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France Opens Secret UFO Files
Radon360 notes that France has become the first country to open its files on UFOs. A new website lists over 1600 sightings dating back to the 1950s.
"The online archives, which will be updated as new cases are reported, catalogues in minute detail cases ranging from the easily dismissed to a handful that continue to perplex even hard-nosed scientists.
Known as OVNIs in French, UFOs have always generated intense interest along with countless conspiracy theories about secretive government cover-ups of findings deemed too sensitive or alarming for public consumption."
Does anyone know the correct link?
Radon360 notes that France has become the first country to open its files on UFOs.
a tion/PublicationScheme/SearchPublicationScheme/Uni dentifiedAerialPhenomenauapInTheUkAirDefenceRegion .htm
Because Radon360 is a twat.
May 2006:
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FreedomOfInform
You say:
:)
Donnez une bonne note au parent (there's no literal translation for mod up)
or
Votez pour le parent (implied that it is up)
*Waiting for the freedom fries lovers to mod me down*
Don't you know it is now both immoral and criminal to think beyond the next quarterly report?
<Offtopic>Ok, I won't go into how bad that French is...</Offtopic>
It's OVNI for Objets Volants Non-Identifié. But the reason I'm posting is that I wanted to point out that this has been released by CNES, which is kind of like NASA in France. Not quite, as it's more of an educational institution, but it's very similar nonetheless...
Surprised by the bad translations in the comments, here's a more appropriate one (no, online translation tools are not as good as humans): Je, quant à moi, souhaite la bienvenue à nos nouveaux maîtres OVNIs.
;-)
Additionally, it's not "secoupe volante" pour rather "soucoupe volante" (flying saucer) (see other comment on parent). And if they wanted to be our masters and already made contact, since they would have the technology to reach us, I guess they'd already be our masters. (well, looking at our politicians' behavior, maybe they already are!
Animoog.org
Love the link. It reminds me of the dumb crap I bought into at age 12.
Equation: N = R* fp ne fl fi fc L
This is followed by an explanation of the 'variables' and the sentence "Most of these have not altered to any significant degree since that conference in 1961."
Wow! Talk about disingenuous. fp is changing as we get new pictures. Planetary systems are thought common instead of fairly rare as in '61. The rest are a joke.
ne (planets suitable for life) - unknown, we can't examine the small planets yet.
fl (planets with life) - unknown, we can't examine the small planets yet.
fi (those with intelligence) - unknowable.
fc (those with radio) - unknowable.
L (lifetime of advanced races)- unknowable.
Lessee, that's five of seven that are unknown and three of those cannot in any reasonable stretch of the imagination even be known. Great equation.
Well, they follow that with a lame caveat:
"Values for some of these parameters are, of course, open to considerable disagreement..."
Following that are the explanations for the current set of values. This is filled with such gems as (for fi and fc) "however many researchers of the topic agree 0.01". First, there are no researchers on this topic. Research cannot be done on this topic. What the author means is "however, many geeks during parlor talk fervently believe that 0.01". Not the same thing as science. Not a value to be used in anything but a parlor game.
L is another good example. They're just using the length of our civilization with nukes. That's right. They consider us to be the average for the lifetime of advanced civilizations. Our one known example is used to average a galaxies worth of possible civilizations. Utter drek.
This is what happens when dried scientists try to get sexy with parlor talk.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't the French been called surrender monkeys since WW2? I know that Iraq is what folks want to focus most recently when it comes to France, but certain reputations have been around for a lot longer.
Twice in recent years (one still in living memory) we went over and save them from their own incompetence, even though it was not directly in our self interest to do so.
Bullshit! Do you think that the Russians would have stopped at Germany if allied troops hadn't already liberated their empire in the West? It was only when the Nazis started losing on the Eastern Front that the US realised they had to act before communism overran the whole of mainland Europe. You were acting purely from self interest - not that there's anything wrong with that, but don't think there was anything different between US actions in WW2 and French actions in the 18th century.
French fries are long and thin, chips (in England) are thicker and shorter.
Here in the US the thick ones are often called "steak fries."
Here in Australia you get a strange crossover between British and American English, and so chips can mean either crisps or fries depending on context.
Actually depending on where you go in the US chips can mean anything, within a restaurant context. Often, ordering "chips" in an Anglophile/English-style pub/restaurant will result in something like what other restaurants call "steak fries." Some restaurants will give you freshly fried "potato chips" which are basically what you call "crisps." Nevertheless, what you get when you order "french fries" varies widely as well. "French Fries" are supposed to be fried julienne potatoes which is where the name comes from ("frenched" being slang at one time for julienne), but most fast food places serve what used to be called "shoestring potatoes" instead (incidentally, shoestring potatoes also are, or at least were, available dried and canned).
It gets even more confusing when you throw in "home fries" and "hash browns." To some people the two are the same, and in any case ordering either could result in a heap of grated, fried, salted potatos, a heap of diced fried potatoes, a fried potato patty with the consistency of a "tater tot" (often oblong shaped), or some variation on the theme. I am sure someone else will point to a variety of "tater tot" interpretations. At least we're consistent enough to almost always use potato in these dishes, unlike with some other foods (like Caesar Salad, which is a whole other contentious discussion which may or may not involved anchovies).
Food in the US is weird, partially because of the many influences, immigrants, and rampant individualism coupled with inventiveness. As an aside, when hosting dinner for mobsters from New York and Boston simultaneously, don't serve clam chowder unless you want to clean up blood. Then again, I guess serving the Manhattan style would do nicely for that problem.