Showing posts with label contactees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contactees. Show all posts

Friday, March 21, 2008

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.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Random Things

Women Of Esoterica on Untamed Dimensions
Richelle Hawks and I were interviewed by Adam Gorightly the other night for his Untamed Dimensions podcast. It was fun. You can listen to it here.

Texas UFOs
I haven't commented too much on the Texas UFOs, what's there to say? Everyone else is saying it. I did comment a bit on it on my recent Trickster's Realm column for Tim Binnall's site.

Binnall of America
Speaking of Binnall of America, I wore my UFOs Are Real; Get Over It hoodie sweatshirt today. Nice and cozy for a cold rainy Oregon day. No one commented though; however, this is Eugene, so not surprising. You can order cool things like the sweatshirt at Binnall of America. If you do, you'll be supporting the site! (No, I don't get a damn penny from them!)

UFO and Fortean Entertainment
Glad Torchwood is back for its second season. I love that show!

I didn't see the Sci Fi UFO Hunters; did watch the other one on History channel though. I thought it was interesting, but my first thought was "where are the women?" and the program's getting some criticism. I haven't delved into that much but whatever they may have exaggerated, or whether or not the entire thing was a hoax (hmmmm...) there are some very suspicious connections concerning the entire case. Typical UFO Trickster stuff to be sure.

Bigfoot Threads
What is it about the JREF (James Randi Educational Forum) and Bigfoot threads? They have something like eight seperate threads about Bigfoot. I comment here and here about the Bigfoot thread wackiness.

Books
I don't know if it's menopause (oh, grow up!) winter, working too hard or what, but lately I've been coming home and finding I'm asleep by 9:00 pm. I hate that! I have several books I'm reading, or trying to, but am slow at it because I fall asleep every night. Last night I fell asleep in Red Moon. That's the book written by David Michaels and Daniel Brenton. (Daniel has the blog The Odd Little Universe of Daniel Brenton.) It's well written and very enjoyable. Lots of twists and surprises. I also have some Mothman books I want to get to, as well as contactee Dana Howard's book Beyond the Valley. I'd like to finish them soon. Maybe I need more vitimins.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

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, July 22, 2007

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, May 27, 2007

MUFON To Collaborate on Abduction Reporting



The current issue of the MUFON Journal has an item about its “abduction experiencer referral relationship.” MUFON has partnered with OPUS (Organization for Paranormal Understanding and Support,) where calls concerning alien abductions will be directed to Lester Velez. Velez is Vice President of OPUS. He is also the Northern California Assistant State Director of MUFON.

As with MUFON, OPUS is a 501 (c3) nonprofit group.

The MUFON article states that the OPUS mission is:

“To develop a network of people dedicated to a better understanding of the overall nature of unusual/anomalous personal experiences and to support those who have them.”

What kinds of experiences fall into this category?

“. . . extraordinary states of consciousness, fortean, spiritual, or parapsychological phenomenon, close encounters with non-human entities, and/or UFO activity.”


By bringing together people with “opposing and often controversial views” MUFON/OPUS’ intent is to gain a larger understanding (including on the scientific playing field) of the abduction phenomena.

Notes

MUFON Journal, May 2007
OPUS and MUFON to Collaborate on Abduction Reporting

OPUS
http://www.opus-net.org

Saturday, May 19, 2007

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/

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Wild Women: More on that Elephant in the Room


Lisa Shiel has posted more on her earlier post on Wild Women; she discusses the response she’s received from both men and women, mostly positive. In
The Single Girl and the Sasquatch.
Shiel comments on the “lesbian” tag -- as I did as well -- that when others feel the need to insult and attack, they often throw out the term “lesbian” as if it’s an insult. Why would someone (usually male) call a woman a “lesbian” in order to insult? If one were a lesbian, what does it matter what she does in bed? Does her choice of sexual partner affect her brain cells? It’s not that it’s an insult, it’s just that it isn’t true (not that there’s anything wrong with that.) In their minds, “lesbian” is a slur, and can be translated as “man -hater.” (The thinking seems to be: if you’re sexually uninterested in men as sexual beings, then clearly you are also uninterested in anything else that is rational.)
Shiel points out an interesting bit of history:
I recently watched a documentary on the History Channel in which scholars discussed the original meaning of the word lesbian. The term referred to ancient Greek women who lived on the island of Lesbos. They were renowned lovers of men, not each other! I find this fact interesting, since these days people love to accuse strong women of being lesbians—which, to the name-caller, means "man-hater."

Along comes a poster, going by the name of “anonymous:”
Nah, nobody thinks you're a lesbian, you're just plain annoying. Playing the part of the woman-victim won't get you any respect from other 'researchers'.

But I guess it's easier to be a attention-seeking victim than re-evaluate your loony theories. Oh wait, you can't, because you have a book about it, and exposure/money is the apparent motivation.

Someone
else said it best.. Just because you can write a book.. Doesn't mean you should.

So, we have a new twist on the inaccurate lesbian slur: “victim.” This is a ploy used by chronic skeptics; accusing someone of “playing a victim” when the c.s. has been called on their stuff, or they simply don't like what they're hearing. In this case, the anonymous poster accuses Shiel of playing a victim.

I can’t speak for Shiel, but I will say that being forthright and addressing some of the crap pulled by the dishonest and immature is not whining “victim.” That is simply another inaccurate tactic used by those who disagree with someone; it’s an attempt to trivialize and silence.

Disagree with Shiel or any of the other “paranormal” Bigfoot witnesses; certainly one’s right to do so.

But really, try to refrain from stooping to the level of a grade schooler by insulting and accusing someone of writing books “to make money” -- as if...

Which Brings Us To the Making Money Slam

What’s wrong with making money? Wouldn’t most, if not all, of us love to make money -- our actual living -- from doing what we love most to do? And isn’t making money the American Dream? A solid all American, capitalistic thing to do? It’s positively patriotic, dahlings!

There are only two reasons why someone accuses people such as Shiel of making money as if it were a crime:
1. they think she’s an outright liar, a scam artist, a huckster.
2. they think she’s nuts. All out, far out, gone baby gone nutso.

If you think people like Shiel are lairs, then that’s your opinion. She could be, it’s true. Personally, I don’t think so, but that's’ my opinion. But if you do think people like her, who’ve had these kinds of experiences, are lairs, nothing much you can do about it. Not with out proof. Have any?

In this context of shape shifting beings and extreme high strangeness I’m reminded of Pamela Stonebrooke. (Reptilians, sex, etc.) I have my intuitive feelings about her, and wonder; and yet, her experiences do parallel others. Now it could be she’s taken this up for her own ends to further her career, it could be she’s telling the truth, it could be she’s a psy ops victim,it could be her interpretation of experiences on the astral plane, it could be a combination of those things, who knows. We don’t know. And all that aside, we need people like her for a variety of reasons: her story about her story is part of the Trickster comedy within UFOlogy, and that’s not a bad thing, nor is it a wrong thing.

If you think Shiel and others with similar experiences are loony toons, then why be so cruel as to attack? Do you attack people with diseases, or broken limbs? What’s to be gained from insulting, slurring and inaccurately portraying someone who is utterly bananas?

Those that stop to spend the time to write insulting comments (or worse, have blogs that spend inordinate amounts of time insulting and attacking those they consider “loony” for no reason other than to prove they’re not) are trolls, of course.
They’re also thin skinned and defensive of their own belief systems. What’s it to them if someone “believes” in ET, or that Bigfoot is a shape shifter? Well, it seems like it’s a very big deal for people like this that others believe these things. And, at least these money making, lesbian, man hating, victimized nut cases write on public forums using their real names in most cases.

(And some of us wonder why UFO and high strangeness witnesses don’t always want to let their real names or locations known to the world.)

I think it’s pretty amazing when anyone - whether I can handle their experiences or not, and there are many I can’t -- uses their real name, goes out there in the world, and shares their experiences with others. I’ve said that many times in this blog. And that’s why I offer support and encouragement, and urge others to do the same. We don’t always have to agree with each other, or even understand each other at times. But we can always learn, and that includes learning from those we have a hard time “getting.” (Like me and exopolitics.)

This realm is an amazing realm, and very weird things happen in it, despite the denial of many. Who knows what’s really behind that curtain; entirely possible what we experience is only what we think we experienced, or what “they” want to show us, or . . .endless possibilities. But hell, at least we’re looking. And we are also a little bit crazy: for why else would we put ourselves out there, in public, knowing that there will always be those who cannot get through the day without hurling insults at others?


We’re just trying to tell our stories, while dancing around that elephant in the room. And if we make a little money off of that, fantastic. Though so far, I don’t think any of us have been able to retire to that villa in Tuscany. With our men folk. Or, not. Either way, who we share our oversized fluffy beds under a canopy of silk surrounded by sultry cerulean skies with is nobody’s business.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

“Be Honest About What You See . . .” Cooper and Symington

Looks like both The OrangeOrb (er, me) and the Heavy Stuff blog were wrong; Anderson Cooper has picked up on the Symington story. Actually, to be specific, the author of Heavy Stuff wrote that Cooper probably won’t ask Symington who ordered him to pull that trivializing stunt with his aide in an alien suit. Good question.
While Cooper does a good job of reporting on Symington’s sighting and what Symington has to say without stopping to mockery or lame little green men jokes, he didn’t ask that question.

The Stories

“Be honest about what you see, get out of the way and let the story reveal itself.” ~ Anderson Cooper

When it comes to UFOs and related experiences (Forteana, etc) this is the starting point for all of us. For many of us it is all we have. It’s all I have, regarding my own experiences. I don’t have bits of a spaceship, a photograph of an alien (assuming those two things were ever part of the events -- who can say?) I don’t have “proof.” (See Stanton Friedman’s articles in the March issues of UFO Magazine and MUFON Journal for his perspective on the demands for proof.)

The more conservative skeptics, who are perennially affronted at the likes of us, basically tell us to just shut up. They have many tactics for doing this, including trotting out the more garish and embarrassing characters in UFOlogy as proof the whole thing is nonsense. They’ve set up a closed system: anecdotal evidence isn’t evidence at all, therefore unless you have bits of a spaceship from Mars, go away.

So while the anti-UFOists, the chronic skeptics, debunkers and the like continue to mock and chide, the rest of us are left with our experiences. Getting no help from them (quite the opposite much of the time) we’re left with a hodge podge of UFO witnesses. Some have mind up their minds, sure, and that’s not good. Some believe they’re been in contact with extraterrestrials, and maybe they have. Maybe the beings have told them as much. That doesn’t mean they’re telling the truth: they could be anything from a mind control black op Dr. Evil government experiment to inner earth entities. Whatever they are, those of us who’ve experienced weird things are trying to figure it out. And all around us are people who feel they have some sort of intellectual -- moral, even -- imperative to insult, mock and harass. Or we have institutionalized science telling us, from afar, what it is we experienced.

The majority of the time, all we have is anecdotal evidence. Intuition. Imagination. Our own inner dance. Perceptions. And while I’m not so naive -- nor ignorant -- to think institutionalized science should suddenly get happy and embrace these feel good concepts, it wouldn’t hurt for the individual humans involved in these projects to check in with themselves from time to time.

UFO witnesses, experiencers of the weird in general, need to tell their stories, and their stories need to be listened to without rancor or ridicule.

Notes:

Lesley, of Debris Field, has written her new column for Binnall of America will be on the Phoenix Lights/Symington revealation, but it wasn’t up last time I checked. Keep checking BOA though.
BOA: http://binnallofamerica.com/
Debris Field: http://thedebrisfield.blogspot.com/

Heavy Stuff blog:http://theheavystuff.com/

Sunday, March 11, 2007

“Mock Them As Barflies From Venus and Mars”



Alfred Lehmberg, of An Alien View blog, has written another great piece, this one on the perception by chronic skeptics who spend large units of time sneering at abductees. No understanding, just the lowest and easiest form of attack. I also saw this piece as a metaphor for other issues, including non-UFO ones.


“Forget that the saucers still fly in your skies; forget the abducted, and pretend that their cries... are musings of idiots, cretinous loons who scratch at your wallet then howl at your moon. But it's you, not *abductees*, "out to lunch" here today! It is YOU, and not them, sopped in naiveté!”


What is so often missed in all this craziness and high strangeness, is what it does to all of us, and why. I don’t pretend to know the “why,” and often am unaware of it doing anything at all to me. We need these experiences, whether it’s us that’s having them, or someone else. Among other things, these abductees, and encounters with entities, and all the rest of it, are gifts. Not just for the individual experiencer, but everyone. These “gifts” are not often appreciated, wanted, or even good ones -- give it back! But they are gifts, of a kind, reminding us that it’s not just us solid citizens out here doing the hard core reality thing.

These events have been going on for thousands of years, and we’ve been trying to figure them out -- or suppress them -- for just as long. Doesn’t seem we’ve gotten anywhere, and insisting that those that experience the anomalous are money hungry, emotionally needy, lying fruitcakes with mental diseases is getting a bit tired.

Thursday, January 4, 2007

An Open Letter to the UFO Community

From Daniel Brenton's 'Meaning of Existence blog.' As I said to him the other day, he says it well and clearly. And the more UFO bloggers that say this the better. (I also told him I say similar things all the time here; I'm just usually crankier.)

An Open Letter to the UFO Community.