> Mr. Davis, who now works for Aerospace Corporation, a defense contractor, said he gave a classified briefing to a Defense Department agency as recently as March about retrievals from "off-world vehicles not made on this earth."
> Mr. Davis said he also gave classified briefings on retrievals of unexplained objects to staff members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Oct. 21, 2019, and to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee two days later.
I'm not well rehearsed on the recent history of the subject but this sounds like confirmation of crashed extra-terrestrial vehicles from a reliable/not crazy source quoted by the New York Times? I'm surprised that this isn't bigger news...
He is a very fringe source. From "Teleportation Physics Study", 2004:
>P-Teleportation is a form of psychokinesis (or PK) similar to telekinesis but generally used to designate the movement of objects (called apports) through other physical objects or over great distances. Telekinesis is a form of PK, which describes the movement of stationary objects without the use of any known physical force. And PK is essentially the direct influence of mind on matter without any known intermediate physical energy or instrumentation. Rigorously controlled modern scientific laboratory PK, and related psychic (a.k.a. “psi”, “paranormal” or parapsychology), research has been performed and/or documented by Rhine (1970), Schmidt (1974), Mitchell (1974a, b, see also the references cited therein), Swann (1974), Puthoff and Targ (1974, 1975), [...]
Much of his work is done with Harold E. Puthoff, who is similarly fringe. (A lot of remote viewing stuff, famous for showing Uri Geller was a "real" psychic.)
Harry Reid’s comments (former senate majority leader) were very similar. He undoubtedly had classified briefings on the topic but can’t state them exactly, so he couches it as ‘beliefs’ and mentions materials in the possession of defense contractors for study.
My initial assumption was the same, especially with the type of claims this topic has elicited in the past. That being said, the individual making the claim (Eric Davis) seems reputable[0] enough to not risk his career/stature for a buck. He has a PhD in astrophysics and more than a handful of publications and citations in the field. Given the magnitude of the claim, I'd say skepticism is still warranted though.
Doesn't this render the "SETI v. METI" debate moot? The argument against first contact signalling was presupposed on a security via obscurity argument. We terrans are such an insignificant, technologically primitive speck in the cosmos. That the slightest ping would surely result in our colonization. But now the atomic fact: visitors from distant worlds have arrived. Isn't it time at least in theory to develop inter-species communication protocols? Or do we just assume they can read our hearts and minds?
Reworking the SETI Paradox: METI's Place on the Continuum of Astrobiological Signaling
> Mr. Davis said he also gave classified briefings on retrievals of unexplained objects to staff members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Oct. 21, 2019, and to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee two days later.
I'm not well rehearsed on the recent history of the subject but this sounds like confirmation of crashed extra-terrestrial vehicles from a reliable/not crazy source quoted by the New York Times? I'm surprised that this isn't bigger news...