FreedomFest 2025

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).