An assumption of 99% false sightings is not a statistic. Statistics are analyses of measured data, not assumptions. To know the actual percentage of true sightings, you’d first have to confirm that some sightings are actually true, which would require some actual evidence of ghosts/aliens.

Consider the inverse for a moment: if ghosts/aliens don’t actually exist, then the percentage of false sightings must be 100%, not 99.9%. As long as you start with the assumption that there are some true sightings, you’re just starting with the assumption that ghosts/aliens are real.

Don’t feel too bad about it, even ancient Greek philosophers thought the same thing in the time before modern optics.

Apes are monkeys, in the same sense that humans are apes.

Her motivations aren’t even as noble as that. The article goes on to describe how she’s actually just trying to undercut a proposed constitutional amendment:

But Ms. Bolick also railed against Planned Parenthood and Democratic support for abortion rights. She argued that her vote to repeal the 1864 ban could be Arizona’s best shot at curbing the momentum behind a proposed ballot measure to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.