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Aliens,UFOs,&Abduc=onsChapter7

LifeOutsideofEarth

•  Despitedecadesofspaceexplora=on,wes=llknowrela=velyliJleabouttheuniverse

•  Inoursolarsystemalone,ittooktheVoyagerspacecraNover35yearstoreachtheedgeofthesolarsystem,travelingat60,000km/hour

•  Curiosityaboundsaboutnon-terrestriallife

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AlienLife

•  Around30%ofpublicthinksthatalienspacecraNhavevisitedEarth

•  Over70%thinkthatU.S.governmentiscoveringupknowledgeaboutaliens

•  Televisionseriesandmoviesaboutaliensarewildlypopular

Science&Aliens

•  FrankDrake,anastronomer,heldthefirstsearchforextraterrestrialintelligence(SETI)mee=ngin1961

•  Oneoftheoutcomeswasanequa=ontoes=matethenumberofciviliza=onsinourgalaxy

TheDrakeEqua=onN=R*fpneflfifcL

•  Nisthenumberofciviliza=onsinourgalaxywhichwemighthopetobeabletocommunicatewithand

•  R*istheaveragerateofstarforma=oninourgalaxy•  fpisthefrac=onofthosestarsthathaveplanets•  neistheaveragenumberofplanetsthatcanpoten=allysupportlife

perstarthathasplanets•  flisthefrac=onoftheabovethatactuallygoontodeveloplifeatsome

point•  fiisthefrac=onoftheabovethatactuallygoontodevelopintelligent

life•  fcisthefrac=onofciviliza=onsthatdevelopatechnologythatreleases

detectablesignsoftheirexistenceintospace•  Listhelengthof=mesuchciviliza=onsreleasedetectablesignalsinto

space

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DrakeEqua=on

•  Designedtos=mulateresearchintothesefactors,whichitdidverysuccessfully

•  Mostoftheparametersareguesses,butevenconserva=vees=matesyieldN’sof1,000to100,000,000

•  Muchhigherthanactualknownnumberof1

Astrobiology

•  Thescien=ficstudyofhowlifearisesintheuniverse,bothonEarthandelsewhere

•  Nowamajor,mul=-disciplinaryscien=ficfield

DrakeEqua=onRevisited•  Planetaryscien=stSaraSeageradaptedtheDEtoreflectthesearchforanylife

N=N*xFQxFHZxFOxFLxFS

•  N*=thenumberofstarsobserved•  FQ=thefrac=onofstarsthatarequiet•  FHZ=thefrac=onofstarswithrockyplanetsinthehabitablezone

•  FO=thefrac=onofthoseplanetsthatcanbeobserved•  FL=thefrac=onthathavelife•  FS=thefrac=ononwhichlifeproducesdetectablegas

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DrakeEqua=onRevisited

•  Muchlikewiththeoriginal,thenumbers(evenwithconserva=vees=mates)arehuge

•  “Tomymathema=calbrain,thenumbersalonemakethinkingaboutaliensperfectlyra=onal.”

AliensThroughoutHistory

•  Ideaofnon-supernatural,intelligentbeingsoutsideofearthdatesbackalmost2000years

•  Roman,Arabic,andJapanesetalesallfeatureinhabitedplanets

•  Theriseofscience-fic=oninthelate1800sledtomanystoriesofaliens,mostnotably…

TheWaroftheWorlds

•  HGWells’storypublishedin1897

•  DetailedinvasionofcreaturesfromMars

•  Mar=anshadoilygrayskin,largedarkeyes,liplessmouth,andamassoftentacles

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TheWaroftheWorlds

•  TheMar=anskidnappedvic=msandwagedwaragainstEarthlings

•  Aliens’lookwaslargelyinspiredbyspecula=vethoughtaboutwhathumansmightevolveinto

•  Massivelypopularandinfluen=al

AliensEverywhere!

•  Inthefirstfourdecadesofthe20thcentury,sciencefic=onexplodedacrossbooks,comics,movies,television,andradio

•  Earlydepic=onsof“aliens”andtheirac=onswerehighlyvaried,butbegantocoalesceintoa“typical”alienstory

WhatAliensDo

•  Technologicallysuperior,hos=le,travelinginsaucer-shapedcraNs

•  Kidnappedpeople(womeninpar=cular)inremoteareasandexperimentedonthem

•  Putpeopleintotrancesorhypno=zedthem,resul=nginmissing=me

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WhatAliensLookLike

•  Bythe1950s,alienswereoNenhumanoid,butwithgianteyesandheadsbutsmallbodies

•  This“typical”alienimageandstorywereveryinfluen=alandwidespread

Exercise#5

AlienAutopsy

Aswewatchthisfootage,supposedlytakeninRoswell,NewMexicoin1947,employallthecri=calthinkingtoolsyouhavelearnedaboutinthiscourse.

What’syourverdict?

Abduc=on!

•  Byearly1950stherewereseveralpublishedaccountsofindividualseitherbeingorseeingothersabductedbyaliens

•  Alienswereenormouslyvaried,aswerewhattheydidtothe“abductees”

•  Manyappearedtoblendsci-fistoriesandsupernaturalbeliefsintonewstories

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BeJy&BarneyHill

•  In1961,theHillsweredrivinghomeaNeravaca=onlateatnight

•  No=cedsomelightsintheskymovingoddly,pulledovertogetabeJerlook

•  Lightsthenbegancomingtowardsthen,followingthemastheyspedoff

BeJy&BarneyHill

•  Asthelightsgetcloser,theyseeitisa100footlongcraN,whichthendescendstotheroadinfrontofthem

•  TheysawhumanoidfiguresinthecraNandadoorbegantoopenontheboJom,sotheyspedoffintheircar,thenfeltitstartshaking

•  Theysuddenlyrealizetheyare35milesdowntheroadandit’stwohourslaterthanitshouldbe

Inves=ga=ngtheHills’Story

•  Attheurgingofhersister,BeJycontactedthelocalAirForcebase,whoinves=gatedbutfoundnothingunusual

•  BeJystartedseekingoutinforma=ononUFOs,includingreadingTheFlyingSaucerConspiracyandcontac=ngitsauthor

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Inves=ga=ngtheHills’Story

•  BeJysoonbeganhavingdisturbingdreams– Showedthe“missing=me”andhowtheyweretakenaboardthecraNandexamined

•  TheyweretheninterviewedbyaUFOenthusiastandoverthenexttwoyearsgavenumeroustalksabouttheirexperience

Inves=ga=ngtheHills’Story

•  Theyunderwenthypnosiswithapsychiatrist

•  BothdescribedbeingtakenaboardthecraNanddisplayedhighamountsoffearandanxietyduringthesessions

•  ANertheirwork,theyreportedfeelingmoreatpeaceandcalmabouttheexperience

MediaAJen=on

•  In1965aBostonnewspaperranafront-pagestoryaboutthecoupleandtheirexperience– Wasreprintedna=onallyandinterna=onally

•  Abook,TheInterruptedJourney,soonfollowed,withamadeforTVmoviein1975

•  Becamethemostfamousabduc=oncase

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Cri=calThinkingaboutAbduc=ons

•  Theclaimsareextraordinary,istheevidence?

•  Lackofanyphysicalevidence,suchasscarsfromsupposedprobes

•  Onlyevidenceistheirtes=monybefore,during,andaNerhypnosis

HumanMemory

•  Areconstruc=veprocessinfluencedbyourexperiences,currentemo=ons,andevensocialsitua=on–notpurelyrecollec=ve

•  “…acomplexphenomenoninvolvingdistor=ons,dele=ons,addi=ons,andsome=mescompletefabrica=on.”

•  Wedon’t“makeup”memories,butwedooNenrememberthingsinwaysthatarenotaccurate

(Shermer,2002)

OurFallibleMemory

•  Decadesofresearchshowcertainfactorsmakeitmorelikelywewillconfabulate:– Howques=onsarephrased– Beingunderhighstress– Co-witnesscontamina=on

•  Trueevenfor“flashbulb”memories

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MemoryandHypnosis

•  Widespreadbeliefthathypnosiscanimprovememory

•  Researchshowsthatpeoplerecallmoreinforma=on,butthatitislessaccurate

PerceptualIssues

•  Weareterribleatrecognizingandiden=fyingobjectsinthenightsky–  Planets,meteors,aircraNs,satellites,andweatherhaveallbeenreportedasUFOs

•  Theautokine?ceffectconfusesourpercep=on,makings=llthings“move”

•  Weareverybadatjudgingspeedanddistanceforobjectsintheskyaswell

CTabouttheHills’Story

•  Barneywasknowntobeunderhighamountsofstress,andtheyweredrivingbacklateatnightinaverydarkarea

•  Seeingthebright“moving”objectintheskyandit“chasing”themcanbeexplained

•  Hugechanceofco-witnesscontamina=oninthetwoyearsfromencountertohypnosis

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CTabouttheHills’Story

•  Completelynon-falsifiableclaims

•  Mostparsimoniousexplana=onistheymisiden=fiedJupiterandthendevelopedaseriesoffalsememories

•  ThisisbackedupbyBeJy’sfurtherclaims,whichbecameincreasinglyunbelievable

TheAbductee“Formula”

•  Fivefactorscommoninthosewhothinktheyhavebeenabducted– Veryhighinmagicalthinking– Episodesofsleepparalysisandhypnopompichallucina=ons

– Haveundergonehypno=cregression– Veryhighinabsorp=on– Highlyfamiliarwithmediaportrayalofaliens

BeJy&Barney’sFormula

•  Bothunderwenthypnosis

•  BeJyonlyhad“abduc=on”memoriesaBerreadingbookonitanddreamingaboutit

•  BeJyhadmanyotherparanormalbeliefsandwaslikelyeasily“absorbed”givenherlaterstatementsaboutUFOs

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AncientAlienVisitors

•  Ideadatesbacktothe1968publica=onofErichvonDäniken’sChariotsoftheGods?

•  MorerecentlyresurrectedbyHistoryChannel’sAncientAliens

AncientAlienVisitors

•  Mostlyboilsdowntoargumentfromignorance

•  “Ican’tthinkofanexplana=onforwhythislooksthisway,orhowourancestorscouldhavedonethiswiththetechnologyavailabletothem,soitmustbealiens!”

•  Claimsareeasilydebunkedinallcases

ModernUFOCrashes

•  Thesupposed1947crashofanalienshipinRoswell,NewMexicoisthemostwellknown

•  Storybearsstrikingsimilari=estotheHills’– Nophysicalevidence– Large=megapbetweeneventandaccounts– Massiveinconsistenciesamongeyewitnesses– Presenceofreasonableexplana=ons

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CropCircles

Conclusions

•  NoevidenceforalienshavingvisitedEarth

•  S=ll,itcanbethesourceofwonderfulstories,andinspira=onforscien=ficexplora=on!

MediaCri=que#3

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