What are your opinions on Richard C Hoagland and John Lear?

Question

Just trying to get a sample of opinions from a wide variety of people. Make your answers intelligent and informed, or be gone.

Answer 1

Richard C. Hoagland is a former museum space science Curator; a former NASA Consultant; and, during the historic Apollo Missions to the Moon, was science advisor to Walter Cronkite and CBS News. In the mid-1960's, at the age of 19 (possibly "the youngest museum curator in the country at the time"), Hoagland created his first elaborate commemorative event -- around NASA's first historic unmanned fly-by of the planet Mars, Mariner 4. A simultaneous all-night, transcontinental radio program the evening of the Encounter (linking the museum in Springfield, Mass., and NASA's JPL control center, in Pasadena, Ca.), co-produced by Hoagland and WTIC-Radio, in Hartford, Ct., was subsequently nominated for a Peabody Award, one of journalism's most prestigious.

In the early 1970's, proposed to Carl Sagan the placement of a "message to Mankind" aboard Pioneer 10 -- carrying "the Plaque" -- whose origins were officially acknowledged by Sagan in the prestigious journal, SCIENCE
the possible existence of "deep ocean life" under the global ice shield perpetually surrounding the enigmatic moon of Jupiter, Europa. "The fascinating idea that there might be life on Europa . . . was first proposed by Richard C. Hoagland and has been leading an outside scientific Team in a critically acclaimed independent analysis of possible intelligently-designed artifacts on NASA (and other) data sets -- beginning with the unmanned NASA VIKING mission to Mars in 1976, and its provocative images of a region called "Cydonia." Hoagland was awarded the International Angstrom Medal for Excellence in Science by the Angstrom Foundation, in Stockholm, Sweden, for that continuing research. In the last 4 years, he and his Team's investigations have been quietly extended to include over 30 years of previously hidden data from NASA, Soviet, and Pentagon missions to the Moon -- with startling results.
----------------
John Lear is a well known, even legendary figure in the UFO community.
they both have pointing to the common issue,one way or another :extraterrestrial life

Answer 2

Simply no. I don't understand how something that is viewable by anyone with the correct equipment could be "hidden" from the public in any way. Comet observers around the world observe objects like this daily. Doomsday this, and doomsday that. Hoagland is playing on the fact that most people have a very rudimentary knowledge of physics, let alone astronomy. We've all seen the movies about comets and asteroids hitting Earth. The problem is, that comets are not quite the same as asteroids, and Elinin is not some extraordinary comet. It, like other comets, is not densely packed. Its largely ice and dust, rather than ferrous metals and rock. Not to mention, his theory doesn't account for the fact that Elinin is not in any danger of coming anywhere as near Earth. His attempts to skew the facts by appearing vague is just another way he fools the uninformed. He's just a nut who's trying to make money.

Answer 3

No matter the sparkle of Hoagland's resume, his theories are not supported by the scientific community in the least.
Lear claims to be part of an alien conspiracy made up of 18 different species that runs the country, killed Kennedy, started the Viet Nam war etc.
Lear is the fruit cake and Hoagland is the frosting on the cake.

Answer 4

Richard Hoagland is a controversial figure who is wrong on nearly all his conjectures and not taken seriously by any but the most dedicated conspiracy nuts and fantasists.

He famously identified a "Face on Mars" from initial blurry photographs and constructed an elaborate fantasy about Martian civilizations. Later, better photos from other spacecraft showed the "face" to be an ordinary pile of rocks.

John Lear is a prominent UFO fantasist who suggests without any evidence that the US Government is conspiring with aliens in the abduction of US citizens. He is one of many in the UFO Conspiracy movement.

These people and others like them have never heard of Occam's razor, and construct elaborate and unsubstantiated "theories" based on no evidence

Answer 5

I have seen pieces by Hoagland on youtube. This guy comes across as legit and he has the credentials but, with the exception of some real conspiracy nuts, he is absolutely alone in his conclusions.

Answer 6

I don't know who Lear is, but Hoagland is seriously misinformed - or possibly just lying at this point. Find the reasons why here - http://www.badastronomy.com - from a REAL astronomer.