Imperishable Stars wrote,
[...]
| Concerning the topic of the upcoming seminar, Mr. Friedman comments,
| "Although SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) has been
| getting a free ride from the popular press and the scientific community,
| a closer examination of its assumptions (there is no evidence to
| examine) clearly indicates it is basically a cult movement with the
| acronym really standing for Silly Effort To Investigate. Ufology
| traditionally gets a very hard time from the press and the scientific
| community, but, in contrast with SETI, has facts and data that lead
| directly to the conclusion that some UFOs are alien spacecraft and that
| there is a Cosmic Watergate. It is useful to note the contrasting
| underlying assumptions of SETI and ufology.
[...]

Friedman is, just like his name indicates, fried. A UFO industry
huckster, out to do nothing more than make money off the gullible.
The SETI organization, on the other hand, are not making a thin
dime off of their efforts and mostly rely on donations to keep the
project going.
The SETI project is a very noble undertaking, and has a good
possibility, in time, to answer one of the greatest mysteries of
history--"Are we alone?". And as time goes on, the search will
become more advanced, right along with advances in science
in general. As I am one of those who believes we are NOT
alone(but never before visited), not even in our own region
of the Milky Way galaxy, I am certain that one fine day an
unmistakably artificial signal of some sort will be discovered.
I just hope I am around to see that day.

Don't compare Stanton Friedman's shady career to that of the
hard working SETI scientists. That's like comparing the clownish
"Pro" Wrestlers to the modern day gladiators who labor in the
great National Football League. A *real* stretch.
C88