I really do fail to see how some folks missed the point of NDT's little talking points.

1. if you don't know something, just admit it... making up a story out of whole cloth to explain what you don't understand is NOT science and is most likely not true.

2. so called "eye witness" accounts are fallible and not acceptable "proof" in science. Only lawyers can assert otherwise! Which goes al long way to explaining why so many innocent people end up behind bars.. waiting for scientific evidence to free them.

The UFO part of his talk was to point out that the U stands for unidentified... which should be self-explanatory... but...

The phone chain was to illustrate that even in the second grade, we are taught that messages/stories get garbled in oral transmission. Which is very much the "folk process" in oral traditions.

What I liked best in his talk was how science deals with the unknown and you had better be comfortable with NOT having all the answers if you want to work in science.

The whole point of scientific method is to reach better understanding by asking better and better questions... because the answers lead to more questions.