Robert Baker on Entertainment Tonight
SkeptInq@aol.com
Wed, 26 Mar 1997 15:42:30 -0500
Has Robert Baker finally gone over to the other side? You would think so from
the brief segment on alien abductions that aired Wednesday, March 19, on
NBC’s Entertainment Tonight. In the midst of abduction stories from alleged
abductees and pro-believer testimonial, the producers inserted a 5-second
take of Baker saying, that people have been "abducted by one thing or
another" throughout history. Baker’s remark was so misplaced and so taken
out of context that anyone watching the segment who didn’t know him would
have taken it as a confirmation of the abduction phenomenon. Baker, a CSICOP
Fellow and frequent contributor to the Skeptical Inquirer, says he was never
interviewed by Entertainment Tonight, so it is not clear where the take came
from.
Also appearing in the segment was Philip Klass. Unlike Baker, Klass was
introduced as representing the skeptical viewpoint. However, even his
statement--to the effect that if these abduction stories really did turn out
to be true, it would be the biggest thing to happen to humankind--appeared to
have been carefully selected to lend an air of mystery and drama to the
story. Yet anyone who has heard Klass speak knows his usual follow-up to such
statements: that despite how much he would like to find confirmation for such
stories, in all his years of investigating UFO claims he has yet to find a
single piece of evidence to support them.
Gwen Burda
Managing Editor
Skeptical Inquirer