Brazen Hussies Invade Earth! Serious UFO Research Attacked!

Posted on The Orange Orb, and re posted at Orange Orb Review.  Interesting comments at Orange Orb; take a look. I want to add here that I, along with others who've commented, including Deirdre of course, find it odd that he takes such deep offense at Deirdre -- to the point of saying he will never read UFO Magazine again -- over all the other hundreds of articles that have appeared in that magazine over the years.  He doesn't see fit to mention David Jacob's behavior in the Emma Woods case, apparently finding a male in authority and his command that Woods send him her unwashed underwear heinous, but does find Ms. O'Lavery's humor and slip wearing, red lipsticked, cigarette dangling persona positively horrifying. 
 

Cigarette Smoking Woman Single-handedly brings down UFO research! In her slip, no less!

Disclosure:  I write for both the on-line 'zine, UFO Digest, as well as the print publication UFO Magazine. 


When Deirdre O'Lavery of Interstellar Housewife and JAR announced she was UFO Magazine's newest columnist, I was thrilled. She shared some of her ideas for her column's title with myself and a few others, including fellow UFO Magazine columnists Lesley Gunter at The Debris Field  and Alfred Lehmberg of Alien View.  The one column title that really said "Deirdre" to me was Saucers, Slips and Cigarettes, which is the one she chose.

A member of the Stuffed Shirt faction of the UFO Police doesn't appreciate Deirdre's cheeky 'tude, the brazen hussy, she.  David P. Kuhlman, FFSc, in his article for UFO Digest (UFO Mag Columnist is an Insult To Readers,) tells us why O'Lavery's column is offensive. Clues to Kuhlman's personal philosophy can be found in comments like the following: 

Do people give in to secular pressures, which can change the outlook and product for everyone? [bold and italics mine]

Indeed, in another article he wrote for UFO Digest; An Alien Reasoning, Kuhlman wrote:

I am a Christian. I was brought up through the years in church and I have strong roots with all Christian beliefs. I believe in God.

The use of the word "secular" in this context is clear: Deirdre O'Lavery has been seduced by the devil and away from the light, and is bringing the rest of us down with her into the roiling pits of hell.

John Collier, Lilith, 1892

Kuhlman goes on for quite awhile discussing what we all know far too well: UFOlogy has a difficult time being taken seriously, hoaxes hurt us all, there are good researchers who are "respectable," but some are not, and they're talking the rest of us down.  One of those who are not respectable, writes Kuhlman, is Deirdre O'Lavery, who should cause us all not only "concern" but "out-rage." Something about slips and cigarettes causes Kuhlman great distress:

Paging through to the seventh one [column] I noticed an unfamiliar face, a columnist. It initially caught my glance simply because I am familiar with the magazines layout since I read it often, and I knew this was a new addition immediately. I was curious and thumbed back to the index page and sure enough, the magazine had added a new columnist to its list, Ms. Deirdre O’ Lavery, Hmmm… never heard of her. Instantly I knew this was the place to start my reading journey through this months issue and quickly paged back to the column titled “Saucers, Slips, and Cigarettes”. That is where my blood began to boil!

I understand not liking a column, but really, his "blood began to boil?"  Sex, -- especially the "wrong" kind of sex, as in, anything you don't approve of between consenting adults -- is clearly the issue here, not UFO research. Women should be demure; we should speak softly and refrain from being sassy. Especially if we're wearing underwear. (Note to Kulhlman: some people prefer that kind of thing.)

The title of the column was strange I thought after reading it, it really didn’t seem to “fit” a serious publication on UFO research, but sometimes the title is to get the attention of the reader and it certainly did its job there and at least one word did correlate with the cigarette hanging out of the side of Ms. O’ Lavery’s clown painted, rose red lips. [italics mine]

Deirdre O'Lavery, get thee to a nunnery! And lest you think I am being overly flip here, Kuhlman himself is serious; of all the things in UFO land to get upset about, he finds O'Lavery's "rose red lips," cigarette smoking, and use of the word "slips" to be the targets of his repressed and misogynistic outrage:

"I have never been more agitated at any other piece of writing on UFOs than I am on this one . . . As I read I was disgusted and nauseated at her attempt to break the ice with the reader. Foul language and an utter sense of ignorance and disrespect to serious readers was her route. She goes on to write her column like a heathen speaks. [italics mine]   

He was nauseated? And "heathen?" "Heathen?" Did he really write that? Yes, yes he did. 

All that mishegas aside, he completely misunderstands O'Lavery's column, focusing instead not only on her lips but her "drunkenness":

Can people really take the UFO phenomenon seriously when it is painted that only sorry drunk people with no life dabble into this subject? Folks, this article is a disgrace to everyone that considers UFOlogy worth of investigation!

Kuhlman borders on the libelous; if it weren't so damn funny, it might be of concern. He not only finds Ms. O'Lavery "drunken," and what not but also believes she should be shunted off to the nut house:

She is certifiable for this piece of worthless paper with all of her slang and ignorant insight.

Her "slang?" Hey Daddyo, you sound like a real square!

Of all the columnists that write for UFO Magazine, this is the one that has caused Kuhlman --- after just one column! -- to stop reading the magazine altogether. If O'Lavery's one column can upset a supposed UFO researcher so much that he writes a rant about it and demands a "formal apology" from the publishers, then Ms. O'Lavery is one hell of a writer!

Painting by James Rich

One last point about Kuhlman's apoplectic response to Deirdre O'Lavery: he includes all of "us" (well, except for O'lavery) in his rant, beginning with his title: UFO Mag Columnist is an Insult to Readers. No, Kuhlman, it's not an insult to all readers; not to me, obviously. Speak for yourself. Clearly it's an insult to you, and possibly, to some others, so be it. But don't include me in your campaign to rid UFO land of Ms. O'Lavery. This is the problem with the UFO Police; they expect everyone to join them in their outrages and edicts about what they perceive to be right.

Congratulations, Ms. Deirdre O'Lavery, for bringing UFOlogy down to such a shameless level with just one column!

Of Gatekeepers and Decoder Rings . . .

Lesley at Debris Field has a few comments on Michael Salla's article, which is about the UFO Police. (Salla's article:
Hysteria drives UFO gatekeepers debunking exopolitics pioneers.) Of UFO Gatekeeprs or the UFO Police in general, Lesley comments:

They even attack people that have had experiences that don't fit into their box. They try to cloak it as some noble mission to save Ufology, but anyone that listens to them for more than 5 minutes realizes it is really a mission to try to make themselves look far superior to anyone else. They are the only ones that "get it" and the rest of us (except those that totally agree with them) are a stupid mass of people in need of a leader -- them.

And Bruce Duensing of Intangible Materiality writes, as always, so eloquently about UFO Gatekeepers in Secret Decoder Rings:

Outside of truth in the imaginal realm posed as a franchise, a exclusionary divisor that is not prone to uncertainty, the adapted postures of those who claim to possess the secret decoder ring,there is a certain instinctual desire of ourselves as fish within this atmospheric ocean to be lured, compelled and strike a pose in the reflected glory of exclusivity, designed in earnest by a franchised cabal, an inner circle of humanity as opposed to dim candle flickering by the lowest common denominator carried by an unwashed rabble of sheep. A carrier of secrets which in of themselves are perhaps default settings, a backstop in a competitive game, a consensus set against ambiguity, a self executing warning concerning pawns, boosters and the appetites that stir for satiation. ~ Bruce Duensing

Alfred Lehmberg has a piece up right now at UFO Magazine that relates to this theme of the would be overseers of UFOlogy: Traces and "Stuff" Alfred is mainly addressing the pathological skeptic but a lot of what he writes can be applied to those that deny someone else's perspective on things:

Whose call? The call of my muse, you biliously sneering skeptibunker of small imagination, smaller intelligence and sub-microscopic, even concave, courage! Something could be said regarding meager scrotum size. The reader knows who's addressed...

Whose voice? Why, the inner one of course — the only one of which I'm sure! I can't hear it in the clutter of your media's exhortations to burn and consume. I can't hear it in the frothing of your Pat Robertson, or Jerry Falwell... ...that UFO's are agents of Satan…

UFO Magazine Blog -- and Photo Gallery

Just promoting UFO Magazine's on-line blog and site; stop by!

Seriously, Don't Be So Damn Serious. Seriously.

Lesley has a great Grey Matters column this week at Binnall of America. “Seriously” addresses the stuffed shirts of UFOlogy; those who think having fun are doing a disservice to UFOlogy. (Just what is "UFOlogy" anyway?)

There are some who just won’t ever get it; that the exploration of the UFO phenomena is for everyone, no one gets to decide who can, and who cannot, join in the UFO mystery chase.

The UFO phenomena is certainly a grassroots, folklore (of the folk type entity) phenomena: while it’s necessary to have all sorts involved, including scientists and nuts and bolts field researchers, etc. to believe that this is the only valid approach is nonsense.

What inspired Lesley to write her column were the recent comments on UFO Updates about the use of the word “Festival” in context of UFO conferences:

Recently on UFO Updates there was a little discussion about the term "UFO Festival." Certain people don't like the word "festival" to be associated with UFOs, the feeling being that this would somehow keep people from taking the subject seriously. They may have been kidding, but there are people who feel that way

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The UFO phenomena has always been, at least in modern times, subversive to mainstream society. Its very nature is a huge “bleeeeeeeeech!” in the face of institutions, religions, academia, politics, the media. Dressing up in suits, chiding others for not behaving properly or insisting there be some Official UFO Police are ways to cause divisions, not achieve answers. (at least some of the answers anyway.) Of course, many who advocate for suits and ties, somber tones, UFO Guilds and a UFO etiquette would like this very much. Get rid of the embarrassing riff raff and they can carry on, being coddled and taken seriously (uh huh) by the very institutions that ignore -- and worse -- their UFO quest.

Lesley points out something that I don’t think is pointed out enough; that a lot of people (“the folk”) take UFOs pretty seriously:

I would say that 9 out of 10 people I meet have some belief in ETs or some other intelligence that is not what we would term as a human or Earthling and that may be flying around in the skies. You might not find them posting about it on the Internet or attending a festival or conference, but that doesn't mean that they don't take it seriously or don't believe something strange is going on. Most of them just don't have much extra time to devote to the subject.

The mainstream media may still have a ways to go, certainly academia, politics and science do, but the people are interested. They’re the ones with the experiences (I should say, we’re the ones with experiences; I include myself in that category.)

The purpose of a festival is to have fun of course, but it always serves a cultural need, including one that subverts the mundane. Lesley writes:

By the way, "festival" is a proper term for something like Roswell's annual event. You can call it whatever you want, but it is still a festival. It brings together all kinds of people and all ages and they hopefully have some fun as well as learn a few things. I see nothing at all wrong with that. Frankly, stuffy conferences mostly only attract those that already believe and the people there might take it all very seriously, but I don't see it convincing anyone else that Ufology should be taken seriously.

I hope UFO researcher and author Richard Dolan doesn’t mind my saying this, but both he and Karyn Dolan agreed that the Oregon, McMinnville UFO Festival last May was great. (Richard was the main speaker.) They enjoyed themselves very much, found it relaxing, and yes, fun. This from one of the most serious of UFO researchers when it comes to the work he does.

Speaking for myself, I am very serious about UFOs. This is something I’ve been experiencing my entire life. I have lots of questions about things I’ve experienced. Don’t you think that makes me extremely “serious” -- damn serious -- about this stuff? One way to be “serious” is to maintain personal integrity, and be yourself. If you have a sense of humor, can’t abide suits or pantyhose, or think, like Lesley does, that The Weekly World News is sometimes funny, because that’s who you are, you’d be a liar if you pretended otherwise. Which means you no longer have integrity, and in that case you would’ t be “serious.”

The Personal: Some Links

I have a post on Women Of Esoterica about a recent OOBE that was both surprising and wonderful:
My Utterly Completely Wondrous New Age OOBE


And Alfred makes a many times before said, but always good to be reminded (because we need to be so damn often) comment on UFO Magazine's The Green Room: Shift Happening. I also have a post there about those who demand "accountability" over there.

Lesley comments on Prophet Yahweh and "diversity and UFOlogy" in Diversity in UFOlogy:
Oh yes, I know there are some out there cringing. They think people like Yahweh make everyone involved in Ufology seem like a nut. Speak for yourselves, it is my personal belief that nobody aside from yourself can make you look like a nut. So what if you do look nutty, why do you care? We should have all learned that from our families, almost everyone has that one crazy uncle or some relative that is a total nut, it only causes a few small minded people to think the entire family is nutty.


There is so much more; the world is literally in a "UFO Flap" right now. Scan any of the UFO/Fortean news sites, like The Anomalist, and you'll find many more links that lead to individual sightings, videos of UFOs, personal accounts, news on disclosure, tantalizing hints of things both deeper, darker, heavier, as well as things lighter, brighter, exhilarating, spiraling outwards.