Extracted from “Where are They?” copyright Arthur C. Clarke (1986):
UFO skeptic Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2009), credit: Wikipedia
“Nowadays, anyone who considers that alien supercivilisations may exist has to contend not with skepticism but with something much worse – credulity. Although the subject now effects me with uncontrollable fits of yawning, I would be failing in my duty if I did not say something on UFOs.
“So here, as briefly as possible, are the conclusions I’ve come to after more than fifty years of study:
“1. There may be strange and surprising meteorological, electrical, or astronomical phenomena still unknown to science, which may account for the very few UFOs that are both genuine and unexplained.
“2. There is no hard evidence that Earth has ever been visited from space.
“3. If that does happen, there are at least three independent global radar networks that will know within a matter of minutes. And in the unlikely event that the US, [Russian] and Chinese authorities instantly cooperate to suppress the news, they’ll succeed for a maximum of forty-eight hours. How long do you imagine such a secret could be kept? Remember how quickly Watergate unravelled.
“Having written thousands of words on the subject (and read millions) I refuse to go into further details. If anyone wants to argue, I’ll merely quote one of my favourite book titles: ‘Shut up, he explained.’”
I am course leader and senior lecturer in journalism at Sheffield Hallam University where I teach media law and investigation skills. Prior to teaching journalism skills I worked as a news reporter for The Sheffield Star and Yorkshire Post and spent four years working as a Press Officer in local government. My Ph.D is in Folklore and was completed at the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition, University of Sheffield, in 1999. My interest in folklore and the supernatural goes back to my childhood and I've been researching and writing about strange phenomena for as long as I can remember. Since 2008 I have been working with The National Archives (TNA) as their consultant for the ongoing release of the UFO files created by Britain's Ministry of Defence. My book, The UFO Files, was published by TNA in September 2009.
Radar networks dont usually give worldwide alerts for UFOs when they receive unidentified radar echoes. Imagine if they would.
Also, if we for a split second assume even the tiniest fraction of UFOs – perhaps a fraction of only the ones observed by trained military observers and aerospace engineers – to be genuine, it is hard to believe any nation, let alone a superpower or three, to admit that there is something in the air they cant explain or shoot down.
The Military Mind isnt well known for publicizing its shortcomings and strategic weaknesses. It is, however, pretty good at keeping secrets in its chain of command. Sure, Watergate blew over quite fast. We still have no idea what black project B-2 successor prototypes DARPA is currently working on, and yet, few people would deny that they probably are working on top-secret plane somewhere hidden. So there are secrets that manage to stay hidden for a long time despite being known to a lot of people.
Just saying. Even if 60% of sightings have a perfectly profane explanation, and close to 40% are high-tech prototypes (also profane i suppose), call me a crackpot, but I’m keeping an open mind.
You make some good points here Alex. Seems to me keeping an open mind is the only sensible thing to do.
These statements from Clarke can, probably, be countered by his own three Clarke Laws!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke's_three_laws