Denouncer of ufology says science-minded research group will "make ufology obsolete"
4/11/2000
Written by Wiggz...also known as the AlienZoo prohibitor of dullness.
Bruce Cornet, Ph.D. once called himself a UFO researcher. But a year ago, he renounced ufology altogether, contending that it had degenerated into a pseudoscience.
A geologist by academic training, Cornet saw how ufology, on its current trajectory, could never be accepted by credible scientific establishments, like NASA.s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He couldn.t tolerate how UFO research lacked grounding in the scientific method. In other words, in his view, UFO researchers weren.t observing and describing phenomena, forming hypotheses to explain phenomena, using hypotheses to predict other phenomena, or performing experimental tests of predictions by more than one experimenter.
.Ufology is based on the assumption that ET is already here. Within any type of scientific venture, you have to test those assumptions. To do so, you have to come up with better evidence and a basis for assumptions,. says Cornet. .Another assumption that I.ve heard many times is that the phenomenon is random and unpredictable. And yet, many people have not tested that assumption. I went out and tested it, and found that it wasn.t random at all..
Cornet continues: .You have to be proactive. You have to go to areas where known activity has occurred. And you have to present yourself in a way that will demonstrate that you.re prepared to receive information. My success has been due not just to having camera and camcorder, but also because I would come back to the same spot time and time again, and wait patiently..
To be proactive, Cornet and a core group of scientists have been engaged in forming SETV, the Search for Extraterrestrial Visitation. In simple terms, this organization agrees with the scientific methods of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), for SETI has put together a method for identifying extraterrestrial intelligence. But SETV disagrees with the narrowness of SETI.s search methods . scanning the skies for ET radio signals.
In contrast to SETI, SETV seeks to scan the skies primarily with visual instrumentation: magnetometers, Geiger counters, spectroradiometers (which detect light wavelengths and spectral bands emitted by lights), and an automated weather station (to read atmospheric conditions). The instruments would enable researchers to see more than just images.
.Humans make lousy data recorders,. Cornet says. .The SETV project is an attempt to collect data by extending the human senses, via instrumentation, on an automated platform . one where humans are not involved . to collect unbiased data on a contact experience..
Ruling out data the key to successful research
So ready to begin anew is Cornet that he doesn.t even allow the acronym UFO to enter his conversation. Instead, he prefers .AOP. -- Anomalistic Observational Phenomena. The concept of a UFO brings with it too much cultural baggage: images of ETs riding spaceships. Cornet says the UFO field is teeming with people who aren.t properly trained. Even well-known CSETI (Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence, the group led by Dr. Steven Greer that.s devoted to mutual communication with extraterrestrial civilizations), assumes that non-human visitors are indeed of ET origin, regardless of the great lengths with which CSETI researchers are trained.
.Skeptics have had a heyday with ufology, because ufologists can.t eliminate all of the alternative explanations,. Cornet says. .When we collect and chart our data, our scientists have to eliminate possibilities down the line, until we finally come up with the most likely representation of what exists..
One of the projects SETV would like to undertake is setting up an automated platform at civilian and military airports, so that a comprehensive portrait of aircraft lights can be drawn. Platform instruments would be calibrated to detect a specific wavelength of plane-related light. Spectroradiometers would detect tungsten, says Cornet, because most airplanes use bulbs made of tungsten filaments. Any light that measures outside of a calibrated bandwidth would be cause for further scrutiny of data.
.On our platforms, we.ll have smart software, which will be capable of analyzing the data stream coming in from any given target,. Cornet says. .The moment it hits something conventional, it.s going to stop tracking the object. It will continue to record something that doesn.t fit conventional characteristics..
Two tracking cameras (part of the same platform system) separated by about 300 feet and running together, for example, could simultaneously study an object.s altitude and distance, by forming a triangle with the object. Instrumentation would take the guesswork out of describing aerial phenomena.
SETV would like to develop "rapid deployment teams," who would set up portable platforms in areas where sightings, and skywatchers, are common. Data culled from instruments could be compared with the descriptions made by skywatchers, who wouldn't be aware of SETV's presence in the area.
"We'd just let it run and see what happens," Cornet says. "If skywatchers report seeing one thing or another, we'll have record of it. We'll be able to analyze it, and tell them exactly what it was or wasn't -- assuming we can identify it. If we eliminate all possible known identifications for it, and yet still don't have a positive identification, we'll have a ream of data that tells other scientists why it is an unknown. The most important thing is that set of data will characterize the particular object that is being tracked."
If the object, or something similar, were to reappear in another area, SETV would be able to say it has seen the object before, ruling out what the object is not.
Gathering respect
Cornet and SETV are ultimately seeking the respect of the scientific community. Data, not speculation, is what counts in scientists' purview.
"You can't be ridiculed for looking at data," Cornet says. "With data, you can defend yourself."
Naturally, SETV needs money, perhaps $2 million per year over five years. But Cornet says he thinks SETV can operate for as little as $500,000 per year.
Yet, Cornet won't disclose the members of SETV, because their jobs could be jeopardized if their employers were to learn of their work with SETV. One of Cornet's partners, though, did work with JPL on Mars missions, and this person will soon publish an article announcing the validity of the SETV project. The door of membership won't be open to everyone, though: SETV will approach new members the way companies view hiring prospective employees, with a "What can you do for us?" attitude.
In its early stages, SETV will expose itself to a great deal of opposition, primarily from supporters of SETI, who cannot seem to accept an ET hypothesis, which includes Earth visitation. SETV is in some ways a spin-off from SETI, consisting of persons who were frustrated by SETI's narrow approach toward searching for ET intelligence.
Regardless, Cornet and SETV will persist on its quest for scientific principles.
"SETV will make ufology obsolete. It will make it nothing more than a Star Trek group," Cornet says. "Ufology is in it for the speculation, excitement, and possibilities, without doing any of the homework."