Oldham's Professor Brian Cox has weighed in on the debate surrounding the existence of extraterrestrial life on Earth as the US Senate held a hearing on the issue.
The British scientist described the claims as "extraordinary" but said that no "extraordinary evidence" exists to back them up.
This comes as US lawmakers heard first-hand accounts of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) sightings from former members of the US military.
The hearing is also exploring if the US Government knows anything about the existence of UFOs and if so, how much.
I keep being asked what I make of the UFO thing in Congress yesterday, so here it is: I watched a few clips and saw some people who seemed to believe stuff saying extraordinary things without presenting extraordinary evidence. Therefore I have nothing more to say, other than: It…
— Brian Cox (@ProfBrianCox) July 27, 2023
Retired Major David Grusch told Congress that the United States of America is concealing a long-running programme to reverse engineer alien technology and claimed that the Government has known about "non-human" activity since the 1930s.
However, the Pentagon denied these claims by Mr Grusch, saying there has been no coverup.
Brian Cox says there are 'extraordinary' claims of UFOs but no 'extraordinary evidence' amid US Senate hearing
Yesterday (Thursday, July 27), popular British scientist and TV presenter Professor Brian Cox weighed in on the discussion in a post on Twitter.
He said: “I keep being asked what I make of the UFO thing in Congress yesterday, so here it is.
“I watched a few clips and saw some people who seemed to believe stuff saying extraordinary things without presenting extraordinary evidence.”
To those who are saying to me that I am unscientific because I don’t think any compelling evidence for aliens was presented at the Congressional hearing on UFOs yesterday, here is the famously unscientific Richard Feynman on the subject https://t.co/7EcZxoEy8Z
— Brian Cox (@ProfBrianCox) July 27, 2023
He added that “it would be great if true”, saying: "It would take a bit of the pressure off our civilisation if we weren’t the only means within the Milky Way by which the Universe understands itself.
“Sadly, as of today, I still feel that pressure, so can we perhaps focus on not messing our world up rather than hoping that, to paraphrase Sagan, someone will float down to save us from ourselves.”
In response to criticism of his stance, Brian Cox added: "To those who are saying to me that I am unscientific because I don’t think any compelling evidence for aliens was presented at the Congressional hearing on UFOs yesterday, here is the famously unscientific Richard Feynman on the subject"
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