Aliens, UFOs, and Encounters of the Third Kind Since the beginnings of civilization man has been gazing at the stars. With eyes fixed on the vast expense of the celestial bodies came the belief that we may not be the only one’s in the universe. According to ancient alien theorists, aliens have been interacting with humans since the earliest civilizations giving early humans access to technology and helping them build vast structures such as the pyramids in Egypt and Stonehenge.( Ancient Aliens) The first well known UFO sighting is said to have occurred in 1947 at Mount Rainier Washington when a businessman named Kenneth Arnold claimed to have seen a cluster of high speed objects near the mountain.(History of UFOs) According to Skeptic’s Dictionary,
…show more content…
Proponents argue that the skeptic cannot disprove that it was in fact an alien craft, this does not hold weight because proponents cannot prove that it was a UFO either thus invalidating the argument. This kind of reasoning is known as the argumentum ad ignorantiam. They also use the fallacy of testimonial which is also a pitfall of human perception. They have scientists and doctors that say UFOs exist and alien abductions take place and since they are supposedly credible sources then it must be evidence for the existence of UFOs. Proponents also use the stories of people who claim to have seen UFOs or been abducted by aliens as trustworthy evidence when in reality they are simply claims that cannot be proven and can be classified as poor evidence at best. They also use Argumentum ad Populum with the idea that a large amount of Americans believe in the existence of UFOs and if everybody believes it then it must be true also lying with statistics. There are many supposed sighting of UFOs by many people yet with deeper research it is easy to see that all of these are flawed in some way and are subject to the pitfall of pareidolia. They can also use Either-Or Reasoning. “UFO devotees are also convinced that there is a government and mass media conspiracy to cover up the alien activities, making it difficult for them to prove that the aliens have landed.”( Alien Abduction) This is seen at the Roswell incident , if something mysterious happens such as seeing strange lights and the government is secretive about it then they believe it must be UFOs. When in reality it is because they are testing new weapons or high altitude balloons. This can also be tied into the fallacy of Jumping to a Conclusion because there is not sufficient evidence to make the claims that UFOs exist when more reasonable alternative explanations are present. Supporters of UFOs
Proponents argue that the skeptic cannot disprove that it was in fact an alien craft, this does not hold weight because proponents cannot prove that it was a UFO either thus invalidating the argument. This kind of reasoning is known as the argumentum ad ignorantiam. They also use the fallacy of testimonial which is also a pitfall of human perception. They have scientists and doctors that say UFOs exist and alien abductions take place and since they are supposedly credible sources then it must be evidence for the existence of UFOs. Proponents also use the stories of people who claim to have seen UFOs or been abducted by aliens as trustworthy evidence when in reality they are simply claims that cannot be proven and can be classified as poor evidence at best. They also use Argumentum ad Populum with the idea that a large amount of Americans believe in the existence of UFOs and if everybody believes it then it must be true also lying with statistics. There are many supposed sighting of UFOs by many people yet with deeper research it is easy to see that all of these are flawed in some way and are subject to the pitfall of pareidolia. They can also use Either-Or Reasoning. “UFO devotees are also convinced that there is a government and mass media conspiracy to cover up the alien activities, making it difficult for them to prove that the aliens have landed.”( Alien Abduction) This is seen at the Roswell incident , if something mysterious happens such as seeing strange lights and the government is secretive about it then they believe it must be UFOs. When in reality it is because they are testing new weapons or high altitude balloons. This can also be tied into the fallacy of Jumping to a Conclusion because there is not sufficient evidence to make the claims that UFOs exist when more reasonable alternative explanations are present. Supporters of UFOs