• Skua@kbin.earth
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    2 days ago

    “A tabloid says the CIA says the KGB saw aliens turn people to stone. Also this is a news article on something that was declassified 25 years ago with no new developments.”

    okay

    • MangoCats@feddit.it
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      1 day ago

      Those stone soldiers should have made a world tour 25 years ago when they were declassified.

    • chingadera@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      But why?

      Proving our place in the cosmos only required regular evidence. That was extraordinary. Why is this subject on a separate pedestal?

        • chingadera@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          Yeah that’s not at all what I said.

          And there is plenty of evidence/data that points to something out of the ordinary going on, plenty aside from word of mouth/rumor.

            • chingadera@lemmy.world
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              1 day ago

              Am I the only person left that can read? The question is, why is this line of thinking only applied to this subject?

                • chingadera@lemmy.world
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                  1 day ago

                  Everyone wants to jump in and talk about semantics and very specific claims, and no one has answered a very simple question on why they think about this the way they do.

                  Everything is “paranormal” until it’s explained by science is what I’m trying to get at. Something is very clearly happening with this subject, and it has been systematically ridiculed or put in separate categories of thought and no one is stopping to ask why.

                  That’s all I’m getting at.

                  I shouldn’t have come at you like that, that was an asshole move. You’re just the next person to shrug it off instead of actually talk about it, so I took it out on you. Sorry for that.

      • SippyCup@feddit.nl
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        1 day ago

        Because generally, if you’re making an extraordinary claim based on ordinary evidence, chances are the evidence actually points to something ordinary. You need extraordinary evidence that can’t be explained by something ordinary.

      • ZeroCool@lemmy.ca
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        1 day ago

        You’re too focused on the word “extraordinary” but all this adage is meant to convey is that claims require evidence. If you ignore the word “extraordinary” the point remains the same.

        The phrase is popular among skeptics because we deal with a lot of paranormal claims. And paranormal claims are by definition, extraordinary.

          • ZeroCool@lemmy.ca
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            1 day ago

            Yes, and I explained why the phrase is worded the way it is because you clearly didn’t understand.

      • threeduck@aussie.zone
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        1 day ago

        Proving our place in the cosmos already HAS extraordinary evidence. Our continued existence (and witness to that) IS the evidence. No one bar solipsists doubt that humans exist.

        • chingadera@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          I meant the actual mapping of this planet in the universe as we know it as an example of something that changed how we view our place in the universe. It had regular evidence. We don’t need evidence+ for anything including this topic.

  • tacofox@lemm.ee
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    2 days ago

    Why is it that anytime there is anything big, politically or otherwise, happening in the US there is magically talk of UFOs and aliens. Oh, I think I just answered my own question…

    • OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Obviously because the aliens get intrigued and the mass influx of intergalactic reality TV show fans causes an increase in sightings which causes a butterfly effect of relevant information to come to light. Duh.

    • ☂️-@lemmy.ml
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      2 days ago

      what big thing happened today we should be paying attention to instead?

        • ☂️-@lemmy.ml
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          13 hours ago

          i’m already seeing all the other shit. i’m aware shit is fucked.

        • MangoCats@feddit.it
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          1 day ago

          It’s big, but is it news? Can he hold a coherent thought for more than six seconds? Tariffs on, tariffs off, tariffs paused, tariffs resumed, 25%, 10%, 45%, 124%, 0%, aaaand repeat.

  • Gates9@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    This story has been around for a bit. Probably a bit of absurd misinfo the intelligence agencies circulated to fuck with each other.

    • remotelove@lemmy.ca
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      1 day ago

      I would consider The Onion several levels above a generic tabloid. Not even in the same class. Like, The Onion actually has class.

  • Lovable Sidekick@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    If you don’t accept all cookies you get a login page or blurred content and a paid subscription offer. Fuck that.

    actual document

    Make what you want of it. Strange detail at the top: “Document 199 of 54” - wut?

    • Kraiden@kbin.earth
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      2 days ago

      Transcript of the interesting bit - Note that the text is JUST a reprint of the article, not the CIA confirming anything:

      Country: Russia International Subject: Paper reports alleged evidence on mishap involving ufo Source: Kiev Holos Ukrayiny in Ukrainian 27 Mar 93 P 5

      Reprint from the newspaper Ternopil Vechirniy: “Cosmic Revenge”

      After Mikhail Gorbachev dissolved, in 1991, the KGB top secret intelligence administration, a lot of material from that department found their way abroad, in particular to the CIA. As reported by the authoritative magazine Canadian Weekly World News, U.S. intelligence obtained a 250-page file on the attack by a UFO on a military unit in Siberia. The file contains not only many documentary photographs and drawings, but also testimonies by actual participants in the events. One of the CIA representatives referred to this case as “a horrific picture of revenge on the part of extraterrestrial creatures, a picture that makes one’s blood freeze.”

      According to the KGB materials, a quite low-flying spaceship in the shape of a saucer appeared above a military unit that was conducting routine training maneuvers. For unknown reasons, somebody unexpectedly launched a surface-to-air missile and hit the UFO. It fell to earth not far away, and five short humanoids with “large heads and large black eyes” emerged from it.

      It is stated in the testimonies by the two soldiers who remained alive that, after freeing themselves from the debris, the aliens came close together and then “merged into a single object that acquired a spherical shape.” That object began to buzz and hiss sharply, and then became brilliant white. In a few seconds, the spheres grew much bigger and exploded by flaring up with an extremely bright light. At that very instant, 23 soldiers who had watched the phenomenon turned into stone poles. Only two soldiers who stood in the shade and were less exposed to the luminous explosion survived.

      The KGB report goes on to say that the remains of the UFO and the “petrified soldiers” were transferred to a secret scientific research institution near Moscow. Specialists assume that a source of energy that is still unknown to earthlings instantly changed the structure of the soldiers’ living organisms, having transformed it into a substance whose molecular composition is no different from that of limestone.

      A CIA representative stated: "If the KGB file corresponds to reality, this is an extremely menacing case. The aliens possess such weapons and technology that go beyond all our assumptions. They can stand up for themselves if attacked.

      • JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca
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        1 day ago

        Uh, Canadian Weekly World News was like the Inquirer. Edit: maybe I’m remembering the name “The Inquirer” wrong, but in any case it was tabloid schlock

        This is a made up story from the 90s.

        • futatorius@lemm.ee
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          1 day ago

          It’s even shittier than the Enquirer, and that takes some effort. Evvery story is on the level of “I Saw Bigfoot Blow My Grandpa,” or “3-Headed Chihuaha Elected Mayor.”

        • superniceperson@sh.itjust.works
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          1 day ago

          That’s nice dear. This is the CIA website archive of a previously classified document.

          This is the CIA confirming the reporting of said tabloid.

          • JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca
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            1 day ago

            If you mean “confirmed” in that it shows that the CIA knew this article had been written and kept a copy, then yes.

            Or if you mean they are confirming the contents of the article, well yeah, I guess they are confirming that this russian(?) newspaper wrote about an article some tabloid rag wrote, then yeah, I guess that’s true, too.

            But if you’re saying they’re confirming the contents of whatever the Canadian world weekly news might have written, then no, not by any means is this file a confirmation of that.

            CWWN made up a story that involved soviets; Ternopil Vechirniy picked it up and wrote their own piece on it; the CIA kept a copy. That’s it.

            • Kraiden@kbin.earth
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              16 hours ago

              As reported by the authoritative magazine Canadian Weekly World News, U.S. intelligence obtained a 250-page file on the attack by a UFO on a military unit in Siberia.

              That reads to me like the author is confirming what was reported by the magazine. It then goes on to document the contents of the file, not what was reported in the article.

              Having said that, I seriously doubt the veracity of the KGB documents. I’d put money on this being some kind of cold war psyop hangover, rather than something that actually happened.

              • JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca
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                13 hours ago

                Look above that. It says the full text is a reprint from a Soviet newspaper. The line you’re quoting as being confirmation comes from a Russian/Ukrainian newspaper, not the CIA. The hint is the “authoritative” in the description of “Canadian weekly world news”.

                SUBJ*SUBJ: PAPER REPORTS ALLEGED EVIDENCE ON MISHAP INVOLVING UFO

                TEXT TEXT: // ((REPRINT FROM THE NEWSPAPER TERNOPIL VECHIRNIY: “COSMIC REVENGE” – FIRST PARAGRAPH PUBLISHED IN BOLDFACE)) ((TEXT ) AFTER MIKHAIL GORBACHEV DISSOlVED, IN 1991, THE KGB TOP SECRET INTELLIGENCE ADMINISTRATION, A lOT OF MATERIAL FROM THAT DEPARTMENT FOUND THEIR WAY ABROAD,’ IN PARTICULAR TO THE CIA. AS REPORTED BY THE AUTHORITATIVE MAGAZINE CANADIAN WEEKLY WORLD NEWS, *U.S. INTELLIGENCE OBTAINED A 250-PAGE FILE ON THE ATTACK BY A UFO ON A MILITARY UNIT IN SIBERIA, THE FILE CONTAINS…

                • Kraiden@kbin.earth
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                  13 hours ago

                  Shit, you’re right! I totally missed that!

                  I find documents in ALL CAPS like that extremely hard to parse, which is why I case corrected the main text. Should have done the rest of it too apparently!

                  eta: Updated the transcript to hopefully make that clearer