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Professor Says UFO Studies Should Be Taught At Universities
New York anthropology professor Philip Haseley wants young people to get the best education possible, and part of that education, he says, should be about UFOs. Haseley thinks universities should offer classes on UFOs and other unexplained phenomena from space. "[A sighting] happens to millions of people [around the world]. It's about time we looked into this as a worthy area of study. It's important that the whole subject be brought out in the open and investigated," he said. I want to believe the truth is out there in 500 words or less.
And I would take your money. Next year we can come back and see who learned more.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
http://xkcd.com/718/
Some schools teach creationism. Some teach actual theology. Why should alien abduction be treated any differently? Teach the controversy!
Reasonable-quality audio/video recording equipment is becoming nearly ubiquitous, being embedded in cell phones.
Yet the only "footage" that is available is grainy and poor quality.
As the quality and availability of audio/video recording equipment grows, one would expect the quality of "sighting" recordings to increase, but they aren't.
I think that's very telling.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
I took a class in religion studies in college. UFO or other paranormal theories would fit right in there.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Looking at tuition costs can make one feel like they've been probed in the ass so why not learn about others who have felt the same way?
If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
A rigorous scientific and professional approach would be far better than an amateur approach any day. Otherwise we deny the phenomenon entirely, or rely on amateur people who keep finding traces of them anywhere they look. You know they saying: "To a person holding a hammer, every problem is a nail."
UFO doesn't mean aliens, space visitors, or conspiracies.
It means: Unidentified Flying Object.
If you see a condensation trail high in the sky, you know that there is something creating it, but if it is too high for you to see, it is unidentified. It is flying. It is an object. You have just witnessed a UFO. There is nothing ridiculous about it at all.
If this class focuses on the spotting of things you don't understand, and the process in which you go through to try to discover it's identity, then I'm all for it. A class that pushes students to come up with multiple possible theories and find ways to research them, to prove or exclude them, and to report on their findings.
Seems like an awesome class idea to me.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
Podunk professor from community college in remote town close to Canada has crazy ideas and other news at 11.
Seriously this made the front page of /.? This could be on the Onion!
I would take that class
And I would take your money. Next year we can come back and see who learned more.
Well, right off the bat, you'd learn that people taking UFO classes don't have much money.
I had this class. In my university, the history department had some classes in secret societies and conspiracies. We discussed the history and psychology of these events and how they've migrated from supernatural to scientifically based as our culture changed from dependence on one to dependence on the other. It was very interesting, though the mythology on Masonry and the Illuminati and such were far cooler than the UFO stuff IMO.
It was a good class and I agree that it should be a history elective.
I think a class that studies those who believe in UFOs would definitely be worth of an anthropology class.
Who are the believers? Why do they so strongly believe they saw a UFO? What is the cultural basis behind this belief? What are the equivalents in other societies? Ghosts? Evil spirits? Angels? A study of the people would be very interesting.
I think this anthropology professor might even be qualified (if biased) to teach such a class.
I think this guy is right. There should be a class on this. I even have a name suggestion:
Anthropology 150: The UFO Phenomenon as a Study in Mass Delusion
Rules of Conduct:
#1 - The DM is always right.
#2 - If the DM is wrong, see rule #1
[citation needed]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator_technology
Project Blue Book
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Blue_Book
The US did research it and did publish what they found. Of course they covered stuff up because the UFOs are classified aviation programs by USAF, CIA, USN and who knows what other TLA.
There was talk of one here at the local state university but it was shot down when the professors ulterior motive was exposed to actually build a UFO and barnstorm the local Scientology Church and Kirstie Alleys house.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
If you haven't already, Try reading "why people believe weird things" by michael shermer. Since reading this i'm convinced that there are no such things as ghosts, and that aliens aren't visiting the earth, whereas before i think i just adopted the attitude that the huge body of anecdotal evidence for both of them must indicate something, no smoke without fire, etc.
If you are interested in skepticism in general I can recommend the podcasts skeptoid, skepticality and the skeptics guide to the universe
The betty and barney hill episode of skeptoid is quite enlightening. There are quite a few UFO episodes.
The shermer book is essential reading.
(1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons