Monday, March 15, 2010

MSNBC: UFOs over Cleveland?

Typical of the ignorant mis-comprehension of the mundane workings of the natural world, the mainstream media (MSNBC specifically) turn to a pseudo-scientific hack to explain something that he doesn't understand and therefore implies that it must be something "other-worldly."



And my response sent to "Contact us-MSNBC.com": "I just saw a report from MSNBC about "UFOs" over Cleveland. The "expert" you had on to talk about the lights doesn't know anything about the night sky. What you could have done was had someone on who knows something about lights in the sky. An astronomer, even an amateur astronomer, could have told you that this light is the planet Venus, which is in the western sky right now for a couple of hours after sunset. When it gets close to the horizon it appears to flicker and change colors when its light refracts as it passes through Earth's atmosphere. The next time you want to "get to the bottom" of a mystery maybe you could consult a scientist instead of a crank."

Just a hint to UFO hunters: if an object appears in the sky at the same time every night, travels across the sky at the same rate as the stars around it, and sets in the west, it just might be an astronomical object.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's almost funny how much trouble they went to to "uncover" the mystery. I'm sure if they would have asked NASA directly rather than "are you doing any flight operations in so-and-so an area" they would have gotten their answer and a laugh.It's very disturbing how readily the public and prominent figures in the media embraces non-scientific explanations of natural phenomena.

rr said...

The title of "UFO Expert" is, indeed, quite a sophisticated one. It ranks up there with "Big Foot Expert" and "Lock Ness Expert". The sheer weight of the educational loans shouldered by these knowledgeable sages must be tremendous. I'm not sure how they bear the burden.

Sincerely,
The "Tooth Fairy" Expert