Emma Woods: Paranormal Traces

Emma Woods has a YouTube channel: Paranormal Traces. And do not think Ms. Woods has gone away -- she has not. Much to come on not only her own experiences with the discredited David Jacobs, but … well, more to come.

Entering the Orb: The Rocky Place - Aliens Not Ghosts

One recurring dreamscape: a large, open home in a semi-wooded area. Towards the back, it's seen the house is up against a rocky wall, cliff like. The ocean, or water, behind and below.

The house has large, open rooms, rarely a door, just extra wide doorways. In one room, you can see clearly through to the other room (s.) And beyond, the rocks, the water.

These dreams never have anything to do with UFOs or even the esoteric (though sometimes, art is involved; people I know who create, including myself, congregate) yet somehow, I had the random realization the other day that these dreams -- this place, this subconscious location -- has a lot to do with UFOs. 

Then, this dream the night before last:

I'm here, in this wide open house of white walls and no doors, highly polished wood floors. I see amber and golden lights, orbs, things are glowing from within. Disembodied voices. Attacks from invisible entities. Obviously the place is haunted. I don't much like this, and I think, "Funny, this kind of scene has never happened before here in this dreamscape." I continue through the house, towards the back, towards the rocky hill and the water below. It's usually nighttime at this point. I have another in dream awareness moment: that it's often evening, at least, in this house when I reach the back. It's usually pleasant, and never hints of anything ghostly. But not tonight. Tonight it's haunted. Glowing lights. An intelligence lives inside those lights.

I don't like this, and want to get away. Some ghosts are fine, some are not. These are not. The glowing, the moving lights, the voices, all of it, are strange, and very very unpleasant. I want to leave, but don't know how. They're everywhere, and don't want me to leave.

Suddenly, and I don't know how or why, it becomes clear: these are not ghosts, not spirits, this is no haunting. But aliens. UFOs. Extra terrestrials having some bit of fun posing as ghosts, but it goes much deeper than that.  It's as if the aliens can't show themselves as they are and have to use the whole haunted house motif as their cover. This both scares me as well as irritates me. Stop playing games with me! I tell them. As if they care. They continue, sneaky softly glowing lights moving through the night.

So, another dream of my invisible aliens. Coincidentally, my current article in UFO Magazine discusses a dream I had after a UFO sighting at the home of an artist I knew. The dream involved that artist and our observation of UFOs. I didn't know that was the piece Nancy Birnes, UFO Magazine's editor, was going to publish this month.

Book Project: Entering the Orb

I've begun a new project. Not sure yet how I'll end up doing this; interactive, as Nancy Birnes suggested, e-book, Kindle, self-publish, blog, pay per installment...so many options. I think, however, that it will be in a sort of journal format, fairly traditional in terms of publishing (e-book/Kindle/self, or through a publisher) with segments posted here at The Orange Orb.

So here it is, working title: Entering the Orb: A Couple's Journey into Missing Time, Screen Memories and UFOs.

Jim and I have decided, spontaneously and independently of each other, to go through some kind of regression and retrieval process to find out what happened during our missing time experiences. We've agreed that we would not share what we found out about our own experiences until all the work has been done. We don't know yet if we would see different people, or the same person. If we saw the same person, there's the possibility that person would be unconsciously influenced by the both of us.  Than again, maybe not.

A lot of this is absolutely trust based. How can we prove to others that we're telling the truth when we say we won't discuss with each other what's been discovered, until it's all done? We can't.

There's also a large issue of vulnerability here. Some possible causes for the missing time episodes are obvious -- as in, oh my god they really were Reptilian Overlords. Other reasons concern memory. As you'll see in my next post, Jim and I have very different memories of one of our missing time events. Clearly, one of us is wrong. So why the difference in memories? And if it turns out the cause for missing time isn't UFO related, alien related or some other esoteric or metaphysical cause, then what, and why? Are we unstable? Did someone drug us? (If so, why, and that's certainly scary on its own.) I could handle any of those, (I think) but what I don't think I could handle is the possibly we made it all up. Unintentionally of course, but made up nonetheless. If that is so, why in the world would we do so? That in itself is intriguing.

Brazen Hussies Invade Earth! Serious UFO Research Attacked!

 Cigarette Smoking Woman Single-handedly brings down UFO research! In her slip, no less!

Disclosure:  I write for both the on-line 'zine, UFO Digest, as well as the print publication UFO Magazine. 

When Deirdre O'Lavery of Interstellar Housewife and JAR announced she was UFO Magazine's newest columnist, I was thrilled. She shared some of her ideas for her column's title with myself and a few others, including fellow UFO Magazine columnists Lesley Gunter at The Debris Field  and Alfred Lehmberg of Alien View.  The one column title that really said "Deirdre" to me was Saucers, Slips and Cigarettes, which is the one she chose.

A member of the Stuffed Shirt faction of the UFO Police doesn't appreciate Deirdre's cheeky 'tude, the brazen hussy, she.  David P. Kuhlman, FFSc, in his article for UFO Digest (UFO Mag Columnist is an Insult To Readers,) tells us why O'Lavery's column is offensive. Clues to Kuhlman's personal philosophy can be found in comments like the following: 

Do people give in to secular pressures, which can change the outlook and product for everyone? [bold and italics mine]

Indeed, in another article he wrote for UFO Digest; An Alien Reasoning, Kuhlman wrote:

I am a Christian. I was brought up through the years in church and I have strong roots with all Christian beliefs. I believe in God.

The use of the word "secular" in this context is clear: Deirdre O'Lavery has been seduced by the devil and away from the light, and is bringing the rest of us down with her into the roiling pits of hell.

John Collier, Lilith, 1892

Kuhlman goes on for quite awhile discussing what we all know far too well: UFOlogy has a difficult time being taken seriously, hoaxes hurt us all, there are good researchers who are "respectable," but some are not, and they're talking the rest of us down.  One of those who are not respectable, writes Kuhlman, is Deirdre O'Lavery, who should cause us all not only "concern" but "out-rage." Something about slips and cigarettes causes Kuhlman great distress:

Paging through to the seventh one [column] I noticed an unfamiliar face, a columnist. It initially caught my glance simply because I am familiar with the magazines layout since I read it often, and I knew this was a new addition immediately. I was curious and thumbed back to the index page and sure enough, the magazine had added a new columnist to its list, Ms. Deirdre O’ Lavery, Hmmm… never heard of her. Instantly I knew this was the place to start my reading journey through this months issue and quickly paged back to the column titled “Saucers, Slips, and Cigarettes”. That is where my blood began to boil!

I understand not liking a column, but really, his "blood began to boil?"  Sex, -- especially the "wrong" kind of sex, as in, anything you don't approve of between consenting adults -- is clearly the issue here, not UFO research. Women should be demure; we should speak softly and refrain from being sassy. Especially if we're wearing underwear. (Note to Kulhlman: some people prefer that kind of thing.)

The title of the column was strange I thought after reading it, it really didn’t seem to “fit” a serious publication on UFO research, but sometimes the title is to get the attention of the reader and it certainly did its job there and at least one word did correlate with the cigarette hanging out of the side of Ms. O’ Lavery’s clown painted, rose red lips. [italics mine]

Deirdre O'Lavery, get thee to a nunnery! And lest you think I am being overly flip here, Kuhlman himself is serious; of all the things in UFO land to get upset about, he finds O'Lavery's "rose red lips," cigarette smoking, and use of the word "slips" to be the targets of his repressed and misogynistic outrage:

"I have never been more agitated at any other piece of writing on UFOs than I am on this one . . . As I read I was disgusted and nauseated at her attempt to break the ice with the reader. Foul language and an utter sense of ignorance and disrespect to serious readers was her route. She goes on to write her column like a heathen speaks. [italics mine]   

He was nauseated? And "heathen?" "Heathen?" Did he really write that? Yes, yes he did. 

All that mishegas aside, he completely misunderstands O'Lavery's column, focusing instead not only on her lips but her "drunkenness":

Can people really take the UFO phenomenon seriously when it is painted that only sorry drunk people with no life dabble into this subject? Folks, this article is a disgrace to everyone that considers UFOlogy worth of investigation!

Kuhlman borders on the libelous; if it weren't so damn funny, it might be of concern. He not only finds Ms. O'Lavery "drunken," and what not but also believes she should be shunted off to the nut house:

She is certifiable for this piece of worthless paper with all of her slang and ignorant insight.

Her "slang?" Hey Daddyo, you sound like a real square!

Of all the columnists that write for UFO Magazine, this is the one that has caused Kuhlman --- after just one column! -- to stop reading the magazine altogether. If O'Lavery's one column can upset a supposed UFO researcher so much that he writes a rant about it and demands a "formal apology" from the publishers, then Ms. O'Lavery is one hell of a writer!

Painting by James Rich

One last point about Kuhlman's apoplectic response to Deirdre O'Lavery: he includes all of "us" (well, except for O'lavery) in his rant, beginning with his title: UFO Mag Columnist is an Insult to Readers. No, Kuhlman, it's not an insult to all readers; not to me, obviously. Speak for yourself. Clearly it's an insult to you, and possibly, to some others, so be it. But don't include me in your campaign to rid UFO land of Ms. O'Lavery. This is the problem with the UFO Police; they expect everyone to join them in their outrages and edicts about what they perceive to be right.

Congratulations, Ms. Deirdre O'Lavery, for bringing UFOlogy down to such a shameless level with just one column!

Airship UFOs and Dreams

Recent posts at the C Influence about air ships reminded me of some of my own experiences in my personal UFO journey.

I have a lot of recurring dream landscapes and imagery; shifting, ever changing sets, like the production stages in movie making, or sets on stage of a theater. One of the constant images and sets has to do with UFOs. It's a specific image, always the same, and it always occurs in the same place. That place is in front of the house I grew up in in Los Angeles. The time is always the same as well; night.

I've had this dream for as long as I can remember; just popping up now and then in my subconscious, even up to the present. And while it's a dream, and remembered as a dream, there's the other thing: memories of an actual, literal event. Not remembered as a dream, but as really happening.

My Invisible Friends: Floating Out the Door
The real event I've discussed many times on-line and on podcasts. (You can hear more about this on the podcast Jim and I did with Bill and Nancy Birnes on Future Theater.) Briefly; I'd wait in my bed, flat on my back, for "them." They were invisible, kind of sort of, but small, happy spindly things. My "friends." I had to be still, on my back, at night in the dark, the bed, and focus on the yellow beam of light under the bedroom door. Then they'd come, and float me out through the door, down the little hall, out that door to the living room, and out the front door to the big tree on the corner. The big tree was a huge fir tree on our neighbor's property, and I'd have to wait up in that tree for the ship to come.

The Dream
My dream begins with me either out on the sidewalk, or in the tree. The sheer exhilaration of looking up at that rich Prussian blue sky, and the dusty sparkling stars, which are so close, is almost too much for me to stand. The anticipation, waiting for "them," is exciting and pleasant.

Soon the ship comes. The description sounds downright silly, but it's what I've seen many times. In the dream, the ship makes me happy. Sometimes a little sad. Not sure why it's a little sad, maybe because it's, they, are going away, and I'm not.

My ship was like a basket, with an inverted bathtub over it, a domed type covering, yet the thing was open. Sometimes the bottom part was made of planks of wood, like a wooden fruit crate, but still had the bathtub type covering. The beings in it were small, but adults, and human looking enough . . . almost. While human like in many ways, they weren't quite human. Not exactly.
As I said, silly. Steam punk, old fashioned, and reminiscent of air ships. As I say, I've had both the memories and the dreams, forever.

Raymond Fowler Comments on UFO Magazine's Woods/Jacobs Stories

I commented in the previous post about Jeremy Vaeni's excellent article concerning Emma Woods and David Jacobs in the current issue of UFO Magazine. In that post I wrote how discouraging it is to find that few in UFO Land and research have responded to this episode, and how, it seems, when such response is given, it's usually a knee-jerk, protective response to Jacobs, and often a dismal and slightly bewildering/scary misogynistic reaction to Woods.

But there are some in the UFO culture who aren't afraid to be vocal. One of them is from researcher (and experiencer himself) Raymond Fowler, who shared his comments about the Vaeni article for UFO Magazine's blog. (Comment from Raymond Fowler on the Emma Woods article) In that piece, Fowler wrote:

I found it incredible that he actually believed that his [David Jacobs] life was in danger from the very entities that he may have created himself. ...  Rather than conforming to the so-called party line critics  should at least be open to the possibility that Emma is telling the truth and be willing to examine both sides of the question objectively. ...Thus far (based on the contents of the article) I am disappointed in the way Jacobs and reportedly how Hopkins have reacted.

Good for Fowler for those comments which you can read on the UFO Magazine blog.

In UFO Magazine: Jeremy Vaeni's 'Aliens vs. Predator: The Incredible Visitations at Emma Woods

There is so much to say about the fantastic article by Jeremy Vaeni in this issue of UFO Magazine. (Aliens vs. Predators: The Incredible Visitations at Emma Woods.)

But for now, please, please, go and get yourself this issue, and read the article. Vaeni has done an excellent job with unraveling the seeming madness that is David Jacobs, the always precarious method of hypnosis used by some researchers to get at the submerged bits of missing time and nebulous memories of aliens, examinations, trips aboard saucers, and all the rest of "Abductions 101", and subject/witness Emma Woods.

From the beginning of this episode in UFO culture, I wondered why there wasn't more outcry from the UFO community. And yet, there still isn't; what there mainly seems to be, still, are a few stubbornly standing up for Jacobs, and misogynist pronouncements about Emma Woods' sanity, and worse. Other than that, little has been really said about this.

Orange Lights in the California Sky

Reports of orange lights in the skies of California come in from visitors to the UFO Magazine site.

Out There TV Synchronicity

Late last night I went searching on-line for a link to Out There TV, Kate and Richard Mucci's paranormal/conspiracy television program out of Nevada. (Kate also writes a column for UFO Magazine.) For awhile, one of the local little stations in my area carried the show; then they stopped, soon after, the station disappeared. They'd air on Saturday afternoons and other random times.

I hadn't thought about the show for some time, but for some reason decided to look and see what I could find. I didn't find anything.

Then this morning, I was startled as well as pleased, to find that another, teeny, strange little station in our area carries Out There TV; on Sunday nights, at 8:00 pm. Same time as the Simpsons, what to do? :)

Bill Birnes: Berlin

Bill Birnes, of UFO Hunters, has a beautiful and moving piece (it made me cry)about the show in Germany for the upcoming "Nazi" UFO episode, on the UFO Magazine's blog

Bah Humbug and More on Stepheville

I recently posted a piece about the
creepy beam" of light in Stephenville, Texas, aired on the UFO Hunters program last season on UFO Magazine's blog, The Green Room. A comment left: "bah humbug." Bah humbug?! On what; the light, my comments, UFOs,? LOL, I know, just a troll, still. . . don't you wish when trolls post, they at least make sense?

Lisa Shiel has a post over there on her UFO sighting while living in Texas, and a good comment full of data left by aliencontactee, so be sure to check that out.

UFO Mania!

Trickster's Realm
I got my dates mixed up and didn't realize my Trickster's Realm column wasn't due 'til next week, so no new TR today.

UFO Magazine's The Green Room: Stephenville Lights and the Creepy Beam
I do have something up at UFO Magazine's blog The Green Room: Stephenville's Creepy Beam: The Return of the Stephenville Lights and a Creepy Beam of Light

UFO News: They're Here!

"You sure don't look like an iguana." ~ V, 1983

Some amazing UFO news from a variety of places that seems to be just . . . there, here, on the Internet and in small places. UFO Magazine's blog has some interesting items on UFO news. We're in a UFO flap and have been for at least a year now. MOD and others are releasing their UFO files and basically are saying "Well, UFOs are real, and we don't know much what to do about it." It's exciting to those of us who are immersed in this world, but outside it's business as usual, and yet, "they're here!" and it all seems so . . . casual. And I think if the Big D (disclosure) would ever to take place, it would be in this way: just a plethora of quiet little items, casually dropped about but without any mainstream big time fanfare, until . . . "oh, yeah. the alien dudes. kinda freaky, huh?' and then back to work on Monday. We'll be going fucking nuts over this of course, including "told yas!" but the uber-skeptics would still be fighting with each other, with us, with anything that they even think gives off the faintest whiff of woo. Now and then there'll be something about "alien rights" akin to animal rights, or like something out of the television series V.

UFO Hunters New Season This Wednesday
UFO Hunters new season starts this Wednesday on The History Channel. 10:00 pm Eastern time.

In The Green Room: Yes, Yes, Yes! But . . .

I have a new blog entry on the UFO Magazine blog, The Green Room: Yes, Yes, Yes! But . . .

Vaeni On Dolan

In the April (2008) issue of UFO Magazine, contributor Jeremy Vaeni has an article about Richard Dolan: Praise for Dickie Dolan. In giving kudos to Dolan for his research, Vaeni also says:

He isn't all about compiling government documents -not that that's an easy task or one I'm taking lightly. I'm saying he's got more to his repertoire, and it's about damn time someone with genuine intellect,genuine curiosity, and the ability to sift through new data just sat down and considered everything anew.

Vaeni says what should be obvious, but to my constant surprise, isn't to many: that we don't know what the aliens are, are from or are up to, so any pronouncements about that are only speculation. Nothing wrong with speculation -- we need specuatlion -- as long as we remember that's all it is. Instead of asking, (or telling) others what we know about UFOs and aliens, we should ask, Vaeni suggests:"What do we know about us?"

Vaeni has been "crying this" for years, giving Dolan credit for also understanding this:

If anyone is qualified to ponder it, it's him. Why? Because he doesn't have his answer and he's not looking for it. He's looking, period. (italics mine.)

I like it!

Source:
Jeremy Vaeni in UFO Magazine, April 2008: Praise for Dickie Dolan, pp 28 - 29

UFO Mag Blog

Thanks to the efforts of Lesley and Nancy Birnes, editor of UFO Magazine, there is a new site/blog up where the public can participate. Take a look, read the blog entries,take part in discussions, have fun!

http://ufomagazine.squarespace.com/

From the UFO Soaps: Lehmberg on Brenton on Me on UFO Magazine on . . .

I try to avoid “fights” and all the stupid petty crap that goes on in UFOlogy. Try not to feed the trolls and all that. Though sometimes one has to hold them up while they squirm around for all to see. They can’t always get away with it.

But here goes. I’m doing this as a pro-active tactic; because you and I know, dahlings, there are those that despise Alfred Lehmberg, and myself (I know, it’s so unfathomable!) and so, in reading Lehmberg’s latest on Daniel Brenton and my recent UFO Magazine article (article is at end of this post) on Red Moon and Brenton, those trolls, thugs, snarly skeptics and uptight on - the - fence - sitters will say to themselves: “A-ha! Lehmberg has gone after Regan Lee! Regan Lee is a victim of Lehmberg’s wrath! Oh, what a delicious day!”

Oh big heaping stacks of moldy green bologna.

For one thing, we can all think for ourselves, thank you very much. I have great respect for Lehmberg but we disagree on a few things; Jeff Rense, for example. Big whoop.

I liked, Daniel Brenton, and when I wrote this article I meant every word of it. Then he got strange with a few people, myself included. It’s too bad, and I’m sorry it happened. But stuff like this does and will happen. I have nothing against him, per se. I don't agree with his call for some sort of UFO Oversight Committee, for example, but so what. We don't all agree with each other on things. So you can all go back to your caves and choose something else to gloat over.

Regarding what Alfred wrote, I have some comments. For example, I had to laugh when Lehmberg compared Brenton to cheese. Oh lighten up, it's funny!
...but one man's rotten milk is another woman's cheese... so maybe DB remains to be a good camembert. An especially soft and squishy one.

Okay, moving on...
I wrote, in the article, about Brenton's Signal to Noise project, which I took part, discussing the Contactees:

Daniel is optimistic, hoping that Signal to Noise will generate “. . . a model for working through a premise to a conclusion, or at least coming to an amicable disagreement.

”

And Lehmberg commented on that with his own remarks:

Lehm: Cut from the discussion with no fanfare amidst meepy protestations of my inability to be understood, he then whisper-campaigned behind the scenes subsequently subtly trying to get me disallowed from any discussion. So much for "amicable disagreement.”

True, now that time has passed. Oh well. And “meepy” is a great word.

Alfred wants to know why I went on about Brenton's book Red Moon; because it’s science fiction; what does that have to do with UFOs? he wants to know. Also, I suspect, often science fiction fans and writers, oddly enough, don't have much patience with UFOlogy. Well, the moon is a planet. We went there. (some say.) There’s aliens up there, I hear tell. And it has something to do with the plot of the book:UFOs. Although I do agree; I prefer none to very little fiction in magazines like UFO magazine. I want news, meat, personal stories, research, theories, not fiction.

Anyway, the point is, everyone's entitled to their opinion. And it’s irony in typical Trickster fashion my article on Brenton would appear the day after DB e-mailed me, all in a huff (Daniel, you did you know.)

As to the rest, all what happened on Culture of Contact, etc. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know. Can’t comment on that.

Well ladies and germs, the circus has once again left town, so go back to what you were doing, which, hopefully, is research, be it armchair or field, or just musing under the starry skies.

See Lehmberg:http://www.alienview.net/news.html

---

Daniel Brenton�s Signal to Noise

Daniel Brenton has a blog and it's called The Meaning of Existence and all that: The Odd Little Universe of Daniel Brenton. What makes his blog different from many blogs, is that it�s a very good blog. Brenton writes insightfully about what�s on his mind concerning UFOs, UFOlogy, and many other topics, including his own connection and responses to the spiritual or metaphysical side of things. But these things aren't the only reasons why his blog is among the best; it�s because he�s also a good writer.

Daniel is also co-author with David S. Micheals of the recently published Red Moon, a fictional story about finding a surprise on the Moon. Explains Brenton:

It's 2019, and a crew of a "return to the
Moon" expedition discover a Soviet manned spacecraft that's been hidden
for half a century. They discover it holds the darkest secret of the
Moon Race, which in turn may help them find an elusive lunar resource
that could very well be the last hope of humanity.

The book has been getting good reviews, including this one from Paul Levisnon, ex-president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America:

"This is not just among the best
first novels I've read in years, it's among the best novels, period.
Red Moon is a masterpiece."

Brenton gives full credit to David S. Micheals, saying:

"David S. Michaels was the real driving force behind it, but I feel my contribution to the book is still some of my best writing to date, I
think I can say with a pretty good sense of certainty if you start with
the novel at the beginning of the prologue and get to the end of the
first chapter, you'll either be hooked or you won't. I've literally
met only one person who didn't like it. I'm really pleased to have been part of writing this novel.

Brenton writes not only well but thoughtfully, which has led him to create something new: a sort of �point counterpoint� blog thing. Called Signal to Noise, Brenton hopes to offer his view on an aspect of UFOlogy on his blog, and another blogger respond on their blog. Sort of like a UFOlogical intellectual version of blog tag.

His first Signal to Noise was about the Contactees, with my response following on my blog Vintage UFO. In that piece, Brenton showed why Adamski and other Contactees could not have possibly traveled to other planets, given what we know about physics and space travel. To that I responded, "Well, der." Okay, I didn�t say that. But that's obvious, and focusing on that misses the point. If we take their stories literally, we're missing out on what the Contactees can teach us. Instead we're wasting time debating the logistics and reality of their visitations within the solar system.

In other words, when it comes to the Contactees, I believe them. I just don't take them literally.

Signal to Noise
I asked Daniel what he hoped to accomplish with Signal to Noise? He stressed the importance of "reflective discussion," and underscores the word:

I'd like Signal to Noise to be a place for reflective discussion:
"underline dis-cus-sion. There are so many fronts in this subject that folks can't seem to come eye to eye about. Having an ongoing dialogue
can be rewarding in a number of levels, let alone maybe even being fun
and can suggest ideas and approaches that the individuals may not have
come to on their own.

"
One of the things I admire about Brenton is his willingness to seriously consider those aspects of UFOlogy that are too out there for many researchers:

"There are a group of subjects under the UFO umbrella that strike me as being just too strange to be taken seriously, such as the whole Nazi
UFO thing, shapeshifting reptilian aliens ala David Icke, or the
Branton "Dulce Wars" material. Another: the whole Ashtar Command
"faith" is just too far into the "tin foil hat" crowd to even twice
about. And yet, maybe by raising the right discussion with the right
person something useful could emerge. Looking at the Ashtar crowd, for
example -- obviously someone takes this channeled information
seriously, even though most of these kind of things are full or logic
problems and contradictions. Why do these people take it seriously?
And more importantly, where does this stuff really come from?"

That last statement of Brenton�s is very important: . . . where does this stuff really come from?�
Daniel is optimistic, hoping that Signal to Noise will generate ". . . a model for working through a premise to a conclusion, or at least coming to an amicable disagreement."

Worthy thoughts, but as we know, and as many of us have experienced, there are many within and the outside looking in within UFOlogy who seem to desire the opposite. Like many of us, Brenton's been pretty much flamed for things he's written; what's irksome is that these people didn't take the time to fully read his work:

it was clear the people in question had simply given a
knee-jerk reaction to only part of what I had written without absorbing
the whole message.

Signal to Noise might help to be productive and constructive in the on-going discussion -- genuine discussion -- of the UFO phenomeana.

There are certain individuals Daniel has in mind that he'd like to see participate in Signal to Noise;author and blogger Mac Tonnies being one:

Mac Tonnies doesn't blog articles as such very often, but I'd be delighted
to work with him on pretty much anything.

Whoever participates, it's important, Brenton says,

that the right person is matched to the right subject for a constructive discussion.

Some researchers criticize UFOlogy for being the mess that they consider it to be. I don't consider it a mess, and the circus like atmosphere that's a part of UFOlogy is just what's to be expected. It's just part of the Trickster that's an inherent part of the anomalous, including UFOs. Still, some are bothered by this, including Brenton. In this we disagree, but that's for another day! The point is, Brenton has made some steps toward creating quality discussion, with honesty and sincerity, about the UFO phenomena. And no one can argue against that.

Notes:
Daniel Brenton: The Meaning of Existence and all that: The Odd Little Universe of Daniel Breton
http://www.danielbrenton.com/

Daniel Brenton and David S. Michaels: Red Moon, Breakneck Books, 2007

http://www.luna15.com/index.php

Regan Lee: Vintage UFO
http://vintageufo.blogspot.com

UFO Magazine Time!

My UFO Magazine hat arrived today. Thanks Nancy Birnes! You can see what the hat looks like by watching UFO Hunters with Bill Birnes on the History Channel, Wednesdays at 7:00pm PST, of course. Or visit Lesley's Debris Field blog, where she models the hat to simply effervescent effect, dahlings.

The new issue is now available, with articles on the Stephenville UFO sightings, Daniel Brenton and Red Moon, my column on Brenton's Signal to Noise and the Contactees, and the greatly titled piece by Farah Yurdozu: Mary Poppins, Alien Abductions, and Gurdijeff. (Farah, among other things, is a contributor to my blog Women Of Esoterica.) Lesley writes, in her Beyond the Dial column, on skeptics: Foo on the Skeptics, and Foo on the Debunkers. Right on Lesley. (Yes, I still say "right on." I'm old, I live in Oregon.)I liked what Lesley wrote about a recent Culture of Contact episode with Frank Feschino and Alfred Lehmberg:

Not only was the fantastic Frank Feschino on, but also my friend Alfred. I don't know very many of the other columnists here at UFO Magazine, but I do know both Alfred and Jeremy.

I was kind of half-hoping that Alfred would say something so outrageous that would make Jeff Ritzman turn purple but it didn't happen. Alfred was a total gentleman, as he normally is, or at least he has always been to me.

(I second that. Alfred gets a lot of grief from people who don't get him, don't want to get him, and started it in the first place. The difference is that Alfred isn't passive aggressive, while many people are. Then they act surprised, affronted, insulted, that Alfred calls them on it; and, overall, doesn't suffer fools gladly. That's my take anyway. Plus, he knows what he's talking about.)

Lots of other good things in the issue. My next column in UFO Magazine (also called the OrangeOrb) will be about Contactee Dana Howard.

Gleaning From “Numb3rs”

Is it ironic that a “scientific” TV show, appreciated by skeptics, is also one of my favorite shows -- and that I’ve gotten so much esoteric-Fortean use out of the show?

Numb3rs is a favorite show of mine. I like the combination of mystery, crime solving, science and mysticism. It’s also set in L.A., where I was born and raised, and I like the three lead mensch-like characters.

Besides entertaining me, Numb3rs has given me a bit of inspiration three times now for my esoteric writing. Awhile ago, I wrote an article about semantics and perceptions of UFOs, and used an example from a Numb3rs episode. In that example, the main character Don Epps, FBI agent, said, of UFOs: (paraphrasing)

“We don’t know what a UFO looks like, so how do we know one when we see one?”

That line inspired me to write several articles on the topics of UFO semantics and definitions, as well as denial and debunkery. (See my American Chronicle articles for more.)

In another episodes, the character Charlie Epps (Don’s younger, math genius brother) told his crime solving colleagues to “throw on more data.” The team was not making any progress in trying to solve a case; “throw in more data” was the solution. By including more data, the character explained, more patterns, more information, will be revealed, and the agents would get closer to solving the crime. That was the inspiration for a column I wrote recently for UFO Magazine: Throw On More Data:

What got me thinking about the UFO phenomena in light of Numb3rs was what the character Charlie (young math professor genius) said to an FBI agent when the agent asked for help in solving a mystery. No matter how many times the agent went over the data he had, he just couldn’t figure it out, yet he knew he could, knew there was an answer. If only he had the right formula, or was shown some way to get at it. The math genius told him to “throw in more data.”

Throw in more data. And by doing so, said the character, we can begin to see a “connectivity” between the clues that will lead the agent to his solution.

Throw in more data. And yet that what much of UFOlogy doesn’t do. We don’t see a “connectivity” because we’re divided, we argue, -- we downright fight and attack at times (forget the skeptoids,sometimes we’re our own worst enemies) -- we pick a theory or two and stick with it. More data, especially data that throws us off, is rejected. After all this time, we’re still arguing over nuts and bolts versus an ETH, or an ultra terrestrial theory. ~ (UFO Magazine, 2007)

This past Friday’s episode, about a serial rapist, served as another inspiration. It turned out the rapist had a MRSA (antibiotic resistant staph infection) STD. One of the agents, in explaining MRSA to her co-workers, said (again paraphrasing)

“There’s only one type of antibiotic that can kill it, but doctor’s don’t want to give it out.”

That line had me thinking about my own MRSA infection, the disconnects and jangled messages from various sources -- including doctors -- and so I wrote an article about MRSA and Morgellons and this oppositional juxtaposition in MRSA and Morgellons: Jangled Messages.(Hopefully it will be up at Book of Thoth in a day or two.)

So, thanks Numb3rs for your contributions to my continued inspiration!


Notes:
Image credits:
http://www.daemonstv.com/images/cbs/numb3rs1.jpg
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American Chronicle

UFO Magazine
Book of Thoth

UFO Magazine Editor Nancy Birnes on Bennett and Lehmberg

Yeah, Nancy Birnes!

Nancy Birnes is editor of UFO Magazine. In her editorial in the current issue, Nancy addresses the issue of complaints she gets regarding the magazine’s writers. Two contributors that seem to get slammed a lot are Colin Bennett, and Alfred Lehmberg.

Those two, by the way, are two of my favorite writers.

And yet, there are many who dislike one, or both, of them very much. Nancy, thankfully, doesn’t share those views and happens to think very well of them indeed.

She begins her piece by discussing the things we “hate” and that it’s helpful to turn that around. If we “hate” something so much, what does that say about the individual who hates the thing? A cliché, but a lot of truth in it; we project. (I’m still trying to figure it out in regards to my own self . . .)

Nancy suggests we hate things we fear, at times, but also things that we haven’t dealt with, that we find irritating for what it calls up within us:

“We’ve barely learned to read and we don’t cotton to fancy turns of phrases. We can’t carry a tune, so nobody had better be crying on with a loud tune-box on a busy Monday morning. “

(That last one; at first it seems just rude to blast your music on a “busy Monday morning” and it is rude. But there is also this; we’re rushing around on a Monday, much preferring that we didn’t have to at all, while the lucky bastard blasting his music gets to avoid all that rat race stuff. Irritation flung his way, if out of proportion, might say more about my anger that I’ve chosen to work a 9 -5, M-F, while music blaster man doesn’t. Or, if he does, he doesn’t take it all that seriously. Which is very cheeky, and makes one even more irritated.)

What do the Lehmberg and Bennett “haters” fear? If you dislike Bennett, Birnes suggests you

“read a little more history and a few less newsletters and you’ll come to see how eloquent and spot-on he is. We are truly honored that he’s writing for us.”

As for Alfred Lehmberg:

“Before dismissing his prose, consider adding a dash of poetry to your life, preferably of the epic variety. If you think he’s ornate and far too enthusiatic, consider the topics he tackles. He’s the loneliest voice on he planet when it comes to the sad John ford story, and yet he keeps on. He is a loyal solider standing in the eh rain like a movie samurai, and he is well - armed with an arsenal of wit.”

And then there’s this idea: don’t read them if you don't like them.

Jesters and clowns, priests and kings

Kings/Priests are Jesters/Clowns by Alfred Lehmberg of Alien View. (Alfred also writes a column for UFO Magazine each month.)It's a great piece, as most all his are. Here are two quotes from the post that resonated for me:
And it's not just a murmur of pique from some whacko, my interests sane, they are cited -- they're shared! The challenges challenged remain SO unchallenged; it's an ominous silence, and we should beware!

Tell me I'm crazy, a certified loony to have studied the things that I do -- as I have. Tell me the saucers that show up (so plainly) will only show up in a head that's gone bad.