Disbelief, or Refusal to Believe
I once saw it written that with UFOs, people either:
- A.
Do not believe in them
- B.
Have seen them and so have to believe.
- C.
Believe in them because of the evidence.
- D.
Couldn't care less.
With my experience in UFO investigating, I would have to add two more categories purely because of the human emotional/psychological condition.
- E.
Those who will believe any/everything regardless of evidence
- F.
Those who refuse to believe regardless of evidence.
For examples of E:
I have known people who insist that Venus twinkling in the evening sky is a UFO which is
signaling a special meaning just for them. There are also people who tell me that the Earth is indeed hollow with an internal sun and entrance at the North pole, despite Submarines that
have been there and seismic waves measuring the density of the planet.
One current famous American ufologist waves the flawed theory that aliens have fantastic
technology and haven't wiped us out yet, so they must be benevolent and friendly.
I won't even begin to touch on the religious connotations that people believe about UFOs
without tangible evidence to give them cause, and without reference to evidence suggesting exactly the opposite of their beliefs. Some people believe regardless of the evidence. The Mrs M case:
Back in September of 1987, a 300 ft. dark coloured disc with lights around the rim and a lot of rectangular protuberances on the underside appeared over the town of Nowra, about 150 miles
south of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It came just before twilight in the evening, around 6:30 PM.
The disk was noticed by many people in the town as it cruised over at around 300-500 ft. It
seemed to follow the flight path of Naval aircraft which constantly pass over, on their way to a landing at the Naval Air Base, just south of town.
Later, the Naval airbase was to admit that their radar had picked up an unidentified aircraft approaching the base and veering to the South. Many people reported it to the local
newspaper which featured an article on it. On the southern outskirts of the town, it stopped over the local high school's sports oval with its nose over the backyard of the house of Mrs. M.
At 6:45, Mrs. M. and two teenage daughters went into the backyard to get into their car to go pick up a third daughter from work. They saw the disc hovering at 300 ft over their backyard
and were astounded. They watched it for 10 minutes or so before Mrs. M. went inside to get her husband (watching TV) to come and see.
Mr. M flatly refused to even go to a window to look let alone go out back. He also flatly refused to allow his wife and daughters to tell anyone about it.
It wasn't until Mrs. M. was dying of cancer in 1996, that she contacted me saying that regardless of her husband's wishes she had to tell someone before she died.
I interviewed her and the two daughters while the husband was away on a trip. I believe their story to be absolutely true about both the UFO and the husband.
This is a truly severe example of refusal to believe, but the syndrome is very common. Mr. M. was most probably afraid, but I believe he was more afraid of losing his secure world view, than he was of the UFO itself.
Those who Attack or ridicule the UFO Phenomenon: There are those amongst the media and scientific community who feel driven to oppose the
statements of UFO witnesses and the evidence both physical and photographic of UFO reality. These people frequently give alternative explanations which are far less credible than the
witnessed phenomena they are trying to deride.
I believe these people are suffering from the psychological dysfunction of Denial or Refusal to
Believe. I believe this is because their emotional and mental well-being is emotively tied to their current worldview, which they WILL NOT ALLOW TO BE CHALLENGED, even with good
evidence or eye witness accounts. They therefore feel the emotional need to defeat all other views, beliefs or evidence regardless of logic or evidence.
This syndrome has been around at least since the scientific community raised petitions to governments and royalty to prevent Columbus from sailing west, in case he would prove their worldview wrong.
Some people refuse to believe regardless of the evidence.
Always Irreverent, Never Irrelevant
Brad Mildern, UFO Investigator for Mystical Universe
December 5, 2001 |
