Comment by ryebit | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ryebit | Hacker News Reader

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Going a bit further, once an object has been confirmed as alien, then it's not really "Unidentified" anymore, now is it?

Almost a linguistic catch-22 version of the "ATM Machine" phrase. Not redundant, but guaranteed to be either colloquially misinterpreted, or technically incorrect.

It's kinda weird how words can just get coopted by popular use. Take calling someone a "Nimrod" -- before Loony Tunes, that would have been a compliment that meant "mighty hunter". But kids growing up in the 50s and on first heard it in when Bugs Bunny used it as an insult, contextually meaning idiot or bumbler or something -- which due to Loony Tunes' cultural influence is now the dominant meaning, supplanting the original biblical origin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod#Idiom)

> Going a bit further, once an object has been confirmed as alien, then it's not really "Unidentified" anymore, now is it?

Depends. Let's take the opposite case, where the object has been determined to be of likely terrestrial origin (identifiable letters and numbers on a wing or tail), but otherwise still mysterious. Is it identified or not? How about if it is rumored to be US military, but officially no one will confirm or deny? How about if someone does officially confirm, but no specifics are available (so there is no project/program name, or branch, or model)?

Especially considering that official statements may be misinformation, at what point can we say that the FO is no longer U?

A similar continuum of identification specificity applies to non-terrestrial origins, all the way up to "Oh yeah, that was BortXd from Omega Draconis, he got drunk again at a tailgate party."

>Going a bit further, once an object has been confirmed as alien, then it's not really "Unidentified" anymore, now is it?

Somehow confirming that it is not from Earth doesn't identify it. There are multiple types of flying objects, like planes and missiles, and could be multiple different aliens groups it could be from.

Also, how does one identify it as ‘alien’? It could be sent by humans from the future, or by “the first men”.

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