“U.F.O.” IN CHINA: We’re preparing a report

We are aware of an interesting situation in China, where an Unusual Luminous Phenonemenon determined that the airport were momentarily closed.

We are preparing a special report about this event.

“O.V.N.I.” EN CHINA: Informe en preparación

Sabemos de la ocurrencia de una interesante situación en China, donde un Fenómeno Luminoso Inusual determinó inclusive el cierre momentáneo del aeropuerto.

Estamos preparando un informe especial sobre el acontecimiento.

MAGIC vs. SCIENCE

The new gurus, the charlatans, the merchants, and the simple enthusiasts come together nowadays, to invoke the mystery, to call the masses to dream, to embrace with fervor the unknown, and to believe in aliens, without a single piece of reasoning, without using the brain, just believing against all the odds.

In other words, they are working with the elements of magic, with suggestion and tricks, with the dove under the sleeve or the bunny under the hat. And they get the applause.

The media –that looks at ratings and to sell more— prefers sensationalism to rationalism, prefers entertainment to serious approaches, prefers the spectacular instead of responsible information.

No wonder, therefore, those who play the magic card are winning the game.

They are the favorites of the irrationality, the promoters of a nonsensical activism aimed to demonstrate that quantity of anything on videos or pictures, is more important that the quality of a single piece of well documented, better registered, and superbly analyzed evidence.

But, we are not playing a game. We are serious people, really concerned to establish once and for all, with all the support of instruments, a meticulous and well-planned activity and the direct participation of scientists, the truth. Not a pre-conceived, pre-supposed “truth”, but the truth, whatever it could be; one that can afford and overcome the Occam’s razor; one with universal validity. One supported by irrefutable and strong evidence.

This is our task. This is our goal.

Any other thing outside this frame has nothing to do with a serious, responsible and rational approach to the Unusual Aerial Phenomena.

Not all of us are scientists, but there are scientists among us. And those of us who are not, respect and want to work together with the scientists and not against them, with the scientific method and not with magic

MAGIA vs. CIENCIA

Los nuevos gurús, los charlatanes, los comerciantes, y los simples entusiastas se unen hoy día, para invocar el misterio, para llamar a las masas a soñar, para abrazar con fervor lo desconocido, y para creer en alienígenas, sin una sola pizca de razonamiento, sin usar el cerebro, simplemente creyendo contra todas las probabilidades.

En otras palabras, ellos están trabajando con los elementos de la magia, con la sugestión y los trucos, con la paloma debajo de la manga, o el conejo debajo de la galera. Y ellos obtienen el aplauso.

Los medios –que miran a los ratings y a vender más-- prefieren el sensacionalismo al racionalismo, prefieren el entretenimiento a los enfoques serios, prefieren lo espectacular, a la información responsable.

No hay que maravillarse, entonces, de que quienes juegan la carta de la magia estén ganando el juego.

Ellos son los favoritos de la irracionalidad, los promotores de un activismo sin sentido para demostrar que la cantidad de cualquier cosa en videos y fotos, es más importante que la calidad de una única pieza de bien documentada, mejor registrada, y magníficamente analizada evidencia.

Pero nosotros no estamos jugando un juego.

Somos gente seria, realmente preocupada por establecer de una vez por todas, con todo el apoyo de instrumentos, una meticulosa y bien planeada actividad y la directa participación de científicos, la verdad. No una “verdad” preconcebida, presupuesta, sino la verdad, cualquiera pueda ser; una que pueda soportar y superar la navaja de Occam; una con validez universal. Una apoyada por irrefutable y sólida evidencia.

Esta es nuestra tarea. Este es nuestro objetivo.

Toda otra cosa fuera de este marco no tiene nada que ver con un enfoque serio, responsable y racional para los Fenómenos Aéreos Inusuales.

No todos nosotros somos científicos, pero hay científicos entre nosotros. Y quienes de nosotros no lo somos, respetamos y queremos trabajar conjuntamente con los científicos y no en contra de ellos; con el método de la ciencia, y no con magia.

HONOR FOR THE U.A.P.S.G.

It is a real honor to see that the very prestigious “The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System” has reproduced the paper of our member Dr. Massimo Teodorani entitled “Need to know vs. Need to believe in Ufology”, taken from our blog.

This is the level we have chosen to work and which we will keep, because from our blog, we think we are making a serious contribution to the investigation, study and criteria to approach the issue of the Unusual Aerial Phenomena.

The web page of “The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System” belongs to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) which is a "research institute" of the Smithsonian Institution. It is joined with the Harvard College Observatory (HCO) to form the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).

HONOR PARA EL G.E.F.A.I.

Es realmente un honor ver que el muy prestigioso “The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System” haya reproducido el trabajo científico de nuestro miembro el Dr.Massimo Teodorani, titulado “Necesidad de conocer vs. Necesidad de creer en Ovnilogía”, tomado de nuestro blog.

Este es el nivel que hemos elegido para trabajar y en el cual vamos a permanecer, porque desde nuestro blog, pensamos que estamos haciendo una seria contribución a la investigación, estudio y criterios para enfocar el tema de los Fenómenos Aéreos Inusuales.

La página web “The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System” pertenece al Observatorio Astrofísico Smithsoniano (OAS) que es un “instituto de investigación” de la Institución Smithsoniana. Está unido al Observatorio del Colegio Harvard (OCH) para formar el Centro para Astrofísica Harvard-Smithsoniano. (CpA).

A PROPOSAL BY DR. TEODORANI

Italian Astrophyisicist, Dr. Massimo Teodorani, has brought to us the text of his proposal for the creation of an European Scientific Center for the Investigation of UAPs.

Here is the text:

Dear Sirs and Colleagues,

This is just to inform you all that an Italian politician (Hon. Mario Borghezio, Lega Nord) has presented on June 14, 2010 a written declaration for an “interrogation” at the European Parliament concerning the subject of “UFO phenomena”.

I have chosen to be currently one of the main scientific advisors of this politician, not due to political reasons (my choice to vote for Lega Nord is only a coincidence, and I would have willingly supported such an initiative by any other Euro parliamentarian whatever his/her political ideas are) but because I think that much more attention and money funding should be destined to truly scientific research on “UFO phenomena” in general. I have recalled a term here that I have never liked; I prefer to call them “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” (UAP), but the substance is the same.

I am not so much personally interested in “disclosure actions”, in new witnesses descriptions or in the release of new “classified documents” (unless they are scientific documents that are technically relevant, in case), but I have full respect for those who are mostly interested in this (mostly historical) aspect of the subject under study, which will be strongly considered too in this planned interrogation.

My main interest consists in the possibility of the creation of an European Scientific Institution able to devote concrete and constant scientific efforts in studying the phenomenon in all its aspects (including “earthlights” of geophysical origin, on which I am doing physical research since 16 years).

This necessarily involves, in particular, competences such as the ones of physics, astronomy, astrophysics, geophysics and engineering (but also psycho-sociology in many other aspects): this means - at least according to my way to see the thing in pragmatic terms – the deployment and use of sophisticated monitoring and measurement instrumentation to be placed at locations where an anomalous aerial phenomenon in general is most recurrent in Europe and/or where some occasional and transient “flaps” are suddenly occurring, in case.

This kind of actions are the only ones able to produce *numbers* and not words. As a necessary output we need numbers, charts, mathematical calculations (theoretical, experimental and statistical), and logical discussions, which come out from the data acquired by the new sensors that we absolutely need in order to improve this research and to remove it once and for all from the many boasters (and merchants) who go on speculating on this subject taking advantage of the popular credulity.

It is true that people “need to know the truth”, but it is much truer that people “need to understand how this stuff works” (if this stuff effectively exists). This is exactly what interests me. This approach would be extremely useful even if scientific investigations had to demonstrate that the phenomenon under study is only a quite well architected hoax and deceptive action.

Therefore I honestly think that it is time to stop once and for all to make a fun of people through the propagation of zany stories (which, by the way, discredit the efforts of serious researchers too). Even if the phenomenon under study is not an easy thing to manage, using scientific methods we can reach an important goal: to distinguish accurately true flowers from weed and to concentrate subsequently our attention on flowers only (whatever the flowers may be).

So far I suspect that most UFO phenomena are partly pure hoaxes and partly a natural “electromagnetic phenomenon” of which so far we know only a little. But (also as an European promoter of the SETV Initiative) I do not exclude a priori other possible origins, even the most exotic ones. Only science and its continuity of approach (plus its determination to reach the goal) can decide what we are facing since many decades.

And only an appropriate money funding together with well-chosen and aimed scientific interdisciplinary competences – concretized in a possible “European Observatory devoted to the Scientific Study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” – can allow us to make important steps forward in this quite controversial subject.

Even if in general I do not like politics (and I do not even have much time for it) we all know that all this might depend also (and maybe: mostly) on political decisions. Therefore a possible gentle but resolved “pressure” on the politicians of European countries might result to be a pragmatic decision.

Here you can find a list of all Euro parliamentarians : http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/geoSearch.do?language=EN

It is important that as many as possible parliamentarians (of whatever political color) sign the parliamentarian question that is now going on. Therefore (especially for the European recipients of this message) it is important to send ASAP to them an email in order to invite them to think in-depth about the issue in question and the necessity to launch as soon as possible a serious scientific study on it.

A final observation. The more this problem will be disregarded by whom should consider it using the necessary attention, the more “ufological tales”, hoaxes, fakes, new age sects and other manifestations of “irrational thinking” and deception will go on prevailing.

A scientific investigation is therefore absolutely necessary in order to shed light on this important problem. The goal of this new initiative (a first attempt of the same kind was done by theoretical physicist Prof. Tullio Regge 17 years ago, when he was a Euro parliamentarian at that time) is mainly twofold: 1) to disclose “UFO archives” that are still secret; 2) to establish a Scientific European Centre entirely devoted to the study in-depth of such phenomena. I am mostly interested in the second.

Whatever the phenomenon is, we might learn a lot from the physics of the involved problem, with a consequent advancement of our scientific understanding and knowledge and a consequent end of childish, medieval, obsolete and deceiving tales. I believe that rigor and open mind married together make a Science in its purest term.

Thanks for the gentle attention of you all

Massimo Teodorani