Those Spiky Drones

I'm not giving the whole drone thing another minute of my time. Oh, I'll still lurk around the topic, as I do with many of the topics that are a part of the giant multi-facted spinning thing called UFOlogy, but I'm not going to research it, read about it, or write about it. My time on paranormal, esoteric and UFO stuff can be better spent. (Something might catch my eye and I'll find I can't resist writing about it, but it'll have to be big.)

Whatever the drones are, they're not UFOs from outer space.

They're hoaxes. No one's come out yet with it, and maybe that's the evil plan; if it's a psy-op monkey wrench, they're not going to come out, their job is done.

If it's some sort of spy robot thing, then that's what it is. Lots of them around you know. We've been in big trouble for a long time around that issue. Which is a lot scarier and more tangible than UFOs from space. Forget the aliens, it's Dr. Evil Global Corporate Big Brother we have to worry about.

An Orange Orb Sighting From Canada

I came across a report of a sighting of an orange orb that is very close to the sighting I had years ago. I find it interesting that they had their sighting in 2003; I had mine over twenty years ago. But it sounds very close to what I saw and how it behaved.

Joke writer

It’s a bit of delightful irony and synchronicity that I read this in Andrew Colvin’s The Mothman’s Photographer II:

You know, I spent years of my life writing jokes for television. I wrote Merv Griffin’s ad-libs at one points.

Who said that? UFO and high strangeness researcher and writer John A. Keel. Take that, all you grumpy classist UFO pundits!

Classic Klass

I posted a clip of Klass and Friedman on Nightline from 1987 over at Snarly Skepticism. Take a look. And find out who the Featured Snarly Skeptic is this month!

Mothman Synchronicity

I've mentioned in the last few posts I'm reading Andrew Colvin's Mothman's Photographer II, and how, among other things, he talks a lot about synchronicities. Synchronicity in this area of UFO and weird research/studies/explorations isn't a new concept to anyone who has been involved in this of course. So here's my little bit of Mothman synchronicity; I had just put a link up over at Women Of Esoterica, about Joan D'Arc's new book, and then went over to the Paranoia Magazine site, where I haven't visited in months. And sure enough, the Spring issue has an article on Mothman by Andrew Colvin.

Around The Orb

New template, and new name, on my skeptic’s blog. It’s now Snarly Skepticism, and has some neat things, like the Bigfoot Threads on JREF and Still Counting on the menu on your right. (At last count I think it was thirteen.)

I’ve been having too much fun at Vintage U.F.O. -- lots of clips and things up right now. Nothing terribly insightful but fun. You might have noticed I made a slight change to that blog too; from Vintage UFO to Vintage U.F.O.

As always, I’ll plug Women Of Esoterica and Frame 352: The Stranger Side of Sasquatch.

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Still reading Andrew Colvin’s Mothman Photographer’s II, which I’m enjoying very much. This isn’t to say I always agree with Colvin on some things; he has some very firm opinions. I won’t mention names but he doesn’t like a couple of people in the field I do find interesting, and likes someone I had a very nasty private exchange with, who frequents a well known UFO list. But his experiences and take on things is worth looking at; and the book has a lot of stuff by John Keel, which is great. I still think, after all this time, much of what Keel has to say about things makes sense. (So there’s an example of an “old” researcher whose contributions may be “old” but they’re hardly without value.) If nothing else, the book is fascinating for its mind boggling world of synchronicities and complicated connections from one seemingly mundane thing to a paranormal, UFO, global Illuminati thing. You can see how this stuff could drive someone mad . . .

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The Contactees continue to fascinate me, and I’m just beginning to explore the idea of the time of their contacts. We think of the Contactee era has happening mainly in the 1950s and 1960s. But eras don’t exist in vacuums; any period in history overlaps with what went before, and what follows. Some of the Contactees experienced visitations earlier than what we typically think of as the ‘Contactee era.” What that could mean, I don’t know.

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I’m so busy with my own blogging and writing, and “real” life, that I don’t acknowledge all the others who do great work -- and for free, which shows I’m not the only one obsessed. All the individual bloggers, listed on my links list, but also forums and places like Book of Thoth, or Binnall of America, or UFO Digest, or Stuart Miller's Alien Worlds. And Greenwald’s Blackvault. The Anomalist as well, even though they’re a publisher, and do make some money; but it’s not as if they’re all buying villas in Italy. All those places give the rest of us daily news and links to the realm of the weird, which is pretty neat.

And of course all those individual bloggers; that’s why it annoys me so much when people start writing about how others are wasting time, or should shut up because they’re not saying the “right things” about UFOs. Or worse, when they get downright insulting. No, you shut up. Neener neener. So there. Feh!

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Have a good week!

Marvin the Martian and The Carpenters

Visit Vintage U.F.O.; you'll find outer space songs by Dickie Goodman and Karen Carpenter, a Marvin the Martian clip, a great "remix" of composer for the cartoons Carl Stalling to footage from classic flying saucer movies, and a lot more. I'm really having too much fun over there.

EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS - CARL STALLING REMIX

I posted this over on Vintage U.F.O. but just had to put it here as well. It fits so nicely with all the recent flurry of all the posts about humor vs. no humor, musicals as images to use in comparison with UFO experience, and your general silliness exhibited, not by UFOs, but by people (yes, me too!) within UFOlogy.
I really like this one!

From the UFO Soaps: Lehmberg on Brenton on Me on UFO Magazine on . . .

I try to avoid “fights” and all the stupid petty crap that goes on in UFOlogy. Try not to feed the trolls and all that. Though sometimes one has to hold them up while they squirm around for all to see. They can’t always get away with it.

But here goes. I’m doing this as a pro-active tactic; because you and I know, dahlings, there are those that despise Alfred Lehmberg, and myself (I know, it’s so unfathomable!) and so, in reading Lehmberg’s latest on Daniel Brenton and my recent UFO Magazine article (article is at end of this post) on Red Moon and Brenton, those trolls, thugs, snarly skeptics and uptight on - the - fence - sitters will say to themselves: “A-ha! Lehmberg has gone after Regan Lee! Regan Lee is a victim of Lehmberg’s wrath! Oh, what a delicious day!”

Oh big heaping stacks of moldy green bologna.

For one thing, we can all think for ourselves, thank you very much. I have great respect for Lehmberg but we disagree on a few things; Jeff Rense, for example. Big whoop.

I liked, Daniel Brenton, and when I wrote this article I meant every word of it. Then he got strange with a few people, myself included. It’s too bad, and I’m sorry it happened. But stuff like this does and will happen. I have nothing against him, per se. I don't agree with his call for some sort of UFO Oversight Committee, for example, but so what. We don't all agree with each other on things. So you can all go back to your caves and choose something else to gloat over.

Regarding what Alfred wrote, I have some comments. For example, I had to laugh when Lehmberg compared Brenton to cheese. Oh lighten up, it's funny!
...but one man's rotten milk is another woman's cheese... so maybe DB remains to be a good camembert. An especially soft and squishy one.

Okay, moving on...
I wrote, in the article, about Brenton's Signal to Noise project, which I took part, discussing the Contactees:

Daniel is optimistic, hoping that Signal to Noise will generate “. . . a model for working through a premise to a conclusion, or at least coming to an amicable disagreement.

”

And Lehmberg commented on that with his own remarks:

Lehm: Cut from the discussion with no fanfare amidst meepy protestations of my inability to be understood, he then whisper-campaigned behind the scenes subsequently subtly trying to get me disallowed from any discussion. So much for "amicable disagreement.”

True, now that time has passed. Oh well. And “meepy” is a great word.

Alfred wants to know why I went on about Brenton's book Red Moon; because it’s science fiction; what does that have to do with UFOs? he wants to know. Also, I suspect, often science fiction fans and writers, oddly enough, don't have much patience with UFOlogy. Well, the moon is a planet. We went there. (some say.) There’s aliens up there, I hear tell. And it has something to do with the plot of the book:UFOs. Although I do agree; I prefer none to very little fiction in magazines like UFO magazine. I want news, meat, personal stories, research, theories, not fiction.

Anyway, the point is, everyone's entitled to their opinion. And it’s irony in typical Trickster fashion my article on Brenton would appear the day after DB e-mailed me, all in a huff (Daniel, you did you know.)

As to the rest, all what happened on Culture of Contact, etc. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know. Can’t comment on that.

Well ladies and germs, the circus has once again left town, so go back to what you were doing, which, hopefully, is research, be it armchair or field, or just musing under the starry skies.

See Lehmberg:http://www.alienview.net/news.html

---

Daniel Brenton�s Signal to Noise

Daniel Brenton has a blog and it's called The Meaning of Existence and all that: The Odd Little Universe of Daniel Brenton. What makes his blog different from many blogs, is that it�s a very good blog. Brenton writes insightfully about what�s on his mind concerning UFOs, UFOlogy, and many other topics, including his own connection and responses to the spiritual or metaphysical side of things. But these things aren't the only reasons why his blog is among the best; it�s because he�s also a good writer.

Daniel is also co-author with David S. Micheals of the recently published Red Moon, a fictional story about finding a surprise on the Moon. Explains Brenton:

It's 2019, and a crew of a "return to the
Moon" expedition discover a Soviet manned spacecraft that's been hidden
for half a century. They discover it holds the darkest secret of the
Moon Race, which in turn may help them find an elusive lunar resource
that could very well be the last hope of humanity.

The book has been getting good reviews, including this one from Paul Levisnon, ex-president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America:

"This is not just among the best
first novels I've read in years, it's among the best novels, period.
Red Moon is a masterpiece."

Brenton gives full credit to David S. Micheals, saying:

"David S. Michaels was the real driving force behind it, but I feel my contribution to the book is still some of my best writing to date, I
think I can say with a pretty good sense of certainty if you start with
the novel at the beginning of the prologue and get to the end of the
first chapter, you'll either be hooked or you won't. I've literally
met only one person who didn't like it. I'm really pleased to have been part of writing this novel.

Brenton writes not only well but thoughtfully, which has led him to create something new: a sort of �point counterpoint� blog thing. Called Signal to Noise, Brenton hopes to offer his view on an aspect of UFOlogy on his blog, and another blogger respond on their blog. Sort of like a UFOlogical intellectual version of blog tag.

His first Signal to Noise was about the Contactees, with my response following on my blog Vintage UFO. In that piece, Brenton showed why Adamski and other Contactees could not have possibly traveled to other planets, given what we know about physics and space travel. To that I responded, "Well, der." Okay, I didn�t say that. But that's obvious, and focusing on that misses the point. If we take their stories literally, we're missing out on what the Contactees can teach us. Instead we're wasting time debating the logistics and reality of their visitations within the solar system.

In other words, when it comes to the Contactees, I believe them. I just don't take them literally.

Signal to Noise
I asked Daniel what he hoped to accomplish with Signal to Noise? He stressed the importance of "reflective discussion," and underscores the word:

I'd like Signal to Noise to be a place for reflective discussion:
"underline dis-cus-sion. There are so many fronts in this subject that folks can't seem to come eye to eye about. Having an ongoing dialogue
can be rewarding in a number of levels, let alone maybe even being fun
and can suggest ideas and approaches that the individuals may not have
come to on their own.

"
One of the things I admire about Brenton is his willingness to seriously consider those aspects of UFOlogy that are too out there for many researchers:

"There are a group of subjects under the UFO umbrella that strike me as being just too strange to be taken seriously, such as the whole Nazi
UFO thing, shapeshifting reptilian aliens ala David Icke, or the
Branton "Dulce Wars" material. Another: the whole Ashtar Command
"faith" is just too far into the "tin foil hat" crowd to even twice
about. And yet, maybe by raising the right discussion with the right
person something useful could emerge. Looking at the Ashtar crowd, for
example -- obviously someone takes this channeled information
seriously, even though most of these kind of things are full or logic
problems and contradictions. Why do these people take it seriously?
And more importantly, where does this stuff really come from?"

That last statement of Brenton�s is very important: . . . where does this stuff really come from?�
Daniel is optimistic, hoping that Signal to Noise will generate ". . . a model for working through a premise to a conclusion, or at least coming to an amicable disagreement."

Worthy thoughts, but as we know, and as many of us have experienced, there are many within and the outside looking in within UFOlogy who seem to desire the opposite. Like many of us, Brenton's been pretty much flamed for things he's written; what's irksome is that these people didn't take the time to fully read his work:

it was clear the people in question had simply given a
knee-jerk reaction to only part of what I had written without absorbing
the whole message.

Signal to Noise might help to be productive and constructive in the on-going discussion -- genuine discussion -- of the UFO phenomeana.

There are certain individuals Daniel has in mind that he'd like to see participate in Signal to Noise;author and blogger Mac Tonnies being one:

Mac Tonnies doesn't blog articles as such very often, but I'd be delighted
to work with him on pretty much anything.

Whoever participates, it's important, Brenton says,

that the right person is matched to the right subject for a constructive discussion.

Some researchers criticize UFOlogy for being the mess that they consider it to be. I don't consider it a mess, and the circus like atmosphere that's a part of UFOlogy is just what's to be expected. It's just part of the Trickster that's an inherent part of the anomalous, including UFOs. Still, some are bothered by this, including Brenton. In this we disagree, but that's for another day! The point is, Brenton has made some steps toward creating quality discussion, with honesty and sincerity, about the UFO phenomena. And no one can argue against that.

Notes:
Daniel Brenton: The Meaning of Existence and all that: The Odd Little Universe of Daniel Breton
http://www.danielbrenton.com/

Daniel Brenton and David S. Michaels: Red Moon, Breakneck Books, 2007

http://www.luna15.com/index.php

Regan Lee: Vintage UFO
http://vintageufo.blogspot.com

Tonnies and UFO Theater

Mac Tonnies has a good piece: Reconciling UFOs and the "Singularity": Part One. He makes a lot of on the mark comments on aspects of the UFO phenomena that many researchers, and certainly skeptics, don’t deal with.

The UFO phenomena, with its craft, aliens, and behaviors, are entertaining and they like to perform for us. That much is clear. Tonnies writes that the phenomena has a “theatric flavor” which is obvious. The question, asked by so many, skeptics and researchers alike, is repeatedly asked: ”Whey don’t they land on the White House lawn?” Well, it doesn’t seem to be the point, does it; they would have a long time ago if they had wanted to. What’s the fun in that?

Something else is going on, even if there are biological entities from outer space. Tonnies makes some good points on this, including referencing Jacques Vallee.

As I’ve said many times here on the Orange Orb, there is much more to the UFO phenomena that goes beyond just a nuts and bolts theory. AND, the nuts and bolts theory doesn’t necessarily negate the other, or vice versa.

West Side Story-Officer Krupke

Gee, Officer Krupke!: Stuffy UFO Pundits

I’m a big fan of musicals, which I readily accept is not everyone’s taste, go ahead, mock me if you must, I can take it. Anyway, I can’t help but see a lot of what goes on in UFOlogy mirrored in muscials. As the pohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifst below from The Court Jester shows; parallels and comparisons can be made bewteen the two. Some time ago I used the song Razzle Dazzle from Chicago to show a comparison between that and our friends, the .

In the recent to do and rant about humor and fun in UFOlogy from who know who, (those stuffy little trollites,) I thought of the lines from the song GEE, OFFICER KRUPKE from West Side Story:

ACTION
Dear kindly Sergeant Krupke,
You gotta understand,
It's just our bringin' up-ke
That gets us out of hand.
Our mothers all are junkies,
Our fathers all are drunks.
Golly Moses, natcherly we're punks!

ACTION AND JETS
Gee, Officer Krupke, we're very upset;
We never had the love that ev'ry child oughta get.
We ain't no delinquents,
We're misunderstood.
Deep down inside us there is good!

ACTION
There is good!

ALL
There is good, there is good,
There is untapped good!
Like inside, the worst of us is good!

SNOWBOY: (Spoken) That's a touchin' good story.

ACTION: (Spoken) Lemme tell it to the world!

SNOWBOY: Just tell it to the judge.

ACTION
Dear kindly Judge, your Honor,
My parents treat me rough.
With all their marijuana,
They won't give me a puff.
They didn't wanna have me,
But somehow I was had.
Leapin' lizards! That's why I'm so bad!

DIESEL: (As Judge) Right!

Officer Krupke, you're really a square;
This boy don't need a judge, he needs an analyst's care!
It's just his neurosis that oughta be curbed.
He's psychologic'ly disturbed!

ACTION
I'm disturbed!

JETS
We're disturbed, we're disturbed,
We're the most disturbed,
Like we're psychologic'ly disturbed.

DIESEL: (Spoken, as Judge) In the opinion on this court, this child is depraved on account he ain't had a normal home.

ACTION: (Spoken) Hey, I'm depraved on account I'm deprived.

DIESEL: So take him to a headshrinker.

ACTION (Sings)
My father is a bastard,
My ma's an S.O.B.
My grandpa's always plastered,
My grandma pushes tea.
My sister wears a mustache,
My brother wears a dress.
Goodness gracious, that's why I'm a mess!

A-RAB: (As Psychiatrist) Yes!
Officer Krupke, you're really a slob.
This boy don't need a doctor, just a good honest job.
Society's played him a terrible trick,
And sociologic'ly he's sick!

ACTION
I am sick!

ALL
We are sick, we are sick,
We are sick, sick, sick,
Like we're sociologically sick!

A-RAB: In my opinion, this child don't need to have his head shrunk at all. Juvenile delinquency is purely a social disease!

ACTION: Hey, I got a social disease!

A-RAB: So take him to a social worker!

ACTION
Dear kindly social worker,
They say go earn a buck.
Like be a soda jerker,
Which means like be a schumck.
It's not I'm anti-social,
I'm only anti-work.
Gloryosky! That's why I'm a jerk!

BABY JOHN: (As Female Social Worker)
Eek!
Officer Krupke, you've done it again.
This boy don't need a job, he needs a year in the pen.
It ain't just a question of misunderstood;
Deep down inside him, he's no good!

ACTION
I'm no good!

ALL
We're no good, we're no good!
We're no earthly good,
Like the best of us is no damn good!

DIESEL (As Judge)
The trouble is he's crazy.

A-RAB (As Psychiatrist)
The trouble is he drinks.

BABY JOHN (As Female Social Worker)
The trouble is he's lazy.

DIESEL
The trouble is he stinks.

A-RAB
The trouble is he's growing.

BABY JOHN
The trouble is he's grown.

ALL
Krupke, we got troubles of our own!

Gee, Officer Krupke,
We're down on our knees,
'Cause no one wants a fellow with a social disease.
Gee, Officer Krupke,
What are we to do?
Gee, Officer Krupke,
Krup you!

Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
© 1956, 1957 Amberson Holdings LLC and Stephen Sondheim. Copyright renewed.
Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Company LLC, Publisher.

The Court Jester - The Pellet With The Poison

Click here to get your own player.

Brad Steiger: Alien Memories and Dreams

Brad Steiger has Alien Memories and Dreams over on UFO Digest. I found this interesting because the subject of dreams, memories, aliens, and UFOs is a part of my own experience.

MUFON, The Brew That is True, and Other Things . . .

Okay, everyone back to what they were doing. The circus is over.

As I said, now and then it's fun to play along, and it's good fodder for inspiration. Which makes it all the more delicious, since we all know that wasn't their point.

I will share the lyrics from a scene from one of my favorite movies; The Court Jester with Danny Kaye. I loved Danny Kaye when I was a kid; still do. As I was searching for images to go with the previous humor piece, I came across the poster to the movie and used. (See post below.) For some reason, the lyrics remind me of the UFO/Fortean vibe surrounding our bouncing ideas and words; we think we have the magic key that will get the Big Question answered and we pass it on to someone else who theorizes it really means this when it could mean that...oh never mind.

Griselda: Listen. I have put a pellet of poison in one of the vessels.

Hawkins: Which one?

Griselda: The one with the figure of a pestle.

Hawkins: The vessel with the pestle?

Griselda: Yes. But you don't want the vessel with the pestle, you want the chalice from the palace!

Hawkins: I-I don't want the vessel with the pestle, I want the chalice from the what?

Jean: The chalice from the palace!

Hawkins: Hm?

Griselda: It's a little crystal chalice with a figure of a palace.

Hawkins: Th-the chalice from the palace have the pellet with the poison?

Griselda: No, the pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle.

Hawkins: Oh, oh, the pestle with the vessel.

Jean: The vessel with the pestle.

Hawkins: What about the palace from the chalice?

Griselda: Not the palace from the chalice! The chalice from the palace!

Hawkins: Where's the pellet with the poison?

Griselda: In the vessel with the pestle!

Jean: Don't you see? The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle.

Griselda: The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!

Jean: It's so easy, I can say it!

Hawkins: Well then you fight him!

Griselda: Listen carefully. The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle, the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.

Hawkins: Where the pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle, the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.

Jean: Good man!

Griselda: Just remember that.

Back to our usual programming.

MUFON has archived some of its early data.

Greg Bishop on UFO Mystic has a very nice post about his relationship with the late Dr. Karla Turner; his interviews with her, etc.

As you can see, I've changed the templates on The OrangeOrb, also on a few of my other blogs. It's springtime! Time for a fresh look. I wish Blogspot had more template choices, but I'm okay with what I have.

As usual, a plug for my other blogs: Vintage UFO, Women Of Esoterica, Frame 352.

UFOs, the Trickster and Humor

The Trickster is an inherent part of Fortean phenomena, including UFOs. That’s why, as I’ve said many times, things like the so-called UFO circus, the Raelians, ironies and synchronicities, surreal juxtapositions, the stonewalling by the infrastructure in regards to UFOs, the maddeningly elusive quality surrounding the indisputable authenticity of photographs, samples, castings, and recordings,hoaxers and pranksters, and the petty in-fighting will always be with us.

Which brings us to humor. Humor, like all things, has a range of styles. Some humor is barely humorous. There’s lame thick headed boorish humor, fart joke humor, cruel humor (laughing at people getting hurt, especially in the genitals) witty humor, cutting biting sarcastic humor, vaudeville humor, sex humor, all kinds of humor. Some humor isn’t funny. Some is hysterical.

Everything contains elements of humor. The Trickster knows this. Sometimes Trickster’s humor is playful and a bit of a tweak to us to remind us of things. Usually it’s to lighten up and not take ourselves too seriously all the time. Other times its humor is downright dangerous. But trying to think of the Trickster as without humor is ridiculous; the Trickster is all about humor.

The mistake some people make is in thinking that, because one laughs and sees the humor in things, the importance of that thing is trivialized. Depending on the type of humor this could be true. All those stupid jokes about “anal probes” - - enough already!

Encounters of the strange, whether it’s with aliens, UFOs, ghosts, Bigfoot, or Mothman often are very scary. There’s nothing funny about them.

Nor is the research itself a light hearted romp through curious minds.

But having fun at times, being funny, and seeing the humor in things is not hurting research, the self, or others, as long as you’re not making fun of.

The question is, are you having fun at your own expense, or others?

My husband and I make jokes all the time about UFOs and aliens. Don’t you think we both struggle with the weird things that have happened to us throughout our lives? Do you think it’s at all comfortable for us to know that we’ve experienced hours of missing time on two different occasions? That’s damn scary. It’s weird. It’s unpleasant to consider what the possible explanations are; from mental illness to government experiments to actual aliens from space. And yet we make jokes all the time. We have to.

Seeing the humor in things is a good thing, and often a healing thing. How many times in your life have you been in a crisis, and something, or someone, makes you laugh?

I’ll share a personal story that has nothing to do with UFOs or the weird. But it’s an example of humor in a seemingly inappropriate place. We went to the funeral home to my father’s memorial. Now, none of us had any money, including my deceased father. We barely scraped up enough to do what we did. My father was a riot, one hell of a funny man. He appreciated the funny goofy ironic things in life, the surreal, the absurd. So here we are, solemn, sad, in the little chapel, and here comes the funeral director, wheeling my dead father out on a trolley thing. Not the most delicate or classy of arrangements. Okay, so Dad was covered up with a sheet, but still. Now my Dad was a big guy, 6 feet 3 inches, and here he is, barely on this rickety metal table on wheels. And he starts to slide off! And the poor funeral director is trying to not notice it, but also trying to fix it, and my Dad’s body is sliding off. And you know what we all did? We started to laugh. We laughed so hard we cried. And laughed again. We laughed our asses off. Which mortified the funeral director. Which made us laugh even more. Sick? Not if you knew my Dad. (I love you Dad. . ) The point is, humor has its place in the world.

You have to see the humor in things, or you’ll go insane. Remember the television series M.A.S.H.? All that dark operating room humor. They weren’t making fun of patients, or the medical profession -- in fact, they took the work damn seriously. When it came to saving lives and helping others, they did not mess around. They knew very well the seriousness of the situation. I know M.A.S.H. was just a fictional television series and nothing like real life, including UFO real life, but it’s a good illustration of my point.

Who were considered the most useful, and immune to punishments from the ruling classes? The court jesters.

The point is the use and benefits of humor. Humor is like anything else; it can be abused, misused, misunderstood, certainly.

But to suggest that those exploring UFOlogy or other Fortean topics should not have fun at times, use or see the humor in things, is at best terribly narrow minded, and at worst, ignorant.

Besides, if you can’t see the humor for what it is within UFO studies and Forteana, you’re missing a huge part of what those are. There's nothing funny about that.

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.

Zorgy Awards

By now I'm sure you know that the Zorgy Award Winners have been announced. And I'm glad to say that Lesley has come in strong in two categories; for Best Paranormal Blog (4th place) and for Best Website (3rs place) (News Summary.) Congratulations to Lesley! And all the winners and nominees. Glad to see Odd Things got a nod as well!

Best Paranormal Blog
UFO Mystic - 161
The Debris Field - 151
Posthuman Blues - 76
Odd Things - 32


Best Website (News Summary)
The Daily Grail - 1,058
The Anomalist - 193
The Debris Field - 63
UFO Review - 36

Alfred Lehmberg won for Best Troublemaker, with Jeremy Vaeni in second place. Congratulations Alfred and Jeremy!

Best UFO / Paranormal Troublemaker
Alfred Lehmberg - 178
Jeremy Vaeni - 85
James W. Moseley - 72
David Biedny - 67

Now, I'm going to start in early this year. VOTE FOR ME! I have no idea when Paul Kimball will begin the new round, but I'm putting the word in now. VOTE FOR ME!
Just keep that in mind. In doing so, here are some of my other blogs:
Vintage UFO
Women Of Esoterica
Frame 352
and of course, the OrangeOrb.

I was too naive or dumb or both to know you could nominate yourself, so this year I'll be sure to do so. So remember, VOTE FOR ME!

To see all the winners in all the categories, go to Paul Kimball's blog The Other Side of Truth.

Hoaxing the Trent Hoax Theory

Read it now on UFO Digest.