More Trent Circus Theater

The blog that I won't link to but everyone knows what I mean -- you know, those verbose guys who love to perform UFO street theater (albeit on-line, and in their blogs) -- have another post on the world famous 1950 Trent UFO sighting. (Yamhill County, McMinnville, Oregon.) This time the theory is the Trent UFO photographed was not a UFO, but a side mirror from a Ford. I can't stand it. (Comments are definitely worth reading.)

Related link:
Trent Trickster Three

McMinnville And Floating Cows: When Is A School Bus Not a School Bus?

     How's that for an opening title?
     There is much that precedes this dream which I'll write about soon, involving a woman I've known for more than twenty years whose immediate family has had -- and continues to have -- UFO and alien/entity experiences. Her experiences go back to her childhood. We met yesterday to talk about these things, and more, and the visit was chock full of synchronicity, among other things.
     Last night I had the following dream:

     I'm a block or so from work; school hasn't started yet, kids are on their way, walking towards the school. I see the principal a few yards away, we say hello. I'm saying hi to the kids when suddenly, I feel ill. I am really sick! I want to go home but don't think I can because I took Friday off (my personal day) and it would look suspicious to everyone if I also took Monday off. How convenient, she's sick, humpf! kind of thing. But really, I am sick. I'm debating what to do when I see one of our substitutes. I ask her if she's able to sub for me, she says sure. I explain what others might think but it's too bad; she says "I can tell you're not feeling well, don't worry about it."

     So instead of walking home or calling my husband to pick me up, I walk over to the bus to take the bus home. Taking a bus isn't something I'd normally do. The bus is a city bus -- public transit -- but it's a yellow school bus. We all know it's not a school bus but a public bus.

    I get on, ask the female driver if the bus goes to "11th and Chambers" she says "I think so." I think to myself "You think so? What kind of bus driver are you?" but I'm feeling ill so I just get on. It's not far, how could the bus not go to there?
     I ask about the fare; she tells me it's seventy-five cents. I put a dollar in expecting change. She tells me there is no change; they're not set up for that. So my fare is a dollar. Fine, I shrug, and sit down, right by the door and behind her.
     Instead of the bus turning and going in the direction of my house,  we're going down a street I didn't know existed. Now, this is one of my dreamscapes -- an alley like place, except to the west, is the ocean! A narrow street or alley like road, small houses on one side, a low stone wall that's falling apart, and the ocean! Often times the ocean spills over and there is water on the road.
     I panic a little; where are we going?! The driver goes by a familiar corner and I assume she is going to turn down and go around, back to my house, but instead she gets on the freeway! I see a sign right away: McMinnville, and within ten minutes, we're there. In reality, McMinnville is about an hour and a half from where I live.
We drive through McMinnville. The streets are flooded, the bus can barely make it, it's floating on water like a houseboat. We pass by a street with a small bridge overhead -- lots of stone and tile, all different colors. There are huge cows floating in the water. Some cows are pink and green. They're having fun but some are a little scared. Some try to scramble up the walls but slip. There are a few people there in the water as well.
     All this water and the cows seem normal. McMinnville in the dream is quaint and full of old timey buildings and colorful lights. Lots of hills with buildings perched askew.
     While I'm fascinated that this is a short cut to McMinnville, I am also scared because of the water, the cows, and I'm still lost. All I want to do is get home.

     McMinnville of course is the home of the world famous May 11,1950 UFO sighting of Paul and Evelyn Trent. Paul Trent took two photos of the flying saucer that appeared over his farm.  To this day the sighting remains a mystery; despite the antics of UFO debunkers, it has not been proven to be a hoax. The annual McMinnville UFO Festival, held in May, is in memory of that famous sighting. (Google Trent UFO and you'll find plenty -- here's something I wrote some time ago for Tim Binnall on the attempts of some in the UFO Theater to further confuse things: The Trent Trickster Three.)

Dream Moods: Your Dream Symbol Interpretation: Bus To dream that you are waiting for a bus indicates a temporary setback in achieving your personal goals. If you miss the bus, then it indicates that an aspect of your life is out of control. You need to slow down and map out a new plan. If you get on the wrong bus, then the dream indicates your fears of making the wrong choice and going on the wrong path. You are conflicted between what you want and what others want for you. To dream that you are riding a bus implies that you are going along with the crowd. You are lacking originality and control over where your life is taking. To dream that you are in a bus accident suggests that it is time for you to move away from a group setting and venture out on your own. You need to be more independent. To dream that a bus is driven into water refers to an emotional journey that involves several people. To dream that you are paying a bus fare refers to the price you are paying in order to please others. ~ Dream Moods

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Revisiting the Tempest in a Teapot: McMinnville UFO Photos Faked. Again.

UPDATES: lots of comments at the Bragalia blog, to be expected, but one thread I find interesting concerns the boy on the ladder photo. Which, according to some, was not taken by Trent... and so, this iconic story continues as the mystery it is. Nothing proven to debunk or that shows definitively, that the Trent photos were fake.

Were the famous McMinnville UFO photos fakes after all? The iconic snapshots nothing but a hoax? Does this mean it's curtains for the annual UFO Fest in McMinnville, Oregon? Speculation from The Bragalia Files: MAKE-BELIEVE IN MCMINNVILLE: FAMOUS 1950 UFO PHOTOS FAKED? says it could be so.

After all this time, it's almost impossible to determine if the photos are of a genuine UFO, or simply fakes. The evidence presented by Bragalia is only speculation surrounding the facts: a photo of the Trent's little boy, on a ladder under the wires where the spaceship was seen, and photographed. The fact the Trents were "repeaters" -- repeat witnesses. But that last bit; the "repeater" label, doesn't prove anything either way. Many UFO witnesses (myself included) are "repeaters." Some of us have had encounters going back to childhood. Granted, Bragalia comments: "As Jerry Seinfeld might say, “not that there’s anything wrong with that” but then puts a judgement on how a witness should respond to a sighting. Referring to Mrs. Trent, Bragalia writes:

...but when you combine her prior UFO interest and prior sightings, her later sightings, her family discussions about UFOs- with the fact that Mrs. Trent reported being the first to see the photographed UFO- it is Mrs. Trent who should have been given more attention when investigating the photos. Paul finally got his wife a photograph of one of her coveted UFOs. She was certainly one darn lucky “repeat witness.”

Then there's the note, sent to Paul Trent, with Bragalia's oddly gender specific observation that it's in "male writing." This note was no doubt written by a close friend, Bragalia tells us, since said friend used his initials. From that we are to infer note writer and Trent were close friends, and the note itself? Hints that the whole thing was a hoax.

Finally, we have the over the top classist assumptions about the Trents and the community of McMinnville in Yamhill County Oregon. Phrases like "farming folks", "farm boy" and this description of "simple farm folk" pulling one over on them there city slickers:

“Fun” during those times, in that kind of place, may have encompassed playing around with a new camera, wanting to outwit the city folks, involve the family in some UFO entertainment and satisfy a wife’s saucer interests.

The Trents never were paid for their photos, or anything else concerning the UFO images. When the Trents wanted the photos returned in the 1970s, this was because, Bragalia speculates, they wanted the "accrued value" of the images.

 This is not the first time Bragalia, as well as his associates, have attempted to expose McMinnville as a hoax. I wrote about that for UFO Digest in 2007. Revealing a third, "lost" Trent photo, we were promised, sort of, a revelation. Turns out the whole thing was a hoax. Er, that is, not McMinnville, but the third lost photo. McMinnville, at the time of the Trent sighting, was an active place for UFO sightings. More than fifty years later, that area is still a little hotspot for UFO sightings. Whether or not the Trent photos were fakes, well, we still don't know to this day. This recent speculation is just that, interesting, but certainly not proof in any way that McMinnville was a hoax.

Further reading:

• The Trent Tempest
• The Trent Trickster Three
• Still a Mystery, and a Big Question: The Trent Farm/McMinnville Oregon Case
McMinnville, Oregon UFO: Festivals and Hoaxes Saucer Gossip: A Bit of History and Silliness About the Trent Case

BVM, e-books, the dangers of Bigfootry, esoteric women,

On UFO-Mary I have several new posts, including one on the Mexican edition of Playboy magazine, with it's Virgin Mary like model on the cover. Just in time for the pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

I've been experiencing a few synchroniciites related to the image of Mary, as well as Goddess energy in general. It's not surprising to find that when ones attention is really directed at something; UFOs, what have you, the synchronicities appear!

Chris Holly is a new contributor to Women Of Esoterica. Her first post is a ghost story; visit Women Of Esoterica and read Holly's, as well as entries by Kithra, Richelle Hawks, Lesley Gunter, Karyn Dolan, Farah Yurdozu, and myself.

Snarly Skepticism; also the unofficial JREF Watch, I just decided, has an entry on the dangers of Bigfoot research. Yes, dangers. The harm Bigfoot research, and just a "belief" in Bigfoot, must be told! Beware!

Usually my Trickster's Realm column for Binnall of America goes up on Monday, but recently things have been changed around a bit. So my column won't be up until Thursday. I write about the Darklore, Volume II that just came out. Speaking of, it'll make a great gift! You can find out about ordering information at Amazon.com or the Daily Grail site.

It's been snowy here, which I don't like. It's wet, it's cold, what's the point? Fortunately I don't have to go anywhere these days; I"m off for winter break for three weeks. So I'm cozy in my house, trying to work on various writing projects.

And speaking of writing projects, visit my Lulu.com storefront. I plan to have a few more things available -- some for free -- in a few days.

I was going to be on the X-Zone radio show but still sick with some cold/throat thing. I'm much better but my throat still hurts and I sound like a frog. I'm sure in a few days I'll be fine, and will post the date when I know more.

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Read about juicy McMinnville UFO-gossip here!

Hoaxing the Trent Hoax Theory

Read it now on UFO Digest.

Saucer Gossip and Silliness. . .

My recent item on: Saucer Gossip: A Bit of History and Silliness About the Trent Case

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/494571/saucer_gossip_a_bit_of_history_and.html

Read me, click on me

And help support a starving writer. . .

I've joined AC, where you can earn a bit of money according to the number of hits you receive. So I'm shamelessly promoting myself. I'm still learning my way around the place; what the audience is like, etc. and I have only one piece up now. But that'll change, after I meet a couple of deadlines.


UFO Oregon: The Trent Case

Joseph Capp: UFO Caste System

Joseph Capp, of Media Matters blog, has a very good piece on classim and the RRR Group's Trent photo stunt: UFO Caste System. I commented over there, and left links to my responses about the Trent Photo antics. Joseph had also commented on that back then.

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.

The 8th Annual McMinnville UFO Festival Mini Report

The 8th Annual McMinnville UFO Festival in McMinnville, Oregon. The festival happens in the small town of McMinnville every year, McMinnville being the home of Paul and Evelyn Trent. Paul Trent snapped two photos of a UFO he saw flying in the sky above his farm in 1950.

Last minute cancellation had us scurrying with little time to get up to McMinnville, and we didn't bring a camera (damn!) I forgot my cell phone, and we trusted the vague directions on the web site. 1-5 indeed! For anyone leaving the Eugene area, do not take 1-5, which should seem obvious, I do know. Oh, and another obvious point: don't travel during rush hour. Nothing like being stuck -- stuck! as in dead stopped -- on the interstate! We were in Portland before we realized we were way off, but since my husband's a maniac (thank god) we took a lovely rural road through Newberg to McMinnville. Next time: take 99W. Direct, simple, there you go. Okay, you probably don't want to hear about my near panic attack stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, and how I've turned into a hick living here for 30 years and now think of po-dunk Eugene as the big city,

We get there about 6:00 pm, no time to eat, and our blood sugar is dropping by the second. Check into the delightful McMenamins Hotel Oregon and walk a short block to where the conference speakers: Peter Robbins, Peter Davenport, and David Jacobs, were speaking.

The room seemed packed. It was good to know you could order a slice of pizza and a glass of that great McMenamins brew. (My favorite is the Ruby Ale, he likes their Hammerhead.) We hadn't eaten since noon; blood sugar going down fast. The pizza helped, but we both needed real food. The constant sound of the ancient cash register clanking every few moments was a distraction though, hard to hear the speakers.

First speaker, Peter Robbins, who gave a very thorough talk on the death (murder) of James Forrestal. Robbins was articulate, his research solid. I was interested, being very familiar with the Forrstal story. But as my husband said -- who wasn't familiar with the story -- it was boring. I have to agree; unless you had some background into the topic, it would be hard to see exactly what it had to do with UFOs. For the context -- a UFO Festival -- the choice was a poor one. Even I found myself getting impatient, and I was interested. Don't misunderstand, I thought Robbins did a good job of researching his material. I just don't think it was a good fit for this particular venue.

By this time it was getting late, and, despite the slice of pizza, we were both hungry and tired. David Jacobs was next, and he was very engaging. He was funny and his overview of UFOs in pop culture, leading up to the abduction phenomeana, was an excellent choice for the festival. We left towards the end, and so I didn't get to hear the last of Jacob's presentation.

I enjoyed Jacob's but wonder at his conclusions regarding the Contactees. He dismissed them as charlatans, and while he was funny doing it, I wondered at his easy rejection. Jacob's has said in the past that, as a history professor, he approaches the UFO phenomena from that perspective. That makes a lot of sense to me. While I don't agree with Jacob's on the abduction phenomeana (because I don't know what to think) I understand where he's going. Given that approach, why doesn't Jacob's see that there's something more to the Contactees than just a bunch of kooks?

Back to the McMenamins Hotel Oregon. Most of the rooms are just a room, bathroom down the hall. There are some rooms available with bathrooms, but those were booked long ago. Thank god the bathroom (very large, with showers, etc.) was right across our room. There's free Wi Fi, always a good sign. If you sign up for the UFO Festival package, it includes dinner and breakfast (good food), tickets to the speakers, two glass tumblers with the UFO Festival logo, and silly and fun bobbing things to wear on your head (yes, of course I wore mine!) There were also book displays, including Peter Robbin's collection of vintage UFO books and comics, a masquerade ball, and the alien parade the next day.



The McMennimmin's do beautiful and charming work; they retain the original features of the places they buy, and add their own touch. If you live in Oregon, or visit, try to explore one of their places. (The McMenamins in Troutdale is amazing.) Doors and walls are painted with original paintings of local artists. Many of the paintings, quotes painted on the walls, murals, etc. have to do with the history of the place. For example, two of the paintings on two of the doors are of Mrs. Trent, surrounded by her rabbits, looking up at a UFO, and one of the reporters who first wrote about the case.

Later that night we went one of the four bars inside the Hotel Oregon. It was much quieter there and the only people there were Jacbos and Davenport and several others at a long table. The next morning at breakfast Davenport came down and sat in the booth next to ours. We hadn't signed up for the full two day package, so didn't attend the morning panel. I would have liked to have stayed for that, but being it was short notice we had to get back to Eugene.

As rushed and crazy as it was, and despite the "doh!" moments, like no camera, etc. it was well worth it. We both plan to go next year, and this time sign up for the full two night package. And sign up early!

Edited to add: We reserved a room (no bath, those are already booked for next year!) for two nights. See you there next year.

McMenimins UFO logoimage source: http://www.ufofest.com/ufofest07/

Peter Robbins:
http://www.jerrypippin.com/UFO_Files_peter_robbins.htmC

McMinnville UFO Festival:
UFO Fest.com
http://www.ufofest.com/ufofest07/

UFO Fest! McMinnville, Oregon

Summer seems to be the time for UFO Fests around the country.

The 8th annual McMinnville, Oregon UFO Fest is this weekend. (May 18-19) The festival takes place in McMinnville, home of the classic 'Trent Farm' UFO event in 1952.

I'll be able to make it this year and I'm looking forward to it. A last minute cancellation happened, so we were able to book a room, which means I'll be able to attend the talk by Dr. David Jacobs Friday night.

I'll be blogging those two days about the event, with lots of images to share.
For information on the festival, including schedule of events, visit:
http://www.ufofest.com/ufofest07/