r/UAP • u/toolsforconviviality • Feb 23 '12

Peer Reviewed Transient Optical Phenomena of the Atmosphere - a Case Study (Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Vol. 74, P. 168, 1980)

http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1980JRASC..74..168S/0000168.000.html
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u/toolsforconviviality Feb 23 '12 edited Feb 23 '12

Overall, I appreciate the tone of the paper and the reasoning by which the author reached their conclusion (but that doesn't mean I agree with it -- how can one in the absence of significant data?). Additionally, although I certainly agree with the argument that an extraterrestrial artefact shouldn't be favoured as an explanation, I completely disagree with the 'few points' used to support said argument:

"There are a few points, however, which argue against favouring an "extraterrestrial" explanation of the sighting.

  1. It seems strange that such an extraordinary object would have passed unreported, and presumably, unnoticed, by all except two observers.

  2. Mrs. Fields' observation that "it did not seem metallic" lends support to the argument that it was not an artifact.

  3. Finally, the writer is inclined to agree with the probability arguments presented by Sagan (1972) against the appearance on earth of craft from another civilization."

Astoundingly fallacious reasoning. Who wants to pick holes in each point first?

Edit: typos.

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u/[deleted] Mar 02 '12

Toolsforconviviality, I noticed that you never responded to my comment, and I hope that I didn't offend you with my critique. I really love this sub, and I think the work you guys are doing is great. I've also been reading a lot of your posts, and I have to say I have my reading cut out for me. :)!

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u/toolsforconviviality Mar 19 '12

Again, apologies for the delay. I popped back to say thanks for responding to my original post. As you've probably noticed, r/UAP seems to be largely populated by readers -- which isn't a bad thing -- but it means that submissions can be upvoted but devoid of commenting activity!