79 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
79 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: NEIL HITS THE MARK - - RPD FILE: UFO2519
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Date: Tue Apr 12 11:42:08 1988
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From: RICHARD P. DELL'AQUILA (ab114)
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Subj: Neil Hits the Mark--RPD
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COPY OF LETTER TO DR. LAMBE
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Since Dr. Lambe, moderator of the SF Reviewers' SIG has seen fit
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to delete all reference to UFOs from his board, I am uploading
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this copy of the beginning portion of a rather lengthy upload to
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the SF OPEN Forum Board. (Apparently Dr. Lambe has concluded
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that his OPEN Forum was to be closed to matters pertaining to
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Ufolog. Thankfully, Page has not come to a similar conclusion.
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Dear Dr. Lambe:
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Thank you for your letter concerning your opinions on
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UFOs, but I believe you are operating under a misperception.
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I do not presume to know what UFOs ARE, because I really don't
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know; but the evidence does establish beyond a reasonable doubt
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that they are not ALL misperceptions or hoaxes. Indeed, the
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reports that stem from IDENTIFIABLE sources do not, obviously,
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fit the definition of an UNIDENTIFIED Flying Object.
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UFOs have been reported by entirely competent witnesses
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whose sightings have been corroborated by other independent
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witnesses and instrumentation, such as radar. To make the a
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priori assumption that all UFOs are the result of misperceptions
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of known objects or phenomena simply misses the mark. I can
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therefore only conclude that you have not adequately informed
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yourself on the subject. With all due respect to your opinion,
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I am uploading this reply to the Science Fiction SIG, as you
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suggested, and I hope it will generate additional discusssion of
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the subject. In the end, it is only by thorough review,
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discussion and a legitimate scientific inquiry into UFOs that
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any answers will be found.
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In 1895, the philosoper William James berated his
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scientific colleagues at Harvard University, saying "They show
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such a lack of scientific imagination that it is hard to see how
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one who is actively advancing any part of Science can [say that]
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all the fundamental conceptions of truth have already been found
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by Science. Think how many absolutely new scientific
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conceptions have arisen in our generation...Is this credible
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that such a ushroom of knowledge, such a growth overnight as
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this, CAN represent more than the minutest glimpse of what the
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universe will really prove to be when adequately understood? NO!
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Our Science is but a drop, our ignorance a sea..."
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Almost a century later, James has been fully vindicated by
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discoverys such as relativity, quantum mechanics, and associated
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new concepts that overturned the previous scintific "truths."
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Our scientific knowledge continues to grow exponentially.
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The focus of your reply seems to be that UFOs do not exist
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as such, but your opinion is based on a false assumption. The
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issue of UFO existence cannot be dismissed on the basis of any
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such a priori assumption, but must be premised upon
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investigation. The evidence to date indicates that UFOs are
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phenomena not completely understood by our present Science, but
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which fall into one or several of the followi categories:
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that conform to the laws of physics, but require
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extraordinary explanations;
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that conform to undiscovered laws of physics;
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action, conforming to known and unknown psychological
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principles, or
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( ETC. )
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In reviewing the recent upload by Neil, I believ his
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approach most accurately "hits the mark." We don't KNOW what
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UFOs are or will prove to be. We can make some educated guesses
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to explain all the many credible reports, and the
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extraterrestrial hypothesis is only one among many of the
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possible alternatives.
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**********************************************
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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