Reply to article by: "mike3" <mike4ty4@yahoo.com>
Date written: 16 Apr 2007 12:35:03 -0700
MsgID:<1176752103.357600.258940@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>

I have a question for any UFO skeptics that may be here. What is the
rationale for considering UFOs an "extraordinary claim"

First and foremost- the odds that there are, and have been, other
intelligent races in our galaxy are extremely good, if not certain.
Not a lot of civilizations, but they're out there... or at least have
been. The odds that any one of these races were/are smart enough to
have develped the capablity for interstellar travel are much longer,
but I think it safe to assume that some made it.  Remember we're still
a long, long way from that point.

There is no ONE reason for the "extraordinary claim"-

There are some 10 Billion stars in our galaxy alone, which means that
the odds of chance encounters with an alien race are very,very,very
small.

We (the the Sol system) are in a relatively sparcely populated part of
the Milky Way, so again the odds of chance encounters...

And... we (the human race) have been around for less than an eyeblink
of the Galaxy's history, so again the odds of chance encounters...

The nearest star is over 4 light years away.  Even if you assume that
an intelligent race has figured out how to travel at the speed of
light,  most stars are still a long, long, long way away, so again the
odds of chance encounters...

Finally, no demonstrable proof exists that "they" are, or ever have
been here.

...and therein lies the "extraordinary" part of the claim. It wouldn't be
extraordinary that ETs exist, but it would be extraordinary that ETs are
visiting us. It is extraordinary because there is nothing ordinary about it --
it would be a world-wide mass media event.

The Sage

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"...I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in
one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you
dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why
I dismiss yours" (Stephen F. Roberts)
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