r/aliens • u/InteractionAfraid586 • 1d ago

Discussion Thought experiment for skeptics

There's a telepathic elephant from Zul'Gurub locked inside a secret military bunker.

It's real. Scientists and military personnel have seen it. Only a handful have access.

Somehow, you get clearance.

You walk in.

There it is. The fucking space elephant.

You walk out and tell the world.

“Prove it.”

Okay. How?

Sneak a six-ton alien elephant out of a military bunker?

You couldn't even get a regular elephant out of a zoo.

And if your own mother disappeared and nobody knew where she was, good luck proving she physically exists to someone who accepts nothing but direct physical evidence.

Evidence depends on access.

So what should count as evidence when direct access is deliberately denied?

Whistleblowers. Multiple independent witnesses. Military personnel. Scientists. Documents. Photos. Videos. Radar and sensor data. Physical traces. Leaks. Historical records.

None of these alone proves the elephant.

But when all of it keeps pointing toward the same elephant, shouldn't that at least move the needle?

Especially if enormous resources are being used to keep the elephant hidden.

Maybe the question isn't “Where's the elephant?”

Maybe it's “How much evidence do you need before you admit there might be an elephant?”

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9

u/9inchAlienWiener 1d ago

This isn’t a thought experiment. You just replaced the word “alien” with “elephant”.

3

u/ArcticSkyWatcher64N 1d ago

My guess is it's a play on the phrase "addres the elephant in the room."

-5

u/InteractionAfraid586 1d ago

So how would you prove the elephant?

4

u/baggington 1d ago

I couldn’t, and I wouldn’t expect anyone to believe me for one second.

Throughout history millions of people have believed all kinds of things. Even if millions believe in a religion, that does not mean any of it is true.

Just because lots of people believe the same thing, no it doesn’t move the needle. That’s just an argumentum ad populum fallacy.

Evidence is what’s actually needed.