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7/24/16
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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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