# E.T., Roswell, Etc. -- Please Don't Boot! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 14, 2000, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049 "2000-04-14T20:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/21 "2000-04-18T01:03:00Z")
Last year a committe of high-ranking French government and military officials issued a report to the the French government that concludes that some UFOs are indeed extra-terestrial and that urges cooperation and sharing of information between the countries of the world. The report also recommends that planning for self-defense begin as soon as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/22 "2000-04-18T01:08:00Z")
Here’s a link: [http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Archives/Archive-000008/HTML/20000401-7-000291.html](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Archives/Archive-000008/HTML/20000401-7-000291.html) ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/23 "2000-04-18T02:57:00Z")
I shouldn’t feed the troll, but… From the Nov. 1999 _Skeptics UFO Newsletter_, by Phil Klass: “The report was issued by COMETA–The Committee for In-depth Studies. … The COMETA report is based on a several-year study by a group of former ‘auditors’ of the Institute of Advanced Studies for National Defense (IHEDN) and by ‘qualified experts from various fields,’ according to [French UFOlogist Gildas] Bourdais. More than 20 years ago, the same Association of Auditors of IHEDN recommended that France create a national UFO-investigation agency, leading to the formation of GEPAN in 1977, which reports to France’s highly respected space agency, CNES. In 1988, GEPAN was renamed SEPRA and its scope was expanded to include reentering space debris and meteor-fireball reports. During the 21-years of GEPAN/SEPRA’s operation, it has received about 3,000 UFO reports, has investigated about 100 of these, and has found prosaic explanations for all but a few cases. … COMETA’s report ignores the fact that more than 20 years after GEPAN/SEPRA was created per its earlier recommendation, GEPAN/SEPRA has failed to produce any scientifically credible evidence that any UFOs are ET craft. … COMETA’s report (seemingly) rejects possible prosaic explanations for UFO incidents that it finds most impressive. For example, the 1956 incident at Britain’s Lakenheath air base, and the 1957 incident in the U.S. involving an RB-47. (My book, ‘UFOs Explained’ offers prosaic explanations for both.) … COMETA also finds the Trans-en-Provence case impressive, ignoring critics who cite evidence that it is a hoax. COMETA claims that hoaxes are rare and ‘easily detected.’” So, they ignore evidence contrary to their positions and then claim UFOs _must_ be aliens. Gosh, what a surprising thing for UFO believers to do… (BTW, for anybody reading the thread that Krispy linked to above, it might be handy to note that he was posting as “Contestant #3” at the time.) ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/24 "2000-04-18T08:48:00Z")
So, they ignore evidence contrary to their positions and then claim UFOs must not be aliens. Gosh, what a surprising thing for UFO skeptics to do… Do the skeptics send you royalty checks for hawking their books? ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/25 "2000-04-18T12:26:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Krispy Original: > \*\*Last year a committe of high-ranking French government and military officials issued a report to the the French government that concludes that some UFOs are indeed extra-terestrial and that urges cooperation and sharing of information between the countries of the world. The report also recommends that planning for self-defense begin as soon as possible. > > \*\* The French also think that Jerry Lewis is a comedic genius. ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/26 "2000-04-18T12:35:00Z")
Thanks for yet another intelligent and insightful on-topic post there Wall…isn’t someone calling you over in MPSIMS? ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/27 "2000-04-18T12:47:00Z")
My post was on topic, KO. And I’ll post wherever I please. Have a mediocre day. ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/28 "2000-04-18T13:34:00Z")
> [@](#): > > And I’ll post wherever I please. Yeah…I noticed… ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/29 "2000-04-18T13:46:00Z")
Sorry, Krispy. I didn’t mean to cast your fine debating skills in a negative light. But your moronic “French” post was so incredibly and profoundly stupid that I was compelled to put it in the proper perspective. Here’s a tip: "The movie “Men in Black” was not a documentory. Have a rotten day. ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/30 "2000-04-18T13:49:00Z")
You don’t sound sorry to me. Nice name-calling. Eat a big plate of fried foods…Ok Wall? ---
**Author:** ![Jai\_Pey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a4c791/32.png) [@Jai\_Pey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jai_Pey)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/31 "2000-04-18T13:50:00Z")
Thanks **David B** for that evidence to the contrary of the Krisp’s > [@](#): > > Last year a committe of high-ranking French government and military officials issued a report to the the French government… …etc. For the record, I like Phil Klass. This part is worth noting: > [@](#): > > Do the skeptics send you royalty checks for hawking their books? Yup they do, good money too, and all I had to do was get an implanted chip behind my left ear which bends my will to theirs routinely. This isn’t alarming though, seeing as Saturn did the same to me when I bought my car from them in order to ensure I get to the local company picnic every year. Bodysnatchers r’ us, Jai Pey ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/32 "2000-04-18T14:07:00Z")
Well, Krispy, you apparently did not like my Jerry Lewis reference and implied that I wasn’t fit to be in this thread, so I fought back. You didn’t like that either. Looks like your up to your old tricks of pushing buttons again. By the way, please show me where I called you a name. Anyway, you’re boring me, so I’ll just mosey along before you start with the alien implants and crop circles. Sure wish they had room for a few more on the Halle-Bopp spaceship. ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/33 "2000-04-18T14:08:00Z")
Regarding the whole **Krispy** vs **DavidB** , **Krispy** vs **Wally** , **Krispy** vs **everybody** thing: It’s just what I hoped for… I’ve heard from the Loony Extreme ( **Krispy** ), the Wacky Non-Believers ( **David** , you _subscribe_ to something called _The Skeptics UFO Newsletter_?) and the fun, level-headed ones in-between (the illustrous **Wally** , who can’t spell document **a** ry)! Fun fun fun! 😃 Really, thanks all for your posts. Informative and entertaining. I still need to think about this stuff… I’m off to read that thread in MPSIMS about the implications of ET’s. * * * _“I was not making fun of you personally; I was heaping scorn on an inexcusably silly idea – a practice I shall always follow.”_ -Robert A. Heinlein ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/34 "2000-04-18T14:09:00Z")
Good idea. Get thee back over to MPSIMS…some teenybopper probably needs a sig or something… ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/35 "2000-04-18T14:24:00Z")
OK,KO. I’m gone. Okay if I drop in here once in a while to see how you’re doing? Maybe make a short comment or two on your posts? You know, in case things get too turgid. Thanks, pal. Have a wonderful day. ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/36 "2000-04-18T14:45:00Z")
No probs Wall, just be ready to get back what you dish out… ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/91b2a8/32.png) [@Duck\_Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Hook)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/37 "2000-04-18T15:18:00Z")
Anything’s possible…It’s a really big universe and an “awful waste of space” if we are alone. I choose to follow Sagan’s lead; I’ll believe when they come knocking at my front door. However, I am intrigued with the lights over Phoenix. What was the final take on that? * * * _sigh_ Pulled it again! ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/38 "2000-04-18T15:29:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Krispy Original: > **Good idea. Get thee back over to MPSIMS…some teenybopper probably needs a sig or something…** KO, you **trying** to be a jerk or does it just come naturally? :rolleyes: BTW, I followed the link you gave above to the Archived Thread regarding the French Press Release (the same one you brought up, again, here). Here is some of what I found there about **Contestant#1 (aka YOU)**: > [@](#): > > Originally posted by pldennison: > **Oh, that’s right, I forgot–anytime you’re shown to be demonstrably and egregiously incorrect, you personally attack people! Great tactic; it certainly keeps in the forefront of people’s minds what an ass you are. > \ > When you gonna stop making excuses and come up with a news story about the report instead of making everyone else do your work? > \ > You can’t come up with a single news story that describes this alleged report, but you expect us to take your word for it? Please. You’re a well-known liar (loverock, anyone?). In addition, you said it was picked up by the press in several countries–show me. > \ > “A Frenchman that was on the panel”? Got a name? Didn’t think so. I’m not surprised you believe him–he said something that reinforces your preconceived notions. You’ll believe essentially anything anyone tells you as long as it supports the idea that alien spacecraft exist. > \ > Another FACT is that this groundbreaking report was soundly ignored, except on the editoral pages (NOT the news section) of a single newspaper, by the entire European news business, including the French national newswire. (FTR, Agence France-Presse is one of the most influential newswires in Europe.) > So, explain again why anyone should treat it as anything more than utter silliness?** Then, from **manhattan** : > [@](#): > > \*\*So for all the evidence currently available, not one current employee of the French government had anything to do with the report. A far cry from your initial claim that “(I)t looks like the French have decided to admit the truth and go public”, n’est pas? > I’m not trying to bust your chops here, just suggesting that maybe you’ve been sold a bill of goods \*\* Then **Slythe** chimed in with: > [@](#): > > **Your “news” source is a joke and you should be ashamed of yourself for even bringing it up, after all the promises you made about providing proof.** Finally, **Wally** summed the entire affair up this way: > [@](#): > > \*\*Yet another link, yet another interview. > Slythe asked you for evidence. > > This is what we get. Every time! > > He said. She said. I heard. I read. It was reported that. Somebody saw. The cattle were mutilated. Someone was abducted. > > Interestingly, “the pet” is about 11 times smarter than the owner. > > Stop this moronic name calling and and answer Slythe’s question. > > Do you have evidence? > \*\* So, way back in October of '99 you brought this up and were challanged by: **[ul][li]pldennison[/li][li]manhattan[/li][li]slythe[/li][li]wally[/li][li]and others.[/ul]**[/li] You brought the same article up here with the same notable lack of external, third-party, objective, primary-source support. How’s about you stop trying to make fun of me and start trying to make an intellectual point? I’d like to believe you. Help me. If you can’t, please shut up and go away. Sheesh. :rolleyes: * * * _“I was not making fun of you personally; I was heaping scorn on an inexcusably silly idea – a practice I shall always follow.”_ -Robert A. Heinlein ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/39 "2000-04-18T16:58:00Z")
sdimbert shoots and scores! :: :pulling up a chair, opening a beer, and getting ready for overtime::: 😛 * * * The Sleeper has AWAKENED! ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049/40 "2000-04-19T05:15:00Z")
Note to self: Don’t climb into the ring with sdimbert. He’s one of those guys that checks the facts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-roswell-etc-please-dont-boot/18049.md?page=3)