Michael Shermer Abducted by Aliens

[natedaug1]

Just read about this in "Believing Brain." Great book.

[dnallred]

Just checked this out after reading about the encounter in "The Believing Brain". I HIGHLY recommend you pick that one up folks. Great read.

[RealityGrapple]

'Thinking' your crew wants to abduct you, is indeed like a psychotic episode. Actually EXPERIENCING such a thing - real or otherwise - is not. Most scizophrenics don't SEE things, but imagine them - ie, they have crazy ideations, not visuals. Very impressive endurance cycling, however!

[SinfulMessiah]

doesn't look like him. Thin lips, hook nose...

[PravNJ]

@SinfulMessiah seriously? is this like a conspiracy theory? so that guy isn't Shermer? the government placed a proxy? wtf ?

[inertialcapacity]

An alien abduction is a symbolic message from a higher consciousness. The message is intended to show us the truth about ourselves (why it scares people) in the hope we will repent of what we think we know and search for better answers. Only if we become like little children asking their father questions again can we hope to find enlightenment and freedom from pain. My Space has highestprecision.

[justicetrooper]

@inertialcapacity That, or it's an anomaly taking place in the brain due to chemical reactions and electrical impulses.

[pandurate]

@inertialcapacity Definitely. I know what you say is true because (1) It makes no sense and (2) It's unverifiable. Keep the faith, brother. Only by perpetually repeating horseshit may we convince others that rationality is worthless.

[hoosierhiver]

delusional from lack of sleep

[frontera77]

You guys have got to look at this. Recently leaked legal documents Indicating gov investigation into ufos! Just visit ufosecretXnet (replace X with . ) , these people have them all archived on there!

[mrtruthify]

Btw, ITS A RHETORICAL QUESTION! PLEASE DONT MAKE YOURSELF A TARGET BY TRYING TO ANSWER IT!

SIMPLY PUT, I AM RIGHT U R WRONG! U DECIDED TO BRING YOUR 200 YEAR OLD TOOL BOX TO MY FRONT, THE FOREFRONT OF A NEW AGE IN SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING WHERE META & QUANTUM R THE PREFIX'S TO PHYSICS. I HAVE MORE PRESSING THINGS TO ATTEND TO THAN TO TRY TO BRING ARCHAIC PEOPLE UP TO SPEED WITH THE PRESENT (key word)

UNDERSTANDING OF 'REALITY' IN OUR UNIVERSE. IT STILL FUNCIONS FINE WITHOUT UR APPROVAL!

[mrtruthify]

Pollther

Referencing Harvards new quantum computer & its filter, polarizers & beam splitters,

just 2 photons at a time DID travel simultaneously,

their particle-like yet wavelike natures playing peek-a-boo in clouds

of probability just as Quantum Mechanics says they should.

Do U have the capacity to comprehend this together with the

word reality really is implying?

How would UR skeptical approach to physics/universe/space-time be useful WHEN

REALITY IS STRANGER THAN FICTION

[mrtruthify]

SKEPTICS are EGO MANIACS!

Read up on it! Read about the high they get from belittling others.

I would also point out that this man will NEVER contribute to society in any way through "skeptical" works. He only is here to take away from, never to add to.. Therefore, he creates NOTHING.

Poor archaic fools... it was his kind who hung my forebears for trying to explain the earth was not flat, that it was not demons but germs that caused infections and on and on... What a useless life to live..

[Pollther]

@mrtruthify

I'm sure that, in your own mind, you represent God, truth, reality, goodness, apple pie, etc., but in actuality, your 'forebears' are those who, like you, have rejected the scientific method.

The sculptor never 'adds' anything with his block and chisel, but creates beauty, nonetheless. Don't underestimate the power of subtraction.

[mrtruthify]

Despite your assumptive remarks on gods, reality & apple pie,

YOU ARE the SKEPTIC!

.

YOU JUDGE ideas to be unfit...

THUS, you REJECT!

Not me.

Look Pollther, if you cant even keep up with what I already typed, then DONT even come out to play with me! The other rejecter's comment wasnt even worthy of a response.

Like your sculptor comment, we R talking REAL SCIENCE hear, NOT Art! IQ 172, Ur's? At this point I dont even care if that offends U.

Suggest Research>Quantum Mechanics!

[Pollther]

@mrtruthify

'Skepticism' is an attitude, not a position. It's a way of approaching claims; in itself, it is not a claim. It's at the heart of falsificationism.

Besides, 'quantum mechanics' has little to do with 'real-world' physics; you can't apply Heisenberg's uncertainty principle to a baseball in flight.

Ironically, if you understood the significance of IQ, you wouldn't be posting it in a bid to boost your own credibility. Were you tested before or after you decided to huff gas?

[mrtruthify]

@Pollther

"Were you tested before or after you decided to huff gas" LOL, good one!

Thats a good one! I do have a well developed sense of humer.

A little quantum reality for you: Inherent to quantum mechanics are seeming paradoxes that blur the distinctions between particles and waves, portray all events as matters of probability rather than deterministic destiny. This is why you FAIL!

[uradbag]

If you listen he says he was hallucinating. I just saw him last night. The day prior to this clip he rode from Santa Monica, CA to Nebraska in one shot, didn't sleep for days. The sleep deprivation cause him to believe that his road crew had been replaced by alien replicants.

[JulkaWilCZuR]

did he really think that? and now he's a skeptic and doesn't believe in aliens... why?

[mrtruthify]

REMEMBER THIS MAN MAKES HIS LIVING BEING A SKEPTIC IN SCIENTIFIC AMERICA & HIS OWN SKEPTIC MAGAZINE. IN THIS MONTHS ISSUE OF S.A. (edit, its an old issue from 7-2006) HE IS THE SUBJECT OF HIS OWN RESEARCH. HE IS THE BIAS ONE IGNORING THE SCIENTIFIC DATA. ONLY HE IS TO DENSE TO REALIZE HE IS THE ONE IN THE ARTICLE. Read his own article and find where skeptics belong.

"SKEPTISISM & RIDICULE (HE IS AN EXPERT AT BOTH) ARE NOT A SCIENTIFIC TOOLS & THE PUBLIC SHOULD NOT BE TOUGHT THEY ARE". PERIOD!

[ColdSHeep]

@mrtruthify you use of the caps lock has convinced me!

[NobleRoyalty]

hahah, I love you xD

[mrtruthify]

@ColdSHeep

 Your use of lower case letters has not convinced me.. What a silly comment buddy. Is that all you had? How anal. Ok web Nazi. Guess that extra half a millimeter of space I used on this free site really pissed you off? Wouldnt want you for a neighbor..

See ya, slave.......

[ColdSHeep]

I wouldn't want you for a neighbor either. you come here claiming that I am the high and mighty one but you're the only one being a pompous ass. You have this one way of looking at things and you have no evidence to back it up. Why are you saying that itis the skeptic that adds nothing? Isn't asking questions and going beyond current understanding what got us here in the first place?

[Pollther]

Skepticism is a healthy attitude. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence.

[mrtruthify]

@Pollther Thanks for the reply but you are wrong to a point and just regurgitating a classic defense used by fearful people when going in to the unknown! The FACT is, EVERTHING YOU SEE IN THE WORLD RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE WAS ONCE CONSIDERD EXTRA- ORDINARY AT SOME POINT IN HISTORY! PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE AN OUTMODED BREED IN THIS NEW WORLD OF QUANYUM REALITIES. PERIOD. Sorry for the harshness but I must have heard your cliche comment 100 times this year already!

[ColdSHeep]

Yes, those things were "extraordinary" at some point but people came with the evidence and then it proved it. You are confusing skeptics with nay sayers who consistently downplay others finds and disregard the evidence. Shermer for instance, looked at the evidence for evolution and believes that is the best explanation for life. Are those who don't believe in evolution the skeptics then, or is Shermer still the skeptic?

[Pollther]

@mrtruthify

Um, quantum realities? Care to explain how that works?

[mrtruthify]

This guy is so far up his own ass its borderline lunacy now. There is SO much evidence pointing to contact, its no longer a question of who, but in fact why?

In scientific news recently it has been discovered that the "DEBUNKER" & "SKEPTICAL" TYPES APPEAR TO GET A RUSH OR "HIGH" FROM BELITTLING OTHERS AND IN GENERAL BEING SKEPTICS! THE BRAIN PRODUCES A SORT OF BIO CHEMICAL WHCH SOOTHES AND CREATES A UPHORIC EXPERIENCE FOR THE SKEPTICAL TYPES. INFACT SKEPTICS NOW APPEAR TO BE BIO CHEM ADDICTS.

[ZionNeo1]

I Agree, most people must have the brain the size of a peanut to think we are alone.

Just because E.T's don't reveal themselves physically in our 3rd dimension doesn't mean they are fake. In fact they've always been here. Some hundreds to millions of years more advanced. Religious texts spanning thousands of years all over the world hint into this phenomenon.

[TMacAttack01]

EXACTLY but many people still just don't believe.

[tr41]

True, skeptics often do get some satisfaction from the stuff they do. The problem with your contention is that this is true for all sorts of dedication, enthusiasm and such, so the people that support the ideas of alien visitors and so on get the same sort of rush.

However, dismissing a claim based on it being presented by someone addicted to the chemicals the brain produces is a bit shortsighted, as all humans have these addictions.

[ispypriestess]

And what if the science evidence is manafactured and distorted by the scientists themselves? For example, the climate change emails scam? ;)

[thetruthproject]

shermer is a tool and a dissinfo person

[ispypriestess]

Agreed, Shermer is a disinformation agent.

[millgrl]

83 HOURS OF NO SLEEP?

He was deliriouse

[dreamvisionnetwork]

The world most strongest psychedelic drug DMT is naturaly produced in the human brain by the pineal gland. It can probably release the drug for example at times of extreme stress such as sleep deprivation and birth/ death or near death experience. Shame its illegal to study the real effects of DMT. Try the book DMT - The spirit molecule. For me I can draw paralells to events by this phenomenon. I have also tried DMT which definetly had me abducted by aliens for 15 minutes.

[dreamvisionnetwork]

SO I can definetly see how after being ina desert one can re;lease this extremely potent psychoactive and see angels. burning bushes, aliens talking to me. I met budda during my trips on it and nowdays I can even start tripping natural by my own will just cos I know what memories and what things can trigger it. SO if one has an "experience" then make sure first of all its not your own brain fucking with you and releasing this drug. Go read a book brothers and sister. Its great stuff!

[dreamvisionnetwork]

PS/ When I say i saw buddha I ment off course" I thought I saw buddha, gotta make that clear. LOL

[subylegacy]

On May 14th of 2008, UK revealed 1st data of more than 8000 cases on their government website. and there will be 2 more datas to be revealed by the UK within period of 3years. Brazil came out not that long ago, revealing more than 1300 cases less than a month ago. There are more stars in the universe than the every single grain of sand in our planet. There has to be other life forms some where. Probably more than we can imagine..

[subylegacy]

Do some research. There are UFO sightings and abductions all over the world. United Kingdom has more incidents than the United States. Countries other than US, are slowly coming out of the closet. First to come out was France. On March 23rd 2007, the France goverment post up more than 1600 cases of extraterrestrial incidents on CNES website. CNES is like NASA in France.

[1imax111]

They don't you moron, aliens obviously also occur in space:P duh:P

[threedotsdead]

Ha! I was just wondering why the guy looked so fit...

[bevamartin]

I think I may have found the answer to the original abduction case regarding the Betty and Barney Hill case. According to them they were driving along a road from Canada to New Hampshire. Very likely they did not get enough sleep and strange things do happen when you get sleep deprived. Very likely that is what happened to them. That and being born into a culture that places high priority on the possible existence of aliens from science fiction to science fact.

[catharinaberge]

I had very similar thoughts when I was riding RAAM going through Kansas on a very hot day.. and my crew was not working with me... and I was starting to think that they were aliens... Cat Berge

[Biegelmann]

he needed to get some sleep

[Sheldonwh]

Check out that funky early-80s beard. Get down with yo bad self, Michael!

Wonder if it caused any wind resistance?

[faunflynn]

He turned into a flounder which is a type of fish.

[fegu]

83 straight hours of sleep deprivation???!!

[saiseki]

Okay weird.

[geofree1984]

i cut off my dick!

[wannabeastarrover]

this is an example of a persons inner most fears becomming consuois, thats why hes a skeptic lol so fucking transparent

[FrogSplatScience]

Or he was just riding too long sleep dep took over and he became a bit delirious.

[wannabeastarrover]

deiiruim of specific things relate to ones fears.for example a very religus person would probly think hes being chased by a devil,yet its all in there head.also fear of things that are true yet not wanting them to be because theperson prefers only to belive what they prefer to be true in order to feel safe will also manifest as real.yet not happening at that very moment

this is why so many find it hard to achive an open mind they get in there own way & color there reality to there own preference

[FrogSplatScience]

Not all sleep deprived induced hallucinations have to do with one's fears (and delirium is not equivalent). For example, the boy who held the world record for staying awake reported his first hallucination to be thinking that a road sign was a person. He was not afraid of road signs, his mind just saw a quick image and due to impaired concentration, it interpreted incorrectly. You can enter "microsleep" periods in sleep dep, where you sleep but don't know it, among many other things.

[1gregmichael]

ETs are real and Here on Earth. Do not believe otherwise because you'd be denying the truth.

[presputnik]

Well that's a complete argument if ever I heard one.

[themanyone]

They are not ETs. They are primitive indigenous inhabitants of space who paddle the skies in circular spirit canoes made from the skins of dead asteroids. They practice bizarre cow rituals and walk around naked all the time, abducting people and embedding ceremonial crystal shards in their ankles. Another group has been trying to protect us from these primitive big-eyed dolts by giving us technology, such as flash cameras to defend ourselves with; their sensitive eyes hate those with a passion!

[1gregmichael]

ETs are real and Here on Earth. Do not believe otherwise because you'd be denying the truth.

[Thetickler3000]

Shermer Is a pathetic waste of space

[coprographia]

RAHN PAWL

[kablamo9999]

I don't know for sure, but it would surprise me if Shermer did not think it possible for life to exist elsewhere in the universe. However, unlike some people, he actually wants some real evidence first.

To just want it and then decide it's true based on wishful thinking is wrong.

[swinginglaurel]

I get the feeling that Shermer secretly wants to be probed but is in denial!

[SHI7HE4D]

shermers a nerd, he would put himself in an oven if it stopped people from believing in aliens..

[simabravet]

Listen. If me and you were on a debate stage you WOULD LOSE! You are a broken record of PREACHING and TRUTHS of which I make no such claims. You were probably the type of person that commited Galileo to a mental institute for believing that the Earth is not the center of the Universe. According to his detractors, he had no scientific proof then.

[simabravet]

Michael Spermer is cut out of the same kind of mold and I mean MOLD as in decay, as Philip Klass and James Mcfudgpacker. They are professional stooges with the exception of Klass ( dead stooge ). Spermer has the audacity like Mcfudgepacker to actually tell people what they see or experience, without ever being there or experiencing it. Spermer says that people are terrible witnesses. That in itself says alot about these creeps.

[salvinorum]

sima; If you're going to use the age old ad hominem tactic, at least try to use truths.

To comment on your one "truth", people preach the importance of witnesses to the point that some court cases are "won" purely on witness testimony, even with conflicting physical evidence. These people either don't understand human nature or, far more likely, lack any moral compass.  The type of people who think the prosecution "wins" cases. Disgusting

[simabravet]

You are a #$@% idiot. You are like a draft horse walking around with blinders on. Does everything have to be in black and white?

Does everything have to fit into a scientific scenario? You obviously can only think within the box and SADLY, your mind is limited within

it's puny perimeters.

[Vitringur]

people are terrible witnesses :S

I can't even remember how my bedroom is in detail.

[fishcious]

actually sima...most scientists did believe the earth was not the center of the universe, it was the religious right that insisted on forcing people to believe that it was. Same with the earth being flat...before columbus, the majority of scientists believed the earth was round even though they couldnt prove it because the evidence supported the "round" theory. it was non scientists (the religious right) that insisted that the earth was flat.

[Mohammets]

Maybe there was some certain Catholic types out there who wanted to think the earth was flat. But that's not consistent with the bible.

Examination of Isaiah 40:21-22 will tell you that the earth is spherical.

A literal translation from Job 26 will tell you about a spherical earth, an atmosphere and solar system. And the book of Job is believed to have been written around 6th century B.C.

[TheThomaswastaken]

It actually translates as 'circle' not sphere. A circle is a two dimensional object, as in flat.

If you keep pretending bad translations are the problem with the bible, you'll never see the bible is the problem with the bible.

[Mohammets]

Yeah, you're right. It's clearly obvious that it's talking about a flat, round TWO-DIMENSIONAL object there. I like how it specifically notes that the Earth isn't just flat, but that it's circular and is actually two-dimensional.

So when someone says they "circled the globe", does that mean they're trying to tell you that they traveled the Earth on a razor's edge? By your logic, it must!

I'm sorry, friend. What you say just doesn't add up. I hope you gathered that from my sarcasm.

[TheThomaswastaken]

"So when someone says they "circled the globe", does that mean they're trying to tell you that they traveled the Earth on a razor's edge? By your logic, it must!"

--

Well, the first problem with that is: it isn't my logic, it is a quote from your holy text. If it is unbelievable to you, then don't believe it. That can be your gateway to reality 2.0.

Second, the words "circled the globe" don't exist in the bible, so if you are trying to argue against my statement you have completely failed.

[metallica61]

i would love to bash bastard shurmer head in.you son of a bitch.

[kenshinDoubleX]

ummm fake how a guy is video taped in a normal day while riding a bike and he dont get abducted nice joke faget

[prayfertrey]

Scientists; they say they want to help us, but what they really want IS TO RULE THE WORLD!

[julounin]

Haha good one... wait a minute, you are joking right?

[prayfertrey]

It's from, "Young Frankenstein". Even not knowing that, that such a statement wasn't interpreted as humor by some is proof that humanity descended from Golgafrinchans.

[julounin]

So I guess that proves I am Golgafrinchans decent, in which I better go drink and honor ancestry :)

[hypnotoad25]

the problem is, that alot of people DO believe that scientists want to rule the world.

[jjuran]

Oh, sure, he was only hallucinating -- he didn't *really* get abducted.

Come on, people. That's what the aliens WANT you to think. Why else would they only abduct people who are sleep-deprived?

The truth is out there...

[vysehrad]

Good comment, I nullified someone's -1 =)

[videoaddiction]

Yes, There is only one Micheal shermer, and it is him.

Sara, Miami

[sowhatsthatthere]

Black-ops project testing psychotronics on an ardent skeptic. The same folks that brought us 911.

[XianSlader]

Jeez...one minute he's praying to survive riding a bicycle on heavy traffic,,,the next minute...he's abducted by ALIENS!

[jb0609]

* for making fun of those who believe in life outside earth.

[zarkoid]

He's not a "skeptic" at all. He's a die-hard believer in his mundane little worldview. A skeptic is a person who doubts and questions all sides of the issue, whereas he has stuck himself to certain viewpoints with crazy glue and scoffs at those who disagree. He's a "de-bunker", which is a person who thinks that any opinion different from his own is "bunk".

[haredog62]

Any examples of these viewpoints? I'm curious.

[dfarmer1584]

The "mundane little world view" you refer to is one based solely on emperical evidence, reason and logic. You would feel better, and you would not be so hostile if Shermer accepted "faith." FACE IT: YOU ARE A RELIGIOUS BIGOT.

[slinkypup]

I don't know who the heck you are but I have enjoyed what I have seen so far of you.

[drzeus99]

Hee..Nice beard, Shermer !

Aside from that, keep up the good work.

As a long time skeptic and a subscriber to both your magazine and the similar one that has Joe Nickell as a reg columnist, it's a pleasure to know that you're always out there trying to stop the spread of all

those ridiculous paranormal claims as well as the charlatans who try to prosper off people's lack of scientific knowledge or their simply failure to accept reality as it really is.

[diesel828]

Jeez. What is recovery like? Do you just sleep for a whole day straight? What about muscles and bones?

[casey1237]

He wasent abudcted, he was hullucanating from Sleep dipravation.

[motile]

He looked so different with a beard.

[WhatchaThinkin]

Yep. Sleep deprivation can really mess with the ol' senses. One time I had been driving for something like fifteen hours straight (yeah, I know - stupid) and in the lights of the oncoming automobile headlights, I could have *sworn* I saw mountain goats walking around on the interstate asphalt.

Needless to say, I pulled over to take a nap shortly thereafter.

[AquaOceanWave]

Very interesting. I read about this in one of his books.  I never miss an issue of Skeptic magazine and I love his books. Post more videos please.

[johnthejudoka]

Yeah, he wrote about this in a SciAm article. Brilliant guy.

[NickJones55]

Sleep deprivation really screws with your perceptions. One time at midterms I stayed up for 48+ hours. Since I had no commitments after they were done, I decided to stay up and hang with some friends. The person whose room we were in had a poster of a band with about six members (Chicago?) on the wall. As I looked at the poster, the lips of the band members starting moving (without sound, I should add). O-KAY, I said to myself, time for some sleep...

[nurse607]

Weird... looks like a completely different guy than the stocky, clean-cut, schnazzy-dressin' Shermer we know and love. That was almost a quarter-century ago... Oh, how things have changed!

[glork2718]

Yep, he was a professional bike racer for about 10 years according to that book. He recounts his 'alien abduction experience' in Why People Believe Weird Things which occurred after he had been riding for about 80 hours nonstop (1280+ miles) in a cross country race. When you're that exhausted, weird things happen in your head.

[Gary2863]

It's him, he wrote about this in his book, Why People Believe Weird Things.

[ultranordic]

What the fucking fuck?

[MichaelShermer]

Yes, believe it or not, Michael Shermer the bike racer is the same Michael Shermer the publisher of Skeptic magazine.

[DeepSpaceWarrior]

I respect Shermer

[holyjesus]

That isnt the skeptic michael shermer