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to be applied, we must again verify assumptions that these beings can be reasonable. The difficulty comes, then, between their civilisations and ours, with gaps in knowledge and developments and some difference in terms of science and technology, with some likely biological, social and ethical developments. While it is true that the language gap between man and animal is forever impenetrable, it would not be an impediment between our civilisation and those of other worlds which were technologically and perhaps psychologically superior. In effect, exobiology holds that all intelligent beings in the universe have capabilities of inference and time management and that their mental patterns are, in all likelihood, probably similar if not identical. It would seem that it is legitimate to apply hypothetical-deductive methods to the UFO phenomenon and therefore seek to discover, beyond their modes of travel in space, just what the intentions of any intruders are towards What would be their ethics? Do they recognise moral truth? What strategy do they adopt towards civilisations visited? In the service of what mission? Will they adopt a precautionary principle? What approach procedures apply? Would signs of their presence be perceived? ime Disinformation and jamming ntal Since one holds that alien intrusion ably is plausible, we must ask ourselves about its origin, its mobility and ‘eto. dangers: 1ods__—* Are we in the presence of only one fore civilisation or several civilisations ydes operating in concert or independent the ways? ards e Is it a simple remote monitoring, a selective intervention or an attempt to influence or take control? It is futile to hope that an overt, the unveiled demonstration of the UFO eor phenomenon may emerge one day and soon to answer these serious questions ‘tive because the phenomenon is discreet, heir stealthy and disguised and seems unwilling to reveal itself. It is well also established that a study based on ally induction will not come about, since ms? its origin is the subject of operations iese of travesty and because of distortion > al of the truth: rial ¢ disinformation put out by fted fantasists with obscure interests and ave by government agencies motivated by ogy strategic issues and the need for tof secrecy; hey ¢ embellishments, more or less ions voluntary, by some witnesses and ies? investigators; that —¢ interference and camouflage by the ave intruders themselves. trol Disinformation and interference are ‘hat so prevalent that it becomes difficult and_ to distinguish between reality and al fiction and to reconstitute reliable and ion credible information only from the lave accounts of witnesses. ha The proposed hypothetical- of deductive methods are supposed to remove these difficulties. A new form of incommensurability Everything comes back to the question of knowing whether intelligent beings, with unequal levels of knowledge and far-removed mental and biological developments, would be able to understand each other. On this condition alone, presuppositions will have a meaning and may be admitted as heuristic assumptions. A proposition is now in favour among some ufologists who, like Carl Sagan, claim that differences in knowledge and developments would be really insurmountable obstacles, making our understanding, even our perception, of an intrusion impossible. us. Presuppositions/assumptions Presuppositions must focus on the nature of these beings, on their free or serf arbitrators, on their social and political organisation, their collective ethics, their intentions and their activities. Is alien life also of radically different forms? Do these biological extraterrestrial beings of gifted intelligence have a___ physiology similar to that of men? Do they erect civilisations in their societies? In the event that some have acquired control of space, what social and political organisation would they have to reach such a level of knowledge? a ¥: Y A At Somerville 68 ¢ NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com AUGUST — SEPTEMBER 2008