The Roswell Slides, How too much of "I want to believe" can bite you in your a$$

[12oh2alarm]

Has anyone heard of this event earlier this year, on May 5 2015? It makes for a wonderful study of fakery and gullibility.

Abstract:

The “Roswell Slides” are images that a group of UFO promoters – including Anthony Bragalia, Jaime Maussan, Adam Dew, Donald Schmitt, Tom Carey, and Richard Dolan – put forward at an event held on May 5, 2015, in Mexico City, as proof positive of an extraterrestrial crash at Roswell in 1947 and the recovery and cover-up by the US government of alien bodies. These are claims that most of the aforementioned group have been making for over two years now. They have repeatedly said that the best experts they could find were examining the slides, and that they had determined the slides showed a creature that was of unearthly origin.

Needless to say the claim did not stand up to scrutiny. But how it was determined to be something entirely different than claimed makes for a Sherlock Holmes story.
I don't want to spoil the fun, read it yourself here: http://www.roswellslides.com/the-roswell-slides/

[bknight]

It boggles my mind to think of the Army and/or National Government, as with Apollo, to have kept a secret from the public for 70 years.  But then I'm a skeptics skeptic.

[onebigmonkey]

It's quite astounding how gullible these people think their supporters are, and how much blind faith those supporters have.

[bknight]

It's quite astounding how gullible these people think their supporters are, and how much blind faith those supporters have.

My editing of your post.

Wait isn't that an adverb used to describe Apollo believers? 

[sts60]

It boggles my mind to think of the Army and/or National Government, as with Apollo, to have kept a secret from the public for 70 years.  But then I'm a skeptics skeptic.

As Dave Barry put it:

It's not that I don't believe the government would try to hide dead aliens; it's that I don't think the government would succeed, since every time the government tries to do anything secretly, as in the Iran-contra arms deal, it winds up displaying all the finesse and stealth of an exploding cigar at a state funeral. If there really were dead aliens, I figure, there also would be daily leaks about it from High-level Officials, and huge arguments among influential congresspersons over whose district the multimillion-dollar Federal Dead Alien Storage Facility would be located in.

[twik]

I'm just sad. Not because of this being revealed as a hoax, because seriously who could give even a cursory look at that picture and not say "museum exhibit"?

But apparently the curators feel that this mummy "has a negative personality." He's never even been given a name. Poor little fellow! Who could look at the body of this child and say, "meh, he's not entertaining enough"?

[bknight]

I'm just sad. Not because of this being revealed as a hoax, because seriously who could give even a cursory look at that picture and not say "museum exhibit"?

But apparently the curators feel that this mummy "has a negative personality." He's never even been given a name. Poor little fellow! Who could look at the body of this child and say, "meh, he's not entertaining enough"?

Exactly.  If you read the blog below the image:

Tom Carey, Don Schmitt, Anthony Bragalia, Richard Dolan, Adam Dew, Jaime Maussan was informed about
the “problem” weeks before the big event. Jaime Maussan refused to listen – to much money to lose in
case of canseling the event.

Sue them and have Your money back.

ANYTHING for the almighty [insert currency of your choice] dollar [/insert currency of your choice].

[smartcooky]

Tom Carey, Don Schmitt, Anthony Bragalia, Richard Dolan, Adam Dew, Jaime Maussan was informed about
the “problem” weeks before the big event. Jaime Maussan refused to listen

[bknight]

Tom Carey, Don Schmitt, Anthony Bragalia, Richard Dolan, Adam Dew, Jaime Maussan was informed about
the “problem” weeks before the big event. Jaime Maussan refused to listen

I believe you hit the nail on the head!

[twik]

There's two possibilities - the promoters were simply venal, or they are true believers themselves. And maybe I'm giving them too much credit, but I think the second option is the closer to the truth.

Because if I were simply a con artist, I'd look at those slides and go, "That's clearly a museum exhibit. There's no way the ultra-powerful government Black Ops would put one of the most significant artifacts in human history in a cheap glass display case (along with other artifacts), with propped up paper labels identifying it. Even if they, for some reason, did so, the fact that someone took a snapshot from outside the case with a flash camera, clearly within the sight range of at least one other person (the lady in the blue suit on the far side of the case), makes me doubt that this is actually a top-secret facility. It's simply a snap someone took on their vacation at a local museum. It's so obvious, how would I ever convince people it was an alien in a top-secret laboratory?"

It's so obvious, I can't imagine a good con thinking anyone would fall for it, at least without an exit strategy. If it were a deliberate fake, I'd expect it to be more convincing. Which leaves the still incredible idea that these "researchers" were given these slides and thought that this was actually an alien, not the remains of an unfortunate toddler in a small museum.

Then people wonder why Ufology isn't treated as a serious field of study.

[bknight]

There's two possibilities - the promoters were simply venal, or they are true believers themselves. And maybe I'm giving them too much credit, but I think the second option is the closer to the truth.

Because if I were simply a con artist, I'd look at those slides and go, "That's clearly a museum exhibit. There's no way the ultra-powerful government Black Ops would put one of the most significant artifacts in human history in a cheap glass display case (along with other artifacts), with propped up paper labels identifying it. Even if they, for some reason, did so, the fact that someone took a snapshot from outside the case with a flash camera, clearly within the sight range of at least one other person (the lady in the blue suit on the far side of the case), makes me doubt that this is actually a top-secret facility. It's simply a snap someone took on their vacation at a local museum. It's so obvious, how would I ever convince people it was an alien in a top-secret laboratory?"

It's so obvious, I can't imagine a good con thinking anyone would fall for it, at least without an exit strategy. If it were a deliberate fake, I'd expect it to be more convincing. Which leaves the still incredible idea that these "researchers" were given these slides and thought that this was actually an alien, not the remains of an unfortunate toddler in a small museum.

Then people wonder why Ufology isn't treated as a serious field of study.

I believe you identified the out for them. 

It's so obvious

They collectively may state since this is soooo obvious that it can only be real.  Of course one has to have a inclination towards their being alien life forms captured/living on Earth.

[Luke Pemberton]

It's not that I don't believe the government would try to hide dead aliens; it's that I don't think the government would succeed, since every time the government tries to do anything secretly, as in the Iran-contra arms deal, it winds up displaying all the finesse and stealth of an exploding cigar at a state funeral. If there really were dead aliens, I figure, there also would be daily leaks about it from High-level Officials, and huge arguments among influential congresspersons over whose district the multimillion-dollar Federal Dead Alien Storage Facility would be located in.

Watergate also springs to mind, so does the Clinton-Lewinsky affair. I'm not sure how the Apollo HBs can even believe their own nonsense when several large rockets capable of TLI were advertised on a global scale being launched into space.

But yes, Governments across the world are fairly inept at keeping secrets. The current VIP pedophile ring in the UK is an example of something that may have been kept secret for a long time, but its raised its head now. Even then there were always rumours circulating. It's taken the death of quite a few senior politicians from yesteryear for the story to surface. There's a long way to go before the truth is fully established, but the tabloids here are having a field day with speculation.

[bknight]

Watergate also springs to mind, so does the Clinton-Lewinsky affair. I'm not sure how the Apollo HBs can even believe their own nonsense when several large rockets capable of TLI were advertised on a global scale being launched into space.

But yes, Governments across the world are fairly inept at keeping secrets. The current VIP pedophile ring in the UK is an example of something that may have been kept secret for a long time, but its raised its head now. Even then there were always rumours circulating. It's taken the death of quite a few senior politicians from yesteryear for the story to surface. There's a long way to go before the truth is fully established, but the tabloids here are having a field day with speculation.

IMO many of the original Apollo Hoaxer were/are in the game for money Allen, Percy, Sibrel, Rene and Kaysing.  They had/have books, pamphlets and DVD's for sale.  Those guys were/are bad enough but their willingness to forgo science and technology for a buck spawned hundreds if not thousands of viral individuals, who now think they have a case against big bad government.