If you’re reluctant to believe the latest round of media claims that alien spacecraft are lurking around our airspace and surprising Navy pilots, well, you are not alone.
The New York Times leaned toward aliens as the reason Navy pilots have seen unexplained flying objects,1 and the Washington Post made a similar case in its news coverage followed by a guest editorial: “UFOs Exist and Everyone Needs to Adjust to That Fact.”2 Others followed suit. Congress is getting classified briefings.3
But the pro-extraterrestrial visitation arguments rest on two serious errors. One is the confusion of observations with interpretations, and the other is a slight twist on an error called “god of the gaps.” The UFO sightings should be investigated in a scientific way, but the errors are undermining the effort.