Wanted: Volunteers for Mars Experiment

The European Space Agency wants volunteers; half a dozen people to play astronaut here on earth for almost a year and a half. Volunteers will be placed in isolation tanks inside mock spaceships. (The isolation tanks are only part of the routine, they won’t be in them for the entire time.) Not only will the volunteers be in isolation tanks, they won’t have contact with anyone. Communication will be by radio. They’ll be sealed up inside a “research institute” in Moscow:
The goal is to gain experience about the psychological challenges that a crew will face on a trip to Mars.

So far, they’ve had about 150 people apply. 19 of those were from women.
Read more: Space pioneers wanted for 520-day Mars experiment

Occam's Razor in Context

Occam’s Razor

Just a passing comment on a comment made by David Rudiak on UFO Updates regarding “Occam’s razor:”

Occam's razor is not only the simplest explanation, but _the
simplest explanation that best conforms to the available
evidence._ Big difference. God being all-knowing and making us
out of mud 6000 years ago is a much simpler explanation than
billions of years of evolution, with all its various lines of
evidence involving physics, astrophysics, chemistry,
biochemistry, genetics, comparative anatomy, etc. But Evolution
through natural selection best fits the pile of evidence that's
been accumulated by science over the last two hundred years.
Evolution wins the Occam's razor contest. God's a loser.

Good point!
You can read more by going to UFO Updates.

"How Do You Know It Wasn't An Angel?"

I missed much of Jeremy Vaeni’s interview on C2C. I did catch the part where Jeremy was explaining his sighting, and he was very clear and upfront and came across quite reasonable and credible. Noory came across as a bit flippant, even, and then he asked Jeremy a question about the sighting: “How do you know it wasn’t an angel?” Or something to that effect, I’m paraphrasing, could have been "Do you think it was an angel,?" etc.) I almost fell off the chair! What the hell kind of question was that?!

Turns out Jeremy V. wants to know the answer to that too. So I was expecting Jeremy to come back on air, along with Budd Hopkins: I was looking forward to an interesting conversation with experiencer and researcher. What would Budd have to say to Jeremy? Knowing Jeremy’s style and humor, what would his responses be? But no Jeremy! Turns out Noory ditched him.

One of the things that strikes me as odd is that both Jeremy and Noory write a column for UFO Magazine. (ahem, as do I.) Don’t some of the columnists read what their fellow writers write? Naive of me, probably. I know I read the entire issue cover to cover. It’s like being in a club, and you chat with the other members who are in the same room. Noory didn’t seem to do much homework in that regard.

You can follow the thread about his appearance on his blog:I Was Kicked Off Coast.

Speaking of UFO Magazine
I received a letter from a woman in Northern California who had read my column and wrote to me, detailing her own UFO experiences with “an orange orb.” It was nice to know someone took the time to write a “real” letter (no e-mail, but a handwritten letter) and share her story. If I have her permission I’ll write more about this later on.

Updates on the "Kinky Kitchen Gadget" UFO

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

You are a New Age Girl!

You're bright, opinionated, and dedicated to changing the world. Even if it's one hybrid car at a time, you do you part to make things better. In fact, you may be so busy with your causes that you have little time for love. Take an extra yoga class or two, and you just might meet New Age Guy!

What Kind of Girl Are You?

"Course in Miracles" Government Mind Control?

This is a juicy piece of psy op mind control business regarding the “Course in Miracles” books, popular New Age stuff awhile back.

According to Dr. Helen Schucman and the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP), Dr. Helen Schucman and Dr. William Thetford "scribed" the book by means of a process coming from a divine source through a form of channeling which Schucman referred to as "inner dictation". Schucman described the divine source of her channeling as none other than the person of Jesus Christ. Well.....Dr. William Thetford, headed the CIA's "Mind Control" MK-ULTRA SubProject 130: Personality Theory, while at Columbia University between 1971 - 1978.

Read the whole piece here:
A COURSE IN MIRACLES - A CIA Manipulation Device ?

Jeremy Vaeni on C2C!

Jeremy Vaeni on Coast to Coast!

Our friend Jeremy Vaeni will be on C2C this Thursday night. (June 14th.)

Jeremy writes for UFO Magazine, and is creator of the film “No One’s Watching: An Alien Abductee’s Story.”

Very cool, Jeremy! Congratulations.

Tina Sena on "Skepticus Humanus"

Tina Sena, owner of the blog Yufology, also writes a column titled Esotericana for Tim Binnall's website, BOA.

Check out her latest: The Origins of the Species : Skepticus Humanus

KINKY KITCHEN GADGET UFO

This has been making the rounds lately as an UFO. The thing reminds me of some kinky kitchen toy but not a UFO. Photoshop, a hoax, who knows. For one thing, it seems wildly out of place regarding the pattern of UFO objects. Nothing like it has been reported before, as far as I know. This doesn’t mean it couldn’t be a legitimate UFO, however, it’s so out of place and, well, silly looking.

The first images came from the
Coast to Coast site in May of this year. (photos were taken in April.) The photos were sent in by “Chad,” who says he sees this thing frequently, has experienced headaches he suspects are a direct result from viewing the object, and that others have seen it as well.

“Jenna,” from the UFO Casebook Files site, writes:

My name is Jenna and I participate in a listserv for photographers in Saratoga, CA. Today a member named Stephen posted some pictures he took yesterday (the 5th) for a class assignment in the area around Big Basin. The pictures very clearly depict some kind of large object in the sky, and he was able to get two clear shots and one out-of-focus shot before it apparently disappeared. I recognized certain details on this object immediately because a friend had sent me your About.com article on different UFOs that have appeared recently with a similar appearance.

It does seem suspect that “Stephen” is in a photography class, and the picture was taken during that class for an “assignment.” Jenna goes on to say she knows Stephen and she takes “his word seriously.”

Over on About.com, UFO researcher Billy Booth has a short piece on the object. He links to six photos, but when I followed the link the photos were gone. Hmmm. Booth says he’s received several e-mails from people speculating on what they are, but as he points out, no proof to point to anything definitive.

Linda Moulton Howe’s Earthfiles site has some interesting information.

Is it some sort of drone? If so, it seems awfully unweildly. Yet, Howe quotes an alleged “nanotech engineer” who says:

"The design strategy of charged ion / shaped plasma 'buoyancy' devices
does bear some relevancy here. For instance, the circular array of curved 'antennae' coming out of the center of the device is very similar to a form of wave guide / shaping mechanism for a charged plasma / ion field."

Howe lists several articles related to this topic. Interesting if one wants to go further. (One thing to consider: are there military or industrial installations that are contracted by the military in the area?)

It’s things like this that add to the Trickster characteristic of Forteana. We can’t ignore this weird kinky kitchen gadget UFO; it’s data. But if we spend too much time on it, we get distracted. While we’re wasting time over here, all kinds of things are going on over there. Where to look? Meanwhile, some talented photography student is getting an A for creativity and effort in class. Was his motivation simply from a creative perspective? Does he have an interest in UFOs at all? Or is he mocking what he considers nonsense, while having fun and learning about photography?

Or is this object some kind of government thingie? Did it appear, “accidentally on purpose” in the vicinity of the photography student just to further muddle things up?
Do Chad and Stephen know each other?

See? Already spent too much time with this distraction. On the other hand, it’s always interesting to chronicle these stories, just for the record. It’s a UFO, and may turn out to be a valid, solid object of some type with a mundane explantion, such as a drone. If that. But an extraterrestrial object? Highly doubtful.

---

Notes

Coast to Coast site
UFO Casebook Files
Billy Booth
Earthfiles

War of the Worlds in Bun - O - Vision!

War of the Worlds, recreated in a 30 second animated bunny version.

I Know, It’s A Waste Of Time . . .

But I do wish the following would forever disappear from the culture:

“Do you believe in UFOs?”

"Are UFOs real?"

“Do you believe you’ve seen what you thought was a UFO?”

“Aunt Millie said she’s seen a UFO; do you believe her?”

“Do you believe UFOs exist?”

You get the picture.

I know, I know, it’s “only” semantics (a phrase that drives me wild) and it’s a ridiculous battle. No chance at all of ever winning, or even coming close.

Still, every now and then I just have to rant about the use of UFO as an: idol, an idea, a concept, a entity, an alien -- make that an outer space alien -- a mirage, a hallucination, a fantasy, a lie, a drug or alcohol induced event, a mental aberration, a religious figure, a God/

Instead of what it is: a weird object/craft/machine/light of unknown origin and purpose. Nothing to “believe” in at all. Do you “believe” in your microwave? The point some make that “we know what a microwave is; we don’t know what a UFO is” is a nonsensical response. Yes, yes, we know about microwaves, and we don’t know the whats, wheres, and whys of UFOs, but that’s what UFOs are. In that sense, we do know what UFOs are: we don’t know what they are. (heh.)

Putting all this other stuff onto an unexplainable light/thing/machine in the sky only reveals the issues of the individual doing the interpreting. Including the thuggish (or disingenuous, depending) response of the pathological skeptic who insists that “everyone knows when we say UFO we really mean aliens from space.” Speak for yourself there Mr. or Ms. Pelican Head.

I have ideas, theories even, as to what some UFOs are, but that doesn’t mean they are that.

I’ve seen several UFOs in my life. (Some with some high strangeness thrown in.) And while I won’t deny or try to explain away, nor rationalize in any way, that I’ve seen UFOs, -- because I have -- neither will I say I “believe” in them.

Reading This Blog Means You've Joined a Cult, You Know

You Are 80% Weird

You're more than quirky, you're downright strange. But you're also strangely compelling, like a cult leader.

How Weird Are You?

List Those Blogs!

List your UFO blog here!

Nessie caught on tape

eel, Nessie or tricks of light on something more mundane?

Interesting, of course, more Nessie data. Hard to say at this time what it is.

Around

On Tim Binnall’s site, BOA (Binnall of America) for my Trickster’s Realm column: Why Did I Lie? about my defensive response to alien abductions.

Be sure to read the other columns: Lesley's Grey Matters, Wrath of Joe, etc. and listen to the great, free, podcasts of Tim's interviews!

On UFO Digest: The Fortean Pinball Machine, about my theories on no theories, or, no theory about all those theories. Or maybe my theory is that it’s all very weird. Which isn’t a theory, it’s a given.

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