Extraordinary claims. Ordinary investigations.

“A look at some of the flawed thinking that prompts people who believe in certain non-scientific concepts to advise others who don’t to be more open-minded.” [via ufofu]

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Good news, everyone! Fellow Tim Printy writes:

“SUNlite, as I call it, is dedicated to the skeptical information and opinions regarding Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). In 2003, Phil Klass ended his publication of SUN due to his failing health.  In an effort to fill the void left behind, I have decided to endeavor in producing this newsletter.   I want to encourage submissions for the newsletter from fellow skeptics and UFO proponents alike. All articles should be skeptical of claims that UFOs are alien spaceships because that is what this newsletter is about. I have no desire to present conspiracy theories I do not agree with or to make great leaps that, because a UFO can not be explained, it is an alien spaceship.  The first day of the month of issue is when to check the site for the latest issue. It should be there but if it isn’t check back in a few days. I may be too busy or sidetracked. Any articles or comments should be directed to my email address: [email protected].  Many thanks to those providing input and assistance for the newsletter.”

Download SUNlite Volume 1 Number 1 : May-June 2009  (PDF, 1Mb)

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A month ago we posted two videos of what looked like “stick-figure aliens”, one of them from Santa Rosa de Quives, Peru. We explained the so-called “Quives alien” as “just part of a bush”, that is, “a plant near the camera, and parallax giving the appearance of motion”.

We were right.

Now, after all the unfounded claims he uttered before, the local ufologist has finally publicized an “investigation” where he concludes exactly the same. He visited the location, which is fine, utters more illogical claims and shows some group photos, which is unnecessary, but most importantly, he finally shows a better quality version of the video that he had from the beginning. He has had this in his hands for months, perhaps even more than a year.

Just skip the first half (four minutes) of the video above to go straight to the better quality captures of the video. Or look at the screen capture below. And from it it’s fairly obvious it’s a plant in front of the man.

A graphic from the video:

And our original graphic, from a month ago:

Fellow Luis Ruiz Noguez, who was the one to correctly call this one a bush from the start, thinks it’s very curious how the video was explored and publicized by the ufologist. The version that’s been finally published now is not only much sharper, from it we can see how the first publicized version was cropped, hiding much of the bushes, “as if they were trying to hide the true essence of the ‘alien’”, writes Noguez.

The local ufologist ends his analysis claiming that:

“The conclusions that we can come to are that the video of the Quives Man wasn’t a hoax, it wasn’t a planned thing, but rather and quite simply, a big confusion, I would say exactly an optical effect.”

Luis Noguez disagrees. “I believe the ‘Quives Man’ was a hoax, a deliberate hoax from an optical effect of parallax.” Even if you give the ufologist the benefit of doubt – perhaps he didn’t realize it was a bush even with his better quality version, and unintentionally cropped and degraded the versions he aired – that he took a month after it was exposed as as a bush to finally confirm it with the evidence he clearly had is very questionable.

As we emphasize, this is the same local ufologist who claims that his country is surrounded by fleets of UFOs (which are in fact common party balloons), and even that one such “UFO flotilla” warned about a recent earthquake. And he usually appears abroad representing the UFO research in his country.

Too bad for Peru.

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I’m very late on this, but David Acord has started a new weekly cryptozoological newsletter, The Cryptid Chronicles, and from the free sample first issue it seems very interesting. I found “The Whatsit That Wasn’t (Or Was It?)” story particularly nice, as to me it highlights how the public and media perception of creatures is influenced by culture. Acord writes:

“As we’ve seen repeatedly over the years, properly identifying strange mammals can be tricky. Mange or other skin diseases can turn otherwise normal-looking foxes, coyotes and dogs into weird beasts that are often hastily labeled as cryptids or, worse, bonafide chupacabras (as happened in Texas in 2006 and 2007). Usually the disease is diagnosed within a few days or weeks and the story goes away. But in 1971, a strange case popped up in North Dakota that fooled biologists and zoologists alike. (…)
It all started in the late fall of 1971, when Morris Baker found the animal on his farm in Rollette County during a snowstorm. Baffled by its strange appearance – it appeared to possess the qualities of several animals all rolled into one – it was sent first to the North
Dakota State University branch at Bottineau and then transferred to the Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot. Scientists at both locations were stumped, and gave it the nickname “Whatsit.” Others simply called it “The Thing.”

As it was 1971, there was still no Chupacabras label to put into the animal – the term would only be made popular in the late 1990s. And, more importantly, there was still no practical DNA testing. Even so, the “Whatsit” was eventually identified as a mangy red fox, but not after a long time.

Acord feels the explanation is puzzling nevertheless, as it would mean all those scientists failed to identify a common animal, and the news media didn’t exploit the blunder when it was discovered. Could this be?

I do think so, as all modern cases where DNA testing was conducted revealed these strange mammals to be indeed common, yet poor looking animals, and embarrassed some experts much sooner. And those “I have never seen anything like it” statements are always there. Invisible gorillas.

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I received this photo from Carlos Santos, from Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal. “I took this picture of a house near mine, I was just experimenting, but later found the face you can see when zooming in… and I can’t find a valid explanation”, Santos wrote me.

He sent the original file, and besides being a fascinating and slightly spooky image, it shows no evidence of tampering I could find. Perhaps it’s the expression, perhaps it’s because it’s in black and white, or because it does not show a complete face, but it looks eerily similar to Joseph Carey Merrick, also known as the Elephant Man as portrayed in the movies.

Keep reading for a suggested explanation (well, it’s in the title, but anyway).

Read more

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