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DATE OF ARTICLE:  December 13, 1989
SOURCE OF ARTICLE:  Las Vegas Review-Journal
LOCATION:  Las Vegas, Nevada
BYLINE:  Arthur A. Chevalier
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CLAIMS OF UFO 'EXPERTS' HAVE NO BASIS IN FACT

By Arthur A. Chevalier

     Let me begin by saying I have seen a UFO -- that's right, an
unidentified  flying object.   But I have not seen a spaceship or
"flying saucer."
     An  important distinction must be made here because  of  the
recent  rash  of local broadcasts,  produced by KLAS-TV's  George
"Geraldo" Knapp,  pretending to be balanced,  in-depth reports on
UFOs.   Knapp  claims  to  have  seen  documents  that  show  the
government  has  engaged  in a massive cover-up  of  UFOs  so  we
civilians won't be frightened into mass panic.
     It  would appear Knapp obtained most of his information from
the fringe groups that make a living selling books and videotapes
about  UFOs.   In fact,  the primary sponsor of this  TV  program
repeatedly  urged viewers to call a 900 number to get the lowdown
on  UFOs  at $2 a minute and also receive a free  videotape  (for
only $6.95 shipping and handling).
     Throughout   the  two-hour  program,   UFO  "experts"   were
portrayed  as intelligent researchers with nothing to gain (other
than book and tape sales), while skeptics were usually just plain
wrong.   Scientific  research  about UFOs was given  only  a  few
minutes.
     Phillip Klass,  editor of Aviation Week and Space Technology
magazine  and  world-renowned investigator into UFO  claims,  was
given maybe five minutes to speak,  and he said all UFO sightings
have logical explanations.   Knapp and his UFOlogist friends said
Klass  is  wrong  and is just a mouthpiece  of  the  government's
cover-up.
     These UFO "experts" maintain that when they are proven wrong
regarding some of their claims,  it is because the government  is
spreading disinformation to discredit them.  Sounds like paranoid
to me.
     This "Cosmic Watergate," as Knapp calls it, is just about to
bust wide open and he intends to be in the forefront.
     The  famous MJ-12 papers so often cited by the "experts"  as
proof  of a government cover-up have been scientifically proven a
forgery and a fraud.   These UFO "experts" also say scientists no
longer  look  into UFO sightings because they  have  been  proven
wrong too many times.
     Science  has  researched this subject and found there is  no
tangible  evidence  to verify the existence of  UFOs.   How  long
must  scientists  try to disprove something that  can't  even  be
proven to exist?
     Carl   Sagan  and  most  astronomers  believe  there  is  an
abundance of life in the universe.   It is almost impossible that
there is not.   But Sagan,  after researching UFOs, says there is
no  conclusive  scientific evidence verifying  the  existence  of
flying saucers.
     In fact,  Sagan feels it rather egotistical of us to believe
we  are  constantly  being observed by aliens  who  have  nothing
better  to do than travel unimaginable distances to play cat  and
mouse with us.
     Why  didn't  Knapp interview Sagan?   Could it be he  didn't
want to have to contradict this most respected scientist?
     A  quarterly  publication called the Skeptical  Inquirer  is
available at the local library and should be required reading  by
all.   It contains discussions by Sagan and other scientists with
impeccable credentials regarding claims of the paranormal.  Their
position  is  that while none of these claims  (UFOs,  astrology,
mental  telepathy,  etc.)  are  impossible,  there  has  been  no
scientificaly verified evidence that any of them are valid.
     Skepticism has been described as having a closed mind,  when
in  fact  it is exactly the opposite.   Skepticism is  simply  an
approach to the problem of telling what is counterfeit from  what
is  genuine -- and a recognition of how costly it may be to  fail
to do so.
     To  be  a  skeptic is to cultivate "street  smarts"  in  the
battle for control of one's mind, one's money, one's allegiances.
To be a skeptic is to refuse to be a victim.
     Although  I  believe it is all right for broadcasters to  do
programs  regarding the pseudosciences,  balancing such  programs
with viewpoints from both sides is essential.
     The growing belief in the pseudosciences in this country  is
alarming.   Why  is  it that many humans suspend all  rationality
when  confronted  with  certain,   as  yet  unexplained,  natural
phenomena?
     The  human  brain  and  our  vast  universe  are  incredible
mysteries  currently  being  explored  by  science,  yet  somehow
logical thinking is discarded by intelligent people when they are
confronted with claims of the paranormal.

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Arthur Chevalier is a financial adviser and nine-year resident of
Las Vegas.
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