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Carl Sagan comes up a lot in UAP conversations, and his view is worth getting right. Sagan was absolutely open to the idea that life exists elsewhere. Early on, like a lot of people, he even found the idea of visitors exciting. But as he learned more about how often humans misinterpret things and fool ourselves, he became much more skeptical about UFO claims. One of his core points was that this topic should not be treated like a matter of belief. He pointed out that people often ask “Do you believe in UFOs” instead of asking the real question, which is “How good is the evidence that UFOs are alien spacecraft?”
He also had a blunt line about the quality of UFO cases. The reliable ones tend to be unremarkable, and the remarkable ones tend to be unreliable. And the standard he’s most known for still applies here. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
So if someone asks what Sagan “believed,” it’s basically this. He believed we should keep looking for life in the universe, and he believed that UFO claims need serious evidence before anyone jumps to conclusions.
That mindset is still useful today. Keep an open mind, but demand good data.
He also had a blunt line about the quality of UFO cases. The reliable ones tend to be unremarkable, and the remarkable ones tend to be unreliable. And the standard he’s most known for still applies here. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
So if someone asks what Sagan “believed,” it’s basically this. He believed we should keep looking for life in the universe, and he believed that UFO claims need serious evidence before anyone jumps to conclusions.
That mindset is still useful today. Keep an open mind, but demand good data.