There are no coincidences. SETI is shutting down and "UFO" is in my house.

[Sonoman]

SETI is shutting down.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4828124&mesg_id=4828124

"UFO" Jim Ledwith is in my office, updating his site with help from GF. Jim is one of the world's foremost ufologists.

Google link: http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=jim+james+ledwith,+ufo&cp=22&qe=amltIGphbWVzIGxlZHdpdGgsIHVmbw&qesig=qWc_-1_85lX2tl4x8KxJ8Q&pkc=AFgZ2tmHf9NHaDVFMh8wIEaQjHj10S9Waz8fapvkMayeQVmxzhjC5ZMGEbunE-9m9kA1uzQbH5a-rIXfjyllJ-QsTwfiQXSZGQ&pf=p&sclient=psy&source=hp&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=jim+james+ledwith,+ufo&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=efa329ff265db1bb&biw=1280&bih=597

I walked in and told him what I just saw on DU (at link above) and he said one word.

"Fantastic!"

SETI has been a tool of NASA from the get-go, according to Jim.

As for me, I have no opinion. I just thought it was funny that the news on SETI and the fact that Ledwith is in my house happened to run together.

Sonoman

[damntexdem]

1. SETI's shutting down suggests a lack of intelligence on this planet as well.

[Warren DeMontague]

2. "one of the world's foremost ufologists."

that's funny.

[FLPanhandle]

3. +1

:rofl:

[Sonoman]

4. What's funny about that?

That's how he is billed.

But Jim is really funny.

As I said, I have no opinion on UFOs, but I do have one on NASA. And it is definitely not a positive attitude, at all.

Sonoman

[inna]

5. what do you have against NASA? just curious.

[Sonoman]

6. I have two retired astronauts who live a couple of blocks away.

Also, my family businesses supplied a lot of material for various ventures of NASA.

The astronauts I know tell great stories. They were both on moon missions.

There is as much waste and useless chasing down rat-holes at NASA as there is in defense and intelligence.

But I love VELCRO.

Seriously.

Sonoman

[yawnmaster]

7. velcro wasn't a result of NASA.

except maybe to make people aware of it.

[Posteritatis]

10. How can there be, with its budget as it is?

You can tell us NASA's budget without resorting to Google like anyone else who compares it to the defense budget, right?

[Sonoman]

13. Maybe I should have included something about proportionality.

Is proportionality even a word?

Sonoman

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Ask him why it burns when I pee.

...

Oh, admit it, you laughed.

No, no. Seriously, I don't really accept "ufology" as a rigorous enough discipline, if you will, to have members who are the 'world's most foremost'. I'd hate to see who the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tier Ufologists are. Do the 'real' ufologists not accept their findings?

I'm sorry, but there's no hard evidence for extraterrestrial visitation in human times. None. Blurry photos and hordes of eyewitness reports don't make up for a lack of a single, concrete, independently verified encounter. I'm sure people have seen all sorts of odd things, but I don't think any of them were spacecraft from another star system.

Does that mean I don't think there's life out there? Absolutely not. I think the galaxy AND the universe are both so huge, there's got to be TONS of life out there. But visiting us is another dubious proposition. And even if they were visiting us, which I don't think they are, at least not yet- the incredibly cost-efficient SETI program would still make sense. I don't understand about your 'but it goes through NASA' objection. Do you think they're listening for extraterrestrial signals just so they can cover them up? :shrug:

[Sonoman]

9. Oh, that's funny.

I didn't even think about those two words when I typed that.

I also didn't invent the phrase - that is actually how he bills himself. Really, I cracked up when I saw him billed that way at a series of lectures at our Community Center (which were jammed, but it could have been the free wine and beer).

And I'm with you on the probability of "life out there".

Jim claims that all of SETI's findings were channeled thru NASA, an institution that he has no use for.

Sonoman

PS I feel your pain about that other "problem".
S.

[exboyfil]

12. The more I read the more I think

that technological life is exceedingly rare (see The Eerie Silence for one take on it). Getting to intelligent life involves a whole lot more than having liquid water.

Only technological life in this galaxy is relevant. Listening is cheap, but it really is like looking for a needle in a haystack without knowing if the needle is actually there. If you are going to do SETI, you should rethink the approach. I would look for massive projects consuming lots of energy as evidence for technological life. If the aliens are at our technological level, then they are not detectible beyond 200 light years or so. Lots of reasons to conclude that, if we are not first, not a whole lot of potential time was available before we came around. You need a third generation star and metal rich solar system (unless technological life is wilder than we can even imagine - you know like sentient stars).

[Ohio Joe]

11. "SETI has been a tool of NASA from the get-go"

Of course... Because anyone and everyone that does not buy the tinfoil is in on it :crazy: