Carl Sagan on UFOs

[Trajanus]

Carl Sagan was involved on both sides of the The UFO debate. During the 1950s, at the onset of the modern era in ufology, he defended the idea that some UFOs could be extraterrestrial visitors.

In 1966, he was a member of the O'Brien Committee, also known as the USAF Scientific Advisory Board Ad Hoc Committee to Review Project Blue Book.
Later Sagan would become a prominent member of CSICOP, and the group would triumphantly espouse him as their own particular brand of convert. But even as a member of CSICOP, Sagan always came across as "the good cop", and his manner of delivery always suggested that he appreciated the spirit of genuine ufology.

Didn't seem that way to me. I thought it strange that he considered the old "oannes" half-fish tale to be evidence of ET but was hostile to the Hill story among others.

 

[Trajanus]

Sagan was a fairly complex character. When he first heard about UFOs, he was keen to have a sighting of his own. He would often go skywatching and he outright defended the extraterrestrial hypothesis, but that was in his younger days and due to pressure by the academic and scientific establishment, Sagan was forced to start toeing the line or suffer the consequences. More than once he was criticized by his so-called peers for being too open about his opionions with respect to extraterrestrial life. This left us in the audience to read between the lines. But one thing is for sure, nobody who thought that extraterrestrial life didn't exist would bother fastening a gold plated message for aliens to a space probe or suggest using radio telescopes to detect alien messages.

Oh sure, he had no problem with the idea of ET, as long as it was separated from us by distance or time. He was open to contact in the future, with some distant race, via radio, or ET visits in the past, but if someone claimed ET was here and now...yikes, no way!

... In my mind, for the part he played in the story of ufology, he will be remembered only with the greatest respect.

I don't think so.

 

[uforadio]

Carl Sagan was involved on both sides of the The UFO debate. During the 1950s, at the onset of the modern era in ufology, he defended the idea that some UFOs could be extraterrestrial visitors.
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https://www.theparacast.com/forum/threads/7425-Carl-Sagan-on-UFOs?p=97584#post97584

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