bureau42.com      

bureau42.com email
Check your mail, or get a free address

Add to Google

part of the everyone.net Entertainment Network

Dreamhost Web Hosting

Problems with the site? Comments? Questions? Let us know!

 
welcome to bureau42.com
 
UFO Hunters, and Why I Quit Watching After Two Episodes
posted February 17 2008, 12:00 pm by fiziko

Category: TV Series 3vi1 writes, Having seen Monster Hunters, I was excited to see the new series UFO Hunters. My excitement was short-lived, though: After watching only two episodes, I'm convinced. Convinced that I'll never watch this unscientific tripe again. 3vi1 continues below.

Read more... ( 7 comments already posted ) | ( 2056 bytes in body ) | ( Post a comment )


<< Weekly Digital Disc Picks - February 19, 2008  | Post a comment | Secret Invasion Review - "New Avengers #26-32" >>

My main problem with the show is that they let Bill Birnes voice his conclusions to every investigation. Of the two episodes I've seen, none of the evidence points to an alien presence whatsoever, yet Mr. Birnes presents every mundane detail as if it were irrefutable proof of something extraordinary. This is obviously a guy who has invested so much into area of UFO phenomena that he is working with blinders on.

Mr. Birnes takes every word of every witness as gospel, and makes non-sequitur associations: To paraphrase, the team says things like "If we find the plane with the windshield intact, the pilot must have been removed by aliens". Not once does he say "Hey, maybe this guy killed his cousin and ditched the plane on purpose."

The science of the show is also very shoddy. If you saw the episode with the foreign object in the guys leg, you're probably wondering (as am I) why they didn't use their "signal detector" in the same room while the guy was not present to determine if those frequencies might be coming from other equipment. This probably accounts for why the "object" (just a lump of iron) wasn't broadcasting frequencies after it was removed (and tested in a different location).

If you detected a signal coming from an "alien implant", wouldn't you say "Whoa whoa whoa... let's not remove this yet - let's record the signals so that we can analyze exactly what it's transmitting and receiving first". I would. Any scientist would. The UFO Hunters don't.

I love the idea that UFOs might be real. I'd love to see one. I'd love to watch any investigation that could seriously lead to progress in the field. I do not love, however, watching an incredibly shabby scientific process narrated with the wild rantings of someone who has obviously made the leap from science to faith.

It is only my opinion, but I feel that this is an incredibly bad show that portrays UFO enthusiasts in a bad light. But, don't believe me - view the evidence and judge for yourself.



 Comments

I agree
posted by nitefallz on February 18 2008, 6:08 am
I agree, sadly. The show has disappointed me more than I expected. I think it's even less scientific that Sightings from the 90s. The only positive thing I can really say at this point is that the show has educated me about other UFO phenomenon that I had not been aware of, and provided more details about events I didn't know about, such as the supposed star map from the Betty/Barney Hill case.


reply to this

UFO=Unidentified Flying Object
posted by Timeshredder on February 18 2008, 6:31 am

I love the idea that UFOs might be real.


By definition, they are. : )


The reality is that more people will watch a show that appears to validate the existence of extra-terrestrial visitations rather than one that says, "the evidence is for the most part pretty crappy." Consequently, healthy skepticism is in short supply on such shows. I recently watched a show on the "Top Ten" UFO reports. It was fairly good, as such shows go, but I was stunned by how many questionable claims made their way into the show, stated as facts. Those were just the cases with which I was familiar.

reply to this

Re: UFO=Unidentified Flying Object
posted by y42 on February 18 2008, 8:35 am

I love the idea that UFOs might be real.


By definition, they are. : )

I'm always annoyed when people make the 'logical' leap to "aliens" when they hear "unidentified flying object".

Of course I believe in unidentified flying objects, anything you see flying that you can't identify is one of those! I didn't say I believed they came from another galaxy! *sigh*

reply to this

Betty & Barney Hill
posted by Erf on February 18 2008, 5:00 pm
A bit of a digression, but SF author James MacDonald takes apart the Hill story pretty effectively at Making Light. He drove their route, going over their whole story in great detail, including timeline, sightings, patterns, etc. The upshot: they saw the light from an observation tower on Cannon Mountain, which seemed to move around because of the way their route twisted and turned as they drove. It's a pretty neat takedown.

reply to this

No offense....
posted by jayhawk88 on February 18 2008, 9:06 am
<i>I do not love, however, watching an incredibly shabby scientific process narrated with the wild rantings of someone who has obviously made the leap from science to faith.</i>

...but if you use valid, solid science for something like this then you're literally left with nothing. It's Paranormal Mythbusters except every myth is busted.

reply to this

Occam's Barbershop: Season One
posted by Timeshredder on February 18 2008, 11:38 am


...but if you use valid, solid science for something like this then you're literally left with nothing. It's Paranormal Mythbusters except every myth is busted.


A handful of cases (more accurately, details of cases), while they hardly amount to good evidence for visiting aliens, at least remain inconclusive or unexplained. A paranormal version of Mythbusters, would teach science in an interesting way, while putting scrutiny on those few anomalies.

reply to this

Seriously disappointed
posted by spideylinux on February 18 2008, 12:59 pm
I was browsing the TiVo and saw one of the episodes you described where the guy crashed his plane between Catalina and Long Beach. That was one of the worst UFO shows I've ever seen. All they did was talk to three people who saw one, no proof like pictures, video, etc. The only thing they had going for them was the fact that there were several other eyewitnesses who called the authorities about the same sighing.

Then there was the plane crash. Maybe I've too many of the CSI, Cold Case, Law and Order type shows, but I was thinking the same thing. This guy could have killed his cousin, either by mistake or on purpose and then said "A USO pulled us in the water!".

I live very close to where this show was talking about, so I hoped to learn something about this area, but they could have given me all the information in about 10 minutes. Oh and the whole section on figuring out where the plane might have drifted to was such bull since they didn't even find the plane. So instead of getting some real experts to find it, they chalked it up to the USO's taking it away to their underground base.

Anyway, glad to hear that I wasn't the only one disappointed.

reply to this



<< Weekly Digital Disc Picks - February 19, 2008  | Post a comment | Secret Invasion Review - "New Avengers #26-32" >>
 
Current Headlines
People's Choice Awards Results (1)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Review - Issue 21 (0)
Secret Invasion / War of Kings Review - "Secret Invasion: War of Kings" (0)
Novel Review: The Stars My Destination (5)
Weekly Comics Discussion - January 7, 2008 (0)
Matt Smith IS The Doctor (9)
Weekly Digital Disc Picks - January 6, 2008 (0)
Weekend Review - "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog" (6)

Other SF Sites
Sci-Fi Storm

Peek at new <i>Star Trek</i> tech
<i>Tron</i> gets young lead actor
SCI FI Wire gets redesign
The new Doctor is...Matt Smith
New Doctor Who actor chosen -announced Saturday
Terry Farrell (of DS9) returns to the stage
<i>Terminator</i> joins the National Film Registry
Fox has rights to <i>Watchman</i>, according to judge
Disney says bon voyage to <i>Narnia: Treader</i>
<i>Babylon 5</i> music videos available online for the first time
STARTREK.COM - Headlines

Next Remastered Episode: "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"
Keep the conversation going on StarTrek.com boards
Okuda Logo for New Lunar Lander Unveiled
"InAlienable" Premieres, "Of Gods & Men" Soon!
Jerry Goldsmith: A Personal Reminiscence
TNG20: It Was Twenty Years Ago Today (December 1987)
EDITOR'S PICK: Suzie Plakson - "Good Luck Charm" CD
Etchstar Customized iPod nano Giveaway
ASK KATE: Trekkies, Trekkers, Which Is It?
POLL: Which TNG "gift" would you like this holiday season?

Other Random Cool Sites
Ars Technica

Microsoft trains next-gen coders with XNA's Kodu
Report: Gmail about one-third as expensive as hosted e-mail
Open source Mono framework brings C# to iPhone and Wii
Resurrection on video: hands on with the Palm pré
CCIA to Obama: Net neutrality to be an innovation engine
It's the paradigm, stupid: hands-on with OQO Model 2+
Linux-based HP Mini Mi ships with command line disabled
Palm strikes back with new OS, pré handset at CES
IT group: stimulus money needed for broadband, smart grid
Microsoft keynote highlights: Windows 7, Live, and more
Verizon offers content providers cheap access to its network
Consumers Union wants digital TV transition postponed
DOCSIS 3.0 laggard Charter files patent suit against Verizon
CES 2009: Live announcements from Sony Keynote
Macworld.Ars: Day 2 roundup
Patent Office presses rewind on broad digital music patent
Forecasting space weather and its economic impact
Students, law prof want RIAA trial live and online
CES.Ars: Live blog of Microsoft keynote
OQO launches world's smallest Vista PC with OLED screen
[H]ardOCP News/Article Feed

DRM-Free iTunes Store to Haunt Apple?
Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification for January
Gaming News
AMD Announces Fusion Render Cloud
Yahoo Considering Decker For CEO
IE8 is Coming, IE8 Blocker Tool Already Out
GeForce 181.20 Drivers
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 Review Round-Up
Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player
Delete 10 Facebook Friends For A Free Whopper
BFGTech GeForce GTX 295
[H]ardware Round-Up
Corsair's TEC Memory Cooler
6 Year Old Drives Self to School, GTA Blamed
Lenovo and Dell Cutting Jobs
BFGTech GeForce GTX 295
AMD Phenom II X4 Model 940 Black Edition Processor
NF200 "True" 3-Way SLI Preliminary Results
EVGA X58 3X SLI Motherboard
XFX GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition
ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution
Gigabyte EX58-Extreme
Gigabyte EX58-UD5
Corsair TX850W Power Supply
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 Preview
Grand Theft Auto IV Gameplay Performance and IQ
Enermax Revolution85+ 1050W
FarCry 2 DX9 vs. DX10 Image Quality
ASUS M3A78-T Mobo - 790GX Chipset
Tagan BZ 1300W PSU
Slashdot

The Technology Behind the Magic Yellow Line
6-Year-Old Says Grand Theft Auto Taught Him To Drive
Attempt To "Digitalize" Beatles Goes Sour
The Inexact Science of Carbon Neutrality
Panasonic Working On 2-Terabyte SD Cards
More Brains Needed
Obama Recommends Delay In Digital TV Switch
Lexus To Start Spamming Car Buyers In Their Cars
Ballmer Sets Loose Windows 7 Public Beta At CES
Asus Reveals the Eee Keyboard
Sunday Evening, the New Web Rush Hour
Twitter Hack Details Revealed
The 2008 Linux and Free Software Timeline
NVIDIA Offers 3D Glasses For the Masses
Blu-ray Update Sent To User Via Credit Card Records


Want our headlines on your site? You can snag our RSS file and go to town. (RDF/RSS parser sold separately.) All site content © and owned by its author - for the full skinny, read the legal disclaimers bit.