Entering the Orb: A Startling Realization

I have an "entering the orb" piece on UFO Magazine's blog, about the abrupt realization I had the other night concerning my orange orb sighting, and the reasons why I couldn't, no matter how much I very much wanted to, leave the house to investigate.

Sensing Earthquakes?

The past two days, I was thinking heavily about earthquakes. Not a surprise, since I live in Oregon and fifty miles from the coast. I have family all up and down the California coast, and so naturally the concern about earthquakes is a constant. That, and the general state of events in the world: Japan, etc. Even with those considerations, I was thinking about earthquakes and in particular, observing my cats. Their behavior lately hasn't been particulary strange, not like they were here recently a day or so before Oregon quakes, (Aug 5th) as I wrote about on Oregon L.O.W.F.I. but still odd. Not their usual patterns. My mind kept returning to "earthquake" and I found myself "seeing" earthquake activity on the west coast, though I didn't "see" or feel anything about Alaska, mainly California, Oregon and Washington in that order. Today's news brings reports of a 4.2 in Los Angeles, and a 7.1 in Alaska. (Related post: Tsunamai Dream.)

Gut Feeling: Midwest

Like most of us, I assume, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's been like this for a good year or so. I think most of us on this planet are feeling this way. And when the other shoe does drop, it seems like that's not quite it. There's more. As if the shoe has dropped into a bottomless pit; down the rabbit hole, and we keep waiting to hear it land with a decided thud.

About three weeks ago, C2C had on a series of psychics. One of them, a woman, said she keeps getting a strong feeling of something happening in the midwest or southeast, something to do with the land. She saw "waves", like waves of energy, (not literal waves, as in water) -- when she said that, I had a very strong image/picture in my head of the eastern part of the U.S. extending to the midwest. South east, and going midwest. Something to do with -- not sure. Not a weapons thing, at least not, terrorism or anything like that. Not nuclear. Possibly earthquakes. Yet something to do with human causes as well. I don't recall what her time line was; I felt that it'll be between now and early to mid October. No later than December of this year. I don't know if the earthquake in Virginia was it; I don't think so. I think there's more...

I think the woman on C2C was what she calls herself: the "hillbilly psychic" but I could be wrong about that. I didn't write it down at the time. But I was struck by the literal gut feeling I had when she said what she saw.

Where Did It Go?

(And, what was it?)


Last week or so I wrote about a strange star or planet that I saw. I tried to determine what it was; possibly Jupiter... did some searching and all kinds of posts on forums, including Above Top Secret, of people seeing a similar looking object/star/planet in about the same place in the sky. I've gone out looking for it since then, but haven't seen it. I realize stars move and all kinds of things such as atmospheric conditions affect how or when you can see objects but it's unusual that it's just plain completely gone. Really, the thing was spectacular, and "dripping" tails, multi-colored.

I Didn't Want to do It: New Blog Look

I am very frustrated with blogger right now. For some reason, the font size for my posts just won't change, no matter what I do. So I decided to try a different design or template, but that doesn't seem to work either. Nor does it seem to matter what browser I use. I give up. Almost.

I don't like this look either. So I guess - and I apologize -- there will be some playing around with different looks here until I get it right.

Feh!

Tsunami Dream

Photo by Regan Lee, March 2011

I had a dream last night that, while not connected to today's earthquake in Virginia, gave me a bit of a start when I heard news of that quake this afternoon.

I'm with Jim, we're with someone we know in waking life (we're estranged) and standing inside this person's new home. Which is a simple glass box; paned glass walls, the entire house, except for roof and floor, is glass. The house is about the size of our bedroom or living room, very small. Keeping with dream logic, I know/almost see that there is a small kitchen/bathroom to the side but it's all one room.

The house/room sits on top of a white cliff. About two hundred feet below is the ocean. Prussian blue, churning, high tide. Beautiful. White boulders on either side of us, about three feet from the house.

We all live in Oregon, but in the dream, we're all in California, the house is in California and this person seems confused, lost, not sure how she came to live here. I ask her what she thinks of the town, she says it has a "nervous energy." (Which is something I'd say, but not her.) The town is small and below San Diego, and starts with a P. Something like "Paladinion" ...

Suddenly, a huge wave comes up, engulfing the house. We are inside the glass house and see nothing but water surrounding us on all sides. It's very frightening. The wave recedes, only to return. This keeps happening. The house is shaking and rattling. I'm worried the glass will break, the boulders will slip...

Rest in Peace Budd Hopkins

Budd Hopkins has passed. Condolences to his family and loved ones...

Intruders Foundation

Rest in Peace Stuart Miller

I was shocked and sad to hear that Stuart Miller had recently died, killed in a motorcycle accident. I didn't know Stuart very well and had never met him in person, but we did exchange emails and he was always funny, off the wall a bit and witty, and kind to me.  He had generously sent me issues of his sadly short lived magazine Alien Worlds, and invited me to contribute.  Others did know him and were friends, and have been writing about Stuart: NICK'S FORTEAN PIC(S) OF THE DAY: Stuart Miller RIP and Paul Kimball among them.

My prayers and thoughts go to Stuart's family and friends.

SkeptiWatch

Changed the name of my anti-skepticism blog to SkeptiWatch. Same blog, different name:SkeptiWatch

The UFO Trail: Central Issues of the Emma Woods Case

An article post from Jack Brewer at The UFO Trial blog: The UFO Trail: Central Issues of the Emma Woods Case Here's just a bit from Jack's post:

As if Woods' thorough documentation of facts and the predominantly tolerant and open-minded nature of the UFO community are not reasons enough to allow Woods to speak her peace, there are three primary points I find wrong with the statements of those seeking to silence Woods:

1) None of those who try to saddle Woods with psychiatric disorders are actually qualified to diagnose or identify such conditions.

2) None of those who accuse Woods of unacceptable behavior provide documentation of specific circumstances.

3) My personal experience interacting with Woods gives me no reason whatsoever to suspect her to be anything other than reasonable.

My experiences with Emma have been the same: always civil, kind, "reasonable" as Brewer states, and clear.

C2C: Kim Carlsberg, Travis Walton, Brad Steiger

I'm sure this will be a great show tonight on C2C:Alien Abductions - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

Brad Steiger for first hour, then Kim Carlsberg, with Robert Miles, Mirian Delcado and Travis Walton. Among topics said to be discussed: the military involvement, an area I'm personally interested in.

Can't wait!

(Slight edit) Emma Woods Responds to Paracast and Gene Steinberg's Defamations

Excellent and highly, as always, articulate response by Emma Woods to the recent lies by many on the Paracast forum, including of course the one responsible for what goes on there, Gene Steinberg. UFO Magazine - UFO Magazine Blog - Response to Paracast Defamation

Not to hijack Emma's case here, but it is time to stop. It's time for others to stop accusing people they simply dislike of being child molesters, or liars, or making threats where none were made, or of being mentally ill. Just fucking stop it. (Slight update here: I am referring to a thankfully very small handful of writers, pundits, researchers, etc. -- which doesn't lessen their crimes any --  who have done one or some of the previous mentioned reprehensible things. Like this, for example.)

And I've never said it publicly, but it's long overdue: thank you Paul Kimball for stepping up and refusing to participate in such a place where these kinds of things are said on a daily basis.

Rejecting Witness, Assassinating Character...

Self elected UFO Police, whether it's someone who runs a podcast or forums, or researchers who get up organizations with manifestos and rules about what speculations will and will not be entertained, are annoying, sure. They're liars. They're manipulators. All that is certainly a drag, but, while on the surface it may seem like petty bullshit, it's actually very dangerous.

It's dangerous because pundits decide, for whatever personal whims and biases of their own, that a witness is full of crap. Whatever witness comes forward with her or his story, these would be gurus of UFO Land are no better than the psycho-skeptoids who debunk fringe topics, including UFOs. Demands are made by these Flying Saucer Fascists that the witness reveal their true name. Sometimes it is their real name, but try convincing these thugs of that. Other times anonymity is absolutely understandable, to protect family or jobs, but that's not good enough for those who make these demands. The goal posts are moved -- again something the uber-skeptic does constantly -- but it's baffling when UFO folk do it. The witness is expected to suddenly be of the highest caliber of UFO researcher, familiar with all of UFO history and theories. The witness is supposed to stop "whining" if they tell their story, or portray themselves as a "victim." And yet these same little fascists tell us they want to solve the Big UFO Mystery; collect data, and do diligent research. How can any of that happen if the witness is rejected? If the witness is consistently treated with insults, suspicions and even threats? 

And great goddess help the witness if they question theory or, worse, reveal their personal interactions with a researcher that conflict with ones' personal views.

The witness doesn't owe anyone anything. As a given, in all human interactions of every kind, honesty and integrity are expected. I assume those are present when talking with a witness. If it turns out they're not -- the witness is a lunatic or a liar, then, oh well, that's life. I'll  survive. UFOlogy will survive. Back to the star map. If a witness trusts me to share their story, I owe that witness, actually. I owe them respect and I owe them the honoring of their experience by retelling it faithfully and being honest in my responses to that experience. I may not understand their experience, or share the same cultural world views (ie, religious experiences) but that doesn't mean the witness is a liar.

Distractions and Paranoia
Meanwhile, all the insults and lies and attacks continue. The accusations of what someone said, without support, are made. Either the ones telling these made up stories about witnesses or writers they don't like are genuinely mistaken, or they're liars. Hard to believe adults can be so stupid as well as petty but UFO World and its cousins, like Bigfoot World, certainly have their share of stupidity. Egos are huge in the Flying Saucer Universe. No proof is provided to back up accusations, yet accusations are made. I know, amazing!

It's a distraction.  Those who smugly attack others for sometimes ridiculous reasons (like their use of the English language-- they don't get it, so the writer is the buffoon, not them), accusations without support when called on it, or, more profoundly, attacks, slanders, slurs and literally libelous statements about crimes that were never committed, actual research and data reporting are being ignored.

It's incredible to me many of these characters are held in some kind of high UFO regard as credible contributors to UFO research.

A Fleeting Owl, and Synchronicity

All I know is, I had a dream last night about a large white owl. I don't remember anything about it, except that.

Earlier that evening, I was observing an extremely unusual and bright star or planet in the midnight sky. It was between 12:00 and 12:30. The star/planet was north, north-east, between two trees, kind of low in the sky at about a 45 degree angle. The object was so bright and I don't remember seeing anything like that in that part of the sky. I got the binoculars, and through the binocs, the object appeared elongated, like it was "dripping" trails or beams or something, and it also seemed to be extended, as in, it was a long object, something extended behind it. It was bright, I mean brilliant, white, blue, red, green, all at once. I had Jim come and look at it but he said it just looked like a star to him.

I did some research on-line; there were reports of seeing a similar object in roughly the same part of the sky. I checked astronomy sites: it could have been Jupiter. I will look again tonight to see if it's there again; according to astronomy sites it should be.

Then I visit Mike Clelland's hidden experience blog today and find this: owl and the full moon:

Last night I saw a lone owl, was absolutely magical. I was in the Tetons alone, and I was sleeping out under the stars in one of the most beautiful meadows imaginable.

Indeed!

(Update) "Break on Through to the Other Side, Break on Through...": OOBE Jokers

I've written before how, the older I get, the harder it is for me to go all the way with my OOBEs. I'll start to go out, all the usual preliminary stuff happens -- rushing, roaring, clanging, bells, music, chimes, static radio voices -- and then, everything stops, and I'm suspended in an almost motionless, slowly bobbing place where I'm not moving forward. I find this extremely frustrating and no matter how hard I work on this I can't get past this stuck place and move ahead.

(I wonder if this has any connection to UFO experiences. As a child, I'd leave my body all the time, I looked forward to it. These were related to UFO sightings and "alien" encounters. This continued on throughout my teens and as an adult, but I've noticed the past decade or so at least, the OOBEs are less frequent, and rarely successful. This stuck feeling: like I'm inside an elevator that is going up at an incredible speed, then, without warning, it just stops, getting stuck in between floors.)

This morning I had an OOBE, or, rather, apparently I was trying to have one. With a twist as well. I was awake but drowsy; could hear Jim moving around in the kitchen. The I heard the phone ring, but deep inside my head. It was our phone's distinct ring. I remember thinking "Oh, damn, hope it's not so and so calling about ..." something Jim had to do. It only rang once and I thought "Guess they hung up before Jim could get to it." Immediately after that I started that rushing feeling where I was leaving my body. I was very excited about this, and went with it. All the sounds came along, especially the radio sounds. In fact, I wondered if we hadn't left the radio in the bedroom on, because I could hear it so distinctly, voices, a bit of static but clear enough. I could make out what they were saying: two men talking, I could hear the words but I don't remember what.  Then it started to sound like someone was rapidly changing the dial, looking for a station. Meanwhile, I'm still rushing, leaving my body. Then things started to slow down. Damn!

There I was, bobbing slowly on the ethereal plane, listening to the astral radio. Which was playing the Doors "Break on Through." I had a lucid moment where I thought how funny that was. Clearly, my higher self and/or spirit guides were playing with me: the distinct telephone ring ("Hello? We're calling!", the Doors song) but yet, I couldn't get past the stuck place. I even imagined myself sitting up, in order to move my spirit body along, as well as jump up and down, which helped a bit. But I was quickly losing altitude, as it were, and came back. Now I was fully awake -- Damn it! -- and never could get it back.

Updated: After I had posted this, watching the recent episode of Alphas that we'd recorded, and The Doors People Are Strange is the lead-in music in the first segment...not super-synchronicity, after all, wasn't the same song, but thought it was a bit interesting...