In “The Roswell Report,” C1 the US Air Force argues that they have dispelled longstanding claims of a government cover-up of a UFO incident in Roswell New Mexico in 1947
because ......
forfour reasons:
R1 the AirForce claims it could not find any evidence of a “UFO” incident. THEREFORE
R2 theyconclude that the debris came from a Mogul balloon
R3 they argue that they didn’t have enough resources for an elaborate deception
R4 they assert that the “alien bodies” never existed for three reason
THEREFORE that they have dispelled longstanding claims of a government cover-up of a UFO incident in Roswell New Mexico in 1947
SubR1, 2, 3
Analysis for Side by Side
The first reason can support the conclusion by itself because to prove there was a cover-up, UFO proponents would have to provide evidence that a landing actually took place. The Air Force here assumes that aliens are not likely to exist. [Evaluation:] This is a weak reason because they can’t prove a negative, and is therefore unacceptable. It is also unacceptable because although it may be likely that there was no evidence, the Air Force cannot prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.
Berliner’s claim that the Air Force is covering up a UFO crash is unacceptable because they could have been covering up a covert military exercise. Here he commits the either or fallacy because there are other possibilities for a cover-up beside aliens His argument depends on the assumption that aliens exist and they have the technology to travel to Earth..
The second reason stands independently because they can provide evidence that the debris most likely came from a Mogul Balloon. The third reason does not adequately support the conclusion because the Air Force frequently demonstrates that it in fact has enough resources to provide top secret security for other events.
The first reason, the lack of evidence, supports the conclusion because
First, the AirForce claims it could not find any evidence of a “UFO” incident. This reason supports the conclusion because . . .