Random Rants

Growling….

Trust Issues
Jack Brewer's recent posts at his The UFO Trail on the ethics of Hopkins and Jacobs has caused a lot of comments everywhere in UFO Land. Me, I say this:

The witness needs to know that trust works  both ways. Where else is the witness to go? Mainstream won't help. With rare exceptions, just try going to the media/doctor/shrink with your tales of missing time, strange craft, aliens, talking animals, floating through walls, abductions and all that goes with the mysterious realm of UFOs.

UFO researchers are rarely doctors, shrinks, and the like. They're "just" writers and investigators. They're not legally bound to honor anything. THAT DOESN'T ABSOLVE THEM OF BEHAVING UNETHICALLY! Why this is even a question is beyond me.

And to suggest that because they're not legally bound to respect any type of confidentially, no expectation of such trust should exist is very discouraging.

Stories
Oh I have mocked the alien reptilian scenario, the hybrid baby scenario, and much more. On other hand, we all know the UFO realm is rife with these kinds of tales. Let's not get on our UFO Police high horses and dismiss such tales because they're "nutty." Okay, so some of them are nutty, but that doesn't do any of us any good if we just chuck them out the porthole. With all sincerity, the witness has these tales to tell. They believe they've experienced them. We have to listen! We have to respect. We have to -- hey, anyone here remember Jacque Vallee?

Oh Those Wacky, Fanatical Researchers
David Icke is, well… and Alex Jones took a wrong turn while tumbling down the rabbit hole a long time ago. Phil Imbragno disappointed as we distanced, and Steven Greer met a talking bush and believed he was Moses.  And, often, aside from their theories and ravings, their personalities put us off. (That last bit; I've met some researchers whose work was fine and dandy but they were quite … odd, ahem,  … but this isn't a personality contest. It'd be nice if we were all nice, but we're not always.) Yet every now and then these people have something actually interesting to say. Their connections make sense, (sometimes) and they aren't entirely full of hogs slop. Slow down and listen to them now and then.

Science. Get Over It
Science can help. Sure, they can come on over. Let's play! But share nicely.

UFOs aren't strictly nuts and bolts, no matter how badly some insist on still, in 2015, that they are. Science can't help us all by themselves, they can only contribute.

Why we still haven't arrived at the place where UFOs is seen as a phenomena that requires a hugely multi-discipline approach, well, boggles my mind, it does.


Now Let's Be Reasonable!
You can't really believe that aliens from outer space are abducting earth women (and men) and collecting their ova/sperm and creating alien-human babies and that the contactees were real and hey, contactee Truman Bethurum was a just a rummy and …

Spare me. That's all beside the point!

It's Zen like, in a way. No one's arguing those things -- not on the face of it --  but go deeper, grasshopper.

After Sixty Years We Still Haven't . . . 
No, we haven't, it's true. So what? That's assuming that it only has been sixty years. (post Kevin Arnold era.)  It's really been thousands of years, but who's counting.

One reason why we haven't gotten very far "in sixty years" is because of everything mentioned so far. Refusal to recognize this whole UFO thing is vastly bizarre and needs vastly bizarre methods to delve into things. Witnesses continue to be marginalized by many a researcher; ignored if their stories are too wild for us to handle, their stories traded back and forth without permission or the respect of request. UFO Police deciding who's who and why, researchers behaving like religious cult leaders or D list celebrities. UFOlogy acting like a groveling step-child at the feet of Big Science.

The main reason however is that we still refuse to understand that we need to turn our heads inside out in order to understand what this is all about, and many are still expecting a rational response from UFOs based on our oh so very rational approach to them. 

(Video) Giant Beings Seen Rapidly Climbing Mexican Volcano

Interesting, if true. Certainly strange and anomalous things happen on mountains and around volcanoes. Mt. Shasta, for one, where Bigfoot type creatures have been seen. Are these giant beings on Popocatelpeti some kind of animal, unidentified human climbers, or something unexplained altogether?

Popocatepetl (image:pixabay.com)

(Video) Giant Beings Seen Rapidly Climbing Mexican Volcano: In a recent interview on Tercermilenio television, climber Guillermo Vidales, also known as Huracan Vidales, said that mountain rescue crews on Popocatepetl saw humanoid creatures measuring about 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) in height at an altitude of over 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). Seen on more than one occasion, the beings appeared to be thin and brown and not wearing any visible clothing. They showed amazing speed and skill, according to Vidales. (Mystificum.com)

New York Times Writer: UFO Skepticism Destroys "Euphoria" of Believing in Aliens - Jason Colavito

 Another unhinged debunker (although that is redundant) blasts away: New York Times Writer: UFO Skepticism Destroys "Euphoria" of Believing in Aliens - Jason Colavito. Thanks to Jeremy Vaeni for the link.

Well, No UFO But I Did See...

No UFO this New Year's Eve, but we did just observe Chinese lanterns. I have never seen those in person before. Good to know what they look like in the night sky.

The first one moving slowly and steadily, and very orange, from the east. Then another. And another. All in all, we saw six of them. Watched them through the binoculars, where the flickering action was very apparent.

When we saw the first one, we thought it was … well, we didn't know. Not a plane; planes here don't fly that low in the east, and don't have the single orange light. For a moment there I was thinking it was going to be the same thing we saw last NYE's, but nope. Nothing like it at all.

So, no UFO but nice to finally see what those lanterns look like for comparison.

Happy New Year!!! Welcome to 2015.

Egg Shaped UFO Dream Silliness

Me: "I had a dream you had just returned from a trip in an egg shaped UFO and you were telling me all about it."

Him (without missing a beat): "Yeah, I was scrambled from the trip."

Me (pretending I didn't hear that): "I was standing in my dreamscape of combined campus/dorm/mall, on the third or fourth level, talking about my tarot practice to a woman who was asking me all kinds of questions, and that's when you showed up, just back from your journey in the egg shaped UFO. You were very matter of fact about the whole thing."

Him (again, without missing a beat): "That's because I'm hard-boiled."

The UFO Trail: Security of Budd Hopkins Archive Called into Question, David Jacobs Shares Responsibility

Jack Brewer on his UFO Trail writes on ethics, trust, Hopkins, Jacobs, abductees, witnesses, and so much more. All in one post. Important and sadly, on-going. It seems to me -- has seemed so since Emma Woods exposed David Jacobs for the sloppy and unhinged individual he's become -- that all this, this, unethical bullshit, isn't brought out enough.

The UFO Trail: Security of Budd Hopkins Archive Called into Question, David Jacobs Shares Responsibility: This blog has previously explored issues central to the ethics of UFO research. They include how abduction researchers have dealt with in the past and continue to deal with witness confidentiality. The story of the leaking of Larry Warren's audio-taped session(s) to Charles Halt continues this exploration. Let's begin with a summary of some of the players and what was stated on recent podcasts. (Jack Brewer, The UFO Trail)

Besides all that, is this interesting bit about Bigelow, a nefarious player in UFO Land, one that I've never trusted. How he is lauded by some, including George Knapp, who I do respect, is beyond me.

… a series of events during the 1990's in which John Carpenter, a Missouri social worker, hypnotist and MUFON director of abduction research at the time, provided data from case files of some 140 possible abductees to controversial ufology philanthropist Robert Bigelow. The 140 subjects were neither asked nor informed about the transactions that included a reported $14,000 in cash payments made to Carpenter. (Brewer, UFO Trail.)

I don't know the whole story and all the ins and outs -- who does? Who really knows? I'm not taking sides, (not much, David Jacobs doesn't count) for example, Peter Robbins part in what Brewer writes about. Always so damn difficult when you respect someone in this realm, and hear other things that conflict with your own values …



And we're not talking about theories here, ideas and philosophies on what UFOs are, if Reptilians really exist, if abductions are literal events or if there is a UFO-Bigfoot connection. Those things matter of course, very much so, but those don't carry the same onus of responsibility. Theories are speculation, ideas pulled from personal experience and or study. Treating witnesses as only grist for researchers is reprehensible.



Witnesses come first. They (we) are to be respected. Everyone cries out for "credibility" but what about the credibility of the researcher?

Favorite podcasts: Future Theater

The one and only! Nancy and Bill Birnes, of UFO Magazine, etc. (All right, so that's the two and only.) Future Theater.



Also, pleased as punch to say I have been a guest on their program...

Favorite Podcasts: Arcane Radio | Listen via Stitcher Radio On Demand

Host Lon Strickler of Phantoms and Monsters and Sean Forker: Arcane Radio | Listen via Stitcher Radio On Demand

Favorite podcasts: The Richard Dolan Show | KGRA Digital Broadcasting

Every Monday, 9:00 - 11:00 PM EST

The Richard Dolan Show | KGRA Digital Broadcasting

Rambling About The Top Ten, or Three, or . . . - Binnall of America

My new Trickster's Realm column at Binnall of America:

Rambling About The Top Ten, or Three, or . . . - Binnall of America: Regardless of topic, top ten lists, sometimes the top three, of the category make the rounds at New Year’s. In UFO Land and the realm of the anomalous, we see a collection of the Top Ten Best UFO Sightings, or some related list.

I’m not doing that.

Will This NYE Bring Another UFO?

Last New Year's I saw a UFO. It was very odd. While odd, that doesn't mean it was that odd, in term of glowing eyed entities,landed flying saucers, intrusive
exams and missing time. (That, by the way, some of what I have experienced.)

The thing I saw last year morphed and moved very very fast and all the rest of the usual unusual flying object stuff, but I think this particular flying machine was one of ours. Drone (many a news item on drones in the area at the time) or military, anyway, some sort of man made craft.  Intentionally set off to do its thing right at stroke of midnight on NYE above the city skies, when all kinds of noise and lights and fireworks are happening.

So will I see something this New Year's? I can only hope!

Radio Misterioso | In-depth conversations on the paranormal alternating with weird music. Live on Sundays 8-10 PM PST @ killradio.org

Really good blog and podcast  with a collection of some of the best anomalous pundits (Greg Bishiop, RPJ, Kimball, …)  in UFO Land: Radio Misterioso | In-depth conversations on the paranormal alternating with weird music. Live on Sundays 8-10 PM PST @ killradio.org

Annual Xmas Portrait

Time for the annual posting of the Christmas painting Jim did of me a few years ago. Er, should add that he did this painting from a photograph taken when I was about four.  I love Jim's work -- but this, this I cannot abide. It's a different style for him, and it's just … so wrong.

Merry Christmas!

painting by James Rich, acrylic on canvas

Saucer Sightings: Reindeer Bells

Happy Holidays everyone!

I'm reposting this memory/event from my Saucer Sightings blog, since it is the season! (Originally posted December 25, 2012)

Saucer Sightings: Reindeer Bells: Now, I've never related this story because it seems like a typical little girls innocent anticipation of Santa and Christmas magic. I have always been a little embarrassed , as an adult, that this memory has always been so damn vivid. It was real! I wasn't dreaming, I didn't just think it happened, it did happen! So, I just put this memory into that gray basket.

But last night, with a jolt of awareness, I realized that this event didn't happen during Christmas time! Adding to the strangeness: in the memory, I am on the second floor. I remember distinctly the night sky and the brilliant blue stars, so close I could easily touch them. Only, we didn't have a second floor.

Rest at Saucer Sightings.

alienviews: Ink And Stone... ...Part I

alienviews: Ink And Stone... ...Part I: I don't "believe" in UFO's, and I'm not splitting hairs, but *something* haunts the skies above, and shames us well down here. (Alfred Lehmberg)

Another good posting/poem/piece from Alfred. I like the way he begins: "I don't "believe" in UFO's…"



Exactly. They exist, they're here, and as to what they are… who knows. To assume they are all one thing, of the same source, is ridiculous. Ignorant. But to deny they exist is equally so. And in between that, to ask someone if they "believe in" UFO's suggests that the UFO is something that can bestow magick, or blessings, or , like so many mainstream gods of today (as then), hellish eternities and punishments. They can't, not really, even though some of the occupants of such craft pretend they can. I suppose their beyond belief technology can make it appear so -- it's a moot point, certainly.



But back to Alfred. Visit his page and read his stuff. And enjoy his artwork as well.