The Fermi Paradox - Why we haven't been contacted by aliens

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Fish

No offense dude, but what you've just typed is a logical fallacy called argument from authority. There's nothing wrong with having an open mind. But that's different than allowing a logical fallacy to overcome standard skepticism. The stories are interesting as hell. Lots of fun. But without actual evidence of any kind, it's just a story regardless of the credentials of the storyteller. It does take direct evidence. I'd gladly welcome that experience much more than you could imagine.

Logical fallacies only invalidate an argument from the point of view of pure logic. Arguments from authority can still be highly convincing if you're citing the right authority. If I tell you the peanut butter is in aisle 6 at the local grocery store based on what my wife, who has shopped there weekly for the past decade, says, you can be pretty confident that peanut butter is in aisle 6 even if I haven't proven it logically.

That said, there's no reason to believe that any given Lt. Colonel pilot in the AF knows about all or even most highly classified aircraft.