THC>So-called skeptics seem to have two levels of proof:  one for "ordinary" 
cl
   >and a second for "extraordinary" claims.  UFO's fall into the category of
   >extraordinary claims, and thus require proof that is so compelling that 
t
   >can't possibly be ignored or explained away.  Unfortunately, no such 
proof 
   >available even for ordinary claims.  (For example, prove what you had for
   >breakfast this morning.  Pictures can be faked.  Your spouse can be 
lying. 
   >stomach contents could have been altered.)
Troy, I think you are getting a little extreme here.  It's as if you are
saying that NOTHING can be proven absolutely.  Well, maybe so, but most
events can be proven to the level of "without reasonable doubt".  Your
breakfast scenario, for example, can and does fit into this category
quite often.  It is common for autopsy reports to determine what a
victim ate over the last day or two.  These conclusions are routinely
accepted as "proof" beyond a reasonable doubt.  The UFO question should
require no less or no more.
THC>It is indeed vexing.  Some people would require less evidence to convict 
yo
   >murder than to be convinced that you saw a UFO.
Murder is a common occurrence.  That is an accepted fact.  Alien
visitation has never been substantiated.  I can't agree that we would
"require less evidence to convict of murder", but we certainly would
require equally valid and authoritative evidence.  As of yet, there
hasn't been enough physical evidence to support a case for ET, much less
reach a reasonable conclusion.
   > (And I don't necessarily mean
   >an alien spacecraft.  I mean just to convince them that what you saw 
wasn't
   >just a misidentified mundane object.)
If it wasn't a "misidentified mundane object", what else could it be
but an alien craft.
In all my life, I've never known of someone that denied that UFO
sightings were happening.  They just maintain that the meaning of the
"U" portion of the initials is a valid description.
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