on the lens of a camera. It could be. It could also be an interplanetary visitor to our atmosphere. But the UFO deniers are determined to prove there is no such thing.
Why are there such deniers? I think the answer is fear. Fear of the unknown and inexplicable secretly motivates people to deny things they can't comprehend. They will look past the accounts of holocaust survivors, the testimony of concentration camp guards, the newsreel footage and the buildings which are now museums in Germany, because they cannot comprehend or believe that the Nazis could have killed so many people.
They will look past the accounts of the astronauts who went to the moon, the pictures, both photographs and videos taken from there and the remarkable geological pieces returned to earth, because in their fearful minds setting foot on another planer defies any explanation or possibility of safety or survival. It just simply couldn't be, according to the deniers. Note: not that it didn't happen, but that it couldn't happen.
They will look past those photographs and videos of UFOs that are not explained by any technical or scientific means, past the accounts of respected and respectable people who have witnessed such things, past the testimonies of air line pilots and claim that there are no intergalactic visitors to our planet, not because there aren't, but because there couldn't be. So, I wonder, what sort of an intrigue is going on that makes a case for UFOs? If the Holocaust and the moon walks were all conspiracies, what kind of a conspiracy is trying to convince us of UFOs? Here the deniers are caught in a paradox.
If there is a conspiracy it is more likely a cover up. It has been said by people who ought to know that there is more evidence of UFO activity than we have the information about. But then here's another paradox. If we are being visited by beings from other worlds why aren't we told about it? Why hide the facts?
If that is so the answer once again is fear. Fear of the unknown, inexplicable and "impossible." It is assumed, ipso facto, that all creatures from another planet are hostile, dangerous in their technical superiority and out to destroy our civilization.
If and when a world Air Force develops a flying machine that can go as fast and maneuver as well as some UFOs are reported to do, it will probably trail one and shoot it down.
We have been convinced that any visitor from outer space is by nature an evil creature intent on destroying the earth or taking it captive. But why is that necessarily so? We are all trying to improve the earth and make it a better place for all of us, and we're exploring outer space ourselves not to destroy but to discover. As far as anyone knows, we mean no harm to the planets we may travel to. We are merely claiming our rights as curious and exploratory creatures. If we have visitors from another planet why can't we allow them the same rights?
DB - Vagabond Journeys
****************
Have lots of happy thoughts, friend.
__________________
AUTUMN QUESTION
This is not a contest.
If you could be remembered for one thing, what would it be and why?
You have all Fall to answer if you wish,
Reply here or at dbdacoba@aol.com
1 response so far
Thank you
DB
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