Trickster's Realm: MIBS, Clowns and Helicopters

My Trickster's Realm column is now up at Binnall of America: MIBS, Clowns and Helicopters.

Things

Snarly Skepticism
Lots going on at Snarly Skepticism. I had to change the comment settings after getting a few nasty comments (ah yes, the ad homs and the skeptic!) so sorry about that, but there's three, four at least new items up there.

Vintage U.F.O.
I have something about creepy clowns on Vintage U.F.O., which fits in a bit with my Trickster's Realm column on Binnall, which will be up sometime on Monday. That column is about "MIBs, Clowns and Helicopters," inspired mostly by Tim Beckley's The UFO Silencers, but also Chris O'Brien's Mysterious Valley books.

James Rich, Artist
I've been shamelessly promoting my husband's work everywhere. He's finally finished taking images of his paintings and finding a good art hosting site at Yessy.com. He has literally hundreds of paintings, so be sure to check it out regularly; he's putting up images daily.

Lulu.com: E-Books
So are, I only have one little thing up there; a collection of articles on the Trent UFO case and the McMinnville, UFO Festival. I'll more things up there in the weeks to come. You can see what's available on my Lulu Storefront.

Appartions and UFOs and Control

The news that the Vatican will be, for the first time, officially investigating the apparitions at Medjugorje inspired this week's Trickster's Realm column for Binnall of America. It should be up sometime tomorrow, so look for it there.

Also be sure, as always, to read all the great columns, and listen -- for free! -- the podcasts Tim does with some amazing guests.

As to my article, on apparitions and UFOs, a book can be written on all the aspects. In fact, there have been several written! I just touch the surface of one . . .

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

New template, and new name, on my skeptic’s blog. It’s now Snarly Skepticism, and has some neat things, like the Bigfoot Threads on JREF and Still Counting on the menu on your right. (At last count I think it was thirteen.)

I’ve been having too much fun at Vintage U.F.O. -- lots of clips and things up right now. Nothing terribly insightful but fun. You might have noticed I made a slight change to that blog too; from Vintage UFO to Vintage U.F.O.

As always, I’ll plug Women Of Esoterica and Frame 352: The Stranger Side of Sasquatch.

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Still reading Andrew Colvin’s Mothman Photographer’s II, which I’m enjoying very much. This isn’t to say I always agree with Colvin on some things; he has some very firm opinions. I won’t mention names but he doesn’t like a couple of people in the field I do find interesting, and likes someone I had a very nasty private exchange with, who frequents a well known UFO list. But his experiences and take on things is worth looking at; and the book has a lot of stuff by John Keel, which is great. I still think, after all this time, much of what Keel has to say about things makes sense. (So there’s an example of an “old” researcher whose contributions may be “old” but they’re hardly without value.) If nothing else, the book is fascinating for its mind boggling world of synchronicities and complicated connections from one seemingly mundane thing to a paranormal, UFO, global Illuminati thing. You can see how this stuff could drive someone mad . . .

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The Contactees continue to fascinate me, and I’m just beginning to explore the idea of the time of their contacts. We think of the Contactee era has happening mainly in the 1950s and 1960s. But eras don’t exist in vacuums; any period in history overlaps with what went before, and what follows. Some of the Contactees experienced visitations earlier than what we typically think of as the ‘Contactee era.” What that could mean, I don’t know.

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I’m so busy with my own blogging and writing, and “real” life, that I don’t acknowledge all the others who do great work -- and for free, which shows I’m not the only one obsessed. All the individual bloggers, listed on my links list, but also forums and places like Book of Thoth, or Binnall of America, or UFO Digest, or Stuart Miller's Alien Worlds. And Greenwald’s Blackvault. The Anomalist as well, even though they’re a publisher, and do make some money; but it’s not as if they’re all buying villas in Italy. All those places give the rest of us daily news and links to the realm of the weird, which is pretty neat.

And of course all those individual bloggers; that’s why it annoys me so much when people start writing about how others are wasting time, or should shut up because they’re not saying the “right things” about UFOs. Or worse, when they get downright insulting. No, you shut up. Neener neener. So there. Feh!

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Have a good week!

Random Things

This whole Anonymous anti-Scientology wave has me a bit nervous; as I've written here recently. I rant some more on it on my blog

Chronic Skepticism. (Which I'm thinking of changing to 'snarly skepticism.")

Usually my Trickster's Realm column for Binnall of America appears on Mondays; this week it will go up sometime today, Friday the 14th.. As always, be sure to read Lesley's Grey Matters, Khyron's The K-Files, Tina Sena's Esoterica, and Richelle Hawks Medusa's Ladder.

I'm pushing Mating Hedgehogs. So much over there, and yet so lonely . . .please, visit this wondrous quirky blog and give it some hope?

Trickster's Realm: UFOs and Military Exercises: Is This Supposed To Make Us Feel Better?

My new Trickster's Realm is up over at Tim Binnall's Binnall of America:UFOs and Military Exercises:
Is This Supposed to Make Us Feel Better?

I Dunno . . .

You might have noticed I haven't been posting much recently. A lot of reasons; feeling that crud thing going around, MRSA infection, work, and the New Year. I don't know why, but the New Year thing always gets me down. I don't like it. No matter how crappy the old year was, I don't want to let it go. Or maybe I expect too much from the beginning of the New Year; yet it stays the same. I don't know what I expect, January isn't even over and we have eleven months to go. I dunno . . . can we say "ambivalent?"

Trickster's Realm
Anyway, I feel myself getting back to normal. Look for my new Trickster's Realm column to go up sometime tomorrow on Binnall of America. The article is about We TV's program Alien Abductions: True Confessions.

New Blog
Yes, it's true. Trickster Northwest, focusing on UFO and paranormal things in the Pacific Northwest.

Dana Howard
Synchronicity is still happening around Dana Howard. Co-blooger Richelle Hawks over at Women Of Esoterica found this tee-shirt. She also mentioned to me she found a signed edition of a book by contactee Dana Howard; I'm jealous! I recently bought one of her books as well; I found it on eBay. And more synchronicity; it was the only Dana Howard book listed on eBay, and the bookseller was right here in Eugene, about two miles away from me. Somethings telling me to pursue this, I think.


Frustrations
With MP3 players, CD drives, and software. Nothing at all to do with the paranormal or UFOs unless you think my laptop is haunted, or being controlled by MIBS from their remote location inside an unmarked, black helicopter. Nope, just had to share. I have a Mac, believed the computer geeks who insisted the SanDisck would play on my Mac, which it didn't, even after the Lepoard upgrade, now the CD drive is acting snooty. Sigh.

Sunday Orb

Vintage UFO
Seems I’ve been productive with anomalous stuff and yet not producing much at the same time. A lot of it has to do with working full time and health. And yet I’ve managed to start up another blog, which I’m liking very much: Vintage UFO. Among other things, right now there’s a YouTube video of UFO Mystic's Greg Bishop in front of the Integraton at Giant Rock, California.

Tim Binnall and Binnall of America
As the earlier post below urges, contribute a little something to Tim Binnall’s website. He does an incredible job of bringing us anomalous junkies podcosts, columns, etc. every week. All for free. It takes a lot of effort and expense to do this. So any bit helps.

Oregon UFO
One UFO sighting making the news lately is of a couple in Albany, Oregon (roughly 60 miles north of me) who saw a UFO at night while they were out smoking (cigarettes, no lame drug jokes please.) The UFO split into two; shortly after they saw an orange orb fly very close to them, emitting sparks. What’s intrigues me most in some ways are some of the comments made about this: that this isn’t news of any kind. The fact that there are weird, unidentifiable things in the sky doing odd things is far more newsworthy than anything about Paris Hilton. Much more on this to come: concerning this case, related cases (including my own) and the mindset that is so jaded it can’t muster interest in machines above our heads.

Classic Abduction Scenario
One thing I’m working on, and might put it up soon, possibly for UFO Digest, if Dirk will kindly have me, is the idea I’ve been abducted. I don’t have this idea mind you, but others do.

Blogs
Reminder to check out my blogs: Women in Esoterica, Mating Hedgehogs, Vintage UFO, and Frame 352.

Support Binnall

Tim Binnall, who runs the Binnall of America website, does an incredible job. His site is well put together and has a lot to offer: forums, podcasts, articles. Yes, I write for him; my column is Trickster's Realm. But that's not why I'm shamelessly plugging his site.

Tim consistently brings the rest of us great interviews with the top researchers, writers and thinkers in esoterica. He's into it all; UFOs to Bigfoot, and everything in between. He knows his stuff and has a nice style; he asks good questions, yet allows the person he's interviewing to say what they want to say. (He also does a nice job with the music and intros.)

And he does this all for free. He puts an unimaginable amount of time and effort into all this, and does a great job. Again, for free. Like others, Peter Davenport of NUFORC, John Greenwald of Black Vault, UFO Digest, etc. Tim provides us anomalist junkies with a quality resource for free. (Are you listening C2C?)

Tim, like many (Greenwald, etc.) do ask for donations. He has a PayPal button on his site; easy to do. So I urge those of you who can to donate a little something towards the expense of keeping Binnall of America going. There isn't anything as too little; after all, $5.00 is better than no dollars.

Sunday Orb

Shameless Pleadings

Read my Bigfoot blog. Link to it, Favorite it on Technorati, talk about it. Leave comments. Enjoy. Or even if you don’t.

My Bigfoot blog Frame 352: The Stranger Side of Sasquatch.

And Shameless Self-Promotion:
I’ve submitted a piece to the Book of Thoth site: They Want to be Seen, Not Discovered. No guarantee it will be accepted, but hopefully it will be, so look out for it.

On UFO Digest is my piece
Disingenuous Infiltration on the unethical tactics of Abdullah Hashem and Donna Bassett. Yes, both are “old news” but that doesn’t mean anything.

Currently on Trickster’s Realm for Tim Binnall’s Binnall of America is my piece on the Trickster: No Mere Prankster. (and I must say I was very jazzed about Brad Steiger's nice email to me about the piece.)

In the current issue of UFO Magazine is my article on The Purple Road, about my New Agey self.

Ghost Picture Contest
Lesley of The Debris Field has her ghost pic contest going again. I entered a photo I took a few years ago at a local cemetery. Be sure to enter; it will be fun to see all the ghostly images!

Recent Orb Postings


I'm still reeling from Noory's Flintstone comment.
The UFO footage from Venezuela does seem too good to be true, as one person commented, it could be a blimp. Whatever, it's unlikely it was a flying saucer from outer space.

Ideas

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.—Aristotle

I lifted this quote from Lisa Shiel's Bigfoot Quest blog. I like this quote, and think it's important in any area,includng the UFO and esoteric realm. How else are we to get anywhere if we don't allow ourselves to consider other ideas, perspectives?

Along these lines (well, to me, after all I'm a Pisces so I think a bit off kilter) is what Tim Binnall said in his interview on the Blue Rose Report podcast recently. He said, of UFO studies and theories and choosing a "side" to be on, that:
"There aren't any sides, it's a circle." I probably have that wrong, but that's the gist.

I can delve into Reptilians and Nazi gnomes living inside the earth without literally "believing" in such things. Or explore the Contactee movement without believing that Adamski, Fry, etc. really rode in a spaceship to Venus, or over the United States. That's not to say they were lying - and here's where this idea of entertaining ideas comes in. It's not always such an easy dichotomy when it comes to this arena: either or, black white, literal or not, etc.

So many are still stuck on nuts and bolts vs. the mystical, the ETH vs. anything else. Roswell as the great answer to the puzzle.

Speaking of Roswell (I know,I'm sorry) there are those who expect the answer as a salvation to the UFO enigma, and those who believe that, since Roswell is "dead" all of UFOlogy are dead. More of that either or stuff.

Binnall, in his interview, also stressed the importance of getting the views of international UFO researchers. Lesley (Debris Field, Beyond the Dial, Grey Matters) has done a lot towards gathering international research resources for our benefit. U.S. research and studies in this context needs the perspective of not only international researchers but multi cultural and minority researchers from within the states as well.

At the risk of sounding annoyingly multicultural p.c., I'll say it anyway: the views about UFOs and the paranormal our society has as a whole are held and supported (controlled) by the white dominant paradigm. (As is everything.) When it comes to the paranormal, to UFOs, to the weird in general, our infrastructure does its job: denies, and decompartmentalizes.

Most of this is a given in any culture, and due to the Trickster at work. Divide, invert, juxtapose, hide. And expecting it all to change suddenly because we've now included other views is like the naive expectations of the exopolitics people.

But it can't hurt. Anyway, what's the goal here? To change "them," or to change us?

Vivacious exchange of information and ideas doesn't mean, or guarantee, agreement. That's not the point. It might turn out I think a particular culture's mindset regarding UFOs is ridiculous, or pig headed, or weird. So what?

As the man said, we can entertain these ideas without accepting them. At least we've been exposed to new views.

Tim Binnall on The Blue Rose podcast

Finally got to listen to the interview with Tim Binnall, of Binnall of America. It's a good interview, I liked what Tim had to say about those in this field who think, or want, just one theory, who choose one side, to answer all things.

My favorite quote; "There are no sides, it's just round." Perfect.

You can listen to the interview here.

Lesley: On Air War (More on 'Smackdown')

Lesley, of Debris Field, Beyond the Dial, etc. actually heard the Streiber/Pinchbeck interview, Her comments are in this week's Grey Matters, her column for Binnall of America. As always, be sure to read the rest of the good stuff over there (including my Trickster's Realm, heh) and check out the forums too.

OrangeOrb Sunday Round-UP

Quote of the Day:
I'm compelled to my expression -- I call it a provoked obsession. ~ Alfred Lehmberg.

Speaking of Lehmberg, his blog is An Alien View. He also writes a column for UFO Magazine.

Paranormal Smackdown
My item ‘Paranormal Smackdown’ generated a lot of comments. Also over on The Daily Grail.

While my two cents (and that’s all it is, fine people, my two cents, just opinion and speculation) is that Whitley’s interpretation of “the visitors” is heavily influenced by his Catholicism. That’s my take on it; but others disagree. And while I have my opinion, I want to make it clear that that’s all any of us have. It’s easy to play armchair psychologist and comment on other’s interpretations and experiences. Some of us, myself included, can’t help ourselves, because we’re in the same boat as the person we’re commenting on. We’ve had our own experiences. We’re all just trying to figure it out.

Paranormal Meet: New Blog Site
The Paranormal Meet seems to be going strong; new members join every day. It’s good for those of us with established blogs, as well as those who might be shy or unsure about blogging.

Jacques Vallee on C2C!
Monday night Jacques Vallee will be the guest on Coast to Coast. This is such exciting news, I’m going to . If Noory is the host, well, it’s kind of like Jay Leno interviewing ... well, anyone. God help us. But I’ll listen anyway of course.

Various Items
Pieces that went up in the past couple of weeks, in case you missed them:
Trickster’s Realm on Binnall of America on weirdness on the Oregon coast. Look for my new column that should be up sometime on Monday on Glowing Bird Theory.

My thoughts on faeries and other entities on UFO Digest: When Entities Collide.

Still obsessed with parsing UFOlogical terms on American Chronicle: What is a Real UFO?

Vote, Fave, Join, Promote

Don’t be shy. Click on any of the green and white “Technorati” buttons on your right and make The OrangeOrb one of your “favorite” blogs.

There are also a few Yahoo groups you can join: if you have a UFO blog or site, you can promote it at UFO Blog Listings. If you’re interested in discussing aspects of Trickster behavior, join Trickster and the Paranormal. And if you live in the Pacific Northwest, or even if you don’t, you can discuss paranormal, UFO and Fortean topics in Oregon Forteana. The Yahoo buttons on the side bar on your right will take you there.

And just for silly fun, you can vote for the OrangeOrb as being the best pop culture blog, “freakiest blog” or “blog about stuff.”

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.

New Trickster's Realm on BoA

The new TR - my column Trickster's Realm - is up at Binnall of America. This week's column shares stories of not only a haunted house, but a haunted road. The whole area itself seems to be haunted, from the cemetery at one end, to the Indian (yes, cliche) burial grounds at the other end. Furthermore, the question of hauntings and other weirdness following a family is posed.

While you're over there reading TR, be sure to check out all the great material on Binall of America: Lesley's Grey Matters, among others.

Orb Roundup

It's time for blatant shameless self-promotion and reminders:

In the current issue of UFO Magazine, I share my thoughts on the Triangle UFOs. No conclusions, just musings. (Of course, if I, or anyone, had conclusions, there'd be no mystery.)

Frame 352: The Stranger Side of Sasaquatch, my Bigfoot blog.

Mating Hedgehogs, my other blog on: media, culture, sex, para-politics, Dr. Evils, Forteana, esoterica, paranoia, Genetic Food Manipulations, animal rights and welfare, art, feminism, Americana, and whatever else I feel like.

For Trickster's Realm on Binnall of America: Finding Sasquatch.

I'm also around on UFO Digest and American Chronicle.

Tim Binnall Answers Five Questions

Blogger and filmmaker Paul Kimball interviews Tim Binnall, of the Binnall of America website.

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.