Paynter claims it's a fact that there is no credible evidence that would lead scientists to believe aliens have come to Earth. Paynter believes analysis should be conducted with the highest standards of scientific inquiry. The reason is, so the UFOlogists need to prove what they claim. He also says that one should remain skeptical about the existence of UFO’s without any physical evidence to support the claim. Word of mouth is simply not enough proof. We should not believe everything, and we need to be skeptical so that we use critical thinking skills to come up with our conclusions.
I think Paynter makes valid claims about the need for better evidence to prove there are UFO’s and alien lifeform. If the UFOlogist wants to demonstrate the existence of alien’s and UFO’s they need to be testing all evidence they find and following up on credible sightings. Paynter was right when he said, “The UFOlogical community have to support their conclusions with probative evidence and rigorous reasoning and to confront the skeptics with the evidence they so dearly seek a demonstrably alien artifact.” (Boss, 2014)
Some believers maintain the demand for physical proof of alien visitations are unreasonable because aliens are too intelligent to leave physical evidence of their presence on Earth. (Boss, 2014) Paynter responds to their claims by saying “such an argument may make sense to somebody who is prepared to believe in alien visitations as an act of faith, in the same way, which some people believe in angels.” (Boss, 2014)
To establish the claims that UFO’s exist we first need probable physical evidence. If we can find some alien artifact on Earth, we can then analyze the evidence and conclude that aliens and UFO’s do exist. If we can run the proper test on the “implants” found from the people who were “abducted” we will be able to prove or disprove if aliens do exist.
The reasoning errors I have identified in Paynter’s argument is the fact that he says “A well-known example is the US Air Force’s own Project Sign ‘Estimate of the Situation,’ issued in 1948, that concluded that flying saucers were real and that they came from outer space.” (Boss, 2014) If the US Air Force’s Project did find that flying saucers are real, why doesn’t he believe they exist?
I think there could be aliens and ufos in the universe. I would like to see physical evidence before I am a true believer. I have never seen any UFO’s in my lifetime, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I also believe the government could be covering up their existence if there are aliens. This topic has been in the media for many years. In my experience if you tell people you saw something, even if it doesn’t exist, more people will start “seeing” the same thing. That only works if you have a compelling story.