September 1, 2010 – The modern UFO phenomenon began in the 1940s. Yet despite decades of evidence, and the fact that opinion polls (such as Gallup) have consistently shown that the majority of people believe that flying saucers are real, this phenomenon has yet to be seriously and systematically investigated by the academic and scientific mainstream. Why? In large part, it has to do with the hypothesis that unexplained UFO sightings represent encounters with artificial, intelligently-controlled craft of non-terrestrial origin. Extraordinary evidence, such as an alien body or an intact craft, has yet to be made publicly available; many claim that such evidence is indispensable to justify any serious investigation at all into this issue, as claims that Earth has been visited by a non-terrestrial intelligence are inherently extraordinary. But while perhaps intuitively correct, this notion crumbles in the face of logical reasoning and facts.
Naturally, this begs the question, “If the presence of extraterrestrials on Earth is not an inherently extraordinary claim, then what is?” An example soon comes to mind. Bigfoot sightings typically occur in the northwestern United States of America. Whether or not Bigfoot exists (and let me be “clear” that I do not intend to argue for or against the existence of Bigfoot in this op-ed), what matters here is that in the case of Bigfoot, there does in fact exist a clear frame of reference justifying a standard of proof far higher than would normally be required for a phenomenon new to science. The region as a whole is highly populated, includes major urban areas, and enjoys a modern, fully-developed infrastructure of roads, airports, hiking trails, etc that allow people more or less free access to even the remotest parts of the region. Large numbers of scientists and experienced outdoorsmen have operated throughout the region for more than a century, and in that time have achieved intimate familiarity with the area’s fauna, large and small. As such, one has at least some reasonable basis to claim that, if Bigfoot exists, its existence would probably have been confirmed by now. The notion of Bigfoot as an extraordinary claim requiring extraordinary evidence stems from a frame of reference firmly based in sound logic and relevant facts.
