Fallacies and conspiracy theories, Roswell UFO incident - Essay Example

Fallacies and Conspiracy Theories, Roswell UFO Incident One of the fallacies used to support the legality or the occurrence of the Roswell conspiracy lies in the modern technologies that are believed to have come into place before their time. As such, it is believed that the incident occurred and that there were massive efforts to cover it up. Based on the new technologies that came into place before they were due to be discovered a long time later, but not during the time in which they were discovered, as well as the time after. This is because there has been a massive boom in recent years, and especially recent decade, of technological advancements that do not have a basis of origin, except that people walked upon them and just made discoveries (Jette). Following on this fallacy is the ideology that after the alien spacecraft was found, it was taken into storage and a massive cover-up done to keep it secret. However, this did not happen in isolation of topnotch scientists and engineers as they had access to the craft for special purposes. The main reason they were given access was to look into the working mechanisms and machinations of alien technologies and how they could be used in military applications. With this in mind, the fallacy goes on to state how scientists have taken years of hard work studying the equipment on-board the craft and have managed to gain some understanding, at least on a minimal level and not fully, which has brought about modern technologies. This has been done through reverse engineering of alien devices found onboard, which has seen “discoveries” made to the benefit of the military and the good of the people. A good example exists in the form of technological application in some unfathomable items such as night vision goggles and the Kevlar body armor. This is because the alien spacecraft did not have windows or any openings that could grant access, which means they were able to use accurate estimation instrument for navigation, and even got to the earth without being detect by the then defense mechanisms. The insinuation of this fallacy is that aliens gave birth to the technology that man holds dear in modern times as there is no other explanation to how it came into being, and that all pieces of the puzzle fit and point to Roswell. The technologies, besides the ones mentioned earlier include stealth technology, lasers and the integrated circuit chip, which have into existence recently after years of research and reverse engineering of alien technology (Speigel). Another fallacy is that the US military is in possession of highly effective weapons mounted on planes that could see to it that no enemy survives. This story is backed by the information given by a number of former military officials who put through their arguments for the existence of the conspiracy in that there were actually two alien spacecrafts and not one, as commonly believed by those that believe. This they back with tales of how the first craft came to crash, which is that there was a new test plane in the air force. The test plane is said to have fired its out of this world weapon, which is supposed to be some form of advanced pulse gun, which shot out electromagnetic pulses, which took out the electronics of the craft (Daily mail). With this idea, conspiracy theorists issue the concept of annihilative power of the US military in that as soon as the experimental plane took out the UFO, it came down crushing to see the developments that later followed after the craft was salvaged and towed to storage for exploration. This fallacy shows the alleged power of the US military and how much advanced it is in developing military applications for technologies that are discovered every now and then. As this pertains the main reason for the development of these theories or fallacies, one may view it starting from political to sensational conspiracies from several angles. In terms of political ambition, it is meant to discredit the government in that is not credible and decent enough to trust the world and its citizens in particular with information that affects them directly. As a result, it shows how untrustworthy the government is and how specific officials in the government use the military for personal gains such as developing technologies for sale. In reference to sensational conspiracies, the fallacies exist to intimidate the rest of the world with the advanced military power of the US by use of advanced weaponry that is accurate and even stealth technologies. Applying these theories, they allow people from around the world to come up with their own speculations on what happened in Roswell and what it means for them, as well as what would have happened should the information have been released to the general public without the cover-up. Looking at the political ploy again, it heavily suggests the military prowess are supremacy of the military in that there is no nation, globally that holds a candle to the US in terms of developing and applying their power, such that it is an intimidating power for those that perpetuate and even spread the fictional story of Roswell. In addition, it could be a ploy that works for their self-esteem in that they may not feel good about themselves, which creates room for their creativity to kick in so that they find themselves believing in unique theories to which not many subscribe. Based on the already stated and analyzed fallacies, weakness can be seen in each, apparently, without the need to dig deep as each of the fallacies highlighted and detailed above can stand as their own countermeasure. This is as can be seen in the technological fallacy, which states the presence of certain weapons before the Roswell incident, which is self-defeatists on many levels. This is because, should there have been a pulse weapon, the explanation for the technologies that came after the 1947 incident cannot be accounted for, as it points to the brilliance of scientists (Speigel). As such, if there were no night-vision goggles, how then would it be possible to have a low or even a high-powered pulse weapon on an experimental plane owned by the military. This shows no logical sense in that the chronological order of events does not add up even to the theorists themselves, as to them there were low-powered lasers and pulse guns. Pulse guns to date are yet to be applied or even recognized as weapons in existence, but are only used in fiction themed entertainment, which the Roswell conspiracy is. In addition, the military and political backing though not entirely refutable still stand ground for rebuttal in that the argument that the superiority of the military is self-defeatist by being that no one doubts the power of the military. The only thing about the military and the political leadership is their credibility, and there is no single way that the same people have raised the same concerns for all those years since 1947 to date, meaning that their case lacks credibility. As for military officers who later came out to have their voices heard in relation to the case, it took them so long to do so, which would translate to them being grieved by other factors, and not the Roswell incident in particular (Speigel). In conclusion, the Roswell conspiracy does not at all represent the truth, but instead shows the misconceptions of the people as all “facts” put across by the theorists have major flaws. This is evident in the technology and military fallacies, which only fuel the facts against them by using historical facts. Works cited Jette, Martha. Alien Technology leads to new Inventions – Part 2 of 2. 2011. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. Daily Mail. “There were TWO UFO crashes at Roswell, claims former Air Force official who says he was there”. Mail Online. 2012. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. Speigel, Lee. “Roswell UFO Crash: There Were 2 Crashes, Not 1, Says Ex-Air Force Official”. TheHuffingtonPost. 2012. Web. 11Mar. 2013. Speigel, Lee. Roswell UFO Controversy: Former Air Force Officer Says Gen. Ramey Lied To Cover Up Space Ship Crash. TheHuffingtonPost. 2011. Web. 11Mar. 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/22/roswell-ufo-cover-up_n_904039.html Read More