Got debunked hard at the Denver UFO meetup last month and it reset my whole approach

Some guy pulled up radar data from the 2004 Nimitz incident on his laptop and showed how the famous "tic tac" track was actually just a sensor artifact, which made me realize I need to start checking primary sources instead of just reading the headlines.

3 comments

3 Comments

valh321mo ago

Lol that line about "start checking primary sources instead of just reading the headlines" really hit home for me. I had the exact same wakeup call when someone at an online skeptics group showed me the raw flight data from the Phoenix Lights incident. Turns out the news articles I was citing were basically just copy-pasting from each other, and the actual source material told a totally different story. Since then I've made it a habit to dig up original radar logs or sensor data before forming strong opinions on anything. It's way more work but you catch so many details that get lost in translation or cherry picked for clicks. Now when I see someone post a wild claim I just ask "where's the raw data" and watch them scramble lol.

danielb4315d ago

That's an interesting take @valh32, but I see it a bit different. The Nimitz tic tac data has been picked apart by multiple independent analysts since 2017 and they all landed on the same conclusion - it was a real object with no simple explanation. Sometimes the raw data itself gets misinterpreted too, like when someone cherry picks one radar sweep without looking at the full context of the other sensors that corroborated it. Digging into primary sources is good practice, but it doesn't automatically make the conclusion more correct if you're filtering for what fits your bias.

oscarb771mo ago

Three years ago I was that guy scrambling for radar logs at a MUFON meeting in Phoenix, and @valh32 would've laughed watching me try to explain the data to a room full of true believers. My whole argument fell apart when someone pointed out the blob on the screen was just a calibration mark and not an actual object. Now I just nod along and ask for the raw files before opening my mouth.