Pelicanist
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Someone who attempts to explain away UFO reports by means of any explanation, however illogical. derogatory
"Kottmeyer and others who use the psychosocial hypothesis constantly produce evidence to support their ideas, whereas the ETH proponents can produce only cranky ideas about magnetic, anti-gravity or interdimensional saucers, accompanied by a constant whining about "sceptics" and "debunkers" (not to mention "armchair ufologists" and "pelicanists")."
Example
More examples"Kottmeyer and others who use the psychosocial hypothesis constantly produce evidence to support their ideas, whereas the ETH proponents can produce only cranky ideas about magnetic, anti-gravity or interdimensional saucers, accompanied by a constant whining about "sceptics" and "debunkers" (not to mention "armchair ufologists" and "pelicanists")."
Etymology
From pelican + -ist. Coined by Jerome Clark in reference to claims that Kenneth Arnold's UFO sighting in 1947 was pelicans.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.