Skeptics are real

Now I know there has been a lot of discussion on this board as to whether skeptics are actually government disinfo agents, MIB, aliens, interdimensional beings, bad dreams etc. But I want to assure you that skepticism is entirely human trait and quite commonly found in human discussions. I know we have been missing for a while but its not due to being abducted, it was because we were busy doing real investigations and research and didnt notice that the loons had taken over this asylum. I remember the days (before the flood) when people would have been savaged for some of the stuff that gets posted on these boards these days. There were giants and mighty ufo hunters who built huge websites...

I'm a little confused by what you mean by this? Are you saying that most people here at ATS think that skeptics are "disinfo agents"? I'm pretty sure most people around here wouldn't be able to tell either way of "who-is-who" while posting on a forum. And what do you mean "before the flood"? With all due respect, you're very new here, so how do you know how its been around here?

There has been talk about this site going down hill and in my view it has, when i first was getting into this site, i found myself lost in discussions, sometimes looking at the time and relise ive been reading for 5 hours when i was goiner look at it for only 10-20minutes.

There really need to be people here that go out and do some research on some topics, eg a new photo of a ufo.....i would like to see people who go out there and find out whether the photo is a fake.
Maybe a separate page that only some topics such as my example can be revisited and more evidence comes to light. I liked it when i saw a popular topic that said "UFO PHOTO TAKEN, VERY CLEAR" and infront of it said "FAKE or HOAX.
Get to work web designers, im slowing losing interest, some topics here are just irrelevant and stupid and its getting worse.

Are you saying that most people here at ATS think that skeptics are "disinfo agents"?

No I don't believe I did.

And what do you mean "before the flood"?

The flood of bad UFOlogy

With all due respect, you're very new here, so how do you know how its been around here?

I'm psychic

I do think people of all stripes, including dis-information agents, post here, but I'm sure many people here are just skeptics.

Having lurked here for a few years on and off...

When the term dis-info agent is thrown around here, it's usually in the form of an ad-hominem attack when one person, in this case a 'believer' has nothing intelligent to add to a conversation, or as a lame rebuttal to facts presented by the skeptic.

Terranaut

Originally posted by Terranaut
Having lurked here for a few years on and off...

When the term dis-info agent is thrown around here, it's usually in the form of an ad-hominem attack when one person, in this case a 'believer' has nothing intelligent to add to a conversation, or as a lame rebuttal to facts presented by the skeptic.

Terranaut

Lets not get ahead of ourselves here.... I could count on 1 hand the amount of FACTS I have seen presented by a skeptic. Skeptics for the most part use theories to explain away unexplained phenomena. Theories such as "weather balloons" or "chinese lanterns" when the only EVIDENCE and FACTS they have is their own interpretation.

The frustration for me comes when a skeptics initial response is "chinese lantern" for no other reason than it sounds more "plausible" than an ET vehicle. Proof and evidence very rarely enters into it.

Hell for all we know ET's or the Government could be making UFO's that look and move like chinese lanterns as a way of hiding these craft.... so what has been proven and who has been fooled.

[edit on 11-8-2009 by Total Package]

Hell for all we know ET's or the Government could be making UFO's that look and move like chinese lanterns as a way of hiding these craft.... so what has been proven and who has been fooled.

Hmm, hiding as a flaming orange light, I can think of better ways to hide.

Originally posted by Total Package
Hell for all we know ET's or the Government could be making UFO's that look and move like chinese lanterns as a way of hiding these craft.... so what has been proven and who has been fooled.

Sure... for all we know... but... Highly doubtful! The opposite could be argued that 'believers' try to create scenarios that fortify their own belief system (ahem)... no matter how far out, illogical or improbable.

A true skeptic approaches the phenomena with a critical mind and sequentially removes the prosaics from the equation. If the said phenomena survives the rigours of such investigation, then, and only then is it acceptable to look at other-worldly possibilities.

It's the debunker that immediatly proclaims the phenomena as swamp gas etc, not the skeptic. In my opinion debunkers are every bit as harmful to UFOlogy as the 'doey eyed' believers who question NOTHING and turn the phenomena into some two bit, new aged freak festival.

double post

[edit on 11-8-2009 by Chovy]

ok skeptics are real. aliens are real too.

I've belonged to a number of sites, over the years, that deal with these types of topics and, unfortunately, I've seen most of them fall apart. Some were taken over by the believers, who whined to the admin whenever someone challenged their beliefs until the same admins had to start banning people out of a sense of self preservation. Those sites then devolved into a series of posts like "THERE ARE DEMONS LIVING IN MY CUPBOARD!" Followed by every possible wacked out theory of how to dispel said demons from the offending cabinet.

The other extreme has happened as well. The self proclaimed skeptics would declare a flame war any time anyone made a post that wasn't backed up with iformation from one of only a few "reliable" sources. Those sources were usually other "skeptic" sites.

So far, in my few weeks here, I can say that ATS seems to be a blend of all of the good, the bad and the flaming, depending on the specific board. The moderators seem to truly have the right idea. They don't seem afraid to delete posts that are out of line. I truly hope this continues and I have confidence that it will.

Welcome to the community and I hope to be able to see many of the things that have been suggested on this thread.

"Skeptics are real"

Prove it.

I would hope that all ATS members are skeptics to some degree. Alas, I know it's not so. Without skepticism, you rarely get to the real truth behind anything and finding the truth is what this website is all about. I wish people would remember that. To be for or against anything without using the correct set of facts is nothing but assuming. We all know what happens when we assume, it makes an ass-u-me.

yet another skeptic thread, couldn't this have easily been contributed in one of the many existing skeptic threads. There are plenty to choose from.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

these are just a few.

I am extremely skeptical about these skeptic threads.

I have been waiting for a thread to start up cause my patience with some here is no more.

As in everything of life we get the ones in the know & the ones thinking they know. The only extra challenge on ATS has become to learn from those who know and to diss those who use chinese lanterns, swamp gas and cgi for every video or photo as excuse.

“The skeptic does not mean him who doubts, but him who investigates or researches, as opposed to him who asserts and thinks that he has found”

If all skeptics could have handled a case such as...Internos, with an open mind, and the hard work being put in to clear up a case, life here would be a bloody treat. It is a shame when you read a new thread and the sarcastic bashing starts off, page after page, that makes me lose interest straight away, that unintelligent "know it all" comments and who cannot even provide decent or just okay evidence, other than the word "Lantern!" The great argument of "I have a degree" "I am 60 years old" does not mean they know all subjects, other than to try and back up their weak explanations.

There are a lot of cases i know is a hoax or untrue, but i don't go and rant at that certain topic because i am no photoshop, cgi or video expert. So unless i can back up my claims i would keep my comment to myself.

eg:A few years ago for every 10 UFO fanatics registering there was like 1 skeptic. Today it feels like for every 1 UFO fanatic there's 20 skeptics, and 19 of them won't know if they were probed. I can just shake my head at some of their comments, sometimes in anger and sometimes with laughter.



[edit on 8/12/2009 by qonone]

Click here for more information.

reply to post by azure-door


UFO cultists are real too, I would personally classify a good ammount of members here as having the UFO cult mentality, there's a healthy skepticism and there's an overboard skeptic, just like there is a healthy open minded and an overboard absorbing everything like a sponge and accepting everything (except mainstream corporate stuff, accepting everything except that of course). UFO cultists are either butthurt ex religionists that want to stick it to the man by believing in aliens, or they just think God is an alien, or they can be die hard athiests that realised one day that life would suck if aliens didn't exist. I think a little open mindedness is good, and a good ammount of skepticism is good, you can never know what the perfect balance is until you meet or read about someone who's so fanatic or open minded that they make you laugh then you can at least know your not as messed up as them. I do personally believe in ET but I don't worship him and if he showed up I wouldn't worship him, I know there are people that claim they've met ET but I've yet to be convinced that any of those meetings didn't take place outside a dream. I've seen a triangle UFO, I think it was a stealth bomber with it's triangle lights on, I've also seen UFOs I can't explain away so easily, I prefer to let occam's razor do the assuming, so I assume every one I've seen were human made. Openminded skeptics exist as well.