Professor som fråntagits undervisning bilade över landsgräns för att träffa vidskepliga UFO-Sverige

 

"Förutom en lång och härlig brunch som vi åt oss igenom hemma hos Tin och Jan under ett par timmar har jag suttit och pratat med den nederländske professorn inom aerospace, Coen Vermeeren sim tagit bilen över gränsen för att träffa mig. Professorn är mycket ufointresserad och vi hade en två timmar lång och intensiv konversation vid köksbordet."

Citat ovan från UFO-Sveriges vice ordförande Clas Svahns ufo-blogg 26 oktober 2014:

http://csblogg.ufo.se/csblogg3/?p=30907

"TU Delft’s Coen Vermeeren, the head of Studium Generale and part-time teacher at the faculty of Aerospace Engineering, was recently relieved of his faculty teaching duties by the university after expressing his belief in UFOs during two national Dutch media interviews (a newspaper article and radio show).

“As a scientist, you stick your neck out if you say that UFOs exist,” Vermeeren was quoted as saying in a De Telegraaf newspaper article. “I dare to say this publicly.” Following Vermeeren’s pronouncement, TU Delft subsequently relieved him of his part-time position at the aerospace faculty, saying there was great concern about the separation between Vermeeren’s UFO beliefs and his teaching responsibilities at TU Delft.

Debates about freedom of opinion quickly followed in various online forums and media, with Taede Smedes, philosopher of religion at the Radboud University , defending Vermeeren’s position: “Science may not ignore UFOs,” Smedes said. Meanwhile, Professor Klaas van Egmond, of Utrecht University, asked: “From where comes that age-old fear of new ideas?”

However, TU Delft’s Dap Hartmann, an assistant professor who teaches innovation management and entrepreneurship and holds a PhD in astronomy, unleashed a strident personal attack on Vermeeren in an opinion piece published in De Volkskrant newspaper, headlined ‘Ufo-lunatic can’t be a scientist’ (‘Ufo-gekkie’ kan geen wetenschapper zijn’).

Of Vermeeren’s stated belief in UFOs, Hartmann wrote: “This makes him a hero within the UFO-community, but an idiot within science. Vermeeren disqualified himself as a scientist, because he lacks the ability to distinguish between sense and nonsense. UFO-lunatics may be free to roam around, but not as scientific staff members at a reputable university.”

Embarrassment
A quick survey of various international students studying at the Aerospace faculty revealed broad support for Vermeeren’s right to hold and express his personal opinions."

 

Källa, campus på den journalistiska plattformen TU Delft 8 mars 2012:

https://www.delta.tudelft.nl/article/ufos-or-unwelcome-foolish-opinions

 

Tekniska universitetet i Delft, Nederländerna:

https://www.tudelft.nl/