The Illness of Rampant Abandonment: The Slide Down to Ufological Hell.

Greetings. The effort to examine and investigate undetermined possibilities is a worthwhile endeavor, in fact, the undertaking is an incredibly rewarding exercise.

Regardless of the subject matter being scrutinized, keeping logic and dispassionate thinking part of the game is essential. There is no reason, at least none that I have come across in my own lifetime, to enthusiastically abandon one's own critical thinking skills, no reason whatsoever. However, that kind of thing happens all the time, particularly when so-called "fringe topics" are the focus of the investigative effort. UFOs, ghosts, remote viewing, cryptozoology, and extrasensory perception are just a few of the topics that somehow consistently induce the rampant abandonment of intellectual, level-headed thinking processes. It has become a disease of the intellect. 

The UFO problem is perhaps the most well-known subject matter that motivates people to place their intelligence on the backburner to oblivion. Valid information is not embraced, particularly when that information is contrary to entrenched beliefs and positions. Hoaxes never die, and are promoted by some of the more malodorous members of the UFO subculture; Richard Dolan and Daniel Alan Jones, among a few others. The situation is not an isolated issue, with many researchers being affected by the very same influences, riding the very same slide to ufological hell. Again, there is no reason for such a counterproductive course of action to even be considered, yet it is, on far too many occasions to take account of.

When members of the scientific research community make the decision to gingerly step into the minefield that is the UFO arena, the sickness spreads just as easily, with previous adherents to the scientific method and methodologies willingly diving into the "woo-filled" pool of pseudoscientific nonsense. Declarations are made, utterly void of data and/or accurate information, unsubstantiated declarations that would never be made in their previous research communities. When some scientists don't come down with the disease; Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Sean Kirkpatrick being numbered among them, they are immediately labeled as debunkers, or are called abhorrent names by the UFO public and their celebrities (prophets.) Such scientists should be celebrated for their adherence to their professional integrity, but the UFO subculture sees it all as an effort to misinform the masses, an opinion which could not be more embarrassing and is revealing of a troubling level of overall ignorance and scientific stupidity. 

There may be no cure for this particular disease, but we can each do our part to not further contribute to the current situation. We can all make the choice to use the brains that billions of years of evolutionary processes have provided. When we use our intellectual skills, we are all much better off.

Please stay intellectually healthy. Don't abandon your critical thinking skills. 

Thank you for your time and consideration.