UFOs: What We Know (And Don’t Know)

About this episode:

Robert Powell is a founding Board member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU). He is a member of the Society for Scientific Exploration, the UFODATA project, and the National Space Society. Powell worked in engineering management in the semiconductor industry for nearly 30 years, and helped Advanced Micro Devices develop its first flash memory technology that is used in today’s flash cards for cameras, PCs, video cameras, and other products. His new book is UFOs: A Scientist Explains What We Know (And Don’t Know).

Shermer and Powell discuss: • technosignatures and biosignatures • convergent vs. contingent evolution • SETI science vs. UFO/UAP science • Are they out there? Have they come here? • what alien intelligence might be like (biological, digital, or otherwise) • Bayesian reasoning about UFOs and UAPs • the U.S. military UAP videos and what they represent • The Disclosure Project from the U.S. government • Projects Sign, Blue Book, Cyclops, Grudge • AATIP (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program) • directionality and teleology in evolution of life • interstellar travel • Dyson spheres, rings, and swarms.