Mike Clelland: 'The possible unsettling implications of UFO sightings': does this mean me? - Binnall of America

My latest at Tim Binnall's site: Mike Clelland: 'The possible unsettling implications of UFO sightings': does this mean me? - Binnall of America

The Operating Room: UFO Show Triggers Buried Inkling, or Merely Nudges the Mundane?

The other night, I was watching Unsealed: Alien Files, episode 28, which originally aired in July of 2013. The usual UFO TV stuff: aliens, spaceships, tilted camera angles, witness reports, space age music, and for whatever reason, a childhood memory popped into my mind. This is a memory that I think upon once in a great while. Just a curios thing, but nothing associated with UFOs or aliens (say, like my Patio Alien experience, for one) just an odd little memory. I don't know why this memory popped into my head while watching the show.

Patio Alien seen in 1958? L.A., California

When I was about four (and before we lived in the house on Corning street where I had the Patio Alien experience) I had my tonsils removed. I remember only two things about that experience. One, in the hospital, which I'll relate in a moment. The other, after the operation, and I'm standing on the little porch with some adults, probably my grandmother, and talking with an adult friend of the family? Neighbor? A man, asking me how I'm feeling and the best thing about having my tonsils out was the ice cream I'd get to eat.

The other -- and this is the memory that popped into my head while watching Unsealed -- was the following:

I'm on the little gurney inside a pitch black hospital room. I assume it's the operating room. No lights, cannot see a thing. Not a thing. It is so very dark, and I am petrified. I am screaming and crying like crazy. A nurse hovers over me; all in white, complete with starched cap. She smiles at me but it is not nice, it's a horrible smile. She puts this huge black mask type thing over my face. Later, I'm in the hospital bed, my mom and grandmother are there, and the same nurse comes in. I inwardly start to freak out -- I am scared to death! I want to scream at my mother and grandmother how evil this woman is, but she comes in, all smiling and happy. She tells my mother and grandmother what a great patient I was, a real dream, and I'm thinking "Lady, are you crazy? I was hysterical! Don't you remember? Why are you lying?" I remember feeling very confused and frighted of this woman and her lies.

About two seconds after this memory popped into my head, the narrator of the Unsealed program says that many UFO witnesses and abductees report having memories of being in an operating room.

So that was a little jolt of UFO synchronicity.

I really did have my tonsils out, that is no cover memory. But, as with these things, what aspect of this memory, if any, is truer to my "invisible aliens" and other UFO high strangeness? Was my memory of the inky dark operating room and fake happy nurse a part of a larger UFO experience, or merely a memory of being a little kid alone and scared?

. 

A Q&A with UFOlogical Heretic Jacques Vallee (via Open Minds) | The Daily Grail

Red Pill Junkie posts excerpts from an interview with Jacques Vallee on The Daily Grail:A Q&A with UFOlogical Heretic Jacques Vallee (via Open Minds) | The Daily Grail:

As we all know, Jacques is no longer an active figure in this wacky field polluted with self-promoters, hoaxers & unaware disinformants —which, frankly, speaks volumes about his sanity— so it was an incredibly pleasant surprise to find that our friends at Open Minds had posted a recent e-mail interview with Vallee, conducted by a group of French UFOlogists who were kind enough to translate it into English. In the lengthy Q&A monsieur Vallee offers plenty of valuable insights —along with caustic criticism!— not only about the nature of the phenomenon and the current state of the field in general, but also how the undeniable existence of UFOs should move us to question the very nature of Reality itself. ~ Red Pill Junkie, The Daily Grail

Organizing the Room of Doom

Bigfoot books . . . 

For some time now, have been calling the "study" the Room of Doom -- such a mess! An unholy, awful, mess. I would literally go into a spin of hysteria when entering that room and trying to deal with the mess.

I realize, too, that I need to rename that room and no longer encourage the negative energy of Room of Doom, and give it a more positive name to reflect the changes.

A few UFO books. . . and yes, I'm a nerd, official X Files mug and all

Somehow, finally, I had some kind of cosmic breakthrough and have been able to work in that room, enjoy it even! So I've been rearranging books, giving books away, donating books, selling books, and discovering that yes, I have a hell of a lot of UFO and paranormal, Fortean, anomalous type books.

A few more UFO books . . .

Then I messed up my knee and leg and had to take off for a couple of days. And I was looking forward to the next project: organizing my "haunted locations" shelf.

File holders full of Fates, UFO Magazine, Strange, Fortean Times and many more. Plus a free alien water bottle straight from Area 51/Exterrestrial Highway in Nevada, courtesy of a good and thoughtful friend.

Colin Wilson | Interviews | Features | Fortean Times UK

Colin Wilson | Interviews | Features | Fortean Times UK

Jeremy Vaeni: "What Made Paratopia Different Than Other Shows"

Jeremy Vaeni tells us, about his own excellent podcast that is no more:What Made Paratopia Different Than Other Shows. Many reasons how Paratopia was different -- and so much better than most -- shows, but also, Paratopia was the only podcast to bring the reprehensible behavior of UFO researcher David Jacobs to our attention. And continued to bring it to our attention.

"But the journey is the thing, as they say, and oh, what a ride we took. Everything from helping fund Kogi elders flying to New York for the first time so they could do energy work in Upstate and get an audience with the Dalai Lama while he was in town… to exposing the criminal-like behavior of David Jacobs and wrongheaded research of Budd Hopkins (thanks to Carol Rainey’s now legendary Paratopia Magazine article.) We effectively killed hypnosis in alien abduction research as a viable tool for serious researchers. This is not to say that the Barbara Lambs of the world will stop breaking peoples’ minds with it simply because we gave a spotlight to the Emma Woods/David Jacobs fiasco–but it is the entire reason Jacobs is now shying away from saying he’s using hypnosis. He now says he’s using relaxation techniques. What he’s doing is harming people. He is allowed to carry on because ufology is a social network and a cottage industry and not much more. But for those in the “not much more” category who actually care about right and wrong–they followed the story and we all got a dose of reality. No longer was the argument against hypnosis hypothetical. It was staring us in the face and I don’t think we’ll ever recover." ~ (Vaeni)

Overall, Vaeni's blog is one of the best UFO/other weird stuff and musings blogs out there.

Ancient Secrets - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

Micah Hanks guests tonight on Coast to Coast! Ancient Secrets - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

Eugene OREGON UFO case 45344 #UFO sighting from MUFON

Just showed up on my Twitter, Eugene, Oregon UFO sighting from MUFON but it's from January of this year: UFO case 45344 #UFO sighting. Witness describes:

"...so, i went reluctantly with my camera out into the street and was shocked to see my wife was telling the truth. hundreds of small amber glowing disks or globes were proceeding from the north to the south in the overcast western sky. they appeared to be traveling at 30 to 50 mph. several of them hovered in a pattern which would have generated a trapezoid shape if lines were placed between them. most of the ufos were about 1 to 2 feet in diameter. i am not certain of this because i am not sure what my distance was from the display."

---

Odd Image: UFO?

Eugene, Oregon
July 11th? 2014
Approximately 11:30 p.m.


For whatever reason, I took a few quick shots with my cheap little camera of the night sky on the 11th. (I think it was the 11th, give or take a night or two.) I'm not sure why I did, just messing around. Forgot about them until tonight, when I was looking at the photos I took today while in Florence, on the coast.

All the photos are of the same spot in the sky; I just took them one right after the other, pretty much the same spot.

Three of the photos just show stars, the fourth photo shows a greenish blur. I cropped and zoomed in on the blur and this is what showed up:

I didn't see anything unusual, or, usual in terms of planes, etc. with my naked eye while taking the pics. This blur is not on the other photographs.

And there you have it. Star, satellite or the Mother Ship, who knows.

Saucer People Trading Cards

While cleaning out the room of doom, er, "study," I came across this set of flying saucer trading cards. I've been posting images at my blogs Vintage U.F.O. and Mothman Flutterings. A delightful find; I'd forgotten I had these. They were published by Kitchen Sink Press, 1992, boxed set of "Saucer People" trading cards, 36 "full color" cards, done in garish comic book style fashion.

YUFOLOGY: RICHARD DOLAN ON BINNALL OF AMERICA

Tina Sena reviews one of UFOlogy's top researchers (intelligent, diligent, truthful…) Richard Dolan: YUFOLOGY: RICHARD DOLAN ON BINNALL OF AMERICA. I haven't had a chance to listen to the interview yet, but will soon. Can't wait. Tina shares her thoughts on those within UFOlogy who might, no matter how unintended, contribute to the tin foil hat perception that mainstream culture has of UFO folks:

 "You can't show up to a UFO conference looking like the crazy uncle who lives in the shed in the back yard.

Even if you ARE the crazy uncle who lives in the shed in the back yard." ~ Tina Sena

While I don't think it's necessary to dress like middle class bores -- suits and ties all the time, matching pant suits with pearls -- there is something to be said for good grooming and such.



While you're at Binnall of America, check out the columns by various contributors, including Tina Sena, and, why yes! myself.

Local UFOs

Recently I posted my thoughts about UFO sightings on the 4th -- would I see any? Unfortunately, I did not. (Unlike on New Year's Eve/day.)

A visitor to the Orb did leave this comment about something he saw on the 4th:

I SAW AN ORANGE ELONGATED OBJECT GOING ABOUT 250 MPH ABOUT 3 MILES N OF MY LOCATION AT 11 TH AND GREENHILL AND VERY LOW [ PERHAPS 1000" HIGH ] AT ABOUT 1/2 MILE
AWAY IT TURNED EAST AND STARTED TO CLIMB UNTIL IT DISAPPEARED ABOUT ONE MIN. LATER. I ESTIMATE THE LIGHTED PART OF IT WAS AT LEAST 30' ROUND AND 50' LONG. I WAS IN THE NAVAL AIR DURING NAM AND NEVER SAW ANYTHING REMOTELY
LIKE THIS. (comment left by James Hellman)

I replied that his sighting of an "orange elongated object" that climbed did sound similar to what we saw on New Year's. 

"Avowal of Prior Skepticism"

From skeptic Sharon Hill, of Doubtful News, who interprets a device used in paranormal/supernatural narratives within a skeptic construct: I used to be a skeptic, but then… . She also writes about this topic here.  In citing a paper that appeared in the Journal of Language and Social Psychology, Hill discusses the use of qualifiers within supernatural narratives by the speaker, specifically referring to one's previous skeptical take on life. ("avowal of prior skepticism." It's all about perspective, world view, mind set. Hill sees the following devices used in personal narratives of encounters with the anomalous as devious, up-to-no-good, even dangerous manifestations of delusions. No, she doesn't say that, in fact, does concede that the "sheep-goat" aspect of disclaimers within narratives is "inflammatory." However...

In these kinds of narratives, the speaker (informant) usually begins the story with "I used to be skeptical of these things…" and this phrase is often used throughout the telling.

The skeptic views this device as shady. Parsed and analyzed to an amazing degree of typical dog-with-a-bone skepticism, this narrative disclaimer has been broken down into parts, including the "sheep-goat:"

Sheep-goat – the divide between “believers” (sheep, suggesting followers) and “skeptics”(goats, suggesting stubborn rejection). I prefer to use advocates versus counter-advocates. It’s less inflammatory. Also, I didn’t know that was a real thing people understood but I must have heard it a dozen times the past few months with regards to psychical research.

Nice that Hill thinks the sheep-goat label is "inflammatory" but "advocates versus counter-advocates" is equally condescending, implying that the narrator has an agenda or trying to recruit members for some nefarious club.

From another perspective, say folklore investigations into supernatural narratives, it is interesting to note that qualifiers exist in narratives. "I'm not crazy," "I wasn't on drugs," "I hadn't been drinking, I was stone cold sober," and of course, the "I was a skeptic about these things until…" are sprinkled throughout the tale. Naturally the narrator wants to be believed, -- for the most part. Of course, none of us can speak for others, and that includes myself. I cannot speak for other UFO, Bigfoot, ghost or other paranormal witnesses. It's a fair assumption to think that those witnesses who are open about their stories want to be believed, and so, understanding all too well, painfully in some cases, that such stories will not be believed by most, the individual has to use such qualifiers.

There are also those witnesses who don't give a damn if others believe them or not. I put myself in that category. I've seen UFOs, had missing time, encountered ghosts, and have had a life time of paranormal experiences. I'm telling the truth, and that's that. If you believe me that's nice, but I don't care if you don't. That's your issue if you disbelieve me, not mine. So I don't use those expressions as a rule, although it is such an ingrained idea in our culture that such things are not to be believed, it's hard to avoid using them.

As the saying goes: "A skeptic doesn't believe in ghosts  -- until they've seen one."

Post 4th: Not Much There There

All was very quiet, relatively, in our neighborhood on the 4th. No big displays seen from the porch. Thankfully, few illegal booming bombs of fireworks. (I mean, why? All it does is scare pets and people and rattle windows.) Certainly no UFOs seen in our skies -- we didn't, and if there were local reports I'm unaware.

Last night we were on our porch, having heard "booms" and seeing a few weakly colorful fireworks someone was setting off a few blocks away. I noticed what I assumed was a plane very high up in the sky. I said to Jim "That plane seems awfully high!" I did see a bright white light but couldn't tell if it had other lights. It was moving like a plane. Sort of. I had turned to Jim for maybe all of two seconds, when I looked back to the sky, the light was gone. I mean, gone. It could have gone through some clouds, if clouds there were -- but it was strange it was just gone like that. I scanned the sky, after all it had to be somewhere and it couldn't have traveled that fast. But oh well.  Another no account semi-mysterious light-in-the-sky event.

Eugene, OR UFO sightings

Two friends have posted on Facebook about their UFO sightings in recent days. Both sightings very different, and both, I missed! Alas, Facebook is acting oddly right now; not loading correctly, not loading all messages,etc. so I can't get details. Stay posted.

On New Year's Eve/Day Jim and I both had a sighting. Holiday -- lots of fireworks going off. I wondered at the time if the thing seen wasn't a drone (though it seemed pretty damn big) taking advantage of the celebratory vibe to do its thing. I wonder if things strange and unexplained will be seen on the 4th.

As soon as FB is behaving itself, I will post the two Eugene sightings.