How a Harvard professor became the world’s leading alien hunter

Sharing this article because there were a lot of strong opinions the last time I posted an article about this guy.

I thought these bits from one part of the article were particularly noteworthy or discussion-worthy:

Loeb maintains that looking for alien spacecraft is less speculative than a lot of mainstream science. His go-to foil is fundamental physics. Since the discovery of the Higgs boson particle more than a decade ago, the multibillion-dollar particle colliders that physicists built to find postulated forces and fields have mostly come up empty, and still, Loeb says, scientists believe with quasi-religious faith that if they just build even bigger colliders, their theories will be redeemed.

That's a very interesting perspective. I'm pretty sure I don't agree with him, but it gives me something to think about (at least a little).

He reserves most of his scorn for string theorists, who, after assembling a theory of nature based on tiny hypothetical entities, have spent decades postulating extra dimensions and parallel universes trying to make the math work.

I agree with Dr. Loeb on this. String theorists aren't scientists. Their claims aren't testable. They're just making up their own math. One of my favorite professors (for my Cosmology & Relativity undergrad class) strongly felt this way, too. I still had some great discussions with him about potential future physics, including a fifth fundamental force. I can't remember his exact position, but it was great to discuss his thoughts on dark energy and where he would look to test his theories.

Loeb’s outspokenness about extraterrestrial life has made him the most famous practicing astronomer in the country.

I certainly hope not (I would hope for it to be Mike Brown or maybe Kip Thorne if he is still practicing) but I'm afraid he might be because it goes on to say a Netflix crew is following him.

Yet many in his own field consider Loeb a pariah. His more polite critics say that he is distracting from the horizon-expanding discoveries astronomers are making with new instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope.

That sounds like a bad argument. JWST should speak for itself.

The more outspoken ones accuse Loeb of abandoning the scientific method and misleading the public in pursuit of fame.

I think many on this site would agree.

Loeb says he gets attacked from both sides: by his colleagues in the mainstream and by the U.A.P. “crazies” who get upset when he dismisses their most ridiculous theories by pointing to the laws of physics.

At least he's not totally off the deep end. Those people really are delusional. Same as the crazy cryptid people. There are some people who believe but have a healthy skepticism and I can only respect them for being honest with themselves about their "out there" beliefs, but the ones who attack anyone who is at all skeptical of even the most idiotic claims are just deluding themselves and it's sad to see them have their whole identity tied up in that one thing.