Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s thrice-weekly roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community.
Benjamin Radford took to the CFI blog on Monday for a look at the “Return of the ‘Mysterious’ Drones and the Twilight of Ambiguity,” reminding readers that the current breathless hype cycle is very much like ones we’ve seen before.
It’s easy to forget in an era of attenuating attention spans and a continual churn of news, but these drone scares are nothing new. Almost exactly five years ago, as 2019 came to a close, news reports spread about nearly two dozen “mysterious” drones sighted in the night skies over rural Colorado and Nebraska.
Radford includes reference to a video by frequent Skeptical Inquirer contributor and CSI Fellow Mick West called “My Take on the Drone Situation,” which is worth taking a few minutes to watch in full. West has also been featured in a lot of the recent coverage from outlets including the New York Times and Forbes.
“People’s brains aren’t very good at judging how big things are in the night sky,” said Mick West, a science writer who has focused on debunking conspiracy theories. “You see something in the sky, you have heard stories about it being drones, so you think maybe that is a drone.”
Bright landing lights, seen at a distance, can make a plane appear to transform into something more interesting, and potentially threatening, Mr. West said. “A majority of the videos are just big planes,” he added.
Still, with reports of “sightings” spreading to other states and the conspiracy-mongers working overtime, the FAA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Defense issued a joint statement on Tuesday saying:
Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones. We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast.
You’ll find three new web-exclusive pieces right now at Skeptical Inquirer: Dr. Timur Sevincer of The Forecasting Collaborative reports “Annual psychic forecasts fail to prove the existence of psychic powers once again;” with demand for exorcisms on the rise (no, really), Autumn Sword and Kenny Biddle take on “Demonic Dilletantes, the Dangers of Detectives-Turned-Demonologists;” and Quackwatch’s William London explains why “Dr. David Weldon Is a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Choice for CDC Director.”
Weldon has much to explain to be worthy of confirmation by a conscientious U.S. Senate that appreciates how CDC protects population health. I’m not sure there are enough senators who are up to the task of evaluating Weldon’s qualifications rationally.
The Morning Heresy will be on-hiatus over the next two weeks, but Quackwatch never sleeps. Click here to subscribe and have the Consumer Health Digest newsletter delivered FREE to your email each week.
If you’re doing any end-of-year gift shopping, a reminder to check out the CFI Store. You can shop from an extensive collection of great books, apparel, and CFI-branded accessories. In addition, now through December 31 you’ll save 10% off your entire purchase (before shipping) when you use the coupon code Goodbye2024.
UPenn professor Anthea Butler has an opinion piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer warning “Trump’s religious supporters not only see him as a leader, but as God’s man. That should give us all pause.”
Trump now has a divine mandate after this election, in the minds of his supporters, and that will bring havoc to the separation of church and state. There will be no separation. Trump supporters like it that way. […]
It is because they believe in Dominionism, the extra-biblical teaching that Christians should be in every level of authority and power, in government, education, entertainment, and other public endeavors. It privileges Christianity over — and against — other religious groups.
From the “better late than never (I guess)” files, Science reports the “Infamous paper that popularized unproven COVID-19 treatment [was] finally retracted.”
A 2020 paper that sparked widespread enthusiasm for hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment was retracted today, following years of campaigning by scientists who alleged the research contained major scientific flaws and may have breached ethics regulations. The paper was pulled because of ethical concerns and methodological problems, according to a retraction notice.
USA Today opinion writer Rex Huppke satirically offers “A letter from polio in support of RFK Jr., co-signed by natural selection.”
If you confirm Mr. Kennedy and he does away with vaccines and vaccine requirements, we in the polio community and others in the broader communicable disease cluster pledge we will never enter your bodies and begin replicating in your cells with the intent to cause harm. […]
We promise.
As 2025 approaches (and the above stories all demonstrate), the stakes for science, reason, and secular values have never been higher. The Center for Inquiry is on the front lines of the fight to defend evidence-based reasoning and humanist principles, and we cannot do it without your support. Right now, you can double the impact of your donation: every gift made to CFI this December will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $250,000, doubling our ability to combat misinformation and defend rational thought as we step into the new year.
Thank you for standing with us to champion a more rational and compassionate world!
Programming Note: The Morning Heresy will be on hiatus from December 23 – January 3. We’ll resume our thrice-weekly schedule on Monday, January 6. Have a safe and happy new year!
Linking to a story or webpage does not imply endorsement by the author or CFI. Not every use of quotation marks is ironic or sarcastic, but it often is.
