Terrence McKenna: "Understanding the Universe"

                     "Dryad Materializing," James Rich acrylic on canvas

"You have to take seriously the notion that understanding the universe is your responsibility, because the only understanding of the universe that will be useful to you is your own understanding." ~ Terrence McKenna

The quote if from Daniel Moler's (for Reality Sandwich) article Machine Elves 101, or Why Terence McKenna Matters The article is, as Moler writes, a kind of "Terence for Dummies" includes several good quotes from McKenna.


I've been asked many times why I explore the things I do; why I blog and write about my UFO, anomalous and paranormal experiences, and generally, pursue the esoteric/Fortean realms. This Terrence McKenna quote resonates with me as explanation.

I would just say that "understanding the universe" is an overwhelmingly and very large assumption, and if misunderstood or misinterpreted, may sound ridiculously arrogant. I don't believe I or anyone can presume to understand the universe, as in "Oh! I got it all now!" moment. (Even when we think we've reached those moments of Satori, they soon fade, like a great and very important dream, and we're back to the mundane. . .) (And yet, if we've had those moments, they become a part of us, no matter how hidden away they may end up . . . )  But as a process, a journey for its sake, makes sense to me.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

                      Heceta Head Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast, Florence, Oregon 
                           manipulated photograph/mixed media, Regan Lee 2005 


This is an image of the Heceta Head lighthouse keeper's home in Florence, Oregon. The house is now a bed and breakfast. The lighthouse is available to visit; tours are given. It's a bit of a hike up to the lighthouse but worth it.


The house is said to be haunted. There have been several articles written through the years in both local and national publications on the haunted house. I know a few people who've stayed there who've told me they either felt or saw ghostly type things. 


While I've been to the lighthouse, I haven't been inside the bed and breakfast. Unless you're staying at the inn, you can't go inside just to look around. Which is nice to know; you can't disturb the guests that way. Maybe some day we'll try staying there.


I manipulated the photograph I took using mixed materials: acrylic paint, oil pastels. It's been so long since I took this I'm not sure what camera I used; either a disposable or my Instamatic, which I like to use for some silly reason, even though I have digitals and other cameras.

           Heceta Head Lighthouse, Florence, Oregon, manipulated photograph by Regan Lee

This blue image is of the lighthouse itself. Just a photograph (most likely the same camera was used but as I say, don't remember) that I had fun playing with by altering the color via the computer. 



Never seen a ghost or anything unusual or esoteric when I've been up there, but there's always next time!

New Trickster's Realm and other BoA Columns

Explore the wonders of Binnall of America! Podcasts, forum, and lots of great columns.

My new TR should be up sometime today. This week's article is about the parallels between my orange orb sighting in the 1980s, and the 'Dark Presence' UFO Hunters episode that explored orange (and other colors) orb sightings. These are not "Chinese lanterns," or spirit orbs.

Other items include Richelle Hawks' Medusa's Ladder column; this week Richelle writes about purging of the bookmarks:

Weeding the Bookmarks: Recommended Sites, Essays, and Videos

I've never been good about deleting old emails, files, pictures, bookmarks or anything until it gets to some kind of unholy critical mass, then I purge like crazy. It's getting to be that time with my bookmarks, so I've been going through things clicking on things I haven't seen in years. I've deleted a lot, but rediscovered some things that I put aside to read later, and found some real gems; many are esoteric related, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites.

Below is an eclectic selection of recommended reading and viewing from my forgotten and neglected bookmarks.

Funny Richelle mentions cleaning up bookmarks and emails; I have the same problem, and just a couple of days ago did the same thing with my bookmarks, managing to delete some important ones, like the access link to UFO Mystic. That's what happens when I try to get organized.

Tina Sena, at her Esotericana column, wants to know: Is the Grim Reaper an Extraterrestrial? Something about that; we call the Grim Reaper 'death' but as someone pointed out to me the other day, the GR doesn't kill people, he just takes them away. According to Wikipedia, in some systems the GR is a guide, leading the human away from this mortal life, in others, he causes death.

Ghost on the Stairs?

The two photos are ones I took yesterday of a stairway in a haunted house. The family has lived in this house for years, and just about everyone in the large family, as well as visitors, has experienced something along the haunting variety.

A few years ago, I was on this stairway, walking up towards the door, when I suddenly felt "zapped" like a strong volt of electricity went through me. It was the oddest feeling; I felt very hot, very tingling. I didn't know then that this spot was a particularly active one in the house. I continued into the room, where, after sitting there a few moments, talking with the then occupant of the room, I saw a large swirling white "mist" but thicker, more solid (some have told me since it sounded like it was ectoplasm) start to form. It continued like this, above and behind the person I was talking to until I left about a half hour later.

I didn't go into the room yesterday, (occupant was sleeping)  just took a couple of pics, and saw the ghostly form on the stairs after I uploaded the images. I was hoping to feel that vivid electrical feeling again but didn't feel anything so dramatic. To my surprise I did feel a short burst of coldness at one spot.

There are many different entities in this house. One is a spirit that seems to be interactive. One family member was outside when she heard a male voice say "The water needs changing" meaning, the horse trough needed to be changed, which, when she checked, she found to be the case. She turned around and saw a tall man in a dark duster, or long trench coat type thing, with a cowboy hat. Others in the family have seen this being as well. Suddenly I felt that "buzzy" feeling I get around ghosts; I couldn't see but I could feel him there. I knew he was there with us, just kind of checking in.

The entire road is haunted; stories of other houses with general weirdness, lore about the end of the road and strange goings-ons involving anthropology students abandoning a project in that spot due to ghostly encounters, a haunted cemetery at the top of the road, Native American hunting grounds . . . as to the cemetery, I've been there twice, once during the day, once at night. Both times  I felt very uncomfortable. In fact I admit at night, and I was just in my car, I was pretty horrified and didn't like it one bit. Even during the day it was a bad feeling, particularly in one spot. Jim felt it as well.

I noticed for the first time there are power lines near the top of the road on the road before turning off onto the "haunted" road. I couldn't stop to take a picture of them but I'll try to go back and do so.

I've often commented that I know I have mediumistic abilities; I've never chosen, for whatever reason, to develop. Maybe I'm scared, or just lazy.

Last night I was having some weird and uncomfortable things happen. I call them "psychic postcards" quick images of people and scenes. But last night was a little different; it was one person, just his face and shoulders, and he kept coming. He was in his late thrities, bald, a light blue long sleeved shirt, and very pale. Not a good person. Usually when I open my eyes then close them again they go away, or if I just figuratively shake my head -- my mind -- it goes away. He wouldn't go away. He was not a nice person, he was a creep, dangerous. I knew that if I kept going I would find out more, who he was, where, what he was doing. I didn't want to know.

Bruce Duensing: "Goodbye"

Bruce Duensing at Intangible Materiality had decided to stop blogging. At least for now. I can't speak for him or his experiences and decisions, however I will miss his writing very much. And what he has to say is very interesting, a little startling but nonetheless true in my opinion. I wish Bruce well.

"Dream Academy" Synchronicity and the subconscious

Readers of The Orange Orb know that I post many of my UFO related dreams here. To my surprise, those posts receive a lot of comments and emails. I acknowledge I post those dreams here as a way of trying to discover . . . something . . . about my experiences. My own, free, little therapy blog. But others find something in these posts, as I do in the posts of others who write about their dreams, and other  vague, surreal moments. Mike Clelland's blog, hidden experience, Anya is a Channel, The Secret Sun, among others, discuss dreams, symbols, images as a language connected with the esoteric.  As individual and often just weird these dreams, experiences, or interpretations of seemingly mundane events are, these shared personal landscapes resonate, and often we find bits of synchronicity as well.

This morning, checking one of my favorite Fortean news sites, The Daily Grail, I find the following link: Dream Academy: Secrets of the subconscious unlocked. The article is a bit of a fluff piece and feels the need to add in the skeptic's  admonishments:

Louise Chunn, the editor of Psychologies magazine, said she could imagine dream groups taking off, in much the same way that "today's narcissistic society" is addicted to talking about itself on Twitter. "I can imagine talking about your dreams becoming a trend in the way that people photograph their food. Is this just another way to validate ourselves?" She warned that the upshot could be to leave those with less exciting dreams feeling inadequate.

Some psychologists and psychiatrists worry that dream groups might cause harm if the distressing emotions turned up by the subconscious mind are mistreated. Patrick McNamara, associate professor of neurology and psychiatry at Boston University and author of Nightmares: The Science and Solution of Those Frightening Visions During Sleep, believes that dreams shouldn't be shared with anyone who lacks due regard for their complexity.

But the point of the article is that in the UK, dream groups are popular, and individuals are finding that discussing their dreams in groups is very helpful for them. In some cultures, discussing your dreams is not considered woo or "narcissistic" it just is, an important part of the daily routine.

Not all my dreams are UFO related. I have all kinds of dreams: dreams about obvious anxieties or issues about work, daily life, stress related dreams, weird dreams because I ate too much or not feeling well, fun dreams, silly dreams. When it comes to the UFO dreams, there is the question of intepretation, meaning. Are the dreams somewhat literal, something UFO related trying to get through, or are the symbols and scenarios stand-ins for something else? 

An example: I have a recurring dream that I find myself driving, usually alone, on a narrow, one lane bridge across the ocean. I just find myself in the middle of nowhere, all I can see is water on either side of me, in front of and behind me. The water comes up to the sides of the bridge, very scary. The bridge only has a small and frail rail on either side. It doesn't seem to have any purpose. It wouldn't stop a car from going off the bridge. I'm scared out of my mind because one slip and I'm in this water.  It's all so weird and scary: just one long narrow road on top of the water with no end in sight, no turn around, no signs, nothing.

I've had this dream for years, and still have it. Had one the other night in fact. What completely unglued me a few years ago was, I found myself on this very road! I was completely lost in Portalnd, no idea at all where I was, or going . . . I have no idea how I ended up on this road but there I was, on a narrow road with water all around, no signs, no turn around, no idea where I was going. None of that had to do with UFOs. Just a weird bit of synchronicity. 

Memory is a strange thing. Why do we remember vivid small scenes from childhood, the rest fallen away? What was it about that moment, that's stayed with us for decades, while others seem to leave? And what of the rare "scenes" where you remember, but not sure if it happened? 

image: Henry Fuseli: Nightmare (The Incubus)

Sinister Teddy Bear UFO

Before you get too excited, this is another UFO dream. I understand if you choose to move on.

One of my "dreamscapes" -- coastal town, rural. Jim and I are in the parking lot of a roadhouse type place, not uptown and urban enough for a club, but not just a diner either. Pool, music, dancing, beer, that kind of place. In the parking lot, at night, and enjoying this small coastal-rural kind of place. We're in a nice, comfortable small town place, but just over the hill (s) we can see the city lights of a major metropolitan place. So we're removed from the maddening crowd, yet it does exist. If we want to, which we don't, we can drive an hour or so and be in the big time.

So. In the parking lot, two people come out, friends of ours. (I hesitated mentioning that, in the dream, they were a gay couple. I hesitated because their sexuality doesn't matter, yet it must have been important in my dream-head.  I have two very close friends who have moved to Hawaii; they're gay, and I miss them very much. I consider them both to be true brothers of mine, and when they moved to Hawaii a few years ago I was devastated. I don't know what that has to do with the rest of this dream, but there it is.)  They've lived here a long time, and know all there is to know about the place. I look up at the sky, it is beautiful! Just incredibly beautiful, sparkling, glittering, twinkling stars. White, pale violet, light green and blue hues, just astoundingly wonderful. This too is one of my dreamscapes; the night sky in all her starry wonder.  Not only is it beautiful, full of stars that are alive, but it is very "busy." So much is going on up there!

I turn my attention back to Jim, our friends, the parking lot. Which is fairly empty. Except for a giant teddy bear. Sitting there, by the dilapidated wooden fence, is a dark brown teddy bear. A giant dark brown teddy bear. It's about ten feet high, and about four feet wide. There is something creepy about this. I go over to it, and look at it, look inside it, for I notice the eyes and other little compartments, or windows... lit up a bit from inside.

The two friends tell us it does seem odd, but it's just the bear the town uses in the 4th of July parade every year. For the kids. I say "Well, what is it doing here now; the 4th is over with -- and in the middle of the night, in a roadhouse parking lot?"

This never occurred to them. They agree it is weird. Come to think of it, they're not sure if it's actually ever been in any parade.

"Well, then" one of them offers, "It's some kind of new toy for the kids. A gift from the city, or maybe a promo thing from a toy company."

I peer into the weird little eye slots and other places where a yellowish light barely glows. "I don't think so," I say. "Uh uh. This is no toy." When I say that, the bear moves, jerkily, stiffly, and the lights get brighter. I can tell it is pissed.

"This is no damn toy, it's a UFO!" I say, and the light gets stronger, and the energy from this seeming inanimate object is malevolent. Now everyone is nervous and knows I'm right.

At the moment I noticed the teddy bear is really a UFO in disguise, the sky above gets really busy. Suddenly, there are several dozens of UFOs zeroing in on us. They know we're on to them.

It's become clear that this teddy bear was an attempt on "their" (sigh, aliens I guess) part to sneak into human society. But they didn't get the concept down right. Toy, yes: teddy bear. But they goofed on the other factors, as with the utter high strangeness aspect of a ten foot tall, malevolent teddy bear with glowing eyes in a roadhouse parking lot in the middle of the night.

Now, things are not so good. Everyone is either panicked, or getting there fast. We sense panic from over the hill; everyone, everywhere, is aware something is not right. I'm none too happy about this either and I am nervous, but I'm used to it, been there, done that, is the feeling I have, as well as Jim.

Then I wake up. Not because I wanted to, because of the cats. 

A pattern I've noticed in these UFO dreams of mine: things appear, pretending to be mundane, or "normal" objects, but it is quickly discovered that these things are not what they're pretending to be, and are, instead, UFOs -- as in, flying saucers from outer space with aliens in them. Sometimes it's clear some humans are involved with this: government, psy ops, etc.

I suppose I keep writing about these dreams as one way of getting at things: finding out why both Jim and I have had at least two missing time episodes in relation to UFO experiences, and so much else. Either these scenarios (thing posing as normal: revealed to be UFO, sometimes with human complicity) are realities that I've suppressed, or paranoia. Or a little of both. Or something entirely different.

Everybody's Talking China UFO

Latest UFO sighting to make the international and mainstream rounds: the China UFO.

There's this:

Which some uberskeptics on JREF said was a long exposure shot of an airplane.

And this U.S. ABC mainstream news clip:


Here's a clip of two UFO sightings in China; one which looks to be a missile launch:


Here's a longer clip of the missile; which the person who put this together believes it to be:

No doubt.
Likely the other UFO is also a man made weapon/craft of some kind, in my opinion. A lot of sleight of hand has been going on in various nations, including our own, concerning objects in the skies. Nothing new there of course. Just seems busier than usual lately.

Tales of the Black-Eyed People

I have my favorite UFO, esoteric/Fortean/cryptid stories, like Bigfoot-UFO accounts, Lizard Men tales, Mothman and MIBS. The glowing, talking raccoon that Dr. Kary Mullis encountered in 1983 is one of my favorite stories. Shadow people are interesting, and I've even had my own brief sighting of what I call a shadow person (something woke me up; I looked around, and a fleeting movement of something humanoid/bipedal and black, darker than the surrounding dim of the room, moving quickly through the air. It was somewhat transparent, about two feet tall. It really unnerved me) but the shadow people phenomenon doesn't scare me or intrigue me as much as other phenomenon.

But one that scares the hell out of me and grabs my deep interest are the stories of "black eyed" people. I first learned about the black-eyed people in the March-April issue of Nexus magazine. Reading Jason Offutt's Invasion of the Black-Eyed Children article was good, clean, scary Fortean fun. (Of course, I don't know how much "fun" encountering one of the people (entities?) would be; does not seem "fun" at all.)

Offutt has more on black-eyed people on his blog From the Shadows, about encounters in Texas and Nebraska.

Stephen Wagner has a few different accounts of witnesses encountering these creepy and eerie black-eyed people.

One witness account Wagner posted, from "Missy," describes the black-eyed person she saw in a Starbuck's. The description sounds like a MIB:

I should note here: I did not see anything unusual in his manner of dress. Jeans, black shirt, lightweight black jacket, (no hat, no overcoat) not unusual dress. His hair was almost black, but didn't look any darker than my boyfriend's hair (boyfriend is of Japanese descent). His skin tone was a bit olive and pale but not overly so. It was the eyes and the aura, coming off of him that scared me.

However, "Missy" goes on to say this person, or being, was decidedly malevolent. From reading other accounts of black-eyed people, they don't seem to be MIBS, not entirely anyway.

Stephen Wagner writes about a weird bit of synchronicity involving correspondence with a friend in Australia and black-eyed people.

Most of the witnesses seem to say that they were convinced the black-eyed "people" they saw weren't human. They may look human -- except for the eyes of course -- dress like humans, though often wearing either all or mostly black, but something about their overall vibe is not human. The black-eyed people seen by witnesses are both men and women. Wagner wonders what they are; are they just humans with unusually dark eyes, due to drug use, a medical condition perhaps?

Offutt writes that black-eyed people are usually:

. . .  children to young adults who use language and assertiveness that would seem to be beyond their means. But the most common thread is their eyes; black, without iris or whites, and dead like a Hollywood vampire’s.

Both Offutt and Wagner discuss the overwhelming fear witnesses experience when meeting these black-eyed entities, and the intense waves of malevolence coming off these beings.

Comparisons to both MIBs and the bug-eyed grays are understandable. The black eyed people seem to have characteristics of both. MIB type beings have been around in folklore for a very long time, predating what we commonly call the "UFO era," or, say, post WWII UFOs. (for example, see William Bramley's Gods of Eden.)  UFOs in classical art has long been a subject of interest; and here's an interesting figure in Botticelli's 1475 painting Adoration of the Magi, painted for the Medicis, shown below in full:

 Here's an inset of the painting, showing the small white or white clothed being with large black eyes, or black covered eyes, complete with black cape-like clothing and black hat:

Who knows what they are, demons, aliens, mind controlled humans... whatever they are, it's a mystery, and a downright scary one. Like other stories that are downright weird, the one thing that always has me coming back for more is the consistency and fact of the tale. In other words, as unusual as stories of black-eyed people are, (and other tales, like MIBS, Bigfoot-UFOs, reptilians, etc.) we come across these stories over and over. There are dozens of accounts like this, with the same characteristics, which is fascinating. And, creepy.

Controlling Information: Colin Andrews on Conference Cancellation and the Future

Earlier today I posted a link to Colin Andrew's site, with a brief note on the cancellation of the Power Places International Crop Circle Conference. The conference was cancelled because, according to

Andrews, the conference coordinators refused to give in to the demands by researchers Michael Glickman and Gary King, who insisted Power Places directors dis-invite Colin Andrews, also scheduled to speak. Rather than acquiesce to Glickman's and King's ridiculous and arrogant demands, the decision was made to cancel altogether.  (Andrews linked to further commentary on his post; see here.

Andrews is both understanding and respectful of that decision, yet also understands what's at stake and who's responsible for the chilling reality that there are those on the inside -- our side -- as well as the expected outside, who would control information, and our ability to think for ourselves:

The public is treated as if they are no longer considered
worthy of receiving all points of view. Free thinking has
become a threat to easily led masses and many, from all
sides, are trying to control available information.

Andrews is not surprised that this happened however, and urges us to acknowledge these realities and then move on. At least, that's how I interpret his message; we are responsible for what can happen:

The situation we find ourselves in is not unexpected. It
fits perfectly into the discussion of “2012” and the
transitional period we are in. This is a time when old
structures of deceit and manipulation are failing.
Transformation into new and better structures for the
future is underway. What the future will look like
depends on what we create in the actions and decisions
we make today.  It depends on freedom of thought,
freedom of information and freedom of spirit. This is
what my research has been based on.

The point here, for me, is not whether one agrees with Andrews or anyone else; it's about access to information. There are those on the inside, let alone the outside of the fringes, who think nothing of making threats, behaving arrogantly and making demands in regards to information. That of course sends the clear message to the rest of us that we can't be trusted to think for ourselves. 

I've been commenting a lot here and there about the meme that UFOlogy is dead, and how it isn't dead at all. It's shifting, as all things are, within and without the esoteric world. The demands made by Glickman and King is just one more example of the shifts taking place in "fringe world." And while that may sound flippant, I will say, New Agey as it may be, that this is very important, and does affect, and will affect, all aspects of our world on many levels; from the mainstream to the anomalous.

I was surprised to hear that Glickman pulled this low brow stunt. I don't much of the crop circle research world or the researchers but from what I've seen of Glickman  -- primarily the Star Dreams DVD on crop circles -- he seemed above this kind of thing.

But, again, this isn't about agreement with this researcher or that, but the control of information, and, by natural extension, the control of "the people."  It's a pitiful reality we see this over and over in all categories of Fortean, paranormal -- call it what you will -- research. That, to me, is what "hurts" UFOlogy, or Bigfootology, or whatever -ology it is you're involved in. 

When I first heard Colin Andrews discuss his now famously misunderstood idea that most crop circles are "fake" I didn't want to hear it. I felt betrayed, and confused. But I listened. And found out Andrews isn't saying anything so simplistic at all --- far from it. Far from it. It seems to me that certainly fellow researchers would get that. I'll go so far as to say they do get it, and that's what makes their actions even more reprehensible.  I have no proof they do get it and are lying, simply my opinion. It's difficult to believe that researchers would be so lax in their awareness of what a Colin Andrews is doing and yet go so far as to demand he be removed from the presenter's list.

New Trickster's Realm: "Twilight Language: Cold War Inklings?"

My new Trickster's Realm is up at Binnall of America: Twilight Language: Cold War Inklings?" about the numerous Russian connections popping up in the culture stream.

Politics and entertainment (I know, what's the difference) merged when Vice President Joe Biden appeared on the Jay Leno show. Biden joined Leno in a comedy sketch and later, they discussed the busted Russian spy ring. Leno showed a photo of one of the alleged spies, Anna Chapman, who's been described as "sultry" by every talking head and newspaper it seems. Leno showed a photo of alleged spy Chapman and asked: "Do we have any spies that hot?" to which Biden, a frustrated comedian, said: "Let me be clear. It was not my idea to send her back." 

One element I could have added but didn't think of: the new movie SALT, with Angelina Jolie. I haven't seen the movie but here is another example of a "sultry" sexy female spy and a Russian connection. Is Jolie's character a good spy or a bad (Russian) spy?

Things are not what they seem in these culture episodes; politicians as thwarted comedians, Russian spies as citizens, Russian lovers/actresses/entertainers, betrayals, non-Russians appearing as Russians . . . is the culture missing the Cold War?

2010 Crop Circle Conference in England Cancelled "Due to Attempts to Dictate Program"

From Colin Andrews: bewildering news: 2010 International Crop Circle Conference Cancelled Following Due to Attempts to Dictate the Program.

“Power Places Tours Program Directors were contacted by Michael Glickman and Gary King, who were also speaking at the conference, insisting that I be removed from the ticket or they would not present. Power Places Tours Directors refused to do this, deciding instead to cancel the entire Conference"

I don't know why anyone, especially at a Crop Circle conference, would not want Colin Andrews speaking. Even if one disagrees with Colin's perceptions and what he has to say, so be it. Other speakers would present their views. What are some people afraid of? Parallels to UFO and Bigfoot conferences as well. It's sad and ironic that some other speakers themselves would pull this kind of thing. 

Vintage U.F.O. Back on Blogspot

Last year I moved Vintage U.F.O. to WordPress, and it was okay, but I can't afford to keep it going. So moving Vintage U.F.O. back to blogger.

Nick Redfern and Raven Meindel: Podcast: Exploring All Realms

Nick Redfern, with co-host Raven Meindel, will present their first episode of Exploring All Realms July 15th. Nick writes:

I'm very pleased to announce that from this coming Thursday night (July 15) at 9PM EST I will be co-hosting a regular, weekly, 1-hour-long radio show with good friend Raven Meindel called Exploring All Realms. For all the information on times, schedules, guests and more, see: http://apexn.com/

The Red Bluejay: Birds and Omens

I'm standing inside a grove of trees. It's daytime. A woman is with me; she's tall, possibly in her mid to late thirties, long white hair, dressed in a long white gown, with gold trim. She's slightly pale; not unhealthy, just a white cast to her skin. She lives here, or knows all about this place, and is my guide to this place. Not many are allowed to come here, or know about this place. I don't know why I'm here exactly, or how I got here, but here I am.

I'm in the middle of the grove, the woman is behind me, slightly to my left. A blue jay appears and flies, in circles, around me, faster and faster. I am excited and surprised at both the appearance of the blue jay, as well as its behavior. The blue jay looks exactly like a blue jay, except that it's red. I call out "Look, look at that! The blue jay is red, it's red!" almost like a child would exclaim. The bird keeps flying around me, in a perfect circle, faster and faster. Now I'm feeling a little alarmed; this is strange behavior for any bird.


The woman tells me to stand still, and watch. And wait. 


The red blue jay keeps flying faster, ever faster, in a circle around me. Then it changes into a hummingbird. I call out, again almost like a child:  "It's a hummingbird, a hummingbird! It turned into a hummingbird!" The woman tells me to look closer, and I realize it's not a hummingbird, it's not a bird of any kind, it's an orb.


A small reddish-brown orb, a solid object, a definite machine of some kind. The orb keeps moving around me, ever faster, in a circle, as I stand there. The woman sternly tells me to stay there and watch. What I'm about to see is very important, she tells me, and I'm here for a reason.


And unfortunately, that's when I wake up.

I had this dream the night I posted this item about Colin Andrews news about an orb and crop circles. The next day I received an email from Colin Andrews. And found  that Nick Redfern had a moving post about his recent experiences with birds: Dead Birds, on There's Something in the Woods.

A few days ago I experienced bird synchronicities. We were driving out Lorane Highway on our way to "The House of Mystery," Oregon's vortex in Gold Hill (a place known for being a UFO hot spot of sorts, and home to some abduction accounts, one which I wrote about here.) The night before, I had a persistent uncomfortable feeling about driving out there. As much as I wanted to see the place, I just didn't feel right about going out there. I woke up bitchy and grumpy and told Jim if he didn't want to go it was all right. He said it was fine. As we were driving, we saw vultures on the side of the road. Not unusual to see vultures but we don't often see them right on the side of the road like that, just standing there. Suddenly, just as we drive by, one swoops up into the air, a long snake dangling from its claws.  We both thought that was odd, and kept driving.

I told Jim again that we didn't have to go; this time he said he didn't want to go either. By this time we were on the interstate; too far to turn back for nothing, yet, didn't want to go. He told me he couldn't explain it but had the same feeling. He didn't say anything because he didn't want to influence me, and knew I wanted to go. I assured him I couldn't explain it but had a bad feeling about going. We happily agreed to go to Wildlife Safari instead and had a great time.

On the way back, traveling again on Lorane Highway, we saw more vultures  standing right on the side of the road, several miles from where we saw the first vultures. We commented on how odd this was, then noticed the vulture was standing on top of a dead deer.
 

From Speculative Realms: "DIe, UFOlogy, Die!"

The fraud is not the main event. The fraud is sleight of hand to accomplish the suspension of analytic activity in the reader’s mind so that the apocalyptic message can enter, through the backdoor, the rooms of the mind where it finds its welcome.

That's from an excellent article by Gary Haden at Speculative Realms: "Die, UFOlogy, Die!"

---

UFOlogy isn't dead now, and it never was. It's a meme, a myth, that UFOlogy is "dead."  UFOlogy is shifting, lots of upheavals as we've recently seen (Jacobs, Carrion, Texas MUFON, etc.) but all of those episodes and more haven't killed UFOlogy, just shook it up a lot.

Richard Dolan at X-Conference 2010 (A.D. Disclosure)

Colin Andrews: New Images of Orb Object in Crop Circle

New information on an orb shaped object during creation of a crop circle, with witness comments. Very interesting!

Random Rant for the Day

There are some persnickety legal nitpicking minutiae over linking to sites, but basically, it's perfectly legal, ethical and normal in a common-sense-I'm-a-blogger-and-want-people-to-know-all-about-my-genius-insights kind of way to expect and want others to link to your blog or site. You don't need permission, you don't need qualifiers, ... if you don't want people linking to your blog, then try this: SHUT UP and stay off the internet.

Jacobs, Hopkins, Woods, Interpretations, and Getting It. . .

Everyone in UFO Land knows who David Jacobs and Budd Hopkins are. I believe that, way back when, both were sincere in their efforts to unravel a bit the mystery of UFOs. I believe Hopkins is still  sincere, but after hearing plenty of Jacob's participation in regards to Emma Woods, it just gets worse and worse. Any sincerity Jacob's might have had has turned into All About Me, and little about any UFO "truth." Woods may be fragile, may even have "issues" (for fucks' sake, who doesn't.)  If you have had a life time of weird experiences, finding no support or insights from various authorities whose job it is, presumably, to help in these matters, you too might be "obsessed" as Jacobs has called Woods. As Gary Haden at Speculative Realms said back in May:

Some of the so-called "balanced" observers maintain that the recordings Emma Woods made of her conversations with Jacobs were altered and content damning to Emma was edited out. I suspect they hope to find in the edited material evidence that exonerates Jacobs. I'll address that later in the post. The question here is whether any material could exonerate Jacobs.

David Jacob's actions as a UFO researcher -- note: UFO researcher, (and history professor), not psychologist, medical doctor or therapist of any kind -- are reprehensible. Jacobs makes it clear he isn't any of those things but his actions negate his empty explanations.  It's not about "is Emma nuts?" as so many have decided, it's, to quote Haden again, an:

"... attempt to use Emma's mental health history, in violation of confidentiality protections she is due, simply to justify belief in the existence of extraterrestrials would be a disgusting example of just how far gone certain paranormal authorities are."

Some contend that, well, it is all an even split. He's nuts. She's nuts.

No. It's not an even split. She is not nuts. He was insane.

Let's get something straight: hypnotizing someone and diagnosing them with multiple personality disorder for the purpose of evading capture by aliens was not just an act of a fruitcake. It was an insane act.

A few weeks ago Hopkins was the guest on Coast to Coast. Interesting interview but I found myself frustrated with much of what Hopkin's had to say; or rather, his interpretations of the UFO puzzle/question/enigma. . . for example, he isn't much given to spiritual religious considerations, which colors his interpretations of would be motivations and agendas of any aliens, UFOs, and the dynamic between witness and UFO/alien. And, for that matter, between researcher and witness. . .

And this is a key point. Both Hopkins, who has stood up for Jacobs throughout this disgusting Jacobs scandal, have come to conclusions about the UFO phenomena. They both have firm interpretations, -- answers -- to what UFOs and their occupants are, what they're doing and why . . .

Jacobs so much so he's created a surreal swirl of typical UFO insanity that include things like alien hybrid e-mails and requests for Emma Woods panties to be sent to him -- unwashed. (To check for DNA don't you know.)

I don't know what's going on with abductions; I don't know what missing time and other high strangeness weirdness is all about. NO idea. (A lot of possible explanations I do reject however; sleep paralysis? Can we please get past that stupid theory?)

I've had a life long experience with sightings, telepathy, "aliens" or non-human beings, shared experiences, missing time, and so much more. And I'm not any closer to answers than I was when I was younger.

Has anyone read what Woods has to say about her life long experiences? 

Most of my memories of my anomalous experiences are fragmentary and I am aware that there is much that I do not understand about them. Nevertheless, the experiences have had a major impact on my life. In part, this is because of my inability to have complete recall of them, and also because I have had no framework within which to understand, process and assimilate them.

That's what a lot of us can say about our experiences involving UFOs, aliens, paranormal and, as Emma says "anomalous."

I can thank Jacobs for something; just before the ugly nasty mess hit the fans in UFO Land, both Jim and I were discussing, kind of sort of, going through hypnosis to uncover what happened during our missing time/UFO events. Thanks to Jacobs, that's not going to happen.

Woods has said, on tape and on her website, that she questions the alien abduction scenario as explanation, at least in some cases. This has not set well with Jacobs, and this, if you listen to the tapes, is obvious. This is what has set Jacobs off; that his self-imposed role of an authority has been questioned, that his requests and theories have been rejected.

Interpretations of magnificent crazy events. That's all we have. Speculations tendril out from those events; which is also all we have, and that's an okay thing. We need speculation to inspire us, to move us forward. And to keep us honest, for all we have is speculation. 

But when two researchers well seated in UFO Land offer up interpretations as the truth, and one of them is deeply stewed in a roiling stinking mess, and the other one denies it stinks...what they have to offer doesn't seem so appealing.

Random Thought for the Day: Did the Ancients Hoax UFOs?

Just over at the ol' JREF and came across a post by some obviously new to the skeptoid realm and naive as to their evil ways, or, a troll. Either way, posts a link to a UFO documentary, with an account of his own sighting, and a "What do you think?"

Naturally the responses, short and few as they are, were anything but curious as to anything close to discovering anything about UFOs; just yawns and silly jokes, as well as insults. Among those responses, comments about UFOs being hoaxed.

Which got me wondering: while in our modern times there have certainly been UFO hoaxes, I wondered about all the centuries worth of UFO sightings. And did anyone from two hundred, three hundred, years ago hoax a UFO sighting? Or whatever it was they called UFOs back then. What about centuries ago? Did ancient Egyptians goof around and fake flying saucers? I doubt it. Possibly some snarky high priest did something with lots of incense and noise to confuse and lull the masses but as to UFOs...

Jacobs Gives Emma Woods False Suggestion

Why hasn't Jacobs been -- I don't know, arrested, called up on ethics charges, something? And why is the UFO community still oddly silent (save for a few, like Vaeni for example) on this?

Posted by Christian Fedor-Flores-Cordova via Facebook: Emma Woods given a false suggestion by David Jacobs.

New Age Clown Fish Dream

Wonderful dream last night in a kind of goofy way. There is much more to this dream that goes along with what I posted about awhile ago on Snarly Skepticism, and maybe I'll post about that but for now, I'll just share this one part:

I'm some kind of psychic/healer/medium and am hired by a family to heal their fish; a clown fish. The clown fish is beautiful, but much larger than clown fish in waking life. This dream clown fish is about two feet long, almost eel like, but very friendly and beautiful. The orange color, all the colors, just lovely. But the clown fish is sick, so I'm hired to come and help.

The family is a blended family and a large one. Mostly Caucasian American and Indians, Hindu and Buddhist. 


I go into the room where the fish is. There are two tanks. One on a shelf, the other tank on a shelf higher and off to the left a bit. A tube connects the two. After looking at the fish I know the fish will most likely be all right, though it's sick now, but the rest is up to the family, I tell them. They really love this fish. I tell them the fish has a "Forty seventy" chance of living (I realize when I woke up you can't have a "forty seventy" but that's what was said in the dream) and that, instead of being sad that there's a seventy percent chance it might die, be grateful and concentrate on the forty percent that he'll live.


I show them how to sit with the fish every day, for at least ten minutes a day, and just concentrate on the fish being well. Send it love, literally, white light from your heart to the fish, and back again. Everyone in the family has to do this, and even when away from the fish, think about the fish and send it love and light.

I tell them it's important to keep the tanks clean, make sure the water is fresh and running and let the fish go back and forth between tanks. The fish follows the tube between tanks.  And indeed, as we're there in the room and I'm talking, the fish is happier and brighter and swimming back and forth between tanks.

I think this dream has something to do with the subconscious and the whole circus discussion surrounding UFO experiences. The clown fish, aside from the name, is orange (orange orb.) The clown fish was not just a happy go lucky rather silly fish; it was actually very beautiful and intelligent, as well as happy.

Time, Elks, Dreams . . .

I have a vivid dream life, always have; dream in color, sing, sounds, scents, fly, sleep paralysis, OOBEs. . . I've even had a couple of dreams where the dream was in color, but little pieces were in black and white. One dream I recall: the dream was in color, but I was watching a black and white TV. But I've never had dreams where I had missing time or amnesia in the dream; until recently. A few months ago I had missing time within the dream, and last night, I had a similar episode within a dream.

Much preceded the missing time, or amnesia, too personal to post but at one point, I was leaving my place of work and found that all the roads had been torn up. Earth moved into huge piles, gravel everywhere, dirt roads... no signs. "Great," I thought, "how the hell am I going to get to where I'm going?" but I had no choice, so start to drive. A hassle but not a big deal. But at the end of this torn up road is a crazy network of freeways. Just dozens of on-ramps and freeways and hundreds of cars just zipping every which way, and no signs. Not a one to tell me where to go, how to get there. . . and I have no time! No light or anything just have to MOVE, now! So I make a decision in my panic and just drive like mad onto an on ramp, no idea at all where I'm going.

After awhile of driving crazy-mad the freeway insanity ends and I find myself on one of my "dream scapes" -- a one lane, one way highway or bridge over the ocean. The ocean is a beautiful royal blue color. The water is almost as high as the bridge/freeway, and it's churning. Very active. I am scared and nervous. Still no idea at all where I'm going, no signs The bridge/freeway goes on forever, I can't see anything ahead. The water is so high it's splashed onto the road, and I'm worried I'll slide right off into the water. All I can see on either side of me is water. There's a railing about four feet high on the sides of the bridge but it's little protection.

Next thing I know, I wake up in a funky small motel room. No idea how I got there. I'm wearing a large baggy tee shirt and underwear but that's it. I walk outisde, confused -- where am I?! I see it's a little coastal town, hilly, kind of funky but in a comfortable, easy way. I'm in the "poor" part of town but as I continue walking, find myself in a more habitated part of town. I go into a little cafe, order breakfast. It's very good. I tell the people there, who are very friendly, that I barely know who I am, let alone how I got there or why, etc.

I was thinking of this dream all day, and for some reason, that led me to remember something that happened when i was about twelve or thirteen. I was in the Girl Scouts, and we went camping in Northern California. Here we were out in the middle of nowhere, or so it seemed to me. I loved it though.

I've thought of the following experience many times, but only remembering the wonder of what I saw, not how I got there in the first place. We were all setting up camp and then, I took a walk. I was just walking around, in the woods. And came out on a road. So I'm standing there on the side of the road, and less than ten yards from me, directly across from me, an elk walks out from the trees and just stands there on the side of the road. I was in awe; this was the first time I had seen anything like this. I remember just standing there, looking at this beautiful creature. I wasn't scared, just amazed. I felt like crying, it was so beautiful. We just stood there, looking at each other, then it walked off.

What's surprising to me now, is that even though I've often revisited this memory of seeing the elk, some obvious things about this event never occurred to me -- until now. For one thing, I can't see the adults in the group allowing anyone of us to just walk off on our own. Yet apparently I did. I was all alone. And what road would that have been? No idea; it wasn't one we were on. I don't remember what happened before that, or after. All very strange.

Layers of memory. One "real" memory with no surrounding context, one missing bit of memory within a dream. Shifts of memory; no experience dreaming of having missing memory within the dream, and suddenly, two within a few months time.

Maybe age has something to do with the dreaming; I can't explain why it is I don't remember what happened before, or after, meeting elk on the road. . .

UK's Muse Can't Use UFO Prop

I found this item about the banning of a UFO prop interesting, and a little ironic, considering the staged UFO events England has created in schools. UK group Muse was told they could not use their UFO prop as part of their act for "health and safety reasons." Hmmm... More here.

Bruce Duensing: James Carrion On The Day the Circus Came To Town

Bruce Duensing has done it again; where he consistently finds the words to convey ... all this .. . is an envious mystery. In James Carrion On The Day The Circus Came To Town, Bruce captures "it" perfectly. "It" being why it is futile, and missing the point of ... again, all this ... to rage against the "circus."

I was going to quote from Bruce's post but felt it was too out of context, and so, I encourage you to read the entire piece yourselves. . .

My Truth Can Beat Up Your Truth

"My truth is bigger, better, stronger than your truth. My truth can beat up your truth. My truth IS the truth, your truth is not the truth. How do I know? I have the truth!" (Surreal and wants you to bang your head against a steel beam for about ten hours straight, doesn't it? )So, the latest drama in the so-called UFO "circus" has been James Carrion's announcement of his new organization CUT. (Center for UFO Truth.)

"CUT will work outside of the three ring circus that is Ufology. . . "

He won't acknowledge his own participation in this so-called "circus" but once you're in, you're in. And once you've been the Director of MUFON, have a UFO blog, and start an Official UFO Organization that also contains the word "truth" in it, you are not only in, you're one of the top acts.

But this idea that UFOlogy is a "circus" is something of a lie. The UFO phenomena has always had its share of the bizzarre and the colorful, giving the field an overall carnival tinge to things. That's just part of the whole process, you can't have one (people seeing odd lights and machines in the skies) without the other (oh, say, reptilian lizard lovers or Venusians in the desert.) Call it the trickster element or what have you, in all of esoterica -- and UFOs are a part of that esoteric landscape -- there has always been, is, and will always be, extra layers of weird.

In spite of this obvious aspect, there are those who want to stay at the "circus" but don't want to be seen. They're terribly embarrassed by everything about it; from the clowns to the bearded lady to the acrobats, yet can't seem to leave. And when they do leave, the tell tale signs they were are part of this "circus" follow them wherever they go. Big Science or some other acceptable institution which, no matter how badly these embarrassed ex-circus members want it to happen, will never let them in.

In Carrion's case, it isn't so much that he's created CUT, it's the context. We have an ex-director of MUFON, a once respected (no matter what your opinion of MUFON, at least they had the air of respectibility) who's said some disdainful things  about UFO witnesses-researchers-pundits-experiencers-whatevers. 

He quits MUFON and starts CUT, in an effort to find the truth about UFOs. Like the so-called trickster element whose presence so many deny, the idea that there's a UFO "truth" is a paradox. This "truth" is valid as well as elusive. There is no single "truth" and yet the "truth" is everywhere. It's been scattered around us for so long and in so many places we're constantly stubbing our toes on it.

Of course, that's my idea of the "truth" and I don't have the truth anymore than you do.

Carrion's idea is that the government intentionally manipulated UFO events to distract citizens away from classified technologies and operations. No news flash there. And proof --  more proof that is -- that this has happened doesn't solve anything about the UFO phenomena. It doesn't give us the Big Answer. Documents proving that the government was responsible for Roswell, or Kenneth Arnold's sightings doesn't put an end to things.

So, let's say Carrion gets proof of the U.S. government's involvement of certain UFO events? Then what is he going to do?

How does that answer abductions, various entities like our beloved reptilians (I know, I have a thing for reptilians), USOs, cattle mutilations, MIBS, telepathic communications between "aliens" and humans, orbs, spheres, triangles, leaving the body, missing time, and a very long list of anomalous experiences? Not to mention the last, oh, elevenity-hundred years or so of UFO-alien contact.

No doubt Carrion would say the above listed UFO elements are merely the lowest form of circus entertainment, and not to be seriously discussed. See how we're in a loop of non-discovery? Dismiss all the things you're embarrassed or offended by (yet call yourself a researcher anyway) (one who wants the "truth") all the while stating to the world you're on a search for the truth.

A Final Note
I don't agree much with Carrion's views, (in fact, often finding them downright insulting)  but I will say that he does at least question Bigelow's involvement in MUFON and UFOs in general:

And then there’s Robert Bigelow, benefactor of the paranormal, champion of space science and extraterrestrial science. What a swell guy funneling dollars into UFO research. Of course it is easy to take the altruistic philanthropist pedestal when not disclosing the true source of those dollars, giving out government security clearances to prominent UFO researchers and then hiding behind signed non-disclosure agreements. Visions of Howard Hughes begin to swim around in my mind.

Of course, that's a whole other topic, including Carrion's surrounding comments in that post. 

Joe Capp on Carrion

Joseph Capp at UFO Media Matters has written a good piece on James Carrion's search for truth: James Carrion: "The Center For UFO Truth?"

I tried to leave a comment there but for some reason Goolge/blogger was behaving oddly and I couldn't post. Here's what I wrote:

Another excellent post Joseph. I've been writing about this latest UFO Police caper as well.

We all know the government manipulated UFO scenarios for their benefit and our distraction. Nothing new. Proof that this is so will not provide the world with the Big Final UFO Answer.

Meanwhile, Carrion continues with his classist, insulting snobbery towards much of what is UFO-ness.

He doesn't understand that he's a part of the "circus" as anyone else, and the sought after Big Science he so desperately wants to be a part of won't have him. They won't have any of us, of it, of this.

There are cracks and leaks and mavericks and you can get in, sometimes, through the back way but will never be invited in through the front and to stay awhile.

Meanwhile, there is a wonderful, complicated, weird, rich world -- or, "circus" -- of experience to be explored.