Michael Shermer on UFO Cover-Up: Leans deny

The claim: Non-human intelligence has visited Earth and governments are hiding it.

2011-04-01: “In all fields of science there is a residue of anomalies unexplained by the dominant theory. That does not mean the prevailing theory is wrong or that alternative theories are right.” source
2011-04-01: “So the entire extraterrestrial hypothesis is based on the residue of data after the above list has been exhausted. What’s left? Not much.” source
2011-04-01: “ONE MORNING SEVERAL YEARS AGO a black triangular-shaped object flew over my home in the San Gabriel Mountains in southern California. It was almost completely silent, made rapid turns and accelerations, and was so nonreflective it looked like a hole in the sky, almost otherworldly.” source
2011-04-01: “How much data do we have, and can they help us distinguish between UAPs and what I call Completely Ridiculous Alien Piffle (CRAP), such as crop circles and cattle mutilations, alien abductions and anal probes, and human-alien hybrids?” source
2026-01-29: “I strongly suspect that all UAP sightings fall into the first category, but other commentators suggest the second, noting that they could represent Russian or Chinese assets using technology as yet unknown to American scientists, capable of speeds and turns that seemingly defy all their physics and aerodynamics. That hypothesis is highly unlikely.” source