In other news about UFOs/UAPs, would you believe our government has formed a “UAP Science Advisory Council” to chase the nonexistent science behind the illusory flying saucers? Of course you would, because our current government is all about throwing stupid money after stupid ideas. Guess who they’ve appointed to run it…
The three UAP file releases thus far attracted more than a billion views and a lot of chatter on social media. However, to paraphrase the wisdom of basketball players: “we must keep our eyes on the orbs, not the audience!”
What could be a better way of doing that than the establishment of a new “UAP Science Advisory Council” by the White House, AARO, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI, and all Intelligence Community members. This is not wishful thinking but a reality now. Over the past week, I was tasked by the above organizations to create a research team of young scientists who will serve on this council. The Council under my leadership includes the following members: Dr. Richard Cloete and Dr. Regina Sarmiento with expertise in data analysis and data management with AI tools, Prof. Matthew Szydagis with expertise in instrumentation and data collection, Dr. Devesh Nandal with expertise in numerical analysis and astrophysics and Dr. Omer Eldadi with expertise in data management, AI and human psychology. This constitutes an amazing A-team of exceptional scientists.
I would not want to be associated with anything endorsed by this administration, and I would not call any group of scientists picked by Avi Loeb to be exceptional anything other than exceptionally irrelevant. As usual, it’s a game of picking the biggest idiot you can find to run an organization. Bonus points if they’re an egotistical glory-hound.
So, Project Blue Book Part 2?
If you think about it, this was a natural choice. Trump must be looking to sell UFO merch. It will start right after he sells his UFC coins and other useless merch at his bash today.
“Orbs” In other words a load of old balls.
“Orbs” In other words a load of old balls.
whoops
@4 submoron
I watched the most recently released video clips. They don’t show orbs, they show lights in a dark sky. Orbs is an unfounded assumption.
As for the blob changing from one light to two lights, ask yourself:
What if I was shooting navigation lights on an aircraft, and the aircraft tilted? – and –
What if two lights were close together, but changed from being out of focus to being in focus?
@7 – Reginald Selkirk: man you shouldn’t bother, some people just want to believe.
Years ago, I took some bad, handheld-camera pics of a remarkably close conjunction between Venus and Jupiter. Mediocre as it is, on the negative you can see two distinct black dots with the city lights below.
Well can you imagine? Next morning the city newspaper was reporting “UFO sighted during the night, many viewers describe a cigar-shaped luminous objects above the city” and so stupidly on.
Not only stupid, also blurry-sighted as the separation between the dots was clearly visible even with the unaided eye.
They’ll describe a turnip as a “close encounter of the tenth kind” if you lend them an ear…
“young scientists” – Old scientists know better, with the exception of Loeb.
It’s all smoke-and-mirrors. Meanwhile not a single man, rich or otherwise, has been indicted for his connection to Epstein’s crimes. Bill Gates testified before a Congressional committee saying he knew about the charges against Epstein but pursued the relationship hoping to get money for philanthropic causes. Uh huh.
A remarkably international group
Richard Cloete – works for him already on the “Galileo project, Harvard” (UK)
Regina Sarmiento – Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian but I would guess a relatively new hire (Argentina/Spain)
Matthew Szydagis – University of Albany, physics, associate professor (US)
Devesh Nandal – a Loeb co-author but possibly unpublished, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, postdoc (Swiss)
Omer Eldadi – a Loeb co-author, Psychology, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel
If they don’t invite David Duchovny to participate, then it’s an obvious cover up.
Three out of five of Loeb’s “experts” have expertise in a technology known for “hallucinations”.
That’s not enough: time to bring in RFKJr & Elon Musk!
To put it politely: All this is just another in an endless stream of distractions from the magat admin. crimes. They throw as much crap at the walls as they can, just to take imbecilic magat and xtian terrorist minds off of all the massive crime being committed.
Any aliens capable of traveling here, would:
1) have reliable technology and not be detected here
2)would be smart enough to avoid this decaying, destructive pestilence of a planet
Cue up the recording of the Byrds song ‘Hey, mister spaceman’.
Those idiots involved in this Unbelievable Foolish Offal can suck my orbs!
‘our government has formed a “UAP Science Advisory Council” ‘ I feel like this has been garbled in transition and the real plan was to put Ben Shapiro on a “WAP Science Advisory Council”.
Next up, the Trump government creates a task force to prove the Earth is flat, and what sex A’Tuin the world turtle is. President picks daredevil to build a steam rocket to launch themselves into space. NASA budget cut even further, even they have had almost a century of experience in putting objects into space.
@ ^ gijoel : Nicely done :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld_(world)#Great_A'Tuin
Although I suspect that would be too pagan and satirical for the Christianists Trumpist regime.
@ shermanj : The planet’s NOT the ” destructive pestilence” – we are or can be. We can also choose and work NOT to be.
Earth is certainly the most intresting and diverse and complex planet in our solar system – with the possible exception of Pluto of course!
@ 10. Erp : Good point and kinda surprising that is such an international group. Could be a lot worse. Like the Ancient Aliens guy and some Faux news hosts and other (Pseudo)”scientists” instead
Earthling: – with the possible exception of Pluto of course!
Meh. Planets are for primitives.
Dank zones.
Orbitals, wisps, spheres. That’s where it’s at!
(Good grief! We are but a mere Type 0.7276 on the Kardashev Scale)
I have often wondered if science fiction is one of the things that will doom us. Reading sci-fi we learn that travel between planets is possible, that there might be a united federation of planets, or gray lensmen, or monoliths that show us how not to be completely stupid fuckers. I’ve had discussions with apparently non-stupid fuckers who think that faster than light travel is not only possible, but it’s likely going to save our species and herald in that united federation of planets or whatever. When you talk about climate death and species death, someone inevitably says something to the effect that we humans are pretty good at the technology stuff and some science fiction style solution is going to materialize right before the curtain falls. The problem is: the curtain fell. We’re just waiting for the consequences.
@shermanj : “Cue up the recording of the Byrds song ‘Hey, mister spaceman’. Okay! (2 & a half minutes long.)
@19 Marcus Ranum
You define stupid differently than I do.
@19:
I wouldn’t call them stupid, but certainly blinded by sci-fi in the same way as propaganda.
Thinking about it, a lot of space faring sci-fi feels like it’s hoping to recreate the age of sail and colonialism. Problem in the real world is that so much of that is going to be barren rock at uncomfortable temperatures.
Remember that scene in Close Encounters when Roy attends a UFO meeting? The presenter makes a point that considering all the cameras people have there aren’t photos of car or airplane crashes, etc. Well, this was 1977 and you didn’t get your film back until Tuesday. Fast forward to 2026 and there are billions of cameras/video cameras, and surveillance cameras and doorbell cameras and dashcams and garage door opener cameras and bird buddy cameras – they’re everywhere! And, guess what? We now see those car crashes and meteors falling and more, all in 4k color, crystal sharp.
So HOW COME the best “UFO” pic the Gov can produce is a fuzzy Daguerreotype? Riddle me that, Batman!
A fitting leader if the organization were renamed more accurately as the department of the science of stuff that nobody really saw very well.
I saw a flash! Was it Flash Gordon, in silver underwear? We can never know, because nobody saw it.
So what is the science of talking about poor observations?
@23: https://xkcd.com/1235/ and https://www.xkcd.com/2572
They forgot to mention Michael Shermer (long time UFO skeptic) as a member of that council!
(Not sure what to think of that)
https://www.skeptic.com/article/michael-shermer-named-to-white-house-uap-science-advisory-council/