MAGONIA Extra

I recently wrote a review, for the main Magonia blog, of the book UFOs and Aliens: Is there anybody out there?. This book consists of 13 essays, two of which are by Stanton Friedman, and I mentioned both of them in my review.

Friedman took exception to my comments and has devoted about half of his regular column to them in the current issue (No. 520, August 2011) of MUFON UFO Journal. He begins by objecting that he never wrote that evidence of alien spacecraft can be kept secret indefinitely, but this is a mere quibble, as he obviously thinks that the US government has no intention of releasing the proof of UFO reality, which he he believes it possesses, at any time soon. He is usually keen to emphasise that they are very efficient at keeping secret information from leaking out.

The main problem about UFO secrecy, of course, is that it is nearly always assumed that the rest of the world will follow America's alleged policy on the subject and is not only willing but capable of doing so. In my review I suggested what might happen if a UFO crashed in some nation whose rulers decided to display the wreckage as a tourist attraction, so that UFO reality would be displayed to the world at a stroke. Friedman's answer to this is, "No nation would be so foolish". Brilliant! Why didn't I think of this myself? But, hang on a minute; in what way would it be foolish? And even if it were, some nations are ruled by people who are not merely foolish, but manifestly insane. However, I reckon that this could be a new addition to Friedman's collection of his famous "rules for debunkers", for it is followed by the all-too-familiar "Don't bother me with the facts, my mind is made up". What it really means is that you should not raise any questions for which it is not possible to devise what seem, to UFO believers, to be plausible answers.

He also objects to my mention of non-sceptical ufologists who have "allegedly" dismissed Frank Feschino's "outstanding" book, Shoot Them Down, by describing it as "science fiction" and by noting the lack of references or any evidence to support his fantastic claims about a great battle between US Air Force planes and flying saucers in 1952. To find such dismissive comments, by UFO believers, all you need to do is go to the UFO UpDates archive and search for "Feschino". Many similar comments can be found on other websites and blogs.

Friedman also criticises me for failing to publish the details to back up my critical remarks, but this is obviously not possible in a short review. I also did not review all 13 essays in the book, as this would have made it too long to hold the attention of most readers. But, of course, Friedman already knows this and thus knows that I am not following his first rule for debunkers: "What the public doesn't know, we certainly won't tell them".