On 05 Jan 98, concerning _Carl Sagan on UFOs_, Jack Sargeant said to Troy H. 
Cheek in UFO:
 >> I've encountered a few that believe that UFO sightings happen
 >> rarely if at all. The entire "UFO phenomenon" is an invention of a
 >> few UFO fanatics who make up and distribute false sighting reports
 >> to support their theory that if people all over the world are
 >> seeing UFOs all the time, then there must be something there worth
 >> investigating.
 JS>
 JS> You are saying "a few" (how many, Troy?)
A dozen or so, IIRC.
 JS> are responsible for the hundreds of thousands of UFO reports all over 
he
 JS> world.  Please substantiate this with some documentation.
The substantiation supposedly came in the form of examining mainstream media. 
If great numbers of UFO's were seen all over the world, then the mainstream 
media would have no choice but to report it.  UFO reports and articles would 
be seen on the 6 o'clock news, be printed in reputable papers, be featured in 
PBS documentaries, be discussed in magazines devoted to science, etc.  Since 
UFO reports were only published in "Supermarket Check-Out Examiner" magazine 
and only seen on TV's "Incredible Claims without Proof" show, then obviously 
there was no real phenomenon and no large number of reports.  There was only, 
the logic went, a small actually number of reports (mostly made up by the few 
researchers) and claims of a larger number of reports (made by the same 
researchers) which were then repeated over and over.
Funny thing happened, though, as years went by.  The 6 o'clock news started 
mentioning UFO reports (like the Arizona lighted kites/flares story), 
reputable papers started printing articles about UFO sightings (a friend of 
mine works for a paper and sent me some clippings), 'Nova' and other shows 
started doing episodes on the UFO phenomenon, and even Popular Science 
magazine got into the act with articles about Roswell and experimental craft 
that resembled classic UFO's.  So, you no longer hear that if the UFO 
phenomenon were real, it would be reported by the mainstream media.  Instead, 
you hear complaints that even the mainstream media has bought into the UFO 
myth.  Snicker.
... "The D.A. buys me leather... (pout)." -RI
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