Monday, August 15, 2011

Rejecting Witness, Assassinating Character...

Self elected UFO Police, whether it's someone who runs a podcast or forums, or researchers who get up organizations with manifestos and rules about what speculations will and will not be entertained, are annoying, sure. They're liars. They're manipulators. All that is certainly a drag, but, while on the surface it may seem like petty bullshit, it's actually very dangerous.

It's dangerous because pundits decide, for whatever personal whims and biases of their own, that a witness is full of crap. Whatever witness comes forward with her or his story, these would be gurus of UFO Land are no better than the psycho-skeptoids who debunk fringe topics, including UFOs. Demands are made by these Flying Saucer Fascists that the witness reveal their true name. Sometimes it is their real name, but try convincing these thugs of that. Other times anonymity is absolutely understandable, to protect family or jobs, but that's not good enough for those who make these demands. The goal posts are moved -- again something the uber-skeptic does constantly -- but it's baffling when UFO folk do it. The witness is expected to suddenly be of the highest caliber of UFO researcher, familiar with all of UFO history and theories. The witness is supposed to stop "whining" if they tell their story, or portray themselves as a "victim." And yet these same little fascists tell us they want to solve the Big UFO Mystery; collect data, and do diligent research. How can any of that happen if the witness is rejected? If the witness is consistently treated with insults, suspicions and even threats? 

And great goddess help the witness if they question theory or, worse, reveal their personal interactions with a researcher that conflict with ones' personal views.

The witness doesn't owe anyone anything. As a given, in all human interactions of every kind, honesty and integrity are expected. I assume those are present when talking with a witness. If it turns out they're not -- the witness is a lunatic or a liar, then, oh well, that's life. I'll  survive. UFOlogy will survive. Back to the star map. If a witness trusts me to share their story, I owe that witness, actually. I owe them respect and I owe them the honoring of their experience by retelling it faithfully and being honest in my responses to that experience. I may not understand their experience, or share the same cultural world views (ie, religious experiences) but that doesn't mean the witness is a liar.

Distractions and Paranoia
Meanwhile, all the insults and lies and attacks continue. The accusations of what someone said, without support, are made. Either the ones telling these made up stories about witnesses or writers they don't like are genuinely mistaken, or they're liars. Hard to believe adults can be so stupid as well as petty but UFO World and its cousins, like Bigfoot World, certainly have their share of stupidity. Egos are huge in the Flying Saucer Universe. No proof is provided to back up accusations, yet accusations are made. I know, amazing!

It's a distraction.  Those who smugly attack others for sometimes ridiculous reasons (like their use of the English language-- they don't get it, so the writer is the buffoon, not them), accusations without support when called on it, or, more profoundly, attacks, slanders, slurs and literally libelous statements about crimes that were never committed, actual research and data reporting are being ignored.

It's incredible to me many of these characters are held in some kind of high UFO regard as credible contributors to UFO research.








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