Sam Maranto, director of MUFON in Illinois, reacted to my
posts in Facebook and in this blog, with the only arguments UFO fantasists
have: first the Shifting of Burden of Proof fallacy and then the Ad Hominem
attack.
Maranto wrote in Facebook:
“So Tomas what is your non-ET explanation for the entire
UFO phenomena? What is your evidence?”
This an obvious case of burden of proof fallacy, since he
is the one who tells us that UFO-ET exist while I demand some clear evidence of
this statement. Maranto turns the burden of proof, and ask me if I have evidences
that UFO=Extraterrestrials do not exist.
Of course this is irrational and shows the pathetic
situation of UFO-ET mythologists.
Suppose that I say that flying pink elephants exist, and
Mister X asks me for evidences concerning these flying pink elephants. Given
that I cannot show those evidences, I ask Mister X what are his evidences that
flying pink elephants do NOT exist.
My reply to Sam Maranto’s logical fallacy was precisely
the complete definition of his fallacy, and so, the director of MUFON Illinois
used another fallacy, the Ad Hominem attack. He called me ignorant, cave
dweller, and defined my reply as rhetorical gibberish.
Now, truth is that Sam recognizes that there are no
evidences about UFO as extraterrestrial vehicles.
In an article about Sam Maranto published in the Kate Valentine UFO show, (link above, )
we read: “Maranto takes his work seriously, and though he'll laugh with you, he
doesn't appreciate jokes about little green men and aluminum hats. He's a
cynical man — one of his favorite expressions is, "Not every weird light
in the sky is a UFO."
“In the majority of cases, Maranto's
adrenaline is pumped up for nothing. He speeds to the scene only to find the
"UFO" is actually a bouquet of liberated Mylar balloons twisting,
turning and reflecting the lights of the city — poetic perhaps, but certainly
not a myth come to life.”
“While acknowledging that there is no
"absolute" evidence of UFOs, Maranto finds the "prove it"
attitude frustrating.”
The commentary includes the following statement from a
scientific source:
"My only response (to the idea of UFOs)
is that there is no credible evidence," said James Hopkins, an astronomy
professor at Joliet Junior College. "If one crashed made of a metal never
before discovered on this planet it would be convincing. I believe in what I
can prove."
Do you think Mr. Maranto, that professor James Hopkins is
also “an ignorant”, a “cave dweller” and his ideas are rhetorical gibberish?