From: Stanton T Friedman <fsphys.nul>
Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2009 11:03:49 -0400
Archived: Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:46:19 -0500
Subject: Re: Evidence For Paranormal Doesn't Improve


>Source: Yahoo News - USA

>http://tinyurl.com/dam29a

>Mon Mar 2, 2009

>Why Evidence For The Paranormal Doesn't Improve
>By Benjamin Radford
>LiveScience.com's Bad Science Columnist

>It seems that every month or two some new piece of evidence
>surfaces that promises to shed light on an unexplained mystery:
>A miraculous healing story here, a Borneo river monster photo
>there. Yet like the proverbial carrot before the donkey, final
>evidence is always in sight but never obtained.

>For decades, UFO buffs have claimed that conclusive proof of
>alien life is just around the corner. They believe that the
>"truth will be revealed" - either by extraterrestrials finally
>making themselves known (a visit to the White House lawn or
>Times Square might be on the agenda), or by the world's
>governments ending their conspiracy of silence and letting the
>public see the real evidence and alien bodies they've had on ice
>since 1947.

>For decades, New Agers have heralded the coming of, well, a New
>Age. Some may remember the "Harmonic Convergence" that took
>place in August 1987, when thousands of people gathered at
>supposedly sacred sites around the world (including Stonehenge
>and the Golden Gate Bridge) to help usher in a global era of
>peace, brotherly love, and unity. Unfortunately - despite two
>days of song, prayer, and dancing - the world's wars, genocide,
>terrorism, and catastrophe have continued unabated.

>Time and again, conclusive evidence is promised and fails to
>materialize; in fact it follows a predictable pattern. First, a
>non-scientist or layperson claims to have discovered some
>important new piece of evidence (such as the discovery of Noah's
>Ark on Mt. Ararat in Turkey or the discovery of a Bigfoot
>track). News media then pick up and broadcast the story,
>sensationalizing it in the process. Then, as public interest
>mounts, the original promoters promise that scientists will
>examine the evidence and prove their claims.

>You might think that the next step is that scientists examine
>the evidence and then hold a press conference to announce that
>the existence of UFOs, Bigfoot, psychic powers, etc. has finally
>been verified.

>But that doesn't happen. Instead, the claims just fade away.
>Sometimes the evidence turns out to be hoaxed (such as the
>"Bigfoot body" reported in Georgia, or the New Jersey UFO lights
>case). More often, the evidence is not faked, it is simply
>ambiguous and open to a variety of interpretations. Nothing
>comes of the story because nothing can be determined from the
>evidence.

<snip>

Looks to me like Radford hasn't looked at any of the serious
evidence related to UFOs. At least he is consistent with Phil
Plait's Bad Astronomy. "Don't bother me with the facts, my mind
is made up."


Stan Friedman



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