On 19 Nov 2004 17:30:51 -0800, ahgnis@yahoo.com (Ahgnis) wrote:

The_Sage <specialoffers@CityBend.com> wrote in message news:<8ksio091rfm8efpsqqoq29armnp8i2v8cu@4ax.com>...

this is a copy of my response to Stanton Friedman's UFO "challenge". Read and
enjoy...

The UFO Challenge
December 1997
By Stanton Friedman

You call this a challenge? Ha!

As a nuclear physicist...

Hold on a moment here! Stanton *was* a nuclear physicist years and years ago,
but nowadays he is merely an author of New Age-like books. His former career has
absolutely nothing to do with his current career. In my opinion, I believe he
likes to hide behind the title "Nuclear Physicist", even though nuclear physics
has absolutely nothing to do with UFOs, maybe because it adds respectability to
an otherwise silly belief. I mean think about it: if a Rocket Scientist or
Nuclear Physicist says there is a "Cosmic Watergate", then by golly, there
certainly must be a "Cosmic Watergate" because Rocket Scientists or Nuclear
Physicists are so damn intelligent that it is physically impossible that they
could be wrong or could be suckered into a UFO cult!

Sage, you use this same tactic later when you mention that you were a
classmate of the esteemed Carl Sagan in order to add respectability to
your argument. Eyewitness testimony is well accepted in the legal
arena, but I agree that extraordinary claims require extraordinary
evidence so this point is moot. You might be interested in reading
some material by MUFON Researcher Jerry Black, who states that 92% of
UFO reports are erroneous, but that leaves 8% unexplained. He also
states that there is no direct evidence that aliens have every visited
Earth and I agree with that conclusion.

http://www.citybeat.com/2001-05-03/cover.shtml

Ahgnis

  With respect,... "Extrordinary claims require extrordinary evidence"
is Bullshit. I don't know why people buy that baloney. ANY claim
requires evidence sufficient to support itself and no more. Evidence
is evidence. This attempt at "being reasonable" is merely a spider's
web to lure you into a disadvantageous position and set you up for
a rhetorical spanking.

There's only so many basic ingredients in an apple pie; using a solid
gold pie pan won't make it any tastier.