Open Up

I commented in my earlier post about something Stanton Friedman said in the interview with Tim Binnall: that UFOlogists shouldn't be embarrassed, and should stop being apologists for the UFO phenomena, even while studying it. I embrace this idea, even though I've been an apologist myself, and embarrassed, as to my telepathic New Agey side. Oh well, but there it is. It's true, it's me, there you go. I'd be a liar to pretend otherwise, and what do I care about smarmy self-appointed UFO authoritarian stuffed shirts who might make fun? Nothing I can do about the reactions of others. So I'll crunch my crystals all I like, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, all that aside, I understand some of the need to disassociate oneself from some aspects of the UFO phenomena. Under an often well meaning but misguided sense of credibility, many believe they need to slough off the gaudy, the loud, the silly, the weird, the uncomfortable. The logical thinking goes like this: "UFOlogy has enough problems being taken seriously, we can't afford such nonsense." Sounds quite sensible.

Just below the surface we find it isn't sensible at all. The UFO question isn't taken seriously at all by the infrastructure; never has, never will. At least, that's how it appears. It's because it's actually taken extremely seriously that they work very hard at giving the impression the opposite is the case. If that sounds like frustraintg gibberish, I'll agree it's frustrating, but it isn't gibberish. It's to be expected. That Trickster element is the swirling crazy making thing that it is, and yet, there are so many UFO researchers, pundits, investigators, etc. that don't get this. And as long as they continue to ignore the fact this Trickster trait is an innate part of the UFO phenomena, we'll remain stuck.

Not that we'll ever become completely unstuck. But is that the point anyway? To get the Big Question Finally Answered? Narrowly focused on a few minute details, some UFOlogists don't have patience or time to look around. They're missing a lot. Others say "Well, I did look, and it was fun/interesting/weird, but so what. It entertained, but didn't give The Golden Answer to the UFO Problem." Maybe that's part of the problem; seeing it as a "problem." Whether it's seen as a problem or a mystery, it's still full of contradictions, manipulations, high strangeness, and so much more. Expecting to get at the truth by excising the parts not understood or liked is pathological.

Others see themselves as doing some sort of service to "UFOlogy" -- attacking others, insulting, trotting out various witnesses or researchers and ripping them a new one. And these are the ones who accept that UFOs are a reality. With friends like that who needs a Shermer, Mcgaha or Nye? "But we need to be critical!" is the logical response. Yes, but unless one has proof, and I mean solid, real, actual, and legal proof that someone is a fraud, or a liar, it's a dangerous game to play. Libel and slander aren't far off. The rest is just bullying; being a big fat poopy-head simply because you can. Wow, good for you.

Along with all this: the Trickster element, the gaudy, weird, even embarrassing, the uncomfortable, is that "the UFO phenomena" includes us. "UFOlogy" isn't just the thing seen in the sky. We're also a part of the thing we call UFOlogy, or The UFO Phenomena . . . we are not separate from it. We are not objective, we are not immune, we do not stand outside while commenting on what goes on, we're in it. The very moment we decided to get involved, for whatever reason, we became a part of "ufology" just as much as all the rest of it. Some like to parse these things, labeling the various elements and rating them; dividing the players into inside or outside, liars or weirdos. . . doesn't matter. We're still all in it.

Instead of being combative and defensive while at the same time obsequious by whimpering at the infrastructure (government disclosure movement, academia, skeptoids, big science, religious institutions. . .) we need to relax. I don't mean relax standards or critical thinking, but relax so we can think. Think bigger, deeper, more openly. Consider. Open ourselves to more. To other.

We can't do that if we have our dukes up all the time.

SUNDAY ORB

Not much going on. Sick with Fall crud, low energy, but in spite of that I like the Fall and the crisp air, I've been putting up my Fall season lights, my favorite string being an icicle style string with lights that fade from purple to orange and back. Very nice. And if I hear "Harvest Fest" one more time I'll puke. So we don't offend the Christians or give off negative vibes to the little ones, we don't dare put up witches and say the dreaded word Halloween; we say "Harvest Fest."


Speaking of Halloween: supposedly the building I work in is haunted. I've personally never felt that, but others have. I'll have to pick the brains of someone who's experienced those things and see if I pick up anything. The playground, in one area seems spooky to me, maybe it's just the energy of the space itself. There was a building I worked in that I, and others, thought was haunted; I felt and saw a lot of odd things. Interesting how I'm usually sensitive to those things but every now and then I just don't pick up on it; like my friends home (they've since moved) many others saw and felt things, but me, nothing.

New posts at Vintage U.F.O., UFO Mary, James Rich Studio, Women Of Esoterica, and tëme (an animal blog) and Pulp Jello.

Why did they put The Mentalist against Fringe? And when is Torchwood coming back? I ask you.

Mac Tonnies has a new blog; it's a great idea. Things That Look Like Flying Saucers. I love it. Here's a flying saucer I found in my living room:


Lots of little synchronicities in my life lately. Again lately that is. I notice when you put out the intent, the synchroniciites appear. I've often wondered why they are so trivial much of the time, and many a skeptoid dismisses them for that very reason. But isn't it enough they're there in the first place? Simple nudges from the universe or matrix or whatever; that's all it takes.

Well, while nothing much going on here, there's always things going on in the UFO, Fortean realm on the internet, as a check of the usual will reveal. The Anomalist and other blogs, way too many to mention here, but check out my links lists and do your own searching; you'll find more than enough to keep you busy.

And while there may not be anything I have to say right now that's stunning or interesting or Big Time UFO News, that doesn't mean, as a few others -- and we do know who they are, right class? --- insist, that UFOs are dead, gone, boring, useless, pointless, etc. Far from it!

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.

The New X-Files Movie, Torchwood

Of course I'll go see it! But naturally! I think the title is just awful: "I Want To Believe" Really?

I like Amanda Peet and Bill Connolly, who are also in the movie. All the usual hype and hush about the movie; the plot line, Mulder and Scully's "romance" (er, didn't they have a baby -- kind of puts the need for adolescent questions about their relationship to rest, doesn't it?) but I don't care about any of it. It's a new X-Files movie! What more is there?

Well, there's Torchwood. A great show; was so sorry to see season two end so quickly. (And so damn sadly.) Dear husband "George" says it's better than X-Files, but for myself, it's not "better" it's not a question of "better." Torchwood is the X-Files of its time, I suppose. Hipper, certainly more sexually open. Torchwood also deals a lot more with human emotions and pathos, etc. than X-Files did. You either like that a lot (I do) or you don't. Depends on one's temperament. Both have sexy main characters, which helps quite nicely.

I'm glad Torchwood has come along and filled the void X-Files left.

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.

UFOs and PSYOPS

I’m not only a flying saucer junkie but a covert paranoid conspiracy psy-op men in black government spooks junkie. To a point; no, I don’t believe giant reptilians are stirring vats of human body parts in vast underground rooms beneath New Mexico or Arizona.

So I was pleased to see this by Franklin Fields: Are Psychological Operations (PSYOPs) Used to Influence Public Opinion of UFOs?. With a chart and everything.

Gleaning From “Numb3rs”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Notes:
Image credits:
http://www.daemonstv.com/images/cbs/numb3rs1.jpg
amazing-tv-shows.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

American Chronicle

UFO Magazine
Book of Thoth

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

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.

Sunday Round-Up at the Orb

Here's my shameless self-promotion for Sunday:

Paranormal Meet. Found this recently; and it's going strong. Lots of new people joining everyday. I like it, it's a good idea, and fun. Much better than having a MySpace page.Take a look, be sure to visit my blog and vote! And join if you can. There are a few little glitches, nothing major, but it's easy to find your way around and user friendly. I like the like minded, community vibe over there.

UFO Digest. My latest piece over there is on the blurring, or mimicking, or. . . something, of aliens/ghosts/Bigfoot, etc. When Entities Collide: Ghosts, Aliens, MIBs, and Entities and The Trickster Faeries

The current Trickster's Realm on Binnall of America is on my friend "Lola" here in Oregon and the high strangeness that follows the family: High Strangeness Follows Family? As always, be sure to read all the other great stuff on there.

My short article "What Is A UFO?" should be up on American Chronicle any time now. There's a holding period for pieces; I put it in today, so it can be any time from now until sometime tomorrow. Check this link for the article, as well as the rest of my American Chronicle pieces.

Mating Hedgehogs, my other blog about: politics, culture, media, weirdness, etc. Please check it out, there's everything from YouTube clips of Mothman and Mothra to rants about anti-feminist, anti-Semitic clown shoes like Henry Makow. Mating Hedgehogs.

And finally, Frame 352, my "stranger side of Sasquatch" blog. Follow the link over there to Lisa Shiel's Bigfoot Quest blog, where she has a poll going on about UFOs and Bigfoot.

Good night, have a good week! Let's hope we're all safe and good and remain relatively sane.

Kimball on Redfern

I started to respond to this item by Paul Kimball on his blog The Other Side of Truth about Nick Redfern, Nick Redfern on UFOlogy but it quickly became very long so I’m putting it here.

Kimball has a response to Nick Redfern’s contention that:

I predict that ufology will never be anymore than a subject that attracts a few thousand people on a regular basis (and maybe less now).

Many ufologists confidently think that the world is waiting for them to finally deliver the ET goods and go down in history.

They’re not. Most people outside could not care less about the petty arguments in ufology (and don’t know about it anyway) and unless someone really makes a major breakthrough (along the lines of proving that Roswell was ET, for example), we will not be remembered by science, the media or the public.

I've been saying this for ever: the one, final Answer, The big Answer, about ufos will never come. Never. It just can't, (in my opinion, partly due to the Trickster like aspects of the phenomena.)
Redfern goes on to say that if that answer comes, if it’s shown that ET does exist, science and the general population will forget about UFO researchers, pundits, etc:

In other words, we’ll be viewed as a group of people who looked into some unusual areas in search of the truth about aliens, but never really found any hard evidence that proved ET was visiting.

Ironically, if ET really does land, I personally think that ufology will be swept away in an instant as the public demands answers from the media, who in turn demand answers [sic] from the government and the mainstream scientific community.

(I agree with this, and I think the same would be true in the case of Bigfoot, Nessie, etc. If a dead BF body were found, if it were announced by science BF does indeed, exist, the same attitude towards BF researchers would be present.)

Kimball writes:

So, in the meantime, everyone should focus on the intriguing mystery, and have some fun, because that's what mysteries should be - fun.

This means that there should be room for some of the more "out there" theories (FYI - as far as the mainstream is concerned, that includes the ETH), even to the point of speculation. Where would I draw the line? When people are clearly lying, or when the theories and speculation goes so far as to be preposterous, at which point let 'em have it.

Exactly. some sort of inner journey-process thing going on for some us. And, I agree, if they do land and it's somehow proven UFOs exist (more to the point, that ET exists) UFO researchers will be ignored. They might be trotted out now and then for some entertainment value, but no one's going to really take them seriously; they'll be co-opted and appropriated. Used by the media and institiutions such as science for their own purposes. (The same would happen in the case of Bigfoot or Nessie.)
The public would be interested, as Alfred Lehmberg wrote in his comment to this item on Paul’s blog, and in that sense, the "folk" will jump in, but, being just the folk, no one's going to care. The institutions of science, academia, etc. aren’t going to bother with what will still be considered the fringe element. Even as it’s discovered that ET exists, there will still be areas of ufology that will fascinate, while ignored by the mainstream.

Years ago a professor of folklore told me that if ET were to land tomorrow, “it wouldn’t matter.” I didn’t understand what she meant at the time; what do mean, “It wouldn’t matter??!!” Of course it’d matter! What she meant was, in the context of folklore, it wouldn’t matter. People would still have their stories, the “folk” would continue to be marginalized by the mainstream and the approved institutions, individuals would still have their experiences. Various rituals, beliefs, and processes would evolve surrounding the discovery of ET, and take on their own flavor due to cultures and religious/spiritual beliefs. Even though ET has now been proven as a reality, various and new “realities” would quickly spring up surrouding ET, and it would start all over.

This doesn’t mean, as Kimball writes, we still can’t “have fun,” and for some of us, it’s more than “fun” (though it certainly is that too) it’s very personal on many levels. But that depends on how each of us is wired; we’re all of different temperaments.

It doesn’t matter to me that it will be highly unlikely we’ll ever find “the answer” because that’s not the purpose of this journey. (And, as I said, by definition it can’t happen anyway due to the Trickster aspect.)

So where does all this leave the “nuts and bolts” researchers? Those who work so tirelessly and do their best (most of them) to produce documents, evidence, facts of a case, to show the world? Nothing short of a dead body (be it ET or Bigfoot) that’s been independently verified by a whole slew of scientists will prove anything to the world. And then what? We’ll go on as before, except those of us who, as I mentioned, do this for other reasons other than “proving” something to others. Those diligent researchers will be trotted out as well as entertainment value, footnotes to the big reveal of ET.

That’s okay though, as cynical as it sounds. There’s the outsider element when the truth is concerned in “fringe” topics, and UFOlogy is no different. These same kinds of responses to Ufologists and Ufology apply to the Kennedy assassination and 9/11. If it were somehow proven to the world that the so-called “conspiracy nuts” were right about those things, they’d be briefly mentioned before once again sent back to the fringe while the approved pundits of society argue over minutae on CNN.

That’s just the way things are. It’s okay. After all, I’m having fun.

John Greenwald Jr. Item on Yahoo News

I was surprised but pleased to see a UFO related article on the Yahoo News Page. . . a nice big headline, with photo. This is about the great work John Greenwald Jr. (of Black Vault) does in gathering government documents for the rest of us. Remember, John does this for free, too. Any support you can send his way I'm sure he'd appreciate.

Pole Dancing Mom Okay; Alien Not

I love the wacky juxtaposed values here:
Pole dancing ad ruled OK but aliens are out, By Liam Houlihan and David Nankervis

POLE dancing strippers are compatible with family values, but animated aliens bearing hamburgers are deemed unfit for television, Australia's ad watchdog says.

The Advertising Standards Bureau dismissed 200 public complaints about a Nando's chicken chain ad featuring a pole dancer wearing only a G-string.

But an animated McDonald's advertisement showing a girl being abducted by aliens and rewarded with a Happy Meal has been axed for undermining "stranger danger" messages.

UFOs in Eugene?

UFOs in Eugene

Just a passing thought: doesn’t seem to be the same level of interest in UFOs here in the Eugene area as there is ghosts. Even though Eugene is considered a “mini UFO hot spot” (I read that somewhere) there isn’t any local UFO group. There’s a MUFON chapter in Portland, two hundred miles away. There’s a state wide paranormal society; TEPS (Trial’s End Paranormal Society.) Last time I heard from them, they were interested in starting up a UFO department, but don’t know what came of that. A new group is forming in Eugene; if I have their permission I’ll post more about it. Their focus seems to be on ghosts, although, again, they are interested in UFOs. Their first meeting is in a couple of weeks; maybe I’ll know more at that time.

There was also Oregon UFO Review, run by Eric Byler in Salem, Oregon. Oregon UFO Review had investigators all over the state, but last few times I’ve checked, they seem to have disappeared. If anyone knows anything about them, I’d appreciate an e-mail or comment.

There is a loose group of individuals here who are interested, and they meet informally a few times a year. I hesitate to name them; I don’t think they want the publicity. There isn’t any investigation going on, per se, but sharing of information and ideas.

The local media seems to have ignored UFOs in the past few years as well. Ten years or so ago, they were far more active.

I know there are plenty of sightings in the area; I hear about them all the time. I’m sure MUFON in Portland, NUFORC, etc. do as well. What purpose would a group serve? Not sure. First problem is, as soon as you have a ‘group” you’re in trouble. Too many meetings, rules, etc. I'm not wired that way. But a loose resource center for local, interested parties might be nice.

Brittish MOD: "Worst Person in the World"

Future husband of Air America’s Stephanie Miller, and journalist Keith Olbermann mentioned on UFO Updates. Found this on UFO Updates: Keith Olbermann made The Brittish Ministry of Defense “worst person in the world” for its stand on UFOs.

"Intrusive Ghost Hunters" on BoA

You can read my current Trickster’s Realm column on BoA, about
Intrusive Ghost Hunting, where I wonder if it’s not a rude thing, to be going about demanding that the spirits appear, shouting for them to show themselves, while clanging about with all kinds of clattering, heavy equipment and people calling out to Jesus every two minutes.

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.

Fife Symington on C2C Tonight

The first hour of C2C (Coast to Coast, syndicated radio) will have on Arizona ex-governor and UFO witness Fife Symington.

Symington's been making the news lately, due to his recent admission he saw a large triangle UFO over Phoenix during the "Phoenix Lights" event.

I don't think I'll be able to hear that however; in Eugene, Oregon, where I live, the station that carries it (KPNW) has, in their wisdom, decided to cut off the first hour of coast to coast and air, of all people, the misogynistic right wing blow bag, Lars Larson. Sometimes I'm able to get a station from the Bay Area up here, and can listen to the first hour of C2C that way. Between KPNW cutting off the first hour of C2C, and their competition, KUGN canceling Jeff Rense. As much as I loathe Rense, that purple tinted, yellow journalistic, anti-Semitic misogynistic blow bag, as least it was another source of UFO-conspiracy-Fortean mind rot for us flying saucer junkies.

You know, it's a good thing I'm not a strongly opinionated person or anything. I should work on that.

On The Brink Of Hysteria. Really. They Were.

Among Big UFO News is the admission by ex-Governor of Arizona Fife Symington, who now says he saw a UFO that night of ‘the Phoenix Lights” in March ten years ago. (Former Arizona Gov. Admits UFO Sighting On Night of Phoenix Lights
By Jon Shanks
Mar 18, 2007)

And in a touch of irony, in typical Trickster fashion, it was Symington who was responsible for the pedestrian and lame “alien in a costume” stunt. Symtington publicly made fun of the whole UFO event, and in one bit of bozo like behavior, introduced an extraterrestrial, as being responsible for the lights. Har har. (The costumed individual was Jay Heiker, an assistant in the governor’s camp.)

As I’ve written before, one of the aspects of the PHoenix Lights case that always intrigued me was the lack of response, and interest, from authorities.

In the interview Symington says that he called the commander at Luke Air Force Base, the general in charge of the National Guard, and the head of the Department of Public Safety to request an explanation. None of them had answers, and they, too, were "perplexed," he says.

Now, that’s the kind of response I want from our government agencies: weird things flying over our cities, and all they can offer us is that they’re “perplexed.”

When asked about his ridicule factor back then, Symington says:

He explains that Arizona was "on the brink of hysteria" about the UFO sighting at the time, and the frenzy was building. "I wanted people to lighten up and calm down, so I introduced a little levity. But I never felt that the overall situation was a matter of ridicule," he says.

Nice spin. But no cigar.

Of course, I wasn’t in Phoenix, Arizona during these sightings, and so I can’t say if the state was “on the brink of hysteria” or not. It does seem to me, from what I’ve seen and read from the media (I’ve been following this event closely ever since the first day) that people were more likely intensely curious, as well as frustrated with the non-response of those in authority. From their Governor, who publicly made a joke out of the whole thing, to the Air Force, etc. no one took the citizens seriously.

We can't be too hard on Symington. He is, was, a politician. Enough said right there. And look at the junk still flung around about Jimmy Carter's sighting, for example. He's come out now with it, that's something. According to him, he was seeking answers behind the scenes.

But as the author of The Heavy Stuff blog wrote, don't expect Anderson Cooper to come along and do a news story on this.

However, I've noticed that the Phoenix story, like its namesake, doesn't ever really die. There's hope yet.

Update on: Biscardi’s Bigfoot Carnival

There's an item by Bigfoot researcherCraig Woolheater on the Cyrptomundo blog on all this Biscardi carnival like Bigfootmania.

Christ. Tom Biscardi has gone all out, joined up with cheesy, sleazy, too sadly all American Americana (its worst side) and gone the carnival route. Teaming up with “reality” TV,(which is a disgusting cultural phenomena all on its own) there will now be this new offering to the American public on Bigfoot: Capturing Bigfoot. The title says it all of course. For a few hundred dollars, it seems any Bozo can join Tom Biscardi on his “hunt” and it will all be televised for our “pleasure.”

No one in Fortean, cryptid, or cryptozoological studies can possibly think this i s a good thing. I don’t know, maybe some do.

Bigfoot researcher Craig Woolheater doesn’t think it’s a good idea. Good for him:

Craig Woolheater, chairman of the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy, which has annual conferences in Jefferson, does not condone Biscardi's methods, which he says "are produced for the sake of media coverage or for commercial purposes."

"This expedition is not a scientific expedition in my opinion; from what I understand it is being filmed for a reality-TV show entitled Capturing Bigfoot," Woolheater wrote in an e-mail. "As such, the TBRC is in no way, shape or form, affiliated with the very controversial Tom Biscardi."

And if Tom Biscardi and his “team” of yahoos somehow capture Sasquatch?

We've got two compounds at undisclosed locations where we'll conduct studies for 90 days, then release it back where we found it, I promise," Biscardi said.”

Good great goddess. Assuming the poor thing doesn’t die first (Bigfoot, not Biscardi) or a Bigfoot family comes to rescue the creature and wreak havoc along the way, or some Cabal of Dr. Evils comes along and offers Biscardi a million dollars, or worse yet, Disney Studios offers him five million dollars -- oh god, I can see it all now. Visions of Ted Nugent yukking it up with Tom Biscardi over beers. (Maybe they’ll have canned Bigfoot hunts along with the “hunt majestic buffalo” people whose ads adorn Nugent's website.)

I’m pretty well convinced Bigfoot exists. But that’s me. I don’t give a damn if one is ever captured or not, in fact, I hope to hell it never is. Let the thing be. Those who have seen it, know it’s real. That’s perfectly acceptable to me.