Hello!
I am a high school science teacher, big believer in the scientific method and there are few things I enjoy more than rational discourse. I've primarily taught biology (BS degree in that field, another in education) but also some physics and chemistry too. I tend to get really interested in interesting things, and have picked up some isolated pockets of sort of "weird" topics such as pandemics, nuclear weapons, psychedelics, etc.
I've been following the pandemic very closely from the early reports from Wuhan, and have been incredibly frustrated at the prominence of misinformation and this has led to a lot of debunking conversations with friends, family and even a stranger or two. While doing this, I found that the communication skills I've picked up in teaching various technical concepts to adolescents left me well-equipped for reasonably productive outcomes when doled out with respect and humility for the other party. We often say in education that we've got to "meet the kids where they are" and I have found this to translate well to adults too.
More recently, I've also taken a deep dive into the subject of UFO's after a student asked me about the navy videos during this past school year. I had never thought about this subject much outside of its entertainment value, but being a bit of a sci-fi nerd both the videos and the story surrounding them captivated me. I'd consider myself fairly open-minded and after exploring this strange subject from Roswell and the flying saucer craze to more recent developments with the UAPTF report, I tried to entertain all possibilities. But I have found no convincing evidence that the extraterrestrial hypothesis or any of the other extraordinary claims are valid and (rather disappointingly) find them highly unlikely. But while researching, I found Mick's material to be very well done. That's what led me here - I'm looking forward to future conversations with everyone!
P.S. - a rather large chunk of my youth was spent playing the Tony Hawk series, so thanks for that one Mick. Loved those games!