Sirius (2013)

As some of you know, I have a deep interest in skepticism. I follow loads of skeptic related blogs and websites such as Randi.org, quackwatch.com, sciencebasedmedicine.org, michaelshermer.com, whatstheharm.net and when I'm not devouring fiction novels my reading involves such authors as James Randi, Michael Shermer, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Richard Wiseman. I even wrote a couple of skeptic-themed movie reviews for the JREF such as this review for "Resurrect Dead".

This isn't about me though. Author, skeptic and noted UFOlogist (the real kind) Robert Sheaffer recently posted a movie review over on his blog Bad UFOs. The film in question is called "Sirius" and is a pet project of pseudoscientist Dr. Steven Greer. It gained some public spotlight by promising free energy, a concept that physicists agree is impossible, and the corpse of an extraterrestrial being.


Mr. Sheaffer gave me permission to share his review with my audience but I don't want to totally reprint the thing. Instead, let me offer some of the key points of his review and interject a few thoughts of my own. If you want to read his full article CLICK HERE. I'd also suggest perusing the site for other Sirius-related articles.

"Most people don't know what a Dead Man Trigger is." Very few people need one. But Greer has one - if the Conspiracy rubs him out, lots of sensitive documents get sent out to influential people. Excuse me while I barf - If Greer actually had any documents as hot as all that, he would have given them to the press long ago.

This is the classic paranoid behavior of a conspiracy theorist and/or a liar. Real information would be insanely profitable. In this field, bluffing means you aren't holding any cards.

There is no time (or need) for exposition, or analysis. Every case, and every claim, is apparently completely solid and needs no further explanation or proof. The "organization" of the film was such that one could have taken almost any segment of it, and switched it with any other, and the change would scarcely be noticed.

Mr. Sheaffer shows knowledge of filmmaking here. Even in documentaries its necessary to maintain a narrative. It also helps if your outrageous claims have evidence. The crazier the claim, the more evidence required.

These supposed "inventors," plus the ET technology, offers us unlimited Free Energy, but a conspiracy by those Greer calls the "Petro-fascists" keeps us using coal, oil, and nuclear power. Part of  the Conspiracy is to keep us distracted by other things. Even Honey Boo-Boo is depicted as part of the Conspiracy to keep us distracted from ET truths.

In fairness, Honey Boo-Boo may be part of some sinister corporate cover-up, but so-called "free energy" would be hugely profitable to those supposed "petro-fascists" accused of hiding it.
 

I found interesting the part about CSETI's CE5 training session, "human-initiated contact," which involves, among other things, meditation and remote viewing. They go into the desert or some other remote place, and shine a flashlight or laser at any light they see in the sky. If it appears to flicker back, that counts as an instance of interstellar communication. Many of the ET craft are "trans-dimensional," and thus are not visible to the human eye. However, they can be seen using night-vision equipment, which apparently has the capability to make trans-dimensional things visible.

This is a very telling paragraph. Using one made-up science to verify another is a staple among UFO nuts.

Sorry Mr. Greer, it's not an alien.

So, supposedly the little critter is a human child, at least 6 years old, and only six inches long. This sounds almost as implausible as an ET. I am wondering what precautions have been taken against deliberate DNA contamination? In the case of the Metepec, Mexico humanoid that was promoted by Jaime Maussan, the hoaxer Urso Moreno Ruiz confessed, "It’s just the corpse of a skinned squirrel-monkey."

This is the kind of thing that makes people like Sheaffer so invaluable. The audience that watches a film like "Sirius" is unlikely to have heard about a debunked case in Metepec, Mexico. The skeptic community acts like a watchdog and they know when they've seen the same trick twice. Even if the documentary is right, it's still not an alien. Though, it would take a team of impartial scientists to get any real answers. Folks like Greer don't like real answers so I doubt that specimen will ever make it to a scientist who isn't hand-picked by the owner.

In the end, no halfway intelligent person will be swayed by this film. The only people who will be impressed will be those who breathlessly await each new episode of Ancient Aliens on the History Channel.

Actually, it's amazing to me how many halfway intelligent people are swayed by this kind of crap. Logic and reasoning is something that our public schools need to put an emphasis on. Skepticism shouldn't be a movement, it should be the norm.