Not for the first time . . .

 I've been saying it for years, as have others. UFO study has always been full of crazy, nutty, silly, slimy, hucksters, as well as racists, classists and misogynists. Always. And it still is, and always will be. It's a given. 

That's not bad. Well, no, wait. It is bad of course. But that shouldn't discourage us. Call them out. Fight 'em. Show them up. And then get on with whatever it is you're exploring. Don't let the creeps in UFO Land make you give up. Just accept the fact that that is the way it is.

Joe Simonton's Pancakes: Real Estate Hypnosis

 

Found this old issue of Flying Saucers (1962) in my files, with an article by Frank Patton who writes that Joe Simonton, receiver of alien pancakes, was the victim of a scam conducted by human real estate developers.

Wisconsion farmer Joe Simonton’s 1961 encounter with pancake gifting UFO occupants is a classic case. Typical seemingly non-sensical act by the aliens. It turns out that the pancakes -- Simonton referred to them as “saucer cakes” --  were of ordinary earthly ingredients. The non-human entities looked humanoid, and wore clothing. 

One theory as to what really happened: hypnosis. According to Patton,  Simonton was the victim of repeated hypnosis sessions by real estate developers who were planning to open an amusement park in the area. One of the attractions included a flying saucer. Simonton was hypnotized numberous times into believing aliens  presented him with pancakes. 

Patton overhead “several men” in a diner laughing and discussing their sessions with Simonton.

Patton believed many other UFO witnesses were also hypnotized by both humans and non-human entities, into believing their UFO experiences were literal events. 

Fringe Implosions

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

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

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

Sean David Morton busted for tax fraud. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

UFO Researchers, Witnesses: Learn These Signs of Psychotics, and, Beware Deviant Homosexuality

Because if you don't, that proves you are!

I do my best to avoid giving the verbose stuffed shirts at UFO Iconoclasts -- now UFO Conjecture (s) --  any attention, but sometimes one has to present the insanity in UFO Land to the rest of the inhabitants. Particularly so since so many otherwise reasonable researchers insist on playing with them.

Usually their posts are a form of UFO Guerrilla Theater. At least, that's how they see themselves; players in an unreasonable realm, (UFOs)  bringing reason to the rest of us deluded misfits.  Doesn't work; they're far too pedantic for any true surrealism, even while their spewing ends up being extremely surreal anyway. But that's simply a product of their clumsy hoax attempts (Trent photos, etc.) or dry and wordy laments about the time wasting study of UFOs. Even as they, themselves, pontificate thusly. (See what happens after reading their posts? One begins to sound like them.)

In a post dated earlier this month, they write about the inspiration given to them reading Hervey Cleckly, who wrote a  book on "homosexual deviancy" :

"The Caricature of Love by Hervey Cleckley (1957), a tome outlining the deviancy of homosexuality"

and found inspritaton in Cleckly's classic The Mask Of Sanity, (1941) outlining the traits exhibited by psychopaths. What does this have to do with UFOs? 
Well . . .

In a bizzare leap (told you they were surreal, in spite of themselves) Cleckley's book on psychopaths should be read by UFO researchers. The traits presented by Cleckly should be kept in mind when UFO researchers interview witnesses, or, when dealing with researchers themselves. 

(Remember, this is a book on psychopaths. Suggested for use in UFO Land. By a man who wrote about the "deviancy of homosexuality." )

Number six in Clecky's list is interesting here: "Lack of remorse or shame." In what context? Seeing a UFO? Studying the subject?  Oy. And so it goes. 

The jesters at the Conjecture(s) blog recommend UFO researchers learn about these traits:

"That UFO researchers do not have the qualifications, usually, to pursue personalities lies at the heart of the UFO dilemma, as it's UFO reports that make up the core of the UFO story, and that core is besotted by liars or psychotic personalities, telling the stories or asking the questions."

(Snarky little bastards aren't' they?) So that's why we can't get anywhere in solving the UFO mystery, er, "dilemma." And here I thought it was because of a tangled complex mass of cover-ups, misinformation, disinformation, religions, politics, infrastructures, fear, greed, misinterpretations, misunderstandings, manipulations, shadow governments, folklore, conspiracies,myth, power, corruption,galactic wars, vying entities, and simply not having gotten there yet in the whole magical mystery tour thing of mind, soul, universe and "them." When really, it's just been us psychos all along.

I don't think they're entirely serious; I do think they enjoy intentionally being ridiculous. Still, it is annoying. 

In UFO Land as well as the mundane world, psyopaths exist. This is news? It's good to be aware of the psychos among us. The more you know and all that. But really, the juxtaposition here of "psychopath" "deviant homosexuality" and "UFO witness/researches" is too much. 

Notice how I didn't link. That's on purpose. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

______________________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Further reading:

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

A Favorite UFO/Fortean Event: The Kentucky Goblins

A favorite anomalous event, one that remains a mystery more than fifty-five years later. That is the Kentucky, or Hopkinsville "goblins." Small, alien looking creatures terrified the Sutton family in Hopkinsville, Kentucky in 1955. Shots were fired, the sheriff notified. No one has resolved the mystery, though of course there are dozens of theories. And of course, the skepti-bunkies will tell you they've solved it long ago. (See debunker Joe Nickell's --"Mr. Owl" -- theory here.)

Were the Kentucky goblins aliens from outer space? Owls? Drunken, paranoid hallucinations? Elves? Inner earth entities? Two recent articles discuss this classic case.


Greg Newkirk at Who Forted? wonders if these beings haven't returned:Have the Kentucky Goblins Returned? Exclusive Photos! | Who Forted? Magazine Newkirk shares an email he received about strange creatures in the Kentucky/West Virginia area. Strange creatures that, the writer comments, seem to be coming from an "abandoned mine located on the edge of my property." Another email, more details, and... the strange path leading to the origin of a name. And, there are photos!

Newkirk asks the right questions. I empathize with his curiosity combined with skepticism. (I too have been contacted at times with tales of strange sightings and weird beings, but you always wonder if the person is honest, on crack, or what. The anomalous explorer wants it so much to be something to explore, and yet. . .) I think the first photo of the alleged being is outright fakery but really that's beside the point. In the true Fortean mileau, it doesn't matter.

Micah Hanks considers the Hopkinsville goblins as being of inner earth, and gives us more background on the original event:The Goblin's Grimoirie: Hopkinsville Reprised, or the Hollow Earth? Hanks references Newkirk's article and wonders if the beings weren't from innter earth after all.

Abandoned mines as homes for strange beings -- including Sasquatch -- a theory that has been discussed before. Wm. Micheal Mott wrote about beings living inside the earth in his classic Caverns, Cauldrons, and Concealed Creatures.

 

(Photo: Ivan T. Sanderson with goblin replica. Soure: http://www.johnkeel.com/?m=201204)

The Kentucky Hopkinsville goblins are often associated with UFOs; thought of to be aliens. There are similarities to the "greys" after all. (Assuming the greys are aliens as well.) But then we have other enticing ideas about what these "goblins" might be. Not from outer space, but inner earth. There's an idea these beings are aliens from space but also of the earth; entities of both realms. The Hopi tradition speaks of the ant people, who now live underground, but came from the skies originally. Descriptions of the ant people parallel the grays, and, the Kentucky goblins.

Here's an interesting explanation of the origin of the word "goblin" which contains a reference to mines:

Standard scholarship holds that English took goblin from the French gobelin. The problem with Goblin this is that, while Middle English had the word goblin as early as 1320, there is no record of the French word gobelin until the 16th century. Interestingly, a 12th century cleric called Ordericus Vitalis mentions Gobelinus as the name of a spirit which haunted the neighbourhood of Évreux. It is possible that gobelin evolved from the ancient Greek kobalos "rogue, knave", via the Medieval Latin cobalus. If so, it is related to the German kobold, and hence to the name of the metal cobalt.

German silver miners (that's German miners of silver, not miners of "German silver") named cobalt after the kobold, a "goblin or demon of the mines" as it was not only worthless but caused sickness. Nickel (a German name for "the devil") has a similar origin.
~ Source: Take Our Word for It.

Whether or not Greg Newkirk's contact was telling the truth or playing trickster, the idea itself is a valid one. Many traditions tell of entities that live inside the earth. It is possible the goblins seen that August night in 1955 in Kentucky were indeed inner earth dwellers.

(Updated) UK School Tells Students WWlll Has Broken Out

Another story from the UK about teachers playing mind games with students. In the past couple of years or so there have been several stories of English schools creating scenarios -- presented as being real -- of crashed or landed UFOs on school property, complete with local police arriving on the scene. One school had a crashed UFO scene along with claws and body parts of the 'dead alien,' along with the news that a teacher had been abducted by the aliens. ( see also my UK Still Staging UFO Crash Drills.)

Not all of these scenes were about UFOs. A teacher in Scotland told several students to quickly get their things together because they were being picked up and possibly sent off to an orphanage. Students were told their parents knew about this and had given permission for their children to be taken away:

Deputy head teacher Elizabeth McGlynn segregated nine pupils and told them they were to be sent away. After 15 minutes they were told it was all an act but that the role play would carry on up to lunchtime.


In a letter sent to council bosses, the unnamed mother said: 'Mrs McGlynn told the children they would probably have to be sent away from their families and that their parents had been informed about this and knew all about it.

The students were told they had to be segregated because they had "lower IQs" due to a "lack of sunglight in their mother's wombs."

Another staged event: the "murder" of a teacher on school grounds, which, naturally, severely upset students. Still another staged an "assault" on one of the female school employees, complete with fake blood on the ground.

In most of these cases, if not all, parents were not notified that  these little scenes were going to take place, permission asked from parents. Sometimes, the scenes were enacted while parents were there as volunteers at their schools.

Yesterday, news from the UK of a school who told students that London was under attack; World War III had broken out. The students were not just told this; they were shown footage from the Blitz in WWII and a tape of "Neville Chamberlain's war address" was played over the PA system to simulate real time news about "WWIII." Then, students were taken by teachers to a basement to hide:

Teachers then led them to a cellar when an air raid siren sounded and a firework was let off to simulate a bomb.

Headmaster Mike Richards is quoted as saying, many times over, that the exercise was to make students "sympathetic" to war victims. Studying WWll, the thinking behind this staged stunt was that students would really get it, since apparently Richards believed students were incapable of believing their teachers:

'The idea of it was to get the children to empathise with what it was like.  "The big concern we had was that the children wouldn't believe it.

Parents were angry and upset, students scared and confused.

In all of these staged events there are shared elements. The plot may differ: UFOs, government officials taking you away, murder, war, but they all contain the following:

An element of violent surprise.
Authority figures assumed to be trusted and respected (teachers,school staff, police) carry out these fake events.
Parents are not notified that these events are planned; permission is not asked for.
The local police are often involved; appearing on the scene, pretending to take part.
Specific character traits and emotional states are the target of these scenes:sympathy,empathy,feeling emotions, compliance, unquestioning volunteerism/work.

The rationale for given by schools for these events vary: sometimes it's to foster creative thinking and expression, in this case, make it real so students believe it. In other words: real (as far as students and parents know) events of a violent, unexpected and even bizarre (UFOs) nature are to be fully, completely believed, lived, accepted and experienced.

In the WWIII scenario,  the headmaster said the goal was to get students to sympathize with war victims. The Scottish school said they wanted "the children to experience an accurate emotional response."

Foxhill Primary school, where the fake assault on a female staff member was staged, justified their performance with the two layered rationale for these scenes; fostering creativity:

We wanted to give the pupils a topic that would inspire their creativity and their imaginations which is why the crime scene was chosen.

And unquestioning acceptance of authority and compliance, as well as overall moulding of state sanctioned character traits:

"This was also done to raise pupils' aspirations and to reinforce a positive view of the police and the work they do in the community.

Who is observing these reactions of children, and why? It is not coincidence; these scenes are part of a larger agenda. Individual teachers may think they are doing something creative and different for their students, but the curriculum and the nudges to enact it are coming from somewhere else, and for specific reasons. A desensitizing program; get children to feel comfortable with the abrupt intrusions of authorities, of violence, of the unexpected. But it goes beyond that; even more insidious is the trauma factor.

If students (and parents, by extension) are told that all these purposeful staged events are to foster trust in authority, that contradicts the fact the authority has just come in and lied to everyone. The message is: 'It's fake this time, but just you wait, next time it might not be. And we're the only ones around who can determine that."  Keep people nervous, jumping with anxiety, never knowing when the next assault, war, murder, or invading aliens will come.

Headteacher convinces terrified primary school children that World War Three has broken out | Mail Online

Shermer's Gorilla Suit Man

Michael Shermer, uber-skeptoid and professional debunker, did an experiment at the recent 2009 Science, Technology and Research Symposium in Charleston to show that Mothman (which he admits to knowing nothing about), Bigfoot (to which he says he does) and other paranormal/Fortean/esoteric/anomalous phenomena are figments of over-active imaginations, but more than that,illustrations of why we lie:

We already know that people lie; that happens all the time. ... The more interesting question is why do people fall for it," he said.

In other words, people who speak of witnessing UFOs or other strange events, are lying.

Sure, people lie about their experiences. They elaborate, embroider, exaggerate and outright lie. They hoax and they pull pranks. They're delusional and mentally ill, they're alcoholics and drug abusers. Some people. And for some people in that category, they present to the world tales of UFOs, strange creatures, aliens and visits to Venus.

Those aside, thousands upon thousands more people without that baggage -- and even with some of that baggage, does not automatically exclude the experience of such phenomena or cause it -- have encounters with the weird that cannot be explained by tired exercises into so-called rationality. Such as Shermer's. (Warning: ad hom ahead. "Smirking Shermer" as I like to call him. Come on, the man smirks for crying out loud. He's so taken with himself.)

Shermer instructs an audience to watch a video of basket ball players, watching for:

the number of times six young people passing basketballs, three of them in white shirts and three in black shirts. He asked the crowd to count how many times the three in white shirts passed the basketball to each other.

Afterward, Shermer had the crowd call out answers. Then he played the video again, telling everyone just to relax and not worry about counting passes this time. And to the amazement of many, about halfway through a person in a monkey suit walked from out-of-frame into the middle of the scene, paused, gave a friendly wave and then promptly walked off screen.

This proves, says Shermer, that people see what they want to see. Er, that means we don't want to see a man in a gorilla suit at the Lakers game?

What it says to me is this: when something weird and unexpected happens, especially in the midst of a mundane event, like a basketball game, we don't notice it. Which then means , that the weird, the unexpected, like say, a Mothman or a Bigfoot, even a UFO, goes right by us. It literally can be in front of our noses and we won't deal with the strangeness. In fact, when something highly unusual is going on, and the one or two people who do happen to be aware of it point it out to others, most people refuse to even look to see for themselves.

Shermer had his own out of body experience. Under laboratory conditions, don't you know. Which proves that no such thing as astral projection and OOBEs occur, since it can be recreated in the laboratory:

Shermer said he once had an out-of-body experience successfully recreated under laboratory conditions. It had nothing to do with his consciousness actually leaving his body.

This is another standard, and very tired meme of the uber-skeptic: that because something paranormal/anomalous can be recreated in the lab, it doesn't exist. Rather, it doesn't exist paranormally; of course it exists, they just recreated it! (The same is said of hoaxes, as the recent hoaxed UFO lights showed: to the skeptoid, UFO hoaxes "proves" that UFOs don't exist.)

Why do we insist upon "believing weird things" as Shermer so often phrases this conundrum of human existence? It has to do with evolution:

As for the reason people believe strange things, Shermer said it is rooted in humanity's evolutionary history and its psychological drive to connect invisible causes to the events around them. That movement in the grass may be the wind or it could be a predator.

Or fairies! It's fairies!

If we think of the movement in the grass as a predator, we're good ... Shermer concludes that if we think the worst: "better safe than sorry" then we believe that forces control the things we can't explain. Like a lion in the grass? Huh?

Shermer's presentation didn't prove a thing, but of course, the choir he preaches to think otherwise.

Soure: Science vs. ESP: Skeptic Ponders UFOs, Mothman

Sunday Orb

I forgot it was Sunday!

BIGFOOT
My Trickster Realm column for Binnall of America is on, now bet you can't guess . . . yep, that's right, the Biscardi Georgia Bigfoot Circus. I know, everyone has been commenting on this, including me. But this piece is inspired by a comment The Anomalist posted the other day: "have there been any positive takes on this story?" as well as Danielle Lee's piece on her blog The Spirit Guide, and Women Of Esoterica. So do I decide that I've been too harsh, too grumpy, too humorless? Read Turn That Frown Upside Down! and find out.

ANIMALS
Speaking of animals, (as we all are) I had a series of odd animal encounters today. I comment about them on Trickster Northwest.




PIN UP ART
Pin Up Art
Nothing to do with esoterica, UFOs or anything of that nature, but I'm shamelessly promoting Jim's artwork. So go take a look, okay? I suppose I have to put a warning and say that some of the work is "adult" so if you're offended by naked women, don't look. Visit James Rich Studio, also his gallery, with over 159 paintings, at Yessy.com.


PULP JELLO
Speaking of Pin Up art and such, I have a new blog: Pulp Jello. I had to have a place to indulge my love of vintage ads and cover art!

Image: The Brink of Sleep, original artwork by James Rich

Biscardi Bigfoot Circus

I can't take this. Does anyone else feel this way or is it just me? Frame 352.

Where Have I Been?

Sometimes I post every day, sometimes several times a day. Lately however I don't know where I've been. Around, just not here. And, for the first time ever, I missed a deadlne. Not only did I miss it, I forgot. Usually my Trickster's Realm column goes up on Monday, but not today. I . . . just . . . forgot.

I have been having fun with Mothman Flutterings. Also experiecing some strange things in relation to Mothman. Finished Colvin's Mothman's Photographer II and looking forward to his third volume, which should be out sometime this year, according to the blurb in his book.

Speaking of Tim Binnall (where Trickster's Realm appears) I'm listening to Adam Gorightly's interview with him right now. So far, great interview! I urge everyone to listen to it. I agree with Tim on his opinion that those who want to "clean up UFOlogy" need to knock it off.

And speaking of Adam Gorightly, there's a column in the current issue of Paranoia magazine written by Gorightly. It's all about Tuesday Weld and Hollywood and Druids. It's pretty fantastic; I wrote a little bit about it on Vintage U.F.O.

Those Spiky Drones

I'm not giving the whole drone thing another minute of my time. Oh, I'll still lurk around the topic, as I do with many of the topics that are a part of the giant multi-facted spinning thing called UFOlogy, but I'm not going to research it, read about it, or write about it. My time on paranormal, esoteric and UFO stuff can be better spent. (Something might catch my eye and I'll find I can't resist writing about it, but it'll have to be big.)

Whatever the drones are, they're not UFOs from outer space.

They're hoaxes. No one's come out yet with it, and maybe that's the evil plan; if it's a psy-op monkey wrench, they're not going to come out, their job is done.

If it's some sort of spy robot thing, then that's what it is. Lots of them around you know. We've been in big trouble for a long time around that issue. Which is a lot scarier and more tangible than UFOs from space. Forget the aliens, it's Dr. Evil Global Corporate Big Brother we have to worry about.

Hoaxing the Trent Hoax Theory

Read it now on UFO Digest.

Reminder To Self: The Trickster Is A Part Of It

Wow. Things like this, I keep reminding myself, are excellent examples of what I consistently put out there: that the Trickster is an innate part of the UFO phenomena.

Those videos of UFOs -- giant space machines just having a big party up there -- appearing on Rense.com lately? Some guy with a special souped up telescope managed to capture all kinds of craft missed by others with less magical telescopes. Well, according to the skeptic blog Forgetomori (“extraordinary claims. Ordinary explanations,”) in Walson’s World, the author comments that these images are one big hoax, and the person behind them, a certain Walson, is one big hoaxer. Maybe. Kind of. Or not. That is, if “Walson” is even his name. Or, hers. Whoever.

But, as readers of The OrangeOrb know, I’m paranoid enough to both believe a good part of this story as well as be suspicious of it, all at the same time.

There is a lot of tangled elements preceding the following, which I found extremely interesting for obvious reasons:

pringer, from ATS, claims that a license plate of a van in the video could be traced back to a company that is located near a military airbase. That, along with the refusal to disclose any actual details of their methods, led to the expulsion of one of Walson’s spokespersons (or Walson himself, who knows). The whole case is now tagged as a HOAX on ATS.

And plenty of stuff following that that is crazy interesting.

One small part of this whole thing -- whatever this really is, keep in mind -- is the time and effort spent on creating this, um, thing. Why? Is it that funny to the creator? Guess so, clearly someone found it amusing. I’m not not amused; just a curious observer. I just wonder at the expended energy in continuing a saga like this. What’s the payoff for him/her/them? (I suspect there’s more than one person involved.)

It’s too over the top to be disinfo, but maybe I’m being too kind to some fellow UFO researchers and witnesses. But none of it much matters, because as long as there will be UFO, paranormal and Fortean events, there’ll be things like this right alongside them.

Saucer Gossip and Silliness. . .

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

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

The Clowns in the "Sorry" State

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

Flash of Light and Wow! Crop Circle!

The Crop Circle Mystery, byline: Lewis Cowen, for the Gazette and Herald. A flash of light, and a crop circle appears, where none was a couple of hours earlier;Winston Keech, a "dedicated UFO hunter" and a Norwegian film maker, Terje Toftenes, filmed the event:

At around 1.35am on July 7 Mr Keech, helped by Mr King, completed the last sweep of the area using a camera equipped with night vision. No formation was visible in the field.

Then it became intensely dark and nothing was seen. But at 3.13am there was a flash of what Mr Keech described as sheet lightning.

It appeared on the video footage and lasted four microseconds. Twenty minutes later, at 3.20am, there was enough light to make out the formation in the field below.

It was one of the largest ever seen. It measured 1,033 feet long and consisted of 150 circles, the largest of which was 164ft across.

For years, witnesses have said they've seen small spheres, lights, and other ariel phenomenon around crop circles. Witnesses have also reported "pyschic" communications in connection with the circles, or, circle makers. I remember reading an article in, I think, UFO magazine about ten years ago, where the crop circle researcher (don't receall the name, but I don't think it was Colin Andrews) who said he had mentioned to a friend, standing alone in a field, something about Hebrew letters. The next day, there was a huge crop circle in the field, with, yes, Hebrew letters.

I know my little theory isn't the popular one, but I'm convinced the crop circles, as with the one reported on here, are the results of some kind of military technology. In my opinion, crop circles aren't made by extraterrestrials, or earth elementals, or inter-dimensional entities. Nor are they all made by Doug and Dave -- who, by the way, surely must be too aged to go tramping about in dark fields with ropes and planks -- or self styled guerilla artists having fun.

I think soon it'll come out that crop circles are man made. It'd be very wonderful if they were the communications of elementals; but I doubt it. It's possible, as with the Contactees of the 1940s, 50s and 60s, that we'll never know the real cause. (I suspect the Contactees were victims of our government as well) but we'll just have to see.

I don't rule out paranormal or ET explanations, but I don't see them as being the most likely.

The Drone Meme

My latest for UFO Digest:The Drone Meme, on all this Chad drone business. This will make more sense after you read the article, but after I submitted it to Dirk at UFO Digest, I received this in my email box:Drones Unveiled. All about ET and drones and covert government operations. As I say in the article, reminds me of SERPO.

Updates on the "Kinky Kitchen Gadget" UFO

Linda Moulton Howe has updates on the odd drone object (s) in California.
Drone Eyewitness on the Record.