Re:Stanford professor says US is reverse-engineering downed ...
by e79 on Friday May 19, 2023 @06:29PM
(#36007497)
Ignoring the sensationalism in the article, AARO is such a cool program. It applies actual, rigorous science to UFO reports. For anyone who is interested in the work of Kirkpatrick and his team, there was a recent congressional hearing where he presented on the team’s mission and latest findings. Their testing methodology is fascinating, even going as far as to employ a red team blue team approach:
Of course this stuff is not going to make huge headlines or prime time TV, because good science is often slow. And a majority of cases are going to be mundane. Civilians looking at top-secret sensor readings are going to misunderstand them. Sensors can also have bugs and artifacts (e.g., ghost trails), which if I understand correctly Kirkpatrick’s team is looking into studying as well (i.e., reverse engineering sensors and seeing if they can recreate abnormal readings in otherwise normal conditions).
UFO skepticism isn’t about denying the possibility that UFOs exist. By their very definition they do — the US has publicly shared documented cases that cannot be explained. Rather, it’s about not assuming the explanation behind these objects’ purpose. As in, the existence of UFOs does not equate to the existence of aliens. It could be natural earthly phenomena we don’t yet understand. Or it could be faulty sensors (including our own eyes). It could be a foreign adversary flying advanced drone equipment. We just don’t know in some cases. The only way we’re going to find out is by applying the scientific method.
https://youtu.be/E2qvyxhdPQA
Of course this stuff is not going to make huge headlines or prime time TV, because good science is often slow. And a majority of cases are going to be mundane. Civilians looking at top-secret sensor readings are going to misunderstand them. Sensors can also have bugs and artifacts (e.g., ghost trails), which if I understand correctly Kirkpatrick’s team is looking into studying as well (i.e., reverse engineering sensors and seeing if they can recreate abnormal readings in otherwise normal conditions).
UFO skepticism isn’t about denying the possibility that UFOs exist. By their very definition they do — the US has publicly shared documented cases that cannot be explained. Rather, it’s about not assuming the explanation behind these objects’ purpose. As in, the existence of UFOs does not equate to the existence of aliens. It could be natural earthly phenomena we don’t yet understand. Or it could be faulty sensors (including our own eyes). It could be a foreign adversary flying advanced drone equipment. We just don’t know in some cases. The only way we’re going to find out is by applying the scientific method.