Eschew skepticism and examine UFOs

By Fish Griwkowsky

"It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas. If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you. On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish the useful ideas from the worthless ones." - Carl Sagan

I came across this quote looking for the misattributed, "Are we alone in the universe? If so, it seems like an awful waste of space." Sagan didn't actually say the latter, but both are appropriate given this weekend's exciting event at the Odyssium.

UFOs and Intelligent Life in the Universe: Who's Out There? is a two-day examination of one of the most compelling questions humans can pose.

Of course, each of us has our own ideas about whether or not alien visitors vacation in our skies. And ideas are all we have right now.

Like the existence of any cosmic, outerworldly or even heavenly beings, there is no generally accepted evidence that we terrestrials are anything but alone in the universe - though every year we add hope to the possibility. After all, it wasn't long ago there was no evidence of frozen water on either the moon or Mars, never mind the fact that a large, earthlike planet exists in the habitable band of a far-off red star near constellation Libra.

Speakers range from scientific straight men, like UBC's associate professor of astronomy Jaymie Matthews, to nuclear physicist and lecturer Stanton T. Friedman, who believes in an organized cover-up at the famous Roswell site where the cast of Futurama and Deep Space Nine have both visited in pop culture's imagination.

Says Friedman, "My audiences, mostly college and professional groups, seem to have no problem accepting the detailed factual data that I present leading to my conclusions that some UFOs are alien spacecraft and that the subject of flying saucers represents a kind of Cosmic Watergate.

"But what seems to be of most concern, judging by the question and answer sessions, are the "why" questions. Why would saucers crash? Why would aliens visit Earth? Why doesn't the government tell us what it knows?

"Why would aliens not land on the White House lawn or at the United Nations? Why would people fake MJ-12 documents? Why do you say SETI stands for Silly Effort To Investigate? Why have you kept at it for 39 years? Why hasn't the government taken you out?"

Another fascinating guest is Dr. Jesse Marcel Jr., son of the first military officer onsite at the Roswell crash, who recalls his father's excitement that night 60 years ago. Of course, Marcel's story doesn't match the official "weather balloon" one.

The Odyssium is also showing The Digital Universe - a cosmic exploration film - in the Zieldler Star Theatre. Like the neglected QE2 Planetarium out back once was, the dome theatre's the only one of its kind in the country. If you go, make sure and visit the old building to the northeast, especially to see the astrological sign mosaics designed by the late Heinrich Eichner, one of the city's hidden treasures and surely its coolest structure.

The fun begins tonight with Friedman's presentation at 7 p.m., running all day tomorrow, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., including an examination of UFO case studies over the Yukon and B.C., alien or not.

The Odyssium is located at 11211 142 St. and including food and refreshments, the entire weekend costs $80. Dial 451-3344 for tickets, or go to www.odyssium.com.

As any scientist will agree, it's OK to be skeptical; in fact, it's positively mandatory. But the debates should be lively.

And you just never know ...