Book Project: Entering the Orb

I've begun a new project. Not sure yet how I'll end up doing this; interactive, as Nancy Birnes suggested, e-book, Kindle, self-publish, blog, pay per installment...so many options. I think, however, that it will be in a sort of journal format, fairly traditional in terms of publishing (e-book/Kindle/self, or through a publisher) with segments posted here at The Orange Orb.

So here it is, working title: Entering the Orb: A Couple's Journey into Missing Time, Screen Memories and UFOs.

Jim and I have decided, spontaneously and independently of each other, to go through some kind of regression and retrieval process to find out what happened during our missing time experiences. We've agreed that we would not share what we found out about our own experiences until all the work has been done. We don't know yet if we would see different people, or the same person. If we saw the same person, there's the possibility that person would be unconsciously influenced by the both of us.  Than again, maybe not.

A lot of this is absolutely trust based. How can we prove to others that we're telling the truth when we say we won't discuss with each other what's been discovered, until it's all done? We can't.

There's also a large issue of vulnerability here. Some possible causes for the missing time episodes are obvious -- as in, oh my god they really were Reptilian Overlords. Other reasons concern memory. As you'll see in my next post, Jim and I have very different memories of one of our missing time events. Clearly, one of us is wrong. So why the difference in memories? And if it turns out the cause for missing time isn't UFO related, alien related or some other esoteric or metaphysical cause, then what, and why? Are we unstable? Did someone drug us? (If so, why, and that's certainly scary on its own.) I could handle any of those, (I think) but what I don't think I could handle is the possibly we made it all up. Unintentionally of course, but made up nonetheless. If that is so, why in the world would we do so? That in itself is intriguing.

Grass Roots Welcome Committee

The latest scandal in UFO Land -- Phil Imbrogno's lies about his academic and service background -- is still being discussed. I'm not supporting Imbrogno's lies, nor defending him for doing so. His ideas about things UFO -ish are still interesting, and, while not new, still worth exploring. I had respect for Imbrogno and am sorry this happened. But, it does seem clear it did happen. Which made me wonder: why would someone feel the need to lie about his or her background, when it comes to UFOlogy? Phil Imbrogno isn't the first person to have been exposed for lying about his credentials, and realistically speaking, he probably won't be the last. Yet, why do some people feel they need to lie, in the context of UFOs?

UFO culture is a grass roots culture. Anyone --- despite the UFO Police and snarky researchers who dismiss whatever, or whoever, they don't agree with -- can live in UFO Land. (Well, except scofftics.) Anyone. It doesnt' matter if you have degrees or not, or what those degrees are in. Degrees do not denote intelligence; oh, they point to a specific type and tell us the degreed person has focus and perseverance in order to receive that degree. Don't misunderstand me, I am not "anti degree" and I have one myself. [Sidebar: full disclosure in case anyone tries to out little ol' me: I have an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Ed, a Bachelor's in English lit with an emphasis on Folklore, a Certificate in Ethnic Studies and Folklore, and two years of grad school. ] Does this make any more or less qualified than anyone else? Nope. Not a damn bit. I'm intelligent if discussing Beat poetry or folkloric applications but a goddamn dummy when it comes to math, business or 12th century military history.

So why do some feel the need to lie or exaggerate in context of UFO research? I have a theory. Ahem.

It's the damn debunker skeptoids. As well as those within UFOlogy, many of whom are in the UFO Police camp, who drone on about being "scientific" and academic and all kinds of -ics. No, I'm not implying science is useless, of course it isn't. We need it all in UFOlogy. But because someone holds a degree in the sciences, or at the least, in academia, does not make them any more qualified in any way to research UFOs. Not one damn bit.

In this culture we place a lot of esteem onto those who have college degrees. We automatically think they're smarter and better than the rest of us. Studying UFOs is a fringe thing to do, a kooky, silly thing to do. You're not serious or smart if you consider UFOs to be anything more than a curiosity. (I know, some co-workers and acquaintances think I'm not as smart as they thought I was, once they find I'm "into" UFOs. Surely someone intelligent wouldn't waste their time...) Some think that having a degree gives a little bit of legitimacy to an illegitimate field.

But there's no need. No need to lie about your background, whatever it is. As long as you're using your head, are truthful and honest and following your own voice, you can't go wrong. Despite what some others might say to you about that, the research and the work will stand on its own. And that's all you need.

At Snarly Skepticism . . . (and Unofficial JREF Watch): Imbrogno: Just a Baby Kraken

Snarly Skepticism . . . (and Unofficial JREF Watch): Imbrogno: Just a Baby Kraken

Snarly Skepticism . . . (and Unofficial JREF Watch): At Skeptiko Blog: Science at the Tipping Point Blog Archive 134. Dr. Rupert Sheldrake on the Persistence of Richard Wiseman’s Deception

Snarly Skepticism . . . (and Unofficial JREF Watch): At Skeptiko Blog: Science at the Tipping Point Blog Archive 134. Dr. Rupert Sheldrake on the Persistence of Richard Wiseman’s Deception

Seriously, A New UFOlogy. Seriously...

Another intent to remake UFOlogy, and they are serious. Here they are: The Serious New UFOlogy Institute. Words like "serious" and institute" are heavy and pregnant with meaning, well, you know, serious. They have a paper, authored by Paul Budding: BEYOND THE LIVING MYTH… AND FROM SERIOUS ‘OLD’ UFOLOGY TO SERIOUS ‘NEW’ UFOLOGY

The group admires  Richard Dolan's work and gives him plenty of credit, a very good thing. But something about any organization, especially with the words "serious" and "institute" both in their name, makes me want to run in the other direction. By definition, organizations are things, (er, "institutes") that defy my wanting to join them. (Or, er,  take them seriously.)  That's my nature.

The Institute of Serious UFOlogy (I can't help but get a bit of a Monty Python vibe when I read that title) contrasts serious old Ufology with serious new UFOlgy. No longer concerned with collecting UFO accounts, the new serious UFOlogy is only concerned with: what are [UFOs] they?  Excellent question, and I share their opinion the ETH isn't a given. It isn't a given, but it is a good possibility. It's also possible there are many answers all at once, because UFOs seem to be many things all at once. An ET here, an ultra-crypto-terrestrial there, a rogue government Dr. Evil thing over there. Or even the demons and Djinn and dark energies called up by semi-pathological rocket scientists.
 
The institute is concerned with the "Living Myth" of the ETH:

The Extraterrestrial Hypothesis (ETH) equates to a Living Myth. Many people love the feeling of awe and fascination that goes with the UFO Phenomenon and therefore they will not give up ETH. Giving up ETH would amount to giving up on archetypal awe, fascination, mystery etc. Therefore scientific and academic Ufology lacks confidence in itself precisely because the mythological projections onto the field contain so many archetypal contents and unconscious assumptions. Hence the field senses its own biases and makes it impossible to establish consensus within itself. Indeed for ETH to be the correct explanation there would have to be a coincidence of the myth equating to the reality of the phenomenon and vice versa.  

Much is true of the above. Budding writes the institute does not "condemn" the Living Myth, just that it needs to be excised in order to get an accurate  picture. But at what point does one decide the living-myth-projections-unconscious-assumptions et all are to be discarded? Like it or not, and obviously there are some UFO researchers who do not, there is a whole mess of confusing, seemingly magical at times, and certainly huge WTF moments within UFO events. Discarding those because they're part of a "living myth" taints the research. Now you're left studying only a bit of the thing. How can it be expected that one will find something of validity using that method?

To their credit they acknowledge that it is reasonable to assume there are many concurrent theories that are fairly equally true:

However, as already said, it is possible that no single theory can explain the whole phenomenon. Just because ‘X’ is true doesn’t mean that ‘Y’ is false in this case. Oddly enough there is an obsession for one theory answers: whether they are debunkers, ETH proponents or advocates of other dimensions, or those advocating an earth/human based answer.

It doesn't matter if it's Bigfoot, UFOs, ghosts or any number of anomalous events; many people demand a "one theory answer." Are UFOs solid craft or high strangeness events, are abductions fantasy or alien (ET) caused, is Bigfoot flesh and blood or paranormal, and so on. Black and white theories that are of a compact size, leaving no room for those gray baskets.

 As with the disclosure and other movements, the new serious ufology is brightly naive in thinking that skeptics, scientists and politicians will be open and accepting of UFOs once the phenomena is presented, well, seriously:

Politicians would be forced to show the field respect if Serious Ufology really was able to clearly demonstrate its differentiation from the Living Myth. This necessitates that serious physicists and technologists study the phenomenon.

No one will be "forced to show the field respect" because the field will never get respect. The existence of UFOs -- and their occupants -- are known among the politicians controllers of the world, as well as many in other areas. The details may or may not be known, but the fact of UFOs is. There are concurrent forces at work: one, the phenomena itself. Call it trickster or something else, the UFO phenomena -- which includes the high strangeness/"living myth" stuff -- has a built in function that ensures it remains marginalized. The second concurrent force are the agendas of those humans (above mentioned controllers) who have their own reasons for playing games with the rest of us. As cliche as it sounds, good old cover-ups, conspiracies and disinformation are the human created responses to the UFO presence.

Meanwhile, there are the witnesses. Remember us? Speaking of which, if the "new serious ufology" isn't concerned with collecting new UFO events, how will they recognize the ever shifting manifestations of UFOs? Questions and ideas about UFOs will never be addressed, because they're not being looked at. Soon the new ufology -- sorry, the new serious ufology -- will become the stagnant serious ufology. Before becoming the new old ufology, when another takes its place.

TORCHWOOD TONIGHT!

At long last, the new Torchwood, back this time on STARZ. I could say all kinds of things about Torchwood, but others have done it much better, particularly the excellent Monster Island News. MIN has plenty of posts on the latest regarding the new incarnation of Torchwood. So visit MIN for posts, interviews and  pics -- including the Captain Jack Harkness action figure bust -- and get ready for tonight's episode.

The Morphing Insect Black Helicopter

One recurring UFO related dream is the morphing helicopter or plane image. The setting is anywhere, usually urban, usually night, but daytime and pastoral settings occur as well. I look up in the sky, sometimes it's quite active up there with plane and or helicopter activity, sometimes, blimps -- anyway, all man made, mundane objects. Then it becomes clear that one or two of these planes morph into UFOs. At that point in the dream, I realize the planes, helicopters and so on are not the harmless everyday objects we assume them to be, but UFOs, and worse, there is always a very sinister intent to these things. Sometimes the UFOs are operated by humans, yet at the same time, they're not quite human. Aliens in human disguise, or humans that have become traitors to humanity. What's interesting is that, while the intent is very, very clear -- aliens, their presence, their actions -- I can't see them. They are still invisible, still under cover, still hidden. Humans posed as "us," acting as a buffer or decoy, yes, but the aliens themselves remain, as always in my memory as well as my dreams, unseen.

So last night I have another one of these dreams. This time it wasn't so surprising at all; I just finished reading Nick Redfern's Real Men in Black, and was listening to Coast to Coast with guest Robert M. Stanley. (Close Encounters of Capitol Hill, Covert Encounters in Washington, D.C.) And, I've just started Colin Bennett's Flying Saucers Over the White House.

Night time, big city, like Portland. I'm with Jim. As dreams will, while we're in Portland, apartments, traffic, we're also at our house (Eugene, small, quiet) anyway, we are outside, and above our house/tall buildings, we see a black helicopter flying very low above us. It's a hundred feet or less above us, and it is so black! The color of this thing has an emotion -- it's not just a color, it's an energy, a being. And it's malevolent. I do not like it one bit; we're both scared to death. This black -- deep, deep energy crawling black helicopter -- is after us. The black helicopter is fuzzy, in parts, that's how alive the entire thing is, including, especially, the color. In fact, the helicopter is like a giant black wasp or insect. 


Jim and I dash into a cab, and as we're riding away, we can see the helicopter following us. As we watch, the helicopter morphs into a blimp. I have a moment of calm: "Oh, it's just a blimp, " and the fleeting idea that the helicopter was some kind of publicity thing for the blimp. Then the blimp appears, but something is off. It doesn't look quite like a blimp. The logo or company name isn't one I recognize, and the blimp looks weak, like a cheap imitation. It looks kind of flimsy and small for a blimp. Then I realize that it's not a blimp at all, just more camouflage. We get scared all over again. As soon as I realize it's not a benign blimp, it turns into a UFO. A massive, looming UFO with no good intent.

Original public domain image source:Helicopter by Peter Griffin

"Clown Selling" : Circus Offers Therapy for Clown Fear

Wasn't sure where to post this exactly, so I'll just put it here. (Er, clown "selling?" ) Anyway, speaking just for myself, I don't exactly have a fear of clowns; I just find them disgusting, creepy and dishonest. But if you suffer from a fear (as compared with just plain old disgust of sleeze, cheese and nastiness) you can now get clown therapy, or some such: BBC News - Circus offers 'clown-selling' for people's big-top fear. And oh hell, yeah, I am a bit scared of them too.

Alien Art Genre: Moon and Concrete

Alien Art Genre: Moon and Concrete

Invisible Aliens in Boston: A Dream Inside a Dream

James Rich, Sentinels, acrylic on board

(edited to add: it was pointed out to me that this is my second Boston dream; I had one a week or so ago where Jim and I are in Boston, looking at the harbor, gently mocking the accent: "Boss-tan Haaar-ba" while looking at the beautiful, soft water, reflecting pale pink lights. No idea why Boston has been popping up. I've never been there, don't plan on going there, no family is from there...)

I hadn't been thinking particularly of UFOs, aliens, my own experience, or listening to C2C late at night while drifting off to sleep, nor reading a UFO related book; all things I do on a regular basis. If anything, the past day or two, while working like mad on the house, inside and out, and enjoying our walks, I've been mindful of the importance of stepping outside of all the UFO-paranormal-esoteric-Fortean realm that swirls around me. I realize you can never escape it, and that's not the idea anyway. It's not a dichotomy, no contest here about anything adversarial. Just a balanced perspective so one doesn't get sucked down into an unhealthy and murky place.

And I still managed to have the following dream last night, despite my intentions:

I'm very excited because I've been invited to Boston to meet/collaborate with a well known UFO researcher. (won't say who, he's big time in waking life, though he doesn't live in Boston.) As dreams are wont to do, "Boston" (which I've never been to) is just a town or two away from me here in Eugene, Oregon. At the same time, it's also very far and a huge city and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed but also excited. I go to where the researcher -- Joe X,lets call him -- works, which is a sort of university type setting, sort of huge apartment complex, sort of grade school. In fact, I see some of my co-workers and a few students from my waking life day job. Seems the school where I work has moved and they're already setting up offices for September. 


I have to sort of chase down Joe X, lol, he's so busy and it's hard to catch up with him. People are stopping him every few moments to talk with him, he's very popular and everyone wants to have some time with him. He reminds me of one my waking life professors and in the dream, the two people kind of morph back and forth. Joe X sees me and waves me over to catch up. As we walk (rapidly, lots of people, lots of hubbub) to a conference room he tells me "Lots of researchers have plenty of stories to tell about the witnesses they've worked with, the data they've collected, but I want to hear from the researchers themselves about their own experiences. There's not enough of that going on. So Regan, I want to hear about your whole thing: the orb, missing time, the aliens..." 


I tell him that's a good point and I'm interested in that as well, but as for my own story, I've told it plenty of times, no one wants to hear it again. I've put it out there already. Joe X tells me that not everyone's heard it, there's always a new audience and venue, and he bets he can get to deeper levels about my experiences.


We go into the conference room -- comfortable but funky, old, like an old university setting would be -- still lots of people just coming and going all around. Joe X starts asking me my UFO experiences, and then, the aliens. And I start to get very frustrated as well as a bit panicked. I don't like this and I'm frustrated because I can't remember seeing any damn aliens. I've sensed them, had communications with them, felt their presence (verified by others) but not seen them. Why, why, I ask Joe X, can so many witnesses remember these things but I can't? He is very kind and supportive and steady, just keeps at it. Then abruptly, I "see" in my memory, little bits of what "they" look like. Just an image of a hand, or a foot, or a glimpse of some part of them. I'm surprised because, for one thing, they're tall, not the short grays that's typical. They're somewhat gray like in appearance, meaning those spindly buggers, but tall, six feet or so. They're a sort of tan, dark beige or sand color, not white or gray. I still can't see all of them, completely, but it's the closet I've come to actually seeing aliens in my dreams.


I say to Joe X that in my other dreams, I can never remember what they look like. And even now, I tell him, in this dream they're still being elusive. "Even in my dreams, I can't remember!" I tell him in exasperation.


Later, walking around this place, I run into one of the teachers I work with. She asks me about my summer and if I did anything fun, I tell her I went to Boston. She says, well, that's huge, tell me more! I say, well, it wasn't really anything, it was just a day and a night, then I was gone. As I walk away, I realize that I just told a co-worker I had been to Boston, but I didn't go to Boston, I just dreamed that I did. I just told her I thought my dream was reality. Now I have to think of something to tell her if she asks about it again. I'm very worried about how it looks, that I think a dream was reality. Then I wake up, and for a few moments, still have that thought, worried about telling her I didn't really go to Boston, just dreamed it. Until I realize, that was a dream too -- I only dreamed that it was reality. 

The Key - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

Bit of synchronicity, after my previous post about Strieber's The Key. He'll be on C2C Sunday night with host George Knapp to discuss this very book.

The Key - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

Women Of Esoterica: Question Has Been Posed:" Is Whitley Strieber Advocating Implants?"

Women Of Esoterica: Question Has Been Posed:" Is Whitley Strieber Advocating Implants?"

Spirits About?

When we first moved into our house, built in 1927, there were some definite remnant energies. I wouldn't say the house was haunted, exactly, but we both felt strong imprints of previous owners. Oddly, the strongest feeling was fairly recent, rather than decades ago. Just not a healthy feeling. And for many years, there was always a negative feeling emanating from the backyard at night. I often felt silly, because it was just a backyard, medium sized, and fenced; nothing out of the ordinary about it. Why in the world would I feel such a strong creepy feeling every time I went outside at night? After many years, the feeling seemed to have dissipated, but it's still there on occasion.

Overall, through the years, things have calmed down -- not that they were ever exceptionally vivid, as with other haunted places I've been in -- and nothing has happened for some time. Until the past couple of weeks. Little things, like knowing damn well I put something someplace, and then, it's gone. And then, a few moments later, it's back. Happened again this morning; my glasses were not there on top of my computer, which irritated me, since I knew I had put them there the night before. (It's where I always put them at night.) Look around, thinking they fell on the floor or whatever, look back to the laptop, and there they are. That kind of thing has been happening a lot recently. I wondered why this, and a few other odd little things would be happening again after many years of calm.

Then I realized: we decided to devote ourselves into redoing our house. Not "remodeling" (too poor and house too funky for that) but lots of work, interior and exterior. Due to finances and health issues, we've ignored our house, inside and outside, and finally decided to direct our energies to fixing this place up. Two weeks ago we started with the roof -- whole thing completely redone. Lots of yard work, cutting back old brush and taking out shrubs and all kinds of stuff. We've been very active in this house recently, as far as fixing it up.  So it occurred to me that it's possible all this activity has stirred things up on the other side.

It'll be interesting to see how this progresses, if at all.

On hidden experience: Synchroniciites!

Mike at hidden experience alerted me to his recent batch of synchronicities: hidden experience.
Love those synchronicity moments; I just had my own batch the past week, mostly involving trivial matters but striking nonetheless for how specific they were. Only one of the moments seemed profound, involving someone many of us know out here in UFO Land, but anyway, read Mike's entries for a dose of mysterious trickster coincidences.

Saucer Sightings: My Not So Invisible Aliens

I haven't posted anything at my Saucer Sightings blog in a very long time. Here's a new post about a dream involving aliens and the still unseen grays:
Saucer Sightings: My Not So Invisible Aliens