News of a UFO seen in Texas over Christmas; Kithra at the Krystal Kave blog has a personal connection to the sighting: UFO Over Clebrune, Texas on Christmas Night.
Related to this news is what I heard the MUFON representatives Mark Easter and Chuck Reever, on Coast to Coast say last night about UFO sightings in Texas. Host George Knapp asked about any updates on the Stephenville, Texas UFO sightings. Angelia Joiner, the reporter who broke the case and has her own UFO radio show, was cited. But the MUFON researchers said there isn't anything new going on in Texas, UFO wise. Unless I missed something -- and I do have a habit of drifting in and out when listening to C2C at night -- I wondered how it could be MUFON seemed to be so ho-hum about UFO activity in Texas? Stephenville has died down but there have been reports coming in from that area, and other areas in Texas as well, ever since.
Speaking of disatisfaction with MUFON, Joseph Capp at UFO Media Matters discusses his issues with MUFON in MUFON's 600 lb Gorilla: Common Sense.
On the other hand, all these organizations, Peter Davenport's NUFORC, MUFON, and so many more, operate only because of the dedication of those who run these groups. Very little, if any, money is made, and what money is made, goes to research and costs of running the thing. Investigators do what they can; after all, there's no pay, it costs money to travel to sites, and then there are the realities and responsibilities of family and the day job.
These groups contribute what they will, and we get the benefit of more data. That's not to say that's all the data, or the research was the best, or that even denial or rejection of reports occur, based on personal bias or agenda.
We get stories, and as we know, there are more stories behind the stories.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
C2C: UFO Review
Sunday, December 27th, Coast to Coast has host George Knapp, who will review the year, UFO wise, with a variety of to be announced guests.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Report, Damn It! And Do It Like This!
At the McMinnville UFO Festival in Oregon last spring, the Bales brothers gave a simple, yet on the edge of your seat presentation about their giant triangle sighting in Idaho. During the Q & A one man chided the brothers for not being more involved in UFO research. He expected them to be sudden experts, with a mission and message of spiritual alien based insight. An astoundingly arrogant and condescending comment to make. After a slight pause, one of the brothers, who looked a bit confused at the comment, simply said "We're here, aren't we?"
Peter Davenport, who provides us with a much needed database of UFO reports, is perennially irritated at people who won't "take ten minutes" to write a UFO report in "black ink on white paper." His frustration is understandable, but not everyone feels comfortable putting such experiences down on paper. Treating UFO witnesses like stupid school children discourages people from making UFO reports.
I've been involved in a few local UFO minded groups through the years. The seeds of such gatherings are simple: people getting together to talk about UFOs. The purpose of these groups is to have people with experiences to share with others, but I've found there isn't much honesty happening in these groups. Because as soon as you have the "leaders" of such groups state what will, and what will not, be accepted, you are being dishonest. Telling witnesses to keep things positive -- in other words, don't talk about the scary, negative parts of your experience -- is a type of control. Creating a forum of only what you want to hear, in the form you want to hear it, is being dishonest. It sets up false forums of data; if you are continuously rejecting accounts you don't like based on your biases, you're not after genuine UFO experiences.
None of these methods consider the individual's experience. We listen and decide they're too negative, or not spiritual enough, or not literate enough, or are too lazy because they won't write something down, or . . .
And maybe they are some of those things, sometimes. Maybe some witnesses are too lazy or incompetent to write a report. Maybe the witness is still experiencing trauma from their encounter and are stuck, for the time being, in a dark place. Maybe their paranoia and fears, their nervousness and confusion, is part of the process and where they need to be for awhile. Making witnesses feel bad, lazy or stupid -- or crazy because they're depressed or anxious -- pushes them away.
All we can expect from people who have decided to come forward in whatever small way with their UFO experience is honesty. Negative, positive, spiritual, literate, sloppy, bad spellers, -- doesn't much matter, if they are being honest.
Notes
BOA interview: Tim Binnall interviews Peter Davenport
http://www.binnallofamerica.com/boaa12.9.9.html
Peter Davenport: National UFO Reporting Center
http://www.nuforc.org
McMinnville, Oregon's UFO Fest.com: annual UFO Festival in May
http://www.ufofest.com/ufofest07/
Peter Davenport, who provides us with a much needed database of UFO reports, is perennially irritated at people who won't "take ten minutes" to write a UFO report in "black ink on white paper." His frustration is understandable, but not everyone feels comfortable putting such experiences down on paper. Treating UFO witnesses like stupid school children discourages people from making UFO reports.
I've been involved in a few local UFO minded groups through the years. The seeds of such gatherings are simple: people getting together to talk about UFOs. The purpose of these groups is to have people with experiences to share with others, but I've found there isn't much honesty happening in these groups. Because as soon as you have the "leaders" of such groups state what will, and what will not, be accepted, you are being dishonest. Telling witnesses to keep things positive -- in other words, don't talk about the scary, negative parts of your experience -- is a type of control. Creating a forum of only what you want to hear, in the form you want to hear it, is being dishonest. It sets up false forums of data; if you are continuously rejecting accounts you don't like based on your biases, you're not after genuine UFO experiences.
None of these methods consider the individual's experience. We listen and decide they're too negative, or not spiritual enough, or not literate enough, or are too lazy because they won't write something down, or . . .
And maybe they are some of those things, sometimes. Maybe some witnesses are too lazy or incompetent to write a report. Maybe the witness is still experiencing trauma from their encounter and are stuck, for the time being, in a dark place. Maybe their paranoia and fears, their nervousness and confusion, is part of the process and where they need to be for awhile. Making witnesses feel bad, lazy or stupid -- or crazy because they're depressed or anxious -- pushes them away.
All we can expect from people who have decided to come forward in whatever small way with their UFO experience is honesty. Negative, positive, spiritual, literate, sloppy, bad spellers, -- doesn't much matter, if they are being honest.
Notes
BOA interview: Tim Binnall interviews Peter Davenport
http://www.binnallofamerica.com/boaa12.9.9.html
Peter Davenport: National UFO Reporting Center
http://www.nuforc.org
McMinnville, Oregon's UFO Fest.com: annual UFO Festival in May
http://www.ufofest.com/ufofest07/
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