Fringe Implosions

Strange things going on in not only UFO Land, but the realm of the fringe as well.

We had the racist, sexist comments from John Ventre, the MUFON state director, as well as the initial apathetic reaction from MUFON itself.

Stan Romanek, UFO alien witness, or, alien gray in the window hoaxer, has been charged with being in possession of child pornography.  

Sean David Morton busted for tax fraud. 

David Paulides, author of the Missing 411 books, has upset many with his prima donna act, as well as, according to some, his research methods. (I had my own little drama with him and I regret being a nice girl and giving into his demands.)

And the latest: New Age angel and tarot writer Doreen Virtue has become born again in the Christian faith, and has turned against the tarot, and other oracles, as sinful occult tools.  (I will write more on Virtue on my tarot blog.)

None of this is really a surprise. This metaphysical field -- and I include UFOs in that term -- has always had its share of the dishonest, child molesters (look at all the would be cult leader guru types; a large percentage are either horny jerks, or pedophiles), frauds and egomaniacs.

Because of this truth, none of these areas, including UFOs, will be taken seriously -- respectfully -- by mainstream culture, including its institutions.

It's up to us to denounce these fools, creeps and cheaters because no one else will. Instead, these fools, creeps and cheaters will be held up to the mainstream as justification for mockery and marginlization.

These sad, cheesy events do not negate the reality of UFOs, angels, the tarot, spirits, remote viewing, or conspiracies and strange disappearances. So we need to keep exposing the dishonest (and not keep fighting amongst ourselves about what's worthy of investigation, and what isn't.) Some of the individuals involved are to be tossed out, obviously --tossed, shown up, exposed, and not tolerated -- but it's important we don't, as the saying goes, throw the baby out with the bathwater.

UFOs, Orange Orbs, and Luminosities

The UFO Box
A life long experience with UFOs and what I’ll call loosely paranormal events has found me endlessly curious about what I call my Orange Orb encounter. I have assumed all these years that what I saw that night was a UFO. To be technical, it was a UFO: unidentified, flying -- or at least, moving through -- the sky, and it was an object of some kind. But was this “UFO” from outer space? Another planet? Was the orb inhabited, or operated by, some sort of non-human entity? As in, aliens? I have no idea. Being mainly immersed in the UFO category of anomalous events, I have always put this sighting into the UFO box. This box included the aliens or ETs, as well as human manipulated episodes; MILABS, for example.

I’ve discussed my orange orb sighting many times via blog postings, articles and podcast interviews, but to very briefly recap:  Riding on the back of a motorcycle. at night on Lorane Highway in Lane County, Oregon. Saw a lit from within orange orb in the night sky, a large object. It was stationary, as soon as I looked at it and thought “What the hell is that?!” it “zoomed” from its position (I guessed it was about a mile away, above the KVAL TV station at the top of the hill) to right across the road. I had the distinct feeling it was laughing at me, or, with me. Playing with me. It followed us to the intersection where we turned the corner to our home. The orb stopped once again in the sky above a neighbor’s house, then dropped down into their backyard.  (There was also missing time involved with this sighting. My husband saw the object only briefly.)

While I’ve always referred to this as an orb, due to its shape (round, sphere, circular) I never meant orb as in something nebulous. Not a spirit orb. Again, still in the UFO box, and, a somewhat nuts and bolts UFO box. After all, it was an object, a craft, a lit from within round thing. A machine with a light inside.

Orange Orb Above Lorane Highway, pastel drawing, Regan Lee

Through the years I searched for similar sightings. Nothing on orange orbs for a long time. Now of course orange orb sightings, as well as red, green and blue, are plentiful. People have captured these colored lights in the skies on video. But they rarely seemed to match up with what I saw that night decades ago. Usually these orange and other colored “orbs” are much smaller, sometimes don’t exhibit any kind of intelligence, and don’t behave quite the same way. Due to their shape, we call them orbs, but that  often seems to be the only similarity.


There is the category of spirit orbs, ghosts, that are smaller than my orange orb sighting, and don’t fit the category. Or so I’ve always thought. I am no stranger to ghostly encounters and have captured an orb or two myself but have never put that into the UFO box. Completely unconnected. Again, size differs greatly: spirit orbs are small. They do appear in different colors, including orange. But their connection to UFOs? Apples and oranges. But now I’m wondering if, at times, there are cross overs between UFOs and the more ephemeral  types of orbs.


Orbs as Luminosities
In the book Beyond Photography: with Orbs, Angels and Mysterious Light Forms, by Katie Hall and John Pickering, they talk about “luminosiites” -- their word for lights and orbs that appear in the sky.

This photograph from their book is very similar to what I saw years ago. While what I saw appeared larger, it’s appearance as well as its behavior is close to my experience:

Photo source: Beyond Photography, Kati Hall and John Pickering

Missing Time
I mentioned that my orange orb sighting included missing time. This missing time is not at all unusual in UFO cases. Is the missing memory an amnesia implanted by aliens? If we stay in the UFO Box the answer would seem to be yes.

But if the UFO is also a luminosity in some cases maybe it’s a part of being in the “zone” -- that area in the Oz Factor that researcher Jenny Randles wrote about. Why is it that most spectacular of UFOs can appear, complete with alien beings and all kinds of phenomena (including missing time) and only one or two witnesses will experience those things? Others close by don’t see a thing. They remain unaware that anything strange happened at all. This zone of weirdness, this "Oz Factor" is present in so many UFO encounters. Randles Oz Factor can also be found in many other anomalous events, which seems to support a cross over effect, or, a single source manifesting as many things.

Randles theory makes sense in terms of many a UFO encounter, and it also makes sense in other types of encounters. I’ve had that same strange “cone of Oz-ness” in other supernatural situations, but not UFO related, in an episode where we were discussing Bigfoot. (Although, the discussion did include a Bigfoot-UFO witness...) If the source of all this is a single source, that could explain cross over cases. Again, this is not to say there aren’t literally aliens (I believe there are, in fact) and UFOs from space, but that, in many cases, what appears to be a UFO and or alien isn’t. Also, UFOs/aliens and luminosities or “spirit orbs”  interact with each other.


Sentient Orange Orbs
I had said that my orange orb seemed to be intelligent -- either controlled from within, or remotely by an intelligent, sentient being. The orb responded to me; I had the strong feeling it was waiting for me, could read my thoughts, and was playing with me. It was as aware of me as I was of it.

Hall and PIckering write of this same type of communication in their book. Relating the experiences of UFO researcher Tony Dodd and his orange orb encounter:

“...Dodd...affirms that many of his own encounters with mysterious balls of lights left him in little doubt that they were intelligent, or intelligently controlled. . . on the Yorkshire moors at night, ... a large orange coloured ball of light glided about 30m feet above his head. As it passed, he tried to send out his thoughts to it; asking it to acknowledge his presence.  Whereupon it immediately stopped in mid air, blinked out for about 3 seconds, and the reappeared. Taking this as a response, Tony then thought the question: “Who are you?” (Beyond Photography, Hall and Pickering, p 93.)

To which the orb replied, telepathically, “I am the father of fathers and you are the sons of sons.” Typical trickster type behavior! (This also mirrors Marian apparitions; there is a hint of the religious here --  the authors have a section on Fatima and orb consciousness.) We  also get this silly kind of response from many a UFO connected entity.

In writing about orbs, or “luminosiites” the authors of Beyond Photography mention the intelligence behind these orbs. Often, the orbs seemed to respond to human thought; mind reading orbs, one could say.  Another case reported by Hall and Pickering:

Friends of the authors had an encounter with orange orbs in 1997. Two orange orbs, one the size of “a grapefruit” flew at their car at night while they were traveling on an isolated highway. Shortly after the first orb, another orange orb appeared, flying alongside their car. Their friends told them that “...in retrospect they both felt as thought the orange balls were checking them out for some unknown reason.” (Beyond Photography, p 94)

Plasmas, Ball Lighting and Consciousness
For decades “ball lighting” has been a throw away explanation for these balls of light.  As if giving them a label resolves the phenomena. Hall and Pickering have no argument about the fact these orbs are often plasmas, and or "ball lightening" but that is not all there is to these intelligent, interactive orbs.

While a physical reason may exist for the existence of these orbs, it does not explain their intelligence, their intentional movements, synchronicity, and their responses to human thought. Hall and PIckering write, of plasma and the intelligent behavior of orbs: “We now have two possibilities; plasma energy and luminosities with consciousness.” (Beyond Photography, p 96)

The Oz Factor implies that the UFO close encounter has a visionary component. You might interpret that as meaning it is all in the imagination, but it really means that there is a direct feed, if you like, from the source of the encounter to the consciousness of the witness. (Jenny Randles, The Oz Factor)

This idea of sentience, of a non-human intelligence that is UFO related interacting with us is nothing new. Jacque Vallee suggested this decades ago with his ultra terrestrial hypothesis. But it seems that, even with this history from many researchers of exploring such a connection, the UFO community is still missing this huge piece of the puzzle.


Entities, ET, Djinn, Angels, and, Oh My
Hall and Pikcering do not discount the reality of UFOs and aliens from other planets. For the purposes of their book, they are mainly concerned with so-called spirit orbs (as well as beams of light, humanoid type light figures, etc) captured on film. Are these lights earth spirits, fairies, etc.? Are there sometimes cross over interactions between what we call aliens -- meaning, ET entities -- and more elemental beings? Spirit energy? What some of us call Djinn?

I still have no idea what it was I saw that night, why it happened, or  what it meant. I do know it was very important, and not a mere case of ball lighting, or some mistaken sighting of, say, a helicopter.

It’s possible that on that night so long ago I did not see a UFO in the classic sense, but had an interaction, not with an ET from another planet, but something else involving an earth based consciousness. Which makes this not any less fantastic, nor does it negate any of the other UFO experiences I’ve had.

It could be that these things -- UFOs, entities,ETs, missing time, synchronicities, games, telepathy -- are connected. Aspects of the various and often seemingly separate phenomena join in a performance, one where we’re surprised to find we’re witness to.

“Something makes them pay attention by tuning out the normal sensory flow and looking up to watch the show. Where that show is being projected from remains the subject of great fascination. And it certainly does not eliminate another intelligence as running this show. To me the Oz Factor is a vital key to the UFO mystery, and may help us to resolve what is happening. We should not be afraid of its implications, just because they seem to suggest a fuzziness to the phenomenon. In truth we should embrace these cases.” (Jenny Randles, The Oz Factor)

Link:
The Oz Factor

The UFO Trail: Security of Budd Hopkins Archive Called into Question, David Jacobs Shares Responsibility

Jack Brewer on his UFO Trail writes on ethics, trust, Hopkins, Jacobs, abductees, witnesses, and so much more. All in one post. Important and sadly, on-going. It seems to me -- has seemed so since Emma Woods exposed David Jacobs for the sloppy and unhinged individual he's become -- that all this, this, unethical bullshit, isn't brought out enough.

The UFO Trail: Security of Budd Hopkins Archive Called into Question, David Jacobs Shares Responsibility: This blog has previously explored issues central to the ethics of UFO research. They include how abduction researchers have dealt with in the past and continue to deal with witness confidentiality. The story of the leaking of Larry Warren's audio-taped session(s) to Charles Halt continues this exploration. Let's begin with a summary of some of the players and what was stated on recent podcasts. (Jack Brewer, The UFO Trail)

Besides all that, is this interesting bit about Bigelow, a nefarious player in UFO Land, one that I've never trusted. How he is lauded by some, including George Knapp, who I do respect, is beyond me.

… a series of events during the 1990's in which John Carpenter, a Missouri social worker, hypnotist and MUFON director of abduction research at the time, provided data from case files of some 140 possible abductees to controversial ufology philanthropist Robert Bigelow. The 140 subjects were neither asked nor informed about the transactions that included a reported $14,000 in cash payments made to Carpenter. (Brewer, UFO Trail.)

I don't know the whole story and all the ins and outs -- who does? Who really knows? I'm not taking sides, (not much, David Jacobs doesn't count) for example, Peter Robbins part in what Brewer writes about. Always so damn difficult when you respect someone in this realm, and hear other things that conflict with your own values …



And we're not talking about theories here, ideas and philosophies on what UFOs are, if Reptilians really exist, if abductions are literal events or if there is a UFO-Bigfoot connection. Those things matter of course, very much so, but those don't carry the same onus of responsibility. Theories are speculation, ideas pulled from personal experience and or study. Treating witnesses as only grist for researchers is reprehensible.



Witnesses come first. They (we) are to be respected. Everyone cries out for "credibility" but what about the credibility of the researcher?

2011 McMinnville UFO Fest this Weekend!

It's been quiet here, believe it or not, haven't had much to say. Working on various things, other than that...

I will be attending the UFO conference in McMinnville this weekend. Looking forward to the presenters, especially Stan Gordon. I'll be meeting Deirdre O'Lavery there and I know we'll have lots of fun and lots to report.


This year we won't be staying at the Hotel Oregon; where they offer a package deal for the UFO fest weekend and we've taken advantage of that in the past. The hotel is worth visiting for its historic interest; lots of great art on the walls, including some UFO related art. And the rooftop bar is wonderful, a real delight. Last year however was a disappointment in terms of service including the hotel's insistence the $36.00 we paid was a "tip" and not actual money paid towards our account. Seems the wait person took it upon themselves to sign off on our bill basically taking our money, and the hotel seemed to think that was just fine. Other things too; realizing they're crazy busy every year, etc. but overall, cold food, snarky service, (one wait person said to us, when we finally got our food -- which was ice cold -- "Are you happy now?")  really pretty dismal last year. That aside, the beer is pretty damn good and the charm of Hotel Oregon is worth a visit.

Looking forward to hearing Stan Gordon,  Robert Salas, and Paola Harris!

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.

Paratopia Interview Monday Night

I'll be interviewed by Jeremy Vaeni and Jeff Ritzman on their Paratopia podcast this Monday. 6pm Pacific time. We'll be talking about "paranormal bigfoot" among other things. You can listen live or download the podcast for free.

If you haven't heard the program, listen to their interview with Bill Birnes of UFO Hunters. It's a great interview, I really like what Bill had to say about most things, and I found out some things about Bill I didn't know. The guy is no slouch, let me tell you!

The Watercolor Alien Ant

Untitled, watercolor 1979? by James Rich


This painting is a watercolor Jim did many years ago, when we were first together. I remember when he painted it. It's a small watercolor on paper; about 18" by 18". He was going through his old portfolios last night and found it.

I told him it was an "interesting painting" and that it reminded me of an alien; some kind of alien painting. He said he had no idea what was going on when he painted that; what he was thinking or why he painted it. No recollection of the inspiration or what he was trying to do.

He asked me what I meant by "alien painting" I said, well, it immediately, for some reason, just screamed alien and spaceship at me. I have the impression the ant is female, very large, "alien," and is holding something, some sort of tablet. Jim looked at it and said he saw what I meant. I reminded Jim of all the giant insect alien stories; usually praying mantis type creatures, or giant grasshopper type beings some speak about in connection with UFO encounters. After he looked at it he said it reminded him of a female being as well; probably because of the way it's sitting and the long robe or whatever it is it/she is wearing.

It was at that time that Jim and I were experiencing a lot of unusual UFO events, including an episode of missing time. I had my "Geisha Woman Alien" dream during that time frame.

Speaking of alien insectoid beings, in a bit of synchronicity I was listening to George Noory last night on C2C. (By the way, say what you will about him, and I have, he is a goof ball in many ways, but he was defending the medical marijuana use law in California, so good for him) and he and a caller were sharing praying mantis stories. Not in the context of aliens or UFOs however, more mundane than that. And earlier today I read Richard Thomas Room 101 column on Binnall of America, where he writes about Ghosts, Aliens, Yeti and the Late Great Nigel Kneale British "father" of sci fi television and movies. Which inspired me to post something on my blog Frame 352: The Stranger Side of Sasquatch with this image:

I'm deathly, pathologically afraid of insects. I had some chilling experiences as a child -- I won't go there, far too personal and wrapped up in family dysfunction abuse horrors -- but at the same time, I don't like to see people just stomp on insects for no reason. (There was also a weird event in Crescent City, California, involving a Japanese beetle, alcoholic abusers though not to me, hmm, a theme here I see, and I kid you not, a real life scene with "Deliverance" type redneck hillbillies, complete with shotguns and a truck full of pitbulls. But I digress.) (And there was another thing with a bumble bee when I was a kid, and my sister as well, I found out years later, that has to do with missing time and high strangeness.)I'll certainly go out of my way to kill bugs in the house, depending on what kind; wasps, etc. Others I take outside. Well, okay, I try to get Jim to take them outside, but the point is, I don't like killing things if I can help it.

Well, that all took a weird turn, I see. As disjointed as all this might seem, one thing stands out: a conflicting relationship with insects. I like some of them, they're pretty, many are harmless, etc. Others I am fearful of to the point of vomiting. People with encounters with giant insectiod alien beings report both terrifying experiences, as well as ones of learning, wisdom and beauty. Why this contrast? Are our mundane encounters a relfection, on a symbolic level, of these experiences?

Around the Orb

Thin Skinned Skepticism
A new post at Snarly Skepticism. It's a repost from Jan. 2007 of my blog entry on my Daily Grail blog, which I rarely post to, but now and then I do. Truthfully, I forget I have that over there! Speaking of The Daily Grail, if you haven't already, be sure to check them out for great links as well as commentary.

Remote Viewing
My new Trickster's Realm piece for Binnall of America will be up sometime tomorrow. This week I write about the government's "non-involvement" with remote viewing. As always, be sure to visit the forum and read all the other great articles there. And don't forget that Tim Binnall does an amazing job interviewing some great people in the field; you can listen to the podcasts for free.

Beeping Weirdness
I'm working on something about the electronic beeping sounds many UFO and Bigfoot witnesses experience. I've had this experience myself. I'm not sure where I'll post it, UFO Digest or maybe my Bigfoot blog Frame 352. I'm almost finished with it; should be up later today.

Speaking of beeping Bigfoot and high strangeness, Joseph Capp has an interesting piece on a Colarado ranch:

High Strangeness on a Colorado Ranch
Capp writes about Skinwalker Ranch type high strangeness in The Other Skinwalker Ranch: Contact. Capp points out that the ranch was near a military base, and, there were personal connections with some family members and military. Something I've thought of as well; and as Andrew Colvin mentions, among others, there seems to be a faction of covert military ops manipulating paranormal forces around humans -- and at humans. Paranoid? Maybe. But you know what they say . . . No doubt there are all kinds of variations on this idea; ultra classified psy ops projects, what better place than to experiment, and test them out, than in remote places, like the deserts and isolated ranches?The fact that often these places have a history of paranormal acitivity going back hundreds of years supports the theory that military factions have tapped into this in some way. Who's going to believe the residents of a ranch, or some rural area, when they come out with these kinds of stories? No one has yet; no one that counts that is.

On WOE: Alexandra "Chica" Bruce
(I love that name!) Lesley has a new post up about Chica Bruce, esoteric authoress. Bruce is also interviewed by Adam Gorightly; take a look over there on WOE (Women Of Esoterica) for links.

Joseph Capp on The Breaking Point

A fresh perspective into UFOs and the people who see them is UFO Breaking Point, at UFO Media Matters, Joseph Capp’s blog.

Capp discusses the psychological effect on UFO witnesses, including witnesses with multiple sightings. He says, of disclosure:

I really have had strong problems with the idea that wide or complete public knowledge of ET presence would not be a profound shock to many, many people, that it must be assumed that the masses of regular people will simply go about their daily lives as though nothing happened.

On the contrary: I believe a kind of ET Shock would take hold. I suspect ET Shock would marginalize rational thinking in many people who need the safety blanket of Business As Usual in our busy, spin saturated world.

(I often say that, after a small period of adjustment, we’d all go back to normal, but I’ve been rethinking this recently. And here I find Capp’s comments on this topic; another bit of synchronicity. I think many subcultures and already marginalized groups wouldn’t be in shock -- they’ve been expecting it. But the infrastructures and mainstream, which after all are the ones that count as far as control goes, would be turned upside down. That’s why full disclosure won’t happen, and exopolitics, while well meaning, is a bit pointless. On the other hand, it’s presumptive of us to assume anything when it comes to this subject. But we can speculate, which is what we’re all trying to do; just deal with what we know so far and have experienced.)

Capp writes of his own UFO sighting, and the affect it’s had on him -- all these years later. As with my own “obsession” and so many others, those of us who’ve had sightings oftentimes spend years searching for clues and answers -- even knowing no one size fits all answer will ever come -- we still take part in the process of discovery. Why?

And this last paragraph was another bit of Synchronicty between my recent musings on the phenomena and Capp’s closing paragraph:

So in our own community we need to understand that UFO people are not “off” because they actually believe in UFOs; some of them have become “Off” by dealing personally with this profound, and often psychologically shattering experience as best as they knew how.

I’ve been thinking a lot the past few weeks about our isolation from each other, even within the field of UFOlogy and Fortean studies. Not only is our culture decompartmentalized, the subcultures of UFOlogy, etc. are as well. The often hostile divisions between nuts and bolts and more holistic theories, between paranormal Bigfoot and flesh and blood Bigfoot, and so on, further divide, and by doing so, reinforce the loneliness, uncertainties, and confusion within individuals. Throw in the skeptics -- who, like it or not are a part of this since they insist on being vocal on the fringes of the fringe -- and the experience is far from cohesive or supportive.

Our technological culture doesn’t allow for these kinds of experiences,including religious ones. We tolerate some mainstream religions and misuse the more fundamental varieties to strengthen the fascism and theocracy leanings of government,(the control aspect) but there is not a culture of acceptability when it comes to the spiritual, supernatural, paranormal esoteric world that has lived alongside us for millennia.

It’s not at all surprising UFO and other phenomena are kept at arm’s length by society. Unless the topic is to be dismantled (debunkers, pathological skeptics,) or exploited (entertainment, television programs on the topic) it’s still held out as highly questionable. You can voice your beliefs on Christianity at work, and come right out and say that “Halloween is a holy day and so shouldn’t be celebrated” and you’ll be treated with respect, no matter how grudgingly. Sure enough, no Halloween party will happen, and you’ll even have a few coworkers chide you if you use the word Halloween. (I know, I experience this every year.) Talk about your church and you’re tolerated, if not downright accepted as being “normal.” For the most part, say you're a religious person of an accepted religion, and you're "normal." The activist atheist excepted, those will be tolerated in society. Venture out just a bit though, and you're suspect; even Mormonism is off the edge. The message is: don't stray too far from the relgious paradigm. Mention UFOs or Bigfoot, and people literally snort in your face. This isn’t news to anyone of course.

The point is, in our society we’ve moved far away from the acknowledgment of “the other” to the point of outright denial it exists. And within the UFO arena, this same attitude exists among its own. It isn’t any wonder, as Joseph Capp points out, that those who experience these things often go through psychological trauma, and may appear to be lost, off, confused, shaken, or gullible. And at a certain point, those labels become just that; labels. If we aren’t willing to give some kind of support -- which doesn’t mean agreement or total acceptance -- I really think we should shut up. Those that come on heavy and thuggish aren’t contributing to the field in any way, despite whatever praise they receive. There’s no pride in coming off as a bully, or being snide. Rejecting various aspects of the phenomena as not worth the time for its perceived silly factor is not a sign of intellectual superiority; it’s a sign of intentional ignorance.

The obsessive path many a UFO experiencer or writer takes sometimes ends badly; even death. Suicides, mysterious deaths, mental illness, paranoia; UFO history has its share of people who've gone this way. Many of us accept this as a risk we take, and go on. It's a fact many were victims of government mind games; psy ops, mind control, intentional games played with the UFO witness or researcher to ensure his or her isolation, not only from society, but from their own sub-culture of UFOlogists. Their own families. And we're partly repsonbile, for allowing these divisions to exist, for allowing the petty grudge matches to go on, and all the rest of the ugly side of UFOlogy to continue.

Joseph Capp suggests there may be a Part II to the article; I hope so!

The Clowns in the "Sorry" State

A recent piece by Frank Warren inspired me to go off on one of my own favorite rants; that of the so-called “sorry state” of UFOlogy. As Warren says, underscoring Richard Dolan's point, the idea that there's a "state" of UFOlogy is inaccurate and misses the point. You can read Warren's piece here: What is The State of Ufology? Wrong Question!


I often rant against those who call for a “new UFOlogy.” What’s wrong with the old one? More to the point, what in the world makes those who want a “new” UFOlogy, a better or a different or a cleaner or a neater or a “more scientific” (oy) UFOlogy that anyone outside of UFOlogy cares?

Who says it’s “sorry?” Because we have the expected jokers around? The Raelians make the mainstream news, not the serious, interesting UFO cases that may also contain some evidence. (Other than anecdotal.) So?

What else do you expect from the mainstream media? They’ve always been cheesy, sleazy and exploitive, that’s what they do. I promise you, if we all got up some kind of serious, somber, clinical “New UFOlogical” whatever, no one would give a damn. We would, (some of us) but no one listens to us. And then there’s this: after a short time, it isn’t too long before this “new” UFOlogy will be perceived -- and possibly turn into -- a stodgy, rigid, snooty mini-infrastructure of scientism in its own right. Before that point thought, this "new" UFOlogy will be scrambling to be accepted by those they've decided long ago they need: mainstream science, academia, the media, politics. Wow, talk about idealism! But those institutions have turned their noses up at UFOlogy; a "new" UFOlogy will have to dance real fast and real well in order to be accepted. Which means, much of what makes UFOflogy the thing that it is will have to be discarded before this "new" state gets in the door. And at that point, of course, you don't have a real (authentic) UFOlogy, but you still have a very "sorry" state indeed. Irony!

Don't you find it ironic that a diverse,individual, subjective, elusive and contradictory phenomenon such as UFOs is persistenlty being forced into some kind of stable state where everyone agrees (pretty much) and the personal is silenced, or at least told to shush?

One thing wrong about screaming for a new UFOlogy or repairing its “state” is the belief we would do better without the clowns. First, we have to acknowledge that there is a clown like atmosphere to much of UFO and Fortean events, and it’s a natural part of the anomalous. There are many ways to deal with this, depending on the situation and where the clown antics fall on the UFOlogical clown scale. (New Age clowns, Contactee clowns, Bigfoot-UFO clowns, Abduction clowns, My Lizard Lover clowns, etc.)

We can ignore them. Call them on their stuff. Expose them for the lying clowns they are. But what if they’re not lying clowns? They could be clowns for a number of reasons, but not liars. At some point, it’s subjective. Trust comes in. Intuition. Meanwhile, we’re all distracted by trying to shove out these clowns, argue over who’s a clown and who isn’t, and the actual work isn’t getting done. We’ve been too busy chasing after those we’ve decided are clowns. Talk about a circus.

Then we get back to work, feeling smug and justified that we cleaned up the mess, only to realize more clowns have sneaked in. That’s the nature of the anomalous clown beast. You just can’t get rid of them. In fact, the harder you try, the more return. Like Sisyphus, once you roll that rock uphill, it just comes back.

The mainstream media and the pathological skeptics will never avert their attention from the clown side of things, for that would mean they have to admit there is something of value and truth to all this.

(Actually, the mainstream media at times slowly turns to the light; little bits of UFO reality get by and we experience a respite from little green men jokes by talking heads.)

We can learn from the clowns. Instead of chasing after them with brooms we can stop and just watch them for awhile. What are they up to, and why? Might turn out it was a waste of time, so what? Might turn out you learned something. Maybe that clown wasn’t just a lampshade on its head bore, but a true Fool leading you down a much neglected and magickical path. You could return from that journey with something of value to share with the “sorry state” of UFOlogy.


cut and paste if link doesn't work: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=46054

Sunday Round-Up at the Orb

Here's my shameless self-promotion for Sunday:

Paranormal Meet. Found this recently; and it's going strong. Lots of new people joining everyday. I like it, it's a good idea, and fun. Much better than having a MySpace page.Take a look, be sure to visit my blog and vote! And join if you can. There are a few little glitches, nothing major, but it's easy to find your way around and user friendly. I like the like minded, community vibe over there.

UFO Digest. My latest piece over there is on the blurring, or mimicking, or. . . something, of aliens/ghosts/Bigfoot, etc. When Entities Collide: Ghosts, Aliens, MIBs, and Entities and The Trickster Faeries

The current Trickster's Realm on Binnall of America is on my friend "Lola" here in Oregon and the high strangeness that follows the family: High Strangeness Follows Family? As always, be sure to read all the other great stuff on there.

My short article "What Is A UFO?" should be up on American Chronicle any time now. There's a holding period for pieces; I put it in today, so it can be any time from now until sometime tomorrow. Check this link for the article, as well as the rest of my American Chronicle pieces.

Mating Hedgehogs, my other blog about: politics, culture, media, weirdness, etc. Please check it out, there's everything from YouTube clips of Mothman and Mothra to rants about anti-feminist, anti-Semitic clown shoes like Henry Makow. Mating Hedgehogs.

And finally, Frame 352, my "stranger side of Sasquatch" blog. Follow the link over there to Lisa Shiel's Bigfoot Quest blog, where she has a poll going on about UFOs and Bigfoot.

Good night, have a good week! Let's hope we're all safe and good and remain relatively sane.

Sasquatch Inside Mt. Shasta

Over on Frame 352 (my bigfoot blog) is a post on Sasquatch Inside Mt. Shasta.

Sunday Round Up of Self Promotion

A few new things at my Bigfoot blog Frame 352.

And at Mating Hedgehogs.

Not much elsewhere, the new UFO Magazine isn't yet out, but should be soon. Look for my article on Daniel Fry, as well as all the other great articles that will be available.

I'll be in Los Angeles beginning Thursday; family wedding. I'll have my laptop but don't know how much writing I'll get done.

However, I am working a lot of various things, as always, including something on chemtrails, referencing Colin Bennett's article on the subject,(Chemtrails and UFOs) for example. My trip to Los Angeles should prove interesting regarding chemtrails. Also: UFO Semantics, or the Semantics of UFOs, something like that. It's a lost cause but I get annoyed and rant about it anyway. You can't "believe in" UFOs, UFOs are not aliens, UFOs do indeed exist, etc. The most convulted "reasoning" about this was a thread on the JREF (James Randi forum) -- something about why are UFOs considered "paranormal?" Nothing of the Trickster like events within many UFO events, or any of that, but a surreal post about extraterrestrials could be out there, but UFOs aren't, no one's proven UFOs exist, ... I dunno. Is it just me?

Sunday Self-Promotion Round Up

The Persistence of Chronic Skepticism, on American Chronicle.

Visit my blog Frame 352 about Bigfoot, with a focus on "high strangeness" Bigfoot, etc. Fram 352 supports and promotes a "No Kill" policy.

If you have a pro UFO blog, you can list it on UFO Blog Listings.

Some time tomorrow, my next Trickster's Realm column, Exhilaration and Coincidence, will be up on Tim Binnall's website, Binnall of America. (BoA)

And if you live in Oregon, the Pacific Northwest, or interested in UFOs and weird events in that area, join Oregon Fortena.

The new issue of UFO Magazine should be out pretty soon; focus is on, of course, Roswell, what else? There'll also be articles by the usual wonderful writers; not sure who'll be in this issue but no doubt Farah Yurdozah, Lesley (of Debris Field) Beyond the Dial's column, Alfred Lehmberg, Nick Redfern, hopefully Jeremy Vaeni will have something as well, Dirk Vander Ploegg of UFO Digest, and others.

MoMo: This Day in History

"MoMO" was one of those Out of Place (OOP) Fortean, anomalous creatures that monster lovers love to love. MoMo appeared on this day; a Bigfoot type creature of a paranormal nature. Read more on Cryptomundo.

Podcast:Paranormal Women League

This is a neat find; I stumbled on it on the Mysterious Dimension Yahoo group:
Lisa Shiel and her podcast:Paranormal Women League.

New "Paranormal" Bigfoot Blog

Annoucning
my new Bigfoot blog; Frame 352.

Brad Steiger Interveiw on Binnall of America

The interview with Brad Steiger for the Binnall of America site, is now up!
Catch it here.

Unexpected UFO Serendipity

Two unexpected UFO related items:

The first, from Lisa Shiel, of the Bigfoot Quest blog. Shiel has shared her knowledge of restricted airspace in relation to government/military testing of craft. (The Truth About UFOs and Restricted Airspace.) Shiel questions the almost meme lake idea among many UFO researchers that many craft (like the Triangles) are military. Shiel insists they aren’t ours, since they can’t be flown over civilian/populated areas. Furthermore, there is plenty of restricted airspace where these flight tests can be done. So why fly over public areas here and in other countries (as with the case of Triangles.)

Excellent points, and good solid factual data. I respectfully have a nagging argument here though: just because the government isn’t supposed to, doesn't mean they won’t, can’t, and don’t. I don’t know if the Triangles, for example, are ours, ET, or something else, but I do know one thing: they exist. I’ve seen them.

Shiel writes about the Bigfoot UFO connection, and it isn’t completely surprising she would have UFO entries on her blog, though her focus is on Bigfoot. Which brings me to this nice tie-in concerning self-promotion: the current issue of UFO Magazine includes my column on Lisa: Wild Women: Weird Bigfoot Research.

The other unexpected find was a UFO report, made by someone here in Eugene, Oregon. The report was from January 22nd of this year. I followed the link from UFO commentator and researcher Billy Booth to UFO Casebook. It’s an interesting sighting: different, and seems to be of two objects, as well as a possible humanoid creature.
Then I saw the name of the witness: Nahu. Nahu is the author of UFOs: God From Inner Space and other books, and the subject of my next article for UFO Magazine!

(image source: UFO Evidence website.

"Not the Only Women in Bigfoot Research"

I'm not sure what's going on with posting over at Cryptomundo; the post I posted before took awhile before it came through, and my response to Kathy Strain's post hasn't gone through. (as of yet, it still might.)

Anyway, here's a post by a female Bigfoot researcher who posted over on Cryptomundo in response to the thread:
on sexism and racism in research.

# Kathy Strain responds: April 15th, 2007 at 3:49 am

I have several comments.

As a female bigfoot researcher (who is also part native), I have never ever been mistreated by fellow researchers due to my gender. I have been questioned, challenged, fought with, slapped around, etc., but it certainly had nothing to do with being a woman.

I have indeed seen some issues related to ethic background (digger indian being one) but I have chalked that up more to a lack of knowledge than to racism.

In fact, I have seen more bias against my college degrees (and being a professional anthropologist) than anything else (same issue that I have seen about comment on Meldrum and Krantz…damn Ph.D.’s!!!).

And, if we were going to be honest here (just not politically correct) I take offense to Lisa Shiels, Linda Martin, and Regan Lee’s blogs that besides themselves and Autumn Williams, they are the only female bigfoot researchers they know. For crying out loud, what rock have you been living under??? If you don’t know who Bobbie Short, Diane Stocking, me, and a whole host of other women are, then I don’t know what else to say. Your world is as big as you want it to be…as well as your experiences.

I'll try to recreate my response to Kathy as much as I can:

Kathy,
I have never meant to imply in any way I, and Lisa, etc. were the "only" female bigfoot researchers. (And, in fact, I wonder at the label for myself.) I can't speak for others, but for myself, I am learning new things every day. I am new to this field. For some reason, a series of events have propelled me into the area of "paranormal" Bigfoot, and that's where my focus is, as far as Bigfoot research goes. So if I exclude various female researchers, it's one of two reasons (or both): They do not support the "supernatural" Bigfoot aspect, and/or, you're right, I haven't heard of them. Yet.

That doesn't mean I "live under a rock" nor does it mean I don't care. It does mean I'm new to this area, my focus being on UFOs and other Fortean subjects. I'm glad you posted, now I know.

When I do come across researchers -- male and female alike -- who take seriously the aspects of Bigfoot research I'm interested in, I write about them.

We're all learning and coming across new things all the time.

Generally speaking, just for the record, I don't think all men are sexist, or that women are better, or that Lisa Shiel, etc. are the "only" researchers. I hope to god I haven't implied that, for that was never my intent.

However, giving some light towards the female Bigfoot researchers that do study this strange aspect of Bigfoot encounters is something I'm interested in. That in no way negates male researchers who support anomalous Sasquatch tales, or the fact there are female researchers who don't.

I'm not particularly interested in male or female Bigfoot researchers who either support a "kill" policy, or reject the weirder side of Bigfoot. So I don't usually list them or discuss them, unless it's in context of something else.

And, I, like most of us I assume, have day jobs and families that take away from spending the time we'd love to on these things. We can't always get to what we want to right when we want it.

Thank you, Regan Lee

So now, off to research Kathy Strain.