There's a thread on UFO UpDates this week titled, 'Why I Believe UFOs Are Bunk' and it began because the BBC News Online Science editor, Dr. David Whitehouse wrote an article by the same name and it was published this past Tuesday. Since the article was posted, many of the listers have posted their thoughts about what was published and to say that their comments have been - contrary to the learned doctor's article would be akin to saying one-legged ducks swim in circles. In other words, no kidding. Amongst the listers who voiced their opinions about what Dr. Whitehouse said were Lan Fleming, Bruce Maccabee and Stanton Friedman.

In June of 1997, Stanton Friedman believes he debated Dr. Whiteside and in his post to the UFO UpDates list he states,

"If this is the same Dr. W, he also claimed that there wasn't anything in NM but sand, and when I said it was the only place on Earth in July, 1947, where an alien visitor could study all 3 technologies indicating soon (100 years) Earthlings could be leaving... nuclear weapons, V- 2 rockets, and powerful radar, he suggested that they could have gone to Russia.

I had to point out that not only were 2 of the 3 US nuclear weapons labs in NM, but also White Sands, Kirtland and Roswell and that the Soviets didn't test their first A-Bomb until August 1949.

If this is he, he hasn't learned anything since."

Now Dr. Whitehouse said many negative things in his article about UFOs however he DID at least give the article the title it deserved - calling it 'Why I Believe UFOs are Bunk', because it is a singular belief and nothing more. He offers no evidence to support his belief and merely offers nothing more than all encompassing general statements about UFO pictures, video and film evidence. He goes further though and basically implies that anyone who has ever seen and reported a flying saucer or an alien life form is either lying or simply crazy. To those of us who have not seen anything ourselves but do believe that UFOs and other life not from this planet exists, he tells us that we're gullible.

Dr. Whitehouse believes that all the photographs, videos and films of UFOs are either fuzzy, shot from a distance or have been shown to be fakes when even a cursory glance at some of the television programs about 'The Best Sightings' show this statement to be complete and utter hogwash. Dr. Whitehouse even shows that he believes that those of us with any interest in UFO's and alien life forms think that the Men in Black movies must be documentaries because he even refers to them at one point in his article.

But, the part that I love the best is how by virtue of what he says in his article, the learned Doctor shows that he believes the government always tells him the truth and that they've never hidden anything or covered anything up. (I wish I were a baby bumblebee.....) He implies this by saying any of us that do believe the government is covering things up are - wait for it - gullible. It makes me wonder if perhaps Doctor Whitehouse's Doctoral thesis might have been about whether it would take 10 or 12 beers to get a local co-ed drunk enough to look at him because it surely couldn't have been about anything remotely scientific.

The learned doctor ends his article by imploring someone to please beam up those of us who believe in UFOs and alien life - showing his obvious affection for Star Trek.

The BBC normally reports news and articles by doing intensive research and reporting the facts whether they're good or not but in this instance, all they've done is allowed their Online Science editor to clearly illustrate that he investigates by proclamation. But that's just - my take on it.