Binned threads: Scepticism forum

[J77]

I wouldn't normally ask about deleted threads but PF has no bin...

I couldn't find anything in the rules about why my thread on the English guy who said he hacked his way into the US military and found info on UFOs got deleted.

I understand that the story was a bit 'out there' but the source was credible, ie. the bbc: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4757375.stm

And I did put it in the Scepticism forum.

Did it break any forum rules? (Generally interested for future reference.)

 

[Moonbear]

The relevant sections from the S&D guidelines are:

In order to help avoid confusion it seems appropriate to state the goal of S&D clearly: We explore claims of and evidence for unexplained phenomena. Thoughtful speculation and explanations are welcome.

and

Although unavoidably linked with subjects such as UFOs, we do not discuss conspiracy theories for their own sake.

Just because it's a conspiracy theory proposed by a hacker who has gotten mainstream publicity doesn't make his claim credible, and even if he's being truthful of what he thinks he saw, it certainly isn't verifiable or subject to debunking.

If that's not sufficient explanation, you'll need to contact Ivan via PM for any more clarification about specifics of your post.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Thanks MB, that sounds good to me.

Hi J77,
there was also another thread about this below your post, which I had already closed. What happens is that people don't see the closed threads, and pretty soon we have two, three, or even four closed threads on the same story if I don't just delete them.

Anytime something like this happens, you or anyone else should feel free to send a pm asking why your thread was deleted. But as a rule, unless you get a warning, you are safe to assume that either the content was innappropriate for the forum, or someone has already started a parallel thread and you just missed it.

 

[J77]

Cool

Thanks for the replies - I didn't see the closed thread when I posted mine, even though I searched the boards for "hacker".

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Okay, what I'll do is issue a zero point warning containing a short statement of the problem. This should help to prevent confusion. A warning of zero points carries no penalty.

We'll also be adding a posting agreement to ensure that everyone sees and understands the posting guidelines.