Scientific Colloquium
October 13,  2021, 3:00 p.m.
Online Presentation

                MICHAEL SHERMER   
                SKEPTIC MAGAZINE/CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY

"Understanding the Unidentified" 

UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) and UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) are in the news again, this time purported to be "real" by no less than the Pentagon and The New York Times. But what does "real" mean in this context, and how should we think about "unidentified" anomalies? In this talk Dr. Michael Shermer, the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and one of the world's leading experts on UFOs, considers the three hypotheses on offer for these UAP/UFO sightings: (1) ordinary terrestrial (camera/lens effects, visual illusions, balloons, etc.), (2) extraordinary terrestrial (Russian or Chinese spy planes or drones capable of feats of physics and aerodynamics unheard of in the US), and (3) extraordinary extraterrestrial (alien intelligence).

About the Speaker:

Dr. Michael Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of the podcast The Michael Shermer Show, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. For 18 years he was a monthly columnist for Scientific American. He is the author of New York Times bestsellers Why People Believe Weird Things and The Believing Brain, Why Darwin Matters, The Science of Good and Evil, The Moral Arc, Heavens on Earth, and Giving the Devil His Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist. Dr. Shermer received his B.A. in psychology from Pepperdine University, M.A. in experimental psychology from California State University, Fullerton, and his Ph.D. in the history of science from Claremont Graduate University. He has been a college professor since 1979, also teaching at Occidental College, Glendale College, and Claremont Graduate University, where he taught a transdisciplinary course for Ph.D. students on Evolution, Economics, and the Brain.

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