entity

Mick West

Entities (2)

Leslie Kean

Leslie Kean

Leslie Kean and Mick West are connected through their public discourse and conflicting analyses regarding UFO phenomena, specifically the Chilean Navy video discussed in Kean's 2017 article [1], [2], [3], and [4]. Kean has publicly criticized West's debunking methodology and his lack of genuine interest in the subject [5], [6], and [7], while West has provided technical analyses of videos promoted by Kean [2], [3], and [4]. — 9 supporting facts

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Pentagon

Pentagon

The relationship is established through the critical perspective of a former Pentagon official, who asserts that Mick West lacks access to classified U.A.P. data [1], [2], and argues that West's skepticism may inadvertently hinder national security efforts [3]. — 3 supporting facts

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Facts (44)

Sources

How the Pentagon Started Taking U.F.O.s Seriously | The New Yorker newyorker.com The New Yorker Apr 30, 2021 40 facts

perspectiveMick West contends that the 'FLIR1' video likely depicts a distant airplane rather than an unidentified aerial phenomenon.

claimMick West stated in his book that his motivation for debunking anomalous phenomena, including ghost stories, stems from anger at the fear these subjects instilled in him as a young child.

quoteMick West stated: 'You can’t be an expert in the unknown.'

accountOn January 6, 2017, a skeptic on Metabunk brought a Huffington Post article by Leslie Kean titled 'Groundbreaking UFO Video Just Released by Chilean Navy' to Mick West's attention.

accountIn his book 'Escaping the Rabbit Hole,' Mick West describes his childhood fear of aliens, specifically citing the 1955 'Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter' in Kentucky, where a farmhouse was allegedly attacked by little green men.

accountMick West grew up in a small mill town in northern England, where his family lacked a television or phone, and he learned to read using his father's collection of Marvel comics.

perspectiveMick West characterized Harry Reid and Marco Rubio as “just U.F.O. fans” in response to their efforts regarding UAP/UFO disclosure.

accountIn 1999, the video-game studio where Mick West worked was acquired by Activision.

quoteMick West wrote: 'You can’t be an expert in the unknown.'

quoteLeslie Kean stated regarding Mick West: 'If Mick were really interested in this stuff, he wouldn’t debunk every single video. He would admit that at least some of them are genuinely weird.'

claimMick West argued that the objects in the video released by George Knapp and Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell were an airplane and two stars, distorted by a lens artifact.

claimMick West founded Metabunk, an online forum for examining anomalous phenomena, in 2013.

claimMick West hypothesizes that radar detections by the U.S.S. Princeton during the Nimitz encounter were likely birds or clouds registered by a brand-new, potentially miscalibrated radar system.

claimMick West established a website to combat misinformation regarding Morgellons disease, a condition characterized by the belief that strange fibers are emerging from one's skin, which has no established medical basis.

accountMick West wrote in his book 'Escaping the Rabbit Hole' that as an adolescent he experienced fear regarding the possibility of alien abduction, specifically citing the 1955 'Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter' in Kentucky.

accountMick West, a U.F.O. debunker, grew up in a small mill town in northern England, where his family lacked a television or phone, leading him to read Marvel comics and develop an early interest in science fiction and the paranormal.

quoteA former Pentagon official stated that Mick West 'doesn’t have the whole story' and that there is data in classified environments that West will never see.

claimMick West suggests that the Tic Tac-shaped object observed by Commander Fravor was likely a target balloon.

claimMick West concluded that the 'aliens' reported in the 1955 Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter were likely owls, a realization that shifted his interest toward dismantling unsound logic regarding paranormal claims.

claimMick West established a website to combat misinformation regarding Morgellons disease, a condition characterized by the belief that strange fibers emerge from the skin, which has no established medical basis.

accountActivision acquired the video-game company where Mick West worked in 1999, leading to his retirement before the age of forty.

quoteLeslie Kean stated regarding Mick West: 'If Mick were really interested in this stuff, he wouldn’t debunk every single video. He would admit that at least some of them are genuinely weird.'

accountMick West posited that the object in the Chilean Navy UFO video was an aerodynamic contrail from a plane, and by January 11, 2017, the Metabunk community identified the object as IB6830, a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Santiago to Madrid.

accountMick West grew up in a small mill town in northern England without a television or phone, and developed an early interest in science fiction and the paranormal through Marvel comics and the magazine 'The Unexplained: Mysteries of Mind, Space and Time'.

perspectiveMick West argued that the 'pyramid' UAP video released by George Knapp and Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell was actually an airplane and two stars distorted by a lens artifact.

claimMick West suggests that the Tic Tac-shaped object observed by Commander Fravor was likely a target balloon.

claimA former Pentagon official stated that Mick West lacks access to the full scope of U.A.P. data, noting that there is classified information that West will never see.

quoteIn his book "Escaping the Rabbit Hole," Mick West wrote that as an adolescent he was "literally trembling with the thought that some alien could enter my room and spirit me away to perform experiments on me."

claimMick West founded Metabunk in 2013, an online forum where contributors examine anomalous phenomena.

accountMick West co-founded a video-game studio in California in the 1990s and was a programmer for the Tony Hawk video game franchise.

perspectiveAn unnamed former Pentagon official argued that Mick West's skepticism feeds a stigma that allows potential adversaries to operate in restricted airspace without scrutiny.

claimMick West founded Metabunk in 2013, an online forum where contributors examine anomalous phenomena.

accountMick West moved to California in the 1990s, co-founded a video-game studio, and is known for his work as a programmer on the Tony Hawk video game franchise.

claimMick West posted a theory on the Skydentify subforum of Metabunk that the object in the Chilean Navy UFO video was an 'aerodynamic contrail' from a plane.

accountMick West moved to California in the 1990s, co-founded a video-game studio, and worked as a programmer for the Tony Hawk video game franchise.

claimMick West contends that the 'FLIR1' video likely shows a distant plane and that the radar detections from the U.S.S. Princeton encounter were likely birds or clouds registered by a brand-new, miscalibrated radar system.

perspectiveMick West contends that the 'FLIR1' video likely depicts a distant plane and suggests that other radar detections from the Nimitz encounter were likely birds or clouds registered by a miscalibrated radar system.

quoteMick West stated: 'A small part of the reason why I debunk now (and still occasionally address ghost stories) is anger at the fear this nonsense instilled in me as a young child.'

quoteMick West characterized Harry Reid and Marco Rubio as “just U.F.O. fans.”

Unidentified flying object - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia 4 facts

referenceScientist Mick West produces a series of videos titled 'UFO Explanations' that analyze and critique UFO claims.

perspectiveScience writer and skeptic Mick West suggested that a specific UAP video image was the result of an optical effect called bokeh, which can make out-of-focus light sources appear triangular or pyramidal due to the shape of the aperture of some lenses.

referenceMick West published an article in Skeptic magazine on August 2, 2022, titled 'The Gimbal Video: Genuine UFO or Camera Artifact?', which analyzes the nature of the 'Gimbal' UFO video.

claimMick West published a detailed analysis of a UAP video in August 2022.