In the last year or so, armchair
skepticism has had to pivot. Now that the government has admitted that UFOs are “real,” — meaning they have acknowledged that a genuine scientific anomaly exists, colloquially referred to as “other” — some scientists are interested in the topic.
Anomalies, after all, are what scientists do
. So they’re talking to each other, collaborating, setting up studies,
doing studies, trying to secure funding, talking to the press, etc. Trying to learn, basically.
UFO skepticism’s new task? Ridicule these scientists.
UFOs? They’ve gone woo! So-and-so is talking to Lue Elizondo? No need to listen to him anymore, clearly off his rocker. So-and-so has teamed up with Avi Loeb? What a nut! Next thing you know they’ll be stomping around Skinwalker Ranch! They’re just in it for money and glory, etc. Ah-ha! I told you! And so on.
Which brings us to Sunday, when M.I.T artificial intelligence scientist Lex Fridman dropped a new episode of his science-themed podcast in which he interviewed Dr. Nolan, whose academic home is Stanford University.
For the casual listener who is perhaps “agnostic” on UFOs, it was a fascinating, informative and nuanced conversation between two thoughtful scientists about how one approaches and studies scientific anomalies.
Writer Jason Colavito, always quick to hyperventilate at the mere suggestion by a scientist (or anyone, really) that UFOs and other anomalies with paranormal shades are worthy of attention and professional study, immediately popped off.
In an article for
The New Republic in December, Colavito snidely referred to Nolan as “the current ‘expert’ on crashed saucer parts” and established guilt-by-association by noting he is a “close colleague” of Christopher Mellon and Luis Elizondo’s “circle of UFO enthusiasts.” Fellow skeptic/journalist Keith Kloor also weighed in recently with an article at Space.com demanding to know “Why is Harvard University astrophysicist Avi Loeb working with ardent UFO believers?”
This is all of a piece of the criticism one regularly sees in
Skeptical Inquirer’s UFO articles, sneering at otherwise reputable scientists and intellectuals because they are also interested in ufology. The message to scientists is clear:
Be careful who you talk to; UFO “enthusiasts” and “believers” are out of bounds. Pseudoscience!
he interview is valuable if for no other reason than to hear Dr. Nolan deliver a powerful rebuke to skeptics who behave as if scientists investigating the UFO anomaly is a fire that needs to be extinguished. Addressing himself to those who have told him he shouldn’t be pursuing these inquiries, he said:
“Give me a break. Why is it wrong to ask questions about this area? What’s wrong with asking the question? Frankly,
you’re the person who’s wrong for trying to stop these questions. You’re the person who’s almost acting like a cultist. You basically have closed your mind to what the possibilities are.”
