Jeffrey J. Kripal

Last night's Coast to Coast was excellent. First of all, George Knapp was the host, and he is, as always,  an enjoyable host; smart, reads the material, asks great questions, really listens to the guests. The guest last night was author Jefferey J. Kripal of Rice University. Now, I haven't yet read any of his books, but I do remember when Monsters and Mystics came out, thinking: "I want to read this!" Now of course I am adding his works to my list of books I must read.

Anyone who references, as Kripal did last night, George P. Hansen's  important book The Trickster and the Paranormal with insight and respect demands to be read.

Paraphrasing, and probably badly, a couple of Kripal's points: the way the term paranormal came to replace the term supernatural, and his opinion (one I share) that the sciences for the most part are easier than humanities. Humanities get the bad rap (I studied folklore, I know) but you know, 1 + 1  = 2, and you're either "right" or "wrong" in deconstructing Joyce (depending on the whims of the prof) or defending your philosophical take on what-I-would-do-as-the-only-woman-in-the-class "moral" dilemma presented to us regarding saving family members during a tornado. (Me: I'm "morally bankrupt", according to the barley able to stand upright for more than five minutes philosophy professor. He was so old he knew Noah.)

Kripal isn't just about the humanities and comparative religions, but has had his own experiences that most academics do not discuss, and this includes UFOs. His take on that subject is one I've been harping on for years as well. We'll never get to the scientific answer, because there isn't any. Throwing the UFO realm at the hard sciences -- and those residents of UFO Land who believe UFOlogy should become more "scientific" -- so woefully miss the whole point.

Prof. Jeffrey Kripal of Rice University discussed comparative religions and various aspects of the paranormal. In a sense, the study of religion is more difficult than the sciences because religious experience is difficult to quantify, and challenges people's deepest values and world views, he noted. When people compare religions in a rigorous manner, they recognize that their own world view is filled with certain gaps, he revealed. The ancient Greeks used to send out scouts to foreign cities or countries to study religious spectacles, and they were often changed by what they'd seen. (Coast to Coast)

Anyway. Jeffrey Kripal. Try to listen to the archived interview if you can.

Parade Magazine: McMinnville, OR Main Street

Today's Parade magazine has an article on quaint main streets across America. McMinnville, Oregon wins as "America's Best Main Street Finalist." No mention however, of anything to do with McMinnville's UFO history. No mention of the annual UFO Festival in May, the world wide famous Trent UFO snapshots, no photos of the happy goofy Alien Parade every year during the UFO Fest. True, McMinnville and Yamhill county is much more than just the UFO Fest -- famous wine country, the Evergreen aviation museum (home of the Spruce Goose), antiques and balloon races. Still, one would think something potentially perceived as true Americana like the annual UFO Festival would be mentioned.

Here's the link to the Parade magazine item: Check Out America's Best Main Street Finalist: McMinnville, Oregon!

Reptilian headed UFO Fest parade participant

Painting of Evelyn Trent on wall of Hotel Oregon; artist unknown. (please email me if you know the artist who painted this.)

Orb Synchronicity

Today, I began work on my book, tentatively titled Entering the Orb. It feels great to be working on this!

The other day, I was thinking how I'd like to hear from others about their UFO -- especially orange orb sightings -- and anomalous experiences in general. Not look ago, Yahoo ate my orange orb email; all my emails from people around the world, with photos and drawings of their encounters, lost. Very frustrating and sad.

So today, after working on my book, I check my email, to find a message from a witness who had read my article at Binnall; he sent me photos as well as a description of his sighting of orange orbs.

Synchronicity!

Oh, and if you have something to share; a UFO sighting, paranormal event, Bigfoot encounter, etc. I would love to hear from you. orangeorb@mail.com

Ventura Update/ Secret Space Program - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

Ventura Update/ Secret Space Program - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

KGRA Radio

Just because, chock full of paranormal UFO stuff. And, Tim Binnall is on tonight on Jeff Ritzmann's program! Check it out. KGRA Radio

Mike Clelland: 'The possible unsettling implications of UFO sightings': does this mean me? - Binnall of America

My latest at Tim Binnall's site: Mike Clelland: 'The possible unsettling implications of UFO sightings': does this mean me? - Binnall of America

The Operating Room: UFO Show Triggers Buried Inkling, or Merely Nudges the Mundane?

The other night, I was watching Unsealed: Alien Files, episode 28, which originally aired in July of 2013. The usual UFO TV stuff: aliens, spaceships, tilted camera angles, witness reports, space age music, and for whatever reason, a childhood memory popped into my mind. This is a memory that I think upon once in a great while. Just a curios thing, but nothing associated with UFOs or aliens (say, like my Patio Alien experience, for one) just an odd little memory. I don't know why this memory popped into my head while watching the show.

Patio Alien seen in 1958? L.A., California

When I was about four (and before we lived in the house on Corning street where I had the Patio Alien experience) I had my tonsils removed. I remember only two things about that experience. One, in the hospital, which I'll relate in a moment. The other, after the operation, and I'm standing on the little porch with some adults, probably my grandmother, and talking with an adult friend of the family? Neighbor? A man, asking me how I'm feeling and the best thing about having my tonsils out was the ice cream I'd get to eat.

The other -- and this is the memory that popped into my head while watching Unsealed -- was the following:

I'm on the little gurney inside a pitch black hospital room. I assume it's the operating room. No lights, cannot see a thing. Not a thing. It is so very dark, and I am petrified. I am screaming and crying like crazy. A nurse hovers over me; all in white, complete with starched cap. She smiles at me but it is not nice, it's a horrible smile. She puts this huge black mask type thing over my face. Later, I'm in the hospital bed, my mom and grandmother are there, and the same nurse comes in. I inwardly start to freak out -- I am scared to death! I want to scream at my mother and grandmother how evil this woman is, but she comes in, all smiling and happy. She tells my mother and grandmother what a great patient I was, a real dream, and I'm thinking "Lady, are you crazy? I was hysterical! Don't you remember? Why are you lying?" I remember feeling very confused and frighted of this woman and her lies.

About two seconds after this memory popped into my head, the narrator of the Unsealed program says that many UFO witnesses and abductees report having memories of being in an operating room.

So that was a little jolt of UFO synchronicity.

I really did have my tonsils out, that is no cover memory. But, as with these things, what aspect of this memory, if any, is truer to my "invisible aliens" and other UFO high strangeness? Was my memory of the inky dark operating room and fake happy nurse a part of a larger UFO experience, or merely a memory of being a little kid alone and scared?

. 

A Q&A with UFOlogical Heretic Jacques Vallee (via Open Minds) | The Daily Grail

Red Pill Junkie posts excerpts from an interview with Jacques Vallee on The Daily Grail:A Q&A with UFOlogical Heretic Jacques Vallee (via Open Minds) | The Daily Grail:

As we all know, Jacques is no longer an active figure in this wacky field polluted with self-promoters, hoaxers & unaware disinformants —which, frankly, speaks volumes about his sanity— so it was an incredibly pleasant surprise to find that our friends at Open Minds had posted a recent e-mail interview with Vallee, conducted by a group of French UFOlogists who were kind enough to translate it into English. In the lengthy Q&A monsieur Vallee offers plenty of valuable insights —along with caustic criticism!— not only about the nature of the phenomenon and the current state of the field in general, but also how the undeniable existence of UFOs should move us to question the very nature of Reality itself. ~ Red Pill Junkie, The Daily Grail

Organizing the Room of Doom

Bigfoot books . . . 

For some time now, have been calling the "study" the Room of Doom -- such a mess! An unholy, awful, mess. I would literally go into a spin of hysteria when entering that room and trying to deal with the mess.

I realize, too, that I need to rename that room and no longer encourage the negative energy of Room of Doom, and give it a more positive name to reflect the changes.

A few UFO books. . . and yes, I'm a nerd, official X Files mug and all

Somehow, finally, I had some kind of cosmic breakthrough and have been able to work in that room, enjoy it even! So I've been rearranging books, giving books away, donating books, selling books, and discovering that yes, I have a hell of a lot of UFO and paranormal, Fortean, anomalous type books.

A few more UFO books . . .

Then I messed up my knee and leg and had to take off for a couple of days. And I was looking forward to the next project: organizing my "haunted locations" shelf.

File holders full of Fates, UFO Magazine, Strange, Fortean Times and many more. Plus a free alien water bottle straight from Area 51/Exterrestrial Highway in Nevada, courtesy of a good and thoughtful friend.

Colin Wilson | Interviews | Features | Fortean Times UK

Colin Wilson | Interviews | Features | Fortean Times UK

Jeremy Vaeni: "What Made Paratopia Different Than Other Shows"

Jeremy Vaeni tells us, about his own excellent podcast that is no more:What Made Paratopia Different Than Other Shows. Many reasons how Paratopia was different -- and so much better than most -- shows, but also, Paratopia was the only podcast to bring the reprehensible behavior of UFO researcher David Jacobs to our attention. And continued to bring it to our attention.

"But the journey is the thing, as they say, and oh, what a ride we took. Everything from helping fund Kogi elders flying to New York for the first time so they could do energy work in Upstate and get an audience with the Dalai Lama while he was in town… to exposing the criminal-like behavior of David Jacobs and wrongheaded research of Budd Hopkins (thanks to Carol Rainey’s now legendary Paratopia Magazine article.) We effectively killed hypnosis in alien abduction research as a viable tool for serious researchers. This is not to say that the Barbara Lambs of the world will stop breaking peoples’ minds with it simply because we gave a spotlight to the Emma Woods/David Jacobs fiasco–but it is the entire reason Jacobs is now shying away from saying he’s using hypnosis. He now says he’s using relaxation techniques. What he’s doing is harming people. He is allowed to carry on because ufology is a social network and a cottage industry and not much more. But for those in the “not much more” category who actually care about right and wrong–they followed the story and we all got a dose of reality. No longer was the argument against hypnosis hypothetical. It was staring us in the face and I don’t think we’ll ever recover." ~ (Vaeni)

Overall, Vaeni's blog is one of the best UFO/other weird stuff and musings blogs out there.

Ancient Secrets - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

Micah Hanks guests tonight on Coast to Coast! Ancient Secrets - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

Eugene OREGON UFO case 45344 #UFO sighting from MUFON

Just showed up on my Twitter, Eugene, Oregon UFO sighting from MUFON but it's from January of this year: UFO case 45344 #UFO sighting. Witness describes:

"...so, i went reluctantly with my camera out into the street and was shocked to see my wife was telling the truth. hundreds of small amber glowing disks or globes were proceeding from the north to the south in the overcast western sky. they appeared to be traveling at 30 to 50 mph. several of them hovered in a pattern which would have generated a trapezoid shape if lines were placed between them. most of the ufos were about 1 to 2 feet in diameter. i am not certain of this because i am not sure what my distance was from the display."

---

Odd Image: UFO?

Eugene, Oregon
July 11th? 2014
Approximately 11:30 p.m.


For whatever reason, I took a few quick shots with my cheap little camera of the night sky on the 11th. (I think it was the 11th, give or take a night or two.) I'm not sure why I did, just messing around. Forgot about them until tonight, when I was looking at the photos I took today while in Florence, on the coast.

All the photos are of the same spot in the sky; I just took them one right after the other, pretty much the same spot.

Three of the photos just show stars, the fourth photo shows a greenish blur. I cropped and zoomed in on the blur and this is what showed up:

I didn't see anything unusual, or, usual in terms of planes, etc. with my naked eye while taking the pics. This blur is not on the other photographs.

And there you have it. Star, satellite or the Mother Ship, who knows.

Saucer People Trading Cards

While cleaning out the room of doom, er, "study," I came across this set of flying saucer trading cards. I've been posting images at my blogs Vintage U.F.O. and Mothman Flutterings. A delightful find; I'd forgotten I had these. They were published by Kitchen Sink Press, 1992, boxed set of "Saucer People" trading cards, 36 "full color" cards, done in garish comic book style fashion.