FAA and BAASS: An Octopus Creation

Many thanks to Atrueoriginal of Alien UFO & The Paranormal Casebook, who gives us daily links to dozens of stories of UFOs, ghosts, related TV programs, podcasts and more every day for the following link: FAA Issues Order On UFO Sightings.

My previous post acknowledged my unease with the FAA promoting Bigelow's para-government, newly formed official/unofficial UFO reporting center.

Aileen's link leads us to the original story, which is an enthusiastic piece on Bigelow's work, including the news from the FAA that Bigelow is their official, sanctioned collector of UFO sightings.

Now, the FAA says that you should call one of his mysterious companies if you see an UFO.

 Bigelow Aerospace – already has two private test space stations in low Earth orbit: Genesis 1 and 2. His plan is to have a hotel in orbit, and he’s steadily on course to achieve his objectives. The guy and his Errol Flynn moustache may seem eccentric to some, but he means business.

  Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies.
 According to the last order by Federal Aviation Administration – issued on December 10 – BAASS is now the organization to contact if you are a pilot or an air traffic controller who gets close to an Unidentified Flying Object:

Why has the FAA suddenly decided it will acknowledge the UFO presence, encouraging witnesses to report their sightings, when in the past, silence and repression of those who reported sightings were the norm?

 Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), a sister company to Bigelow Aerospace, is a newly formed research organization that focuses on the identification, evaluation, and acquisition of novel and emerging future technologies worldwide as they specifically relate to spacecraft. BAASS is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 Candidates must qualify for secret and top secret clearances and must be willing to submit to a thorough background check.

Some see this as good news; as I commented in the previous post, good news! At long last the FAA has opened up, allowing pilots, etc. to report their sightings without fear of losing their jobs. I acknowledge my inner paranoia, or at least, find it suspect, that Bigelow "focuses on the identification, evaluation, and acquisition of novel and emerging ... technologies worldwide as they specifically relate to spacecraft." (italics mine) Whose spacecraft?

BAASS is in Nevada, and the obvious connection to Area 51 can't be denied. Background checks are a natural expectation, but if Bigelow is a civilian entity, why "qualify for secret and top secret clearances?" Of course, like defense contractors and other corporations in the increasing globalist-government, Bigelow is not strictly a civilian entity.

There are speculative scenarios; one being that the FAA, the shadow government, and Bigelow, are fully aware of an extraterrestrial presence and there is some sort of space chess game going on. Another is defense; man made uber- secret technologies, wrapped up in a tangled, octopus creation of espionage, war, and global control.

Whatever the real motive, the least likely is an altruistic gesture by the FAA to the public about disclosure or a benign appreciation for UFOs in context of the citizenry.

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

Building Juxtapositions in the Neighborhood

I'm not sure what this means, but the other day as I was taking my walk I noticed the oddness of the fact that the Army Reserve building sits directly across from the Scottish Rite Temple (Mason.) The two fronts face each other. Behind the Army Reserve building is the side street -- newly constructed, with the remodel of the elementary school-- that leads to the school. So elementary school faces the back of the Army Reserve grounds, the front of the Army Reserve building faces the Scottish Rite Temple.

Buzz Aldrin on UFO; Bruce Duensing Comments

Bruce Duensing, who manages the Intangible Materiality blog, (who is one of those writers -- Aeolus Kephas is another - who, after reading, I ask myself "Why do I bother, when we have people like Duensing writing?") posted this clip at the Department 47 forum, along with some good insights.

Around the Orb

Trickster's Realm: Bigfoot and the "Kill/No Kill" Controversery
My new Trickster's Realm will be up tomorrow on Binnall of America. In this TR, I comment on the "Kill/No Kill" debate concerning Bigfoot. I take issue with both cryptid researcher Ken Gerhard, as well as Tim Binnall, who both suppoort a kill. Tim, to his credit, is happy to publish my thoughts on this issue, even though we disagree.

That said, the interview with Ken Gerhard was great, very interesting. As I write in the article, I was surprised that Gerhard supports the "paranormal" Bigfoot theory.


White Bigfoot and High Strangeness: The Conser Lake Creature

More Bigfoot stuff: I post a section from my book The Ghost in Conser Lake on Frame 352. You can also read it on Nick Redfern's Crypto Squad USA and the Oregon section on the L.O.W.F.I. site.

Paratopia: The Trickster and the Paranormal; George P. Hansen Guest
This was another good interview with one of my favorite authors on esoterica, Fortean stuff; George P. Hansen, author of The Trickster and the Paranormal. I've been quoting him for years, and I'm working on something now that I'll put up later here on the Orb. You can listen to the interview here; look for "episode 8."

The Other Blogs
Check out Women Of Esoterica, there's good stuff from several writers over there to keep you busy.

Billy Cox: Admiral: Never looked for UFO data

The usual lies, cover-ups and obsturfications. UFO writer Billy Cox writes about Edgar Mitchell, Dr. Stephen Greer and retired Rear Admiral Thomas R. Wilson in Admiral: Never Looked for UFO Data. Someone’s not telling the truth... how unusual in these situations!

In this piece by Billy Cox, it turns out that (allegedly -- all allegedly dahlings) Edgar Mitchell and Dr. Stephen Greer insist ex-admiral Wilson met a looming stone wall when he tried to access UFO info when he was director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Wilson denies not only banging into said wall, but bothering to look for UFO info in the first place. According to Wilson, the UFO issue wasn’t that interesting. Wilson agrees he met with Greer and Mitchell,denies looking for any information on covert UFO projects:

“What is true is that I met with them,” Wilson said in a phone interview. “What is not true is that I was denied access to this material, because I didn’t pursue it. I may have left it open with them, but it was not especially compelling, not compelling enough to waste my staff’s time to go looking for it.”

We’ll probably never know who’s telling the truth. Does it matter? This particular little episode doesn't prove or disprove anything in the way of UFO truthiness. Conspiracies, lies, cover-ups, black projects, disinformation, misinformation, all have happened, continue to happen. . . neither Greer or Mitchell are changing their story. Neither is Wilson.

I do find this curious: Wilson did say he had “a certain amount of curiosity” about allegations of deep-black UFO projects. But not enough curiosity, I gather. Nor was it “compelling” enough:

may have left it open with them, but it was not especially compelling, not compelling enough to waste my staff’s time to go looking for it.”

So, the idea of deep and possibly rogue UFO projects was a curious thing, but not enough to investigate. He “may have (italics mine) left it open” but isn’t sure. But, in the end, none of it was “curious” enough -- certainly not suspicious, even with all the implications inherent in the idea of UFO technology, black budgets, rogue operations, defense, national security, science, and the like.

My instinct tells me Mitchell and Greer are telling the truth, and the dear Admiral has changed his story. After all, he wants to disassociate himself from the whole thing, either because he really knows the truth about UFOs (ta dah!) and that’s his job -- to keep it from the rest of us. Or, he thinks it’s all very silly, and thought so back then. After all he has a new job with an unnamed defense contractor and it probably doesn't do him any good to be subjected to UFO nonsense while he’s trying to do Very Important Things. (Then again, maybe those Very Important Things have to do with UFOs, and black semiprivate defense contractor projects, and ... don’t you love it when we tumble down the rabbit hole?)

I have an automatic distrust of authority, military bigwigs and industrial military complex uber-corporations,so I like my theory best. But I will acknowledge it’s also possible the ex-Admiral is telling the truth, and Mitchell and Greer aren’t backing down because they’d be embarrassed if they did; after all, they said one thing, now they have to back up and say they were, what? Exaggerating? Embroidering, embellishing, . . . being theatrical? Lying?

Hmmm, put that way, that seems a bit much. I don’ think so. The ex-admiral is no doubt covering up in grand brusque disinformational style.

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.

The Snarly . . .

Sometimes I just have to laugh. Usually I ignore silly blowhards, but sometimes the mood overcomes me and I have to play.

Today's example: the UFO Provocateur(s) blog (now there’s an unassuming name) have decided that when all those in the UFO field die off, it will be a good thing. Oh Happy Day. The “UFO palate” (oh, pleeeeeze!) shall be cleansed, they tell us. Oy.

After the elders die off, the young will swoop in with new bright ideas and new bright energy and save UFOLogy from itself.

What a load of crap. Young, old, in between, people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, skills and perspectives are contributing their thoughts to UFOlogy and related fields. It’s mostly and usually a good thing.

If UFOlogy stinks, it isn’t because it’s “old people” or middle aged people, or baby boomers. It’s not because there is a lack of some holy UFO Organization, or union, or guild, or whatever the hell some people want to get up and running. (However,UFOlogy will surely start to reek of its own self importance if the latter ever happens. Which, happily, it won’t. It’s a glad thing that UFOlogy is full of all kinds of people, of all ages and types. What kind of rational being thinks you can get all these types of people together in one cohesive thing? How long will such a thing last before a group of ticked off individuals leave to start their own UFO Guild of UFO High and Mightiness? Then what? We’re back where we started, having lost a lot of time in the process.)

In fact, UFOlogy doesn’t stink at all. People who think that are mostly debunkers; anti-UFOists, snarly little skeptics. Some are actually inside UFOlogy themselves, but for some twisted reasons of their own, don’t like that fact much, so have to qualify their presence. That includes saying things like “UFOlogy is a circus,”
and bemoaning the sad, sorry state of things while sneering at others. They’ve come to the party and eat all the appetizers and drink all the booze but keep checking their watches. And they won’t stay to help clean up.

Meanwhile, the world outside of UFOlogy goes on, whether those of us inside are young, old, baby boomers, middle aged, or whatever. The mainstream media continues to ridicule and ignore, the authorities continue to cover-up, the relatives think you’re crazy.

Nothing is going to change that either. It’s the way of things.

So you either be brave and true within yourself, and do what you do, and tell your story. You learn about others and think upon them. You express yourself, you discover. You do your best to ignore the bozos. And here’s a clue little mister, the bozos aren’t the My Reptilian Lizard Lover victims, the bozos are the ones who think they’re above it all, who believe their views gives them the right to insult, as if being insulting is a sign of intellectual superiority. We expect that from the aforementioned snarly skeptics, the debunkers and those types. But when it comes from within, it's a different story.

They’re not only ill mannered little buggers, but naive little buggers. They don’t get that nothing much will change on the outside, no matter how many Approved UFO Think Tanks are created, or how dismissive they are about UFO experiences.

Now here’s fair warning: the part where I get all Shirley MacLaine-ish. Things on the outside are beginning to change, and humans have the potential to help that change, regardless of a “belief” in UFOs or things Fortean. Our thoughts and energy affect the ways things go. Calm down, I’m not ridiculous enough to think that’s all you have to do; wave a crystal around and you’re done. But focusing your intent and holding that intent on a daily basis can only help.

You can choose your intent, your battles, where to put your focus. You can grumble and poke things with sticks, or you can snap out of it and be a bit more compassionate.

The Scientology Meme: Mob Mentality

I’m no fan of Scientology, (had a personal negative experience with them involving a family member when I was young) but I’m no fan of organized religions or organized anythings. Like Groucho Marx once said:

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.

On many esoteric blogs, as well as the anti-esoteric blogs and forums (otherwise known as “skeptics”) there’s been a lot of self righteous anti-Scientology posts. Well, yeah, okay. Let’s go after the Vatican, various Christian sects, Islamic extremists, the Raelians, Buddhists (just because they’re not American and are suspect you know), Yoga, and Jews. Oh, and Wicca. Let’s go after all religions, spiritual and philosophical systems. Get rid of them!

The reasons why so many all over the world are now going after Scientology have to do with its existence on the fringe. Everyone’s gone after all the above mentioned systems; and many of those systems (Catholics, Jews, Muslims) are accepted by mainstream culture. As soon as you step over that line of what’s accepted, you’re fair game. Scientologists, like Mormons and Wiccans for example. are suspect. Their rights to freedoms, in this country anyway, are swept off the table, because, well, they’re weird. And if we think it’s weird, really weird, then we get to vilify. We’ll leave the Methodists alone but don’t be going around saying you’re a Scientologist or practice Wicca. Then we’ll get you. Get you good.

Another reason for the smug sense of being Very Reasonable, is the fear of criticizing religious Muslim extremists for what they are: fanatics. We don't dare go near there for fear of staring up something, or being “anti Muslim” and vilifying an entire group of people.

The same with Judaism, though less so. Everyone from the Left to the Right and in between gets to insist they’re “not anti-Semitic, just anti-Israel,” before they launch into a long winded, often erroneous, mini history of why Israel is so evil. But that aside, most people leave that alone as well. (Wait, no they don’t, look at Rense.com.)

The point is, no, I don’t like Scientology. (Although, as with all of these systems, don’t be so quick to throw the baby out with the bath water.) But there are issues far bigger than Scientology to focus your wrath on. The occupation (er, “war”) in Iraq. Global warming/climate changes/whatever the hell you want to call it, we’re all gonna die save the earth damnit, alternative energies, child abuse, elder abuse, domestic abuse, animal abuse (Christ, we’re an abusive species!) poverty, education . . .

I’ve noticed that for those who proudly state they’re “skeptics” -- those very same who remain stubbornly ignorant of the facts when it comes to UFOs, who assume all kinds of wild things regarding the paranormal -- are quick to believe the most paranoid, outlandish things about things they want to annihilate.

I suppose one thing that bothers me in particular about this is the idea that those working so hard towards eliminating or “exposing” Scientology feel so damn proud of themselves, as if they’ve brought us a rare gift from another realm. This rare gift is presented as enlightenment from ignorance and superstition. It's an intellectual coup.

Kind of like what they do with UFO and paranormal topics. There are those within and on the fringe (the chronic skeptics looking in) of UFO studies who insist UFOlogy needs some sort of guild, organization, committee -- some kind of official body --- that will once and for all get rid of all that embarrasses and angers, and keep only what is approved. (Who gets to do the approving, and why, well, you see why it's a problem. . .)

Exercising our right to voice our opinions about these things is one thing, and exposing illegal or unethical methods is a good thing. Other than that, ranting on an almost daily basis, hacking into web sites and calling for blood seems over the top.

What disturbs me is the momentum. Worldwide, people have been unquestioningly and happily joining in protests against Scientology. And it’s this crowd gathering/one-mind vibe that has me worried. At some point, the lines blur: who are the ones acting as a mob, as a single unit, as a controlling mass? That’s scary.

Wales Seeing More UFOs?

And is it because of Torchwood?

Two things I need to remind myself of: there is no X-Files, not really, and David Duchovny is an actor, not Spooky Mulder. Not really. There is no Torchwood, not really, and there is no such person as handsome sexy Captain Jack in his black trenchcoat. It’s all pretend. Pretend. TV. These are two of my all time favorite TV shows; fictional shows.

So, this article asks if the popularity of Torchwood isn’t responsible for people seein more UFOs lately:

“Torchwood could well have brought an increase in the number of people looking at the skies rather than their feet when they are coming out of the pub.”

says Dr David Clarke,who wrote Flying Saucerers, A Social History of UFOlogy. I haven’t read the book, and don’t know the slant, but from his comment it seems like he’s being fair. (He also acknowledges Wales is a UFO hot spot.) If you look UP, you’ll see things. I know that, Alfred Lehmberg knows that (see his current article in UFO Magazine) Lesley knows that; all kinds of people know that. Try it.

I do take exception to Dr. Clarke’s opinion about the government’s innocence in such things:

He warned against conspiracy theories that accused the government of covering up alien landings, adding: “The idea that the government has a Men in Black department and they send out Captain Jack or whoever... it doesn’t happen.”

Okay, so maybe there isn’t a Captain Jack in a trenchcoat being all sexy assertive and commanding (and yet oh so vulnerable, the poor immortal dear) and jumping in and out of black SUVs, but come on, to suggest the government (theirs, ours, . . .) is content to let it all go by is naive.

X-Files, while fictional, did a lot to nudge us towards seeking out these areas. Torchwood seems to be doing the same. Shows like this are popular for a reason, and there are all kinds of people with all kinds of theoires on why this is so. Briefly, the theories range from "people are lonely geeks who need to fill a void with something magical" to "people are paranoid due to our ever increasing technological, post WWII world" to "Because they're here, damnit! Haven't you been looking up? And around?! Haven't you been looking?!" I go for that last one.

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?

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

Hysterical about hysteria

In Hysterical about hysteria, the author comments on the somewhat suspicious insistence of scientists and authorities that the noxious fumes experienced by witnesses to Peru’s recent “thing that crashed from the sky” was “mass hysteria.”
Instead of actually treating the witnesses with respect and interest, they’re dismissed. As he writes:

Whoa, time out. Geologists say that meteorites can't cause people to become sick, therefore the people must be delusional. Isn't that putting the theory before the observation? It's also a little weird that the "large number" of reports is used to cast doubt on them. In most areas of science, a large number increases our confidence. Why can't we just say, There were reports of people reporting a flash in the sky and a big hole in the ground and getting sick, that's weird, so let's investigate.

Good point.

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.

Jesus Fucking Holy Christ; That’s Some “Mistake!”

Local (Eugene) UFO researcher Gordon Kaswell passed this news item on to me this evening:

Air Force investigates mistaken transport of nuclear warheads

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Six nuclear warheads on cruise missiles were mistakenly carried on a flight from North Dakota to Louisiana last week, prompting a major investigation, military officials have confirmed.
art.barksdale.b52.usaf.jpg

A B-52 is seen on the ground at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, in this file photo.

The plane took the cruise missiles from Minot Air Force Base to Barksdale Air Force Base for decommissioning Thursday, the Air Force said.

"This is a major gaffe, and it's going to cause some heads to roll down the line," said Don Shepperd, a retired Air Force major general and military analyst for CNN.

Shepperd said the United States had agreed in a Cold War-era treaty not to fly nuclear weapons. "It appears that what happened was this treaty agreement was violated," he said.

Which prompted this decision:

The Air Force announced that all flights of fighters and bombers in the United States will be halted on September 14 to allow for a review of procedures.

Laura Knight-Jadczyk: The Most Dangerous Idea in the World

Okay, I acknowledge freely I am no intellectual, and certainly not knowledgeable -- not academically or scientifically knowledgeable that is -- about physics, hyper-dimensions, astrophysics, or parallel parking. On some subconscious intuitive Piscean level, I “get it” but that’s another story.

My approach to all this anomalous UFO weird realm usually originates from the personal, moving outward, usually on a mythic/folklore/symbol/narrative/comparative/juxtapositional perspective. Whatever that means.

I’m not sure exactly what Laura Knight-Jadczyk is talking about, but she is very very smart. She writes extremely well. I seem to have a vague memory of something I read on her site or blog that I liked, up to a point, but then rejected, due to what I perceived as anti-Semitism (all that Israel is the big bad guy stuff) but if I’m mistaken, I apologize.

There’s a lot -- a hell of a lot -- of stuff here, and I don’t understand much of it. There is so much material that one has to take time to go through it, and be familiar with her references, which I’m not.

But I’m promoting her here for one reason: those “academics” and “scientists” who would otherwise welcome her views, as long as she gets rid of her UFO bent. Apparently Knight-Jadczyk annoys all sides: the New Age camp, the mystical camp, the political camp, etc.

All the scientific hyper dimensional physic stuff aside, the gist of Knight-Jadczyk core “belief” is that there is an “official culture” which I so far go along with. (Of course, her idea of who, and what, is responsible for that “official culture” may be very different. I don’t know.) And this fact, along with the fact that we’re all just pawns in a huge cosmic game, is what she calls “the most dangerous idea in the world.” I don’t think I gave this justice, but that seems to be the idea. I go along with that as well. It doesn’t sound too different than William Bramley, or even in some ways (good great goddess) David Icke (oy) -- not a new idea. And not sure why her ideas are rejected by all sides.

I’ll leave it to you. I just like subverting things, and so, in the spirit of that, here’s a link to Laura Knight-Jadczyk on her experiences and thoughts on her book, The Secret History of the World.

Dean Radin Debunks Debunkers

The attacks on Dean Radin and parapsychology continue. Radin answers back on his blog Entangled Minds. This isn't Radin's only entry on this topic; exploring Radin's blog you'll discover that he doesn't let these things go, and, he shouldn't.

Speaking of Global Warming

No, this doesn't have anything to do with UFOs. Or, does it? It could. Make your own connections. I suppose we could say there's a connection in the sense of Pelicanist behavior; the leaders that be continue to ignore, cover-up and disseminate disinfo about both UFOs and global warming.

Alfred Lehmberg, on his blog Alien Views, has a recent piece about this: Slow Death.

Dustin, on his Odd Things blog, has a recent piece on global warming.

If you haven't seen An Inconvenient Truth yet, why not, and, see it.

The war, er, occupation, is horrific, and so are dozens of other issues; poverty, child abuse, animal abuse, etc. And while global warming may seem boring, daunting, overwhelming, and not sexy enough, the reality is this: if we don't focus on this and fix it (and being as how we're the biggest contributor to the problem, with the least amount of responsibility) we won't be around to worry about the other issues.

WHY DON'T THEY FAKE IT?

Pictured:Edward J. Ruppelt, General Ramey, image source:Answers.com
http://www.answers.com/topic/edward-j-ruppelt

UFO Is Reported at O'Hare; Feds Are Silent

All Things Considered, January 1, 2007 · In November, a gray, metallic, saucer-like object was spotted hovering above Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. As many as 12 United Airlines employees spotted the object and filed reports with United.

Officials at the airline say they have no knowledge of the incident, and the Federal Aviation Administration is not investigating.

Melissa Block speaks with Chicago Tribune transportation reporter Jon Hilkevtich, who reported on the incident.

Reading Dr. Lynne Kitei’s book The Phoenix LIghts, two things struck me as odd. One, the apathetic and bewildered response (or lack of response) from official agencies (military, law, etc.) and the lack of response from both UFO researchers and anti-UFOists (chronic skeptics) about this.

About the Phoenix Lights: forget the “flare theory.” Even if you accept that as the explanation (sigh)) it doesn’t cover the nights previous to, and following, that night’s UFO events. (Not to mention a decades long history of UFO sightings in the area.)

UFOs were filmed and photographed; and literally hundreds of citizens witnessed these objects. Numerous calls to agencies went ignored, or were shuffled off to other agencies who didn’t know (or pretended not to know) anything either. Explanations, when forthcoming, changed, and it was clear no one in any official capacity knew a damn thing.

Seems to be the way with the O’Hare sighting. Whatever the object was, it was something and no, a natural phenomeana, like the flares story, just won't do.

It is beside the point, for the sake of this argument, what the UFOs in Phoenix and Chicago were, if they came from space or not, if they were ours, or aliens. I’m not so much concerned with inane questions about “beliefs” in UFOs and/or aliens, but the lack of a vital and active response from those supposedly in control.

The point is, we have layers upon layers of baffled bureaucracies that don’t know a damn thing, and have long ago given up any illusion of pretending to care.

Damn it. When we see weird objects in the skies above our cities, I expect local, state, and federal agencies to act like they have everything under control. That they know what’s what.

I want a few people -- in uniform, if at all possible -- to hit the airwaves, the radio, CNN, and somberly state that they are investigating, or that it’s classified, or that... anything, something, as long as that something conveys a solid sense of We Know What We’re Doing.

Even if it’s clear they’re lying (they’re politicians, law, and government, of course they’re lying) or that they really don’t have a clue, who cares? These days in particular, with our current administration, we’re well used to them lying even while not knowing what they’re doing. That’s a minor point; the point is, where is everyone?

From roughly the late 1940s to the 1960s our government had several official programs (Project Twinkle, Project Grudge, Project Bluebook, and the Air Force as official agency handling UFO reports) devoted to studying UFOs. Of course, as we know, the general purpose seemed to be debunking UFOs or passing on disinformation. But they at least pretended to assure the country everything was A-OK.

When it comes to UFOs flying over our cities, it’s insane to pretend that they’re not. And that is what various agencies of authority have been doing in recent years regarding UFOs. We’ll just say “what UFOs”and maybe they’ll go away. Like Alfred E. Neuman, the reaction to UFO reports is "What, me worry?"

Even if the UFOs don’t go away, as long as they’re not really doing anything (the UFOs, not the humans) the agencies can get away with acting oblivious.

They can get away with it because no one is calling them on it. The ones that are, are the ‘UFO kooks,,” the ones the chronic skeptics, the anti-UFOists, call anyone who refuses to quietly accept the silly explanations like swamp gas, plasma, flares, or clouds. Refusing to immediately accept the all too quick and weak explanations, those of us who say “hey, wait a minute...’ are allowed to get beat up by the anti-UFOists because no one’s shaking them by their collars and telling them to knock it off.

One would think the U.S. government would act all gruff and strong and humbug and serious and state firmly that the UFO event (Phoenix, O’Hare, etc.) is being taken care of. “We care,” they should be saying, “We really do. We’re looking into this. and now go back to whatever you were doing, nothing to see here.” One would think the government would at least pretend to act like it’s ready to take charge in a big blustery way and put up a good show to the rest of the world.

Instead, when it comes to UFOs, the United States seems to enjoy looking like buffoons. In this post 9/11 era, one would hope for something better. The Air Force no longer has anything to do with UFOs; no official agency does. (At least on the surface; it's a safe and rational assumption to think they're actually paying great attention.) As many have pointed out, including George Hansen in his book Trickster and the Paranormal, there is no official policy of being remotely interested in the subject. If it weren’t for people like Peter Davenport and his National UFO Reporting Agency, or MUFON, -- neither of who receive any government money at all -- we’d be up a creek in regards to UFO activity.


We have a smattering of reporters who risk credibility and their jobs in taking serious looks into UFO reports, dedicated individual UFO researchers like Peter Davenport, MUFON members, various bloggers, writers, investigators and UFO related publications and a scant handful of national television programs, like Out There TV, and C2C. After that are pod casts, local radio and televisions programming, satellite programs, etc.

As to officials, their seems to be a hierarchy among “officials” when it comes to UFOs. Municipal police seem to be neutral to matter of fact when it comes to UFOs. This is purely an observation, nothing more. But police will follow up on reports, and many a police officer has seen a UFO. (The Illinois UFO sighting in 2000 is a good example.) But the higher up you go, the more dysfunctional things get.

The rest are left to their own devices, sneered at by the chronic skeptics, ignored by government agencies at just about all levels. We pay taxes for these services and should expect more, even if they are faking it.

Instead, we get either a mad dash at a silly explanation before it gets squashed, or it’s ignored altogether.

Maybe “they’ (you know, them) have given up. After all, as I admit freely here, any uniformed official, as a Representative of Something (preferably Air Force/military) is going to be lying. We all know that.

One example: if the Triangles are classified military craft, and not something extraterrestrial, then what the hell are they doing flying over populated areas, and in the restricted airspace's of other countries? The officials can't very well admit that they’re doing something illegal. They can’t acknowledge they’re performing illegal maneuvers in restricted air space. Still, they could just lieif only to make us feel a bit better, even for a few moments. It wouldn’t be the first time.

But sometimes there’s comfort in faking it, even if all of us know damn well they’re faking it. The faker is a sort of scapegoat for us who don’t trust a thing he/she says. For the chronic skeptics, the faker will be perceived as a rational voice in the midst of UFO insanity. Which in turn will propel the rest of us to laugh heartily before getting pissed off and doing something about it, like exposing the faker for the faking faker he/she is. And for rest of the culture, people are left to decide for themselves what to do. Ignore the whole thing, believe the official explanation, etc. Witnesses who may not have had much previous interest in UFOs may now say ‘Hey just wait a goddamn minute” and begin their own journeys.

The Representative of Something can provide needed functions for our culture. In trickster like reversal, it’s possible the ostensible purpose of officials placating the public might actually do the reverse.

MY CAT’S NAME IS ROSWELL : UFOLOGICAL INTEGRATION

image source: http://www.rion.nu/v5/archive/000371.php
rion.nu v5


Really, it is. We found him ten years ago; he was the most freaked out little thing I’ve ever seen. One night, I heard this awful yowling; it just wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t take it any more. It went on for a couple of hours. I went outside, found that the sound was coming from a house across the street. Looking around, I discovered the sound was coming from underneath the porch. I could see a tiny little black and white kitten (a hell of a noise coming from such a small thing) and I tried to coax it out but no way was he going to leave. Yet he wouldn’t stop yowling.

What surprised me was the complete lack of interest from the neighbors. Already at that time we had a reputation; one neighbor did step out and say to me, “Oh, we wondered when you’d come out and get it.” Some people. (And what of the people who lived in the house? Oblivious. I find that astounding.)

I kept leaving little bits of food, further and further away, until he came out, only to run back under the porch. After a few days he came out and stayed on our porch. While I kept agreeing with my husband, who said, every five minutes, “We are NOT keeping him,” I knew better. So did he. (He’s the one who said, “Where’s our heating pad? Poor little guy shouldn't be out there in the cold.”) Next thing we know, he’s in the house.

The name Roswell fits; he’s a happy though slightly hothouse pampered little thug of a cat, never going outside since his traumatic brief life outdoors. We’ve tried to put him out; he won’t have it.

When I say my cat’s name is Roswell, almost everyone gives a slight, startled, brief little laugh. A few have paused and said, knowingly, “Roswell, eh?” then I realize I’ve entered a dimension, a secret society of people who know. He/she too is “into” UFOs , and so the conversation begins. Others are aware of the name and its place in pop culture, but don’t go further.

Maybe I’m wrong about my firm opinion that the infrastructure will never allow things like full disclosure, scientific respect and investigation, etc. (At the same time, I’ve also always maintained that the lone squeaky voice needs to be heard and maybe, over time, all that nudging will bump the paradigm enough to cause a shift, no matter how slight.)

Maybe I’ve been too harsh. Jeremy Vaeni’s recent piece in this issue of UFO Magazine,: Whose Time Has Come?, suggests that we put it all out there, without expectations, or offense. Yes, the meme of alien probes appears in sit-coms, from the mouths of talk show hosts and comedians. Corporations appropriate abductions; the Energizer bunny shows us how well its batteries work, even while being sucked up into the Mother Ship. While “they” may think they’re diluting the phenomena by trivialization, maybe they're also, inadvertently, helping us all to acknowledge the reality.

Yes, let it be known that 2007 heralds the arrival of the new phase: The complete integration of ufology into normal everyday acceptance by the average person. Gone are the days of paranoia and demanding the truth. Gone are the days of highs and lows, the peaks and valleys of public clamoring.

Vaeni urges us to just put it out there, and not expect everyone to get it, because they won’t. That’s okay Don’t take offense; just put it out there. My cat’s name is Roswell. You get it or you don’t. Some may even snicker. I tell them I have a UFO blog. They can Google me, ignore me, or back away, slowly.

The inspiration for Vaeni’s piece is his review of the book U.F.O., written by four artists “with philosophical and anthropological underpinnings.” (Vaeni.) Part of that inspiration was the search for the identity of a graffiti tagger who calls himself (or herself) UFO. Vaeni describes the graffiti art:

UFO tags the city with bulbous-headed alien and fiery spaceship spray art.”

The artists who wrote the book U.F.O. discovered that this graffiti image has appeared all over the world, including Thailand, and that the image is a replica of the symbols found in Australia, painted by the Wanjina.

Vaeni interviews one of the artists involved in the book, Jack Warren, who told Vaeni:

If you’re going to write an article on this book, I think the story is that we’re bringing this [ufology] to the broader public.”

Vaeni says something very important about UFOlogy and the general public’s interest:

”We’ve been trying to shovel legitimacy down the public’s throats for decades now, haven't we? This is real! This is real! Pay attention! They did; they didn’t; did; didn’t, like a tide. then the tide stopped. We thought the field was dead.”

Vaeni believes that this yo-yo effect is done; now we’re entering a phase of above board acknowledgment of aliens, UFOs, the anomalous.

He may be right.

We’re not quite finished yet.

Discussions about the book U.F.O. continue on graffiti blogs.
The
Razor Apple blog has a very different take on the book, and the author’s (who are also artists themselves) exclusion of U.F.O., the tagger:

Last week, U.F.O. showed up in disguise to chat with Combustive Motor Corporation at the release party they held to push their book. Though no minds were changed, the discussion continues on Suckapants. Intentional or not, we agree this book exploits U.F.O. and his work. Conducting an “urban anthropology” on U.F.O. without involving him is unethical and exploitative research by any definition.

Worth noting. Another layer to the phenomena.

My background is in folklore and, aside from UFOs and related topics, my other favorite area was folk art. Graffiti is certainly folk art. This does bring up questions of appropriation, or maybe just laziness. The issue of the artists being ignored is a personal one with me; being an artist myself, and married to one, I am acutely aware of the treatment of artists in communities. (For example, using the artists art to push/sell institutions to corporate and municipal entities, all the while either ignoring the artist, or treating them like an embarrassing bastard stepchild. They will use our art, but they don’t want to stink up the place with us.)

There’s a parallel here with some of those who study UFO cases, from the chronic skeptic to the UFO researcher, while ignoring the witnesses. At some point, and this is true in the case of anti UFOists, the witness is long forgotten.