Seriously, is there a decent UFO skeptic out there? Any applicants, please note – it’s an easy job, there’s one big barrel absolutely filled with fish; just load and shoot. But please don’t do it like this guy, who seems to completely miss the barrel everytime he unloads a round. Brian Dunning – who has a history of crappy critical thinking, often related to his arch-nemesis Stanton Friedman – has figured out the author of the infamous ‘Majestic-12‘ (MJ12) documents. Guess who?
The late Philip Klass, perhaps the best known of the skeptical UFO investigators, once tried to flush out the author. One of the papers, known as the Cutler/Twining Memo, was in a certain unusual typeface, and Klass reasoned that whoever wrote it probably had authentic government documents from the same period to use as a style guide. He offered a cash reward for any extant examples. Who sprang forward with handy documents to claim the prize? None other than Stanton Friedman. Klass paid him $1000 (probably considering it a bargain), and Friedman’s reputation was permanently stained as a result. Tip to paranormal hoaxers hoping to make a career out of it: Don’t take the bait if you don’t want to be hooked.
Brian ‘Skeptologist’ Dunning has previously posted some really poor efforts, but this one entertains me no end. In this particular case, Phil Klass got stomped on by Stan Friedman – but to Dunning, it was all part of a greater plan by Klass to out the MJ12 hoaxer. Ugh, modern skepticism. Die already.
(** Note: I am not an MJ12 proponent, my personal belief is that it is a hoax perpetrated by the USAF, or at least individuals within the USAF. This post is not arguing for the authenticity of the documents, it is simply boggling at the amateur efforts of a supposedly top-shelf skeptic)
