The Green Room

Happy 4th of July weekend to all!

Machine Elf (Lesley) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:07:14 +0000

Oh sure, I know that isn't the real purpose of this blog, but I wanted to wish everyone a great weekend!

BTW, Larry King will be doing a UFO show tonight -- Are UFO's Real? The guest list is not posted yet, but it probably will be later today.

Feschino Flap

Alfred Lehmberg — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:54:51 +0000

Frank Feschino lives my friend! Remember him as you pretend you took no sides when he disclosed... his tale to us on Errol's show. Invited, he just tells the story. There is no reward or glory, just a smear by those effused with ignorance which Frank's refused.

Gonzo UFOlogy and the Myth of Witness Non-Objectivity

Regan Lee — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:11:59 +0000

Now that’s a slightly pretentious and wordy title. Nothing gonzo about that. Every so often, I see posts about a gonzo approach to UFO research, as well as the idea that witnesses/experiencers can’t possibly be objective about UFO research. What do these two things have in common? Well, Forteana is, by its very being, kind of gonzo-ish. And those that revel in that approach are often the very kind others sneer at: the grass roots aspect of UFO studies and experience. There’s an often unspoken but very real aspect of the UFO experience that some are guilty of promoting, and that’s classism. Throw in there some racism, sexism, ageism and other isms. . .we have a group of “researchers” who dismiss the witness based on personal agendas. Nothing new there. But really, it has to stop.

I guess “research” should be defined. When it comes to UFOs and the paranormal and Fortean stuff in general, just what is considered research? Is what I do research? Kind of sort of but certainly not in any great way. If anything, I research myself. It’s a self-reflexive thing.

Which brings us to the idea of objectivity/subjectivity. The first thing to get clear about is where one is, philosophically, about being objective. Me, I say no one is objective about anything. It’s all a matter of degrees; of being closer in, or further out, from the center, but never a complete objectivity. So that’s done.

As to me, why does the fact I’ve seen UFOs -- and experienced many high strangeness things with many of them -- make me nonobjective? Nonobjective to what?

The Top 3 Forbidden Connections

Lisa A. Shiel — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:32:24 +0000

Some things you just aren't supposed to say. We all know what political correctness means. You say something that goes against the prevalent attitudes in the media (yes, the media—not the populace). For example the following sentence, which I wholeheartedly endorse, violates political correctness:

Global warming is poppycock!

Whoops, sorry. I meant climate change. Or is that the climate crisis? I can't keep up! Anyway, you get my point. In ufology, political correctness centers around the nature of the phenomenon. Purely nuts and bolts, or supernatural? UFOs can be both and in fact are supernatural, i.e. paranormal, by their very existence. [See my Backyard Phenomena blog later this week for an explanation of that statement.]

A lot of UFO researchers deny this fact with the same wrath my global warming statement arouses in climate crisis fans. Thus anything that suggests UFOs represent anything other than nuts & bolts creations (don't ask whose creations!) becomes verboten. What three taboo topics incite the most rancor? Everyone will have their own list of personal favorites. Here are mine:

Lisa's Top 3 Forbidden Connections with UFOs

Bigfoot—He's big, he's hairy, and he hangs out with ET.
Ancient history—Cave paintings and mythology seem rife with UFOs and alien visitors.
Evolution—Have ufonauts messed with our DNA?

Each connection has evidence to support it. Notice that I said evidence, not proof. Nobody has proof of anything about UFOs and other paranormal phenomena. Each of the topics above also inspires debate, polite and otherwise.

Most often otherwise. So I'll end with one final request. Can we all act like grown-ups please?

Of course, that request may be about as far-fetched as global warming.

Sentient Toads

Alfred Lehmberg — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:24:10 +0000

As regards our so-called "mainstream," thought reflective and sincere; our "limit" on bad thinking — a buffer from "the fear":

Supposed "a mediation," or "distillation" of the facts, it's portrayed as very "logical" — the "cure" for "fakes and hacks." Too, it shills as sense's medicine, protection from the fringe, the unwashed and the ignorant… the deceptively unhinged.

It's the view that most will hold... because it is "official." Other views are ridiculed and implode upon dismissal. See, it's opposed to other views, which fade in sad distraction as the mainstream is a jealous foe and a master of detraction!

It will leave no stone unturned to keep its upper hand, and many that must challenge it are cursed, betrayed, or damned.

Dark Things Afoot... Knowing What to Fear

Micah — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:51:09 +0000

I've often wondered about some of the more frightening reports of weirdness in Ufology... for instance, a few years ago Brad Steiger emailed me a very long article written by an English gentleman claiming to be former MI6, who described a decades-old (if not centuries old) conspiracy where our governing bodies have made various "dark dealings" with extraterrestrial intelligences. This conspiracy element has, in one form or another, worked its way into most of the UFO lore available today, having been popularized in excellent books like The Day After Roswell by authors Philip J. Corso and UFO Magazine's own Bill Birnes.

Another conspiracy writer I'm fond of is Jim Marrs, a good friend of mine (and an excellent joke-teller) who has an absolute knack for being able to dig into matters that often run so far beneath what the general public is able to see that they're completely overlooked (until Jim publishes them, of course)! His new book, The Rise of the Fourth Reich, is one such eagerly-awaited expose', and is sure to draw even more unique and interesting parallels between the goings-on of the world's secret governing bodies.

But getting back to the matter of UFOs... as I had mentioned a moment ago, Brad Steiger sent me this long article a while back, commenting that the whole thing was "scary, if it's true" in which an alleged former MI6 agent detailed some rather horrific occurrences in world history which, if they did indeed happen, have somehow managed to fly "below the radar" for the most part. As opposed to going into what exactly this particular article said, I would rather say that it was nearly identical to what has become known as the "Dark Side Hypothesis", a theory suggested by retired USAF pilot and UFO researcher John Lear.

During an interview in November 2003 on Coast To Coast AM, Art Bell discussed this hypothesis with Lear live on the airwaves where he described it as follows, beginning with the recovery of crashed saucers prior to WWII:

Thinking And Waiting

Alfred Lehmberg — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:58:38 +0000

Yeah — hey! ...and thanks for sailing in! I'm feeling kind of low right now, so it's good to know a friend. Dismissed a "Cyber-Wacko" by some persons I'd admired, I'm stunned with disappointments I suspect are not required.

…Citations by the carload? …Summarily ignored. Papers I have written are dismissed, subsumed — deplored? Not making any headway, I sense those spinning wheels; traction just ain't happening, and I sense a changing deal...

No one in particular, "I can think and I can wait." I keep my own good council, and I dourly face my fate. See, I've found I trust my conscience to define where I should steer, and I firmly heed my instincts on the subjects we all fear.

Hopi Indian Spirit Messengers Piloting UFOs?

Gary A. David — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 02:32:07 +0000

The Flying Shields of the Hopi Kachinas

Ancient flying machines have long been a tradition of many cultures across the globe. Venerable Hindu texts such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata describe airships called Vamanas that were even used for battle. Among the hieroglyphs on the wall of a 3,000 year-old Egyptian temple at Abydos are depictions of what appear to be modern airplanes and helicopters. Grooved stone discs found in caves on the Chinese-Tibetan border tell of an extraterrestrial race called the Dropas whose spacecraft fell to Earth 12,000 years ago.

The Hopi Indians have inhabited three large mesas in northern Arizona for over a thousand years. Their legends also refer to aerial vehicles, perhaps from Orion.

These magical flying shields called paatuwvota existed in the Third World, a previous epoch destroyed by an immense flood. This was a time when great cities and trade routes were built, and civilization was flourishing. In an address delivered to the United Nations, Thomas Banyacya of the Hopi Coyote Clan said: "The people invented many machines and conveniences of high technology, some of which have not yet been seen in this age." We, of course, recognize this startling description as echoing Atlantis.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: http://www.mondovista.com/flyingshields/

SDI #459 20 Questions

Alfred Lehmberg — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:57:12 +0000

20 Questions addressed with so much British reserve that stiff upper lips well nigh litter the ufological Debris Field! Contributing are Dave Furlotte, Stuart Miller, Dr. David Clarke, and Herb Schirmer… as tintambulated masterfully by Errol Bruce-Knapp with some gusto even if petulantly underappreciated by lack-witted persons notorious for using the word "maven."

1. Mary, Mary… quite contrary, but how does her garden grow?

A Deep Psychological Need? And That's a Problem Because ?. . .

Regan Lee — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:47:12 +0000

Those "snarly skeptics" and anti-UFOists - - the pathological fundie skeptics - - sneer at those of us taking a serious look at UFOs, including all of the phenomena related experiences, as if we're somehow deficiant psychologically. Coming from that crowd, it's not a surprising tack for them to take; still, it does get tiresome. There are also some who are supposedly so-called "believers" in the UFO phenomenon who llike to fling this idea about, as if it's some kind of accusation.

You bet I have some kind of "psychological need" to do this. Of course I do! I've been living with this all my life. I've seen multiple UFOs. I've had at least two episodes of missing time. I've been in telepathic communication with non-human entities, I've had psychic experiences involving UFOs, and truck loads of synchronistic moments. There's more; much more, and a lot of it extends to my spouse, family members, and close friends.

So given this history of high strangeness in the realm of UFOs, it would be very weird -- pathological, I'd say -- to ignore all this, and just go merrily about my business as if nothing weird had ever happened.

To the skeptibunkies, I say: try again, kiddos. It's not an insult, and you haven't proved a thing. Or, disproved a thing.