Commentary On Philip Maddocks' Article "Seeing UFOs But Not Much Else"

Correspondence With Philip Maddocks
By Frank Warren
11-14-05

[Note - After reading the Maddocks piece, "Seeing UFOs But Not Much Else" I felt compelled to make comment.]

Dear Mr. Maddocks,

Kudos to you for taking time to address the UFO phenomenon via your piece, “Seeing UFOs but not much else,” as it’s not often a mainstream journalist takes those reins; that said, it’s that very reason that journalists (mainstream) in general are not au fait regarding the subject.

Ufology, or more specifically, “UFOs” is a transient phenomenon; the chores involved with scientific investigation are more arduous then say a phenomenon that has more reoccurring, patterned proclivities. This of course “doesn’t mean there aren’t patterns, and behavior” which theorems can be drawn from; over 60 years of investigation/research by government/military as well as civilian organizations has evidenced that.

I point this out, because your article seems to paint a “grim picture” of Ufology in the sense that’s it’s in ebb, or “over” as the psychologist that you reference seems to think. Moreover, using the activities, or “lack of” in a minute geographical area, e.g., a town/city in support of this dogma, isn’t prudent in regards to a “world-wide phenomena.”

I might add the closure of a magazine due to its editor’s untimely death is even more nonsensical as an example of the “UFO era being over.”

In your piece, you quote Susan Blackmore as stating, “"Everything is explicable in terms of psychology, and I’m as sure as you can be that there are no paranormal experiences, and I've spent 30 years looking."

I assume that you got a chuckle out of that statement, as I did. “We, as a society are living and experiencing the examples of what once was considered paranormal”; many of the advances in science, medicine and technology were once the “dreams of ambitious thinkers”; today they are a reality.

Carl Sagan once said, "In physics, as in much of all science, there are no permanent truths; there is a set of approximations, getting closer and closer, and people must always be ready to revise what has been in the past thought to be the absolute gospel truth."

A good example of that very wise edict is the belief that one of the fundamentals for life (carbon based) to originate and persevere is that “light be present” (in some degree); only recently have we discovered that this particular ingredient for “the building blocks of life” is not obligatory. Scientifically speaking, this certainly “multiplies the possibilities for life in the universe.”

Alas, I digress; it is certainly true that the public’s interest in Ufology has a tendency to “ebb and flow,” and indeed sightings fluctuate; however, Ufology, in particular “UFO sightings” are not in their demise or wane—only the ignorant garner that false assumption.

In fact, there have been a rash of sightings in the last few weeks e.g., Bolivia, Chile, England, Germany and the United States just to name a few.

Finally, one thing Ufologists and skeptics agree on is that “the majority of ‘UFO sightings’ have a conventional explanation.” With that in mind and “invoking science,” specifically “mathematics,” with increasing populations, as well as the advancement of our own technologies, specifically in aeronautics, as well as astronautics it’s a given that UFO sightings will only increase.

Respectfully,
Frank Warren

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