Posthuman Blues

George Dvorsky gets it wrong on UFOs. Again.

Citing the outrageously headlined Daily Mail story about former MoD UFO project head Nick Pope ('Aliens could attack at any time' warns former MoD chief), the Sentient Developments blogger writes: "I would be remiss to pass up this post: The former British Minister of Defence, Nick Pope, is warning his fellow Brits that extraterrestrials may 'attack at any time.'"

A neat trick, since Pope says nothing of the sort. Ignoring the sensationalized headline and actually reading the story, we find Pope urging investigatory caution in the face of what he's come to identify as a potentially intelligent unknown. It's pretty obvious that Pope uses the prospect of an alien "attack" (a word he never uses) as a rhetorical device, especially given his insistence that there's no evidence UFOs pose such a hazard in the first place.

Dvorsky revels in what what he likely considers proof that even "serious" UFO investigators are fear-mongering nitwits -- an admittedly easy thing to do if you limit your research to a cursory scan of mainstream "paranormal" coverage. To my mind, the disingenuous take on ufology served up by Sentient Developments (and other ostensible bastions of rationality) is far more disturbing than any illusory alien menace.

Let's conclude with Pope's own words, studiously excluded from both the Daily Mail's headline and Dvorsky's condescending attempt to smear what he doesn't understand unless couched in the comfortably familiar language of true believers and "X-Files" buffs:

"Every [report] is a piece of a puzzle but no one takes it seriously. There needs to be more resources and people who are prepared to look past the philosophical issues, look at the reports and investigate them properly."

Maybe it's just me, but Pope sounds pretty sensible for a crank.