Living in UFO Land: Call Me a Hippy, But . . .

So many researchers, investigators, organizations, pundits, witnesses, UFO television programs, books, theories, speculations, …

So many categories of experience. Genres of aliens and contact.

And an equal amount of disagreement about all of the above. "Disagreement" ranging from mild difference of opinion to out and out attacks of the most vile nature, verging on the illegal.

Then there is the Drawing Of Lines In The Sand. UFO groups (Gatekeepers, UFO Police, Scientific Organizations) get together and make damn sure they keep out any person or theory they don't like. They insist their take is the right take. They insist that "we'll never get anywhere" unless… unless their theory is accepted, unless the rest of us agree that such and such -- take your pick; contactees, abductions, ET, disclosure, -- is ridiculous. But more to the point, not just ridiculous but not to be entertained. Not to be included.

I'd like to see, not a "rigid scientific" UFO organization, or one that keeps all but one or two ideas within, but one that includes a diverse bunch. Call me a hippy, (which wouldn't be wrong) but the only way to begin to maybe get at It All is to look at the UFO phenomena/phenomenon with compassion, respect, and patience. That does not mean agreement. 

Regan Lee with friend, Venice Beach CA 1971, photo by John Lee

Instead, the majority of UFO people are running around fighting, attacking, sneering at others within. In other words, as had been said many times by others, the inhabitants of UFO Land are eating our young. With friends like that who needs enemies?

I think part of the problem is the crazy need to be accepted by mainstream society, by the institutions considered respectable (Big Science, academia, politics even) and main stream media. If only, think many UFO Land residents, we stick to …. pick your favorite: rigid scientific methods, and so on. Then we'd be accepted and taken seriously and everything will be cool and oh yeah, we'll also find out what it's all about.

Not one bit likely. All that will happen if we stay on that road is the continual fighting amongst ourselves, as well as the hoaxes, attention seekers and cheesy carny-like creeps that infest our fringes. Which is a part of the whole thing anyway, so not much use in bemoaning that reality.

This is what happens in UFO Land. An individual, or often enough, a few individuals who get together, find a little plot of land that has a sign on it: "ET", "Disclosure," "Abductions", "MILABS," "Fairies", "Mind Control", "Nazis" -- you know. Then a barbed wire fence is erected around this little bit of land. Often, rocks are thrown at the neighboring plots of land. No one shares, everyone fights, and the Big Answer is still a long ways off. Which brings us to . . .

The Big Answer. Expecting there is a Big Answer is equally futile. There might be one, I'm optimistic, but that's not my priority. It's the process, the quest, the journey, the effect of these still unexplained encounters upon not just the individual but the culture surrounding the individual, that is the issue. For now.

Of course, there is much more beyond that, but baby steps, baby steps. Such as agreeing to disagree while working together, not apart.

Lehmberg: The "You" You'd Recuse...

Another great piece by Alfred Lehmberg: UFO Magazine - UFO Magazine Blog - ...The "You" You'd Recuse...

Think what you want, friend, regarding *Abduction*. A nest full of liars, mistaken, or cursed? Consider them making a play for your dollar, not worthy your notice—revolting, or worse?
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Then make them a scapegoat? Make them your clowns! Make them embarrassed?  Make them suffer your frowns!
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Use them, abuse them—assign "yellow stars"! Mock them as bar-flies from Venus or Mars! Do what you will to stay 'comfy' and 'safe.' Lie to yourself!  Pretend it's you, brave!

I don't know if Alfred has considered this, but I think it'd be great if he put together, thematically for example, his work as a collection. E-book or what have you.

There is no investigation! You've maintained that it's unneeded! No one's even *looking*! "Looks" entreat and beg, beleaguered! No one has the *courage* 'cause they know it's unrewarding. Ford knows *that* kind of courage is discouraged—MAIMED, and thwarting!

alienviews: ...Finding's Looking...

Alfred has a beautiful item at his alienviews blog:alienviews: ...Finding's Looking...

Outside, I couldn't see them, so then went inside again... occluded by my thoughts on hidden stars. I reflected on the masking of these things so large or vast ... exceeding any measure of a section or a class, and the suffocation's woeful like I'm underneath some heel; the atmosphere is cloistered, and I cannot breath or feel.
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I feel imposition that the sky somehow projects. The sky becomes a metaphor for: "that which disrespects." So, cut off by some malevolence to the fullness of my life (!), I feel withered, drawn, emulsified, or whittled by a knife.
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"Craft" leap and dance behind their clouds, each one a different color, but it's color in a spectrograph, so then wider, Brighter—FULLER!! ...And these boil ultra-violet! Then, they simmer infrared! They churn in colors you shan't see passed livid bluish REDS!

After thought: you know, Alfred Lehmberg gets bashed by some, which I find odd. I think it's because, in part, he doesn't take any bit of crap -- quick to fling it back. He's also quick quick quick to say what he thinks. Those two responses pisses a lot of people off. But, here's something that a lot of people miss. Alfred's pieces are, no matter what the topic, about hope, our greater potential. He also points out, cleverly, sharply, our awful deeds, but it's all so unnecessary, if we only looked. Looked up, looked out and within, stopped denying. So simple a message and positive.

Now I have no idea if Alfred would agree with me on my insight or not. He might think I'm full of it. It's just my take on things. But I find it weird a lot of people spend a lot of time griping and arguing and flinging poo, rather than...well, being real and taking chances. At being wrong, at being surprised, at ...being.

Imbrogno: Just a Baby Kraken

Uber skeptoid feels very proud of himself for revealing that Imbrogno lied about his degrees:UFO Magazine - UFO Magazine Blog - A Phil-a-buster He who released the Kraken is gloating, comments right and left.. including two by me.

I really hope this is the last I'll say on this, but I'll watch where this goes. While it's naturally disappointing to find that Imbrogno lied about his background, I also find it intriguing to watch how news of his exaggerations and lies unfolded. Waiting for any chance to pounce and devour, said uber-toid did so, almost channeling the spirit of Imbrogno while staring, once again, at Imbrogno's MIT shirt in photo after photo. Said channeled spirit told the debunker to go forth and reveal the truth, which he's done on many a forum. This wasn't done for any idealistic or altruistic reason or wrapped snugly in the vibe of truth; simply one more item brought to the Skepti World for the show and tell segment. It's all kooksville to them, all of it (as the skeptic who outed Imbrogno proves at his blog, opening with a rant against the contactees, as if that has anything to do with Imbrogno.) Look! The contactees were lairs, frauds! Look! Imbrogno's ideas about the phenomenon are wacky! Look, Imbrogno lied about his education! That proves it's all bunk!

Really, show's over.

Meanwhile UFO sightings and UFO witnesses and UFO stuff of a thousand different manifestations -- good, bad, ugly, beautiful, honest, dishonest, scary, benign, and oh so much more -- continue. But you know, who cares about any of that stuff? I mean, seriously? Not the debunkers. They're rational after all.

(If you weren't sure, that last was sarcasm.)

No prizes awarded here for any great truth telling. Truth had nothing to do with this latest whirlpool in UFO Land. Or Skepti World. No one's won anything. No one's lost much either. The fact of things Imbrogno brought to us exist. Details may have been fudged; but diligent research is a part of the UFO journey; whatever grime may cover some of what Imbrogno has contributed can be washed off. His ideas on things still stand as highly interesting and, by the way, they are not unique. Call them Djinns, demons, "the Devil," ultra terrestrials, or any number of labels, the esoteric theories of energies manifesting as "other" and manipulating the human experience has been around for a very long time.

It's Been Quiet Around Here, But Not So in UFO Land...

It's Been Quiet Around Here, But Not So in UFO Land...
So we go:

Persistent Denial of UFO Activity
As usual, James Carlson responds, over and over, to anything pro-UFO activity a la Salas, Hastings, etc. The latest responses to UFO writers, like Alfred Lehmberg, and Robert Hastings himself,  here at the UFO Magazine blog. Carlson also left a long comment at The Orange Orb (same one twice) but I decided to no longer give him any attention. Well, other than pointing out his pathological denial of UFOs.

Paola Harris
I thought about not saying anything at all, but then said to myself "to hell with it, people need to know" so I wrote about my reaction to the Paola Harris presentation comedy act at the McMinnville UFO Festival in Oregon this past May.
Speaking of the McMinnville conference, Robert Salas was one of the presenters, and he was very good. (So was Stan Gordon.)

Crop Circle Makers and Fakers
Colin Andrews has agreed to speak with crop circle artist (or faker, depending on one's view) Matthew Williams. Looking forward to this. Williams creates crop circles, and I've always had issues with that. Yet Williams has had many unique and proound experiences, and my lesson learned is: don't judge so quickly. There's a lot more here than just someone having a joke...

Reagan, Spielberg and ET 
Speilberg on what Ronald Reagan said after the White House screening of E.T.:

"It was in the White House screening room and Reagan got up to thank me for bringing the film to show the President, the First Lady and all of their guests, which included Sandra Day O’Connor in her first week of as a Justice of the Supreme Court, and it included some astronauts… I think Neil Armstrong was there, I’m not 100% certain, but it was an amazing, amazing evening.

He just stood up and he looked around the room, almost like he was doing a headcount, and he said, 'I wanted to thank you for bringing E.T. to the White House. We really enjoyed your movie,' and then he looked around the room and said, 'And there are a number of people in this room who know that everything on that screen is absolutely true.'

And he said it without smiling! But he said that and everybody laughed, by the way. The whole room laughed because he presented it like a joke, but he wasn’t smiling as he said it." 

UFO Magazine - UFO Magazine Blog - Gene Steinberg Shuts Down Alfred Lehmberg's�Internet!

I try hard to avoid personality ego clashes and fights but as well all know, in this field, it's impossible. The very best among the best in UFO research have found themselves at times in the thick of distasteful messes like the following: UFO Magazine - UFO Magazine Blog - Gene Steinberg Shuts Down Alfred Lehmberg's Internet!

To keep myself focused and on task I perpetually remind myself it's about my own journey and "the research." Well, part of this journey and research include many of the fellow travelers and sometimes you have to say something.

I find this whole thing from the strident deniers thoroughly disgusting. Read Jeremy Vaeni's comments at UFO Magazine because he puts it very well; really hits on the pertinent points.

Whatever one thinks about Carol Rainey's revelations about Budd Hopkin's research, or Emma Woods revelations (though I find it difficult to see how anyone can be so adamantly "against" Rainey and Woods, and so impossibly, vehemently for Jacobs) it's not about us, it's about the nature of research. Which includes the witness-researches dynamic.

Instead of self-appointed UFO Gatekeepers who think nothing of insulting others, but more importantly, think nothing of shutting down -- literally, as in the case of one host who, driven by a frothing pettiness over the reality that someone else dare disagree with his views -- Alfred Lehmberg's ISP. Wow. This furthers UFO research how?

All the time wasted shutting down, and out, those who disagree, attacking Emma Woods and Carol Rainey with misogynistic spewings, inserting oneself into the debate with rambling and paranoid accusations towards those who are on the "wrong side" --- instead of exploring the issues that have come from this, such as the witness-researcher relationship, the usefulness of hypnosis in abduction research, and so much more.

Instead, we have some very ugly people out there saying and doing ugly things, distracting just about everyone from the real stuff: witnesses, the research, the data, etc.

In some ways, this is  part of the UFO phenomena: the Trickster circus, distracting theater of the absurd. The real stuff is ignored, the petty ugly stuff takes center stage.  This is so obvious, yet ironically, the ones who are sticking up for the so-called esteemed researchers can't see that.

UFO Magazine Blog: James T. Carlson: Deeply Disturbed

Respone from Robert Hastings on James T. Carlson's incessant uber-skeptologizing on UFO Magazine's blog.

James Carion's New UFO/NOT UFO Organization

Ex-director MUFON director James Carion announces a brand new UFO organization: CUT. CUT stands for Center for UFO Truth.

Here’s what I wrote on Facebook:

Oh dear. Not "affiliated in any way with UFology" yet "CUT" (there's an interesting Fortean twilight language kind of word to use)  studies "early days of UFOs ... answering the question long ignored by historians -- was the UFO subject purposely created by the United States. .. part of a cold war operation?" That's been asked before. But anyway, how is this NOT to do with UFology?! It'll be interesting for sure but how far is one willing to go in trusting government sources? Der.  And this gem: "CUT will work outside of the three ring circus that is Ufology and will not accept the contributions of anonymous individuals or alleged whistleblowers nor will it examine alleged leaked documents." So he's distancing himself yet once again from the unwashed masses and "...circus" of UFology, going so far as to call what he's doing - studying an aspect of UFOs --- not UFology.  Newsflash Mr. Carion, you ARE part of the "circus," -- we all are. How an ex-director of MUFON, who is currently involved in a new organization exploring an aspect of UFOs, say with a straight face he is not part of the "circus" is a deliciously ironic, er, circus like, stance to take.

I’ll add that the word UFO is in the name of the group! UFO is part of the acronym, yet, Carion insists, this new enterprise (heh, talk about twilight language) contains the word UFO in its very title. The title is also fun, in its ironic pot/kettle black way, for its word "truth." What a display of arrogance and self important stuff shirted puffery!

Carion never did like saucer heads. He reiterates his distaste for the distasteful and bothersome UFO witnesses and UFO explorers of various kinds:

CUT will work outside of the three ring circus that is Ufology and will not accept the contributions of anonymous individuals or alleged whistleblowers nor will it examine alleged leaked documents.

Yes, why bother with interviewing witnesses to see if they are credible or do the work involved to determine authenticity of documents? 

This is the problem with would be UFO Police; they set up their own little paradigm, decide to reject a good portion of what’s out there, and all the time, they’re congratulating each other on finally getting to the “truth.”

When you combine a systems like that with a dismissive attitude that reeks of classism and an obvious distaste for 90% of the thing you’re studying, you cannot possibly get to any “truth.” 

The Big Lie
Recently, the cyclic meme that “UFOlogy is dead” has been making the rounds, and I wonder: is this thing we loosely call UFOlogy really dead? Or is it just something people say out of frustration? I think the latter. UFOlogy is constantly shifting, and in fact, some big shakeups have been happening recently (David Jacobs, Cherry, and, um,  Carion. . . ) but that doesn't make it dead.

Do some think UFOlogy is “dead” because of the oft bemoaned statement that, “after such and such many years, we don’t have any answers?”

Carion remarks:

Ufology has nothing to show for more than 60 years of amateur investigation and research. By not establishing professional evidentiary standards, Ufology will neither join the halls of academic "ologies" nor will it discover the truth of what lies behind the subject of UFOs.

The us of the qualifier “amateur” is unfair. It’s snide. We’re all amateurs. Does he mean amateur in the popular sense: meaning, less than? Or in the true sense, meaning not paid for one’s work? Amateur has come to mean the former, more often than not, but being “amateur” does not always mean inferior. You cannot take away the study of UFOs from “the people” no matter how much you want to. And if you do, why do you want to? What's the intent?

We don’t have the Big Final Answer That Fits All to the UFO phenomenon. Carion’s mistake, as with many others: thinking there is one.

I don’t know what halls of “ologies” he means, probably the institutions of science, academia, and ironically, the very governmental agencies he plans on getting all this information from, but the reality is: CUT, too, is just another UFO group in the eyes of those “ologies.”

But back to the meme that “after sixty years we haven’t found the answer” -- I wonder if that’s true. No, we don’t have full disclosure, or the Beyond a Doubt UFO From Outer Space craft or an alien body. Well, not one revealed to the world on CNN anyway.

The UFO phenomenon has layers upon shadowy layers upon deeper darker layers. It’s a given UFOs and aliens are “real” and here,  We’ve moved way beyond that. We know they are; we don't’ know what they are.

Parsing the UFO experience down to a small segment --   U.S. government agencies intentionally creating false UFO scenarios to distract  -- is not a new idea, nor a surprise. And finding further proof that was the case at times won’t definitively provide an answer to what UFOs are.

Lehmberg: "Mal-Inculations"

Mal-Inculcations by Alfred Lehmberg.

New Rules

From UFO Media Matters, "New Rules" -- I love it. Thanks to Lesley at Debris Field for the link.

Lesley on "Fantasy vs. Reality"

Lesley's Grey Matters on Binnall of America this week is Fantasy vs. Reality. She discusses the idea some hold that abductions and other UFO events are "hallucinations or some sort of fantasy and not real events."

What she has to say about the "paranoid state" of people with schizophrenia is interesting; I've often thought the same thing but haven't come across too many that have shared those ideas in terms of alien intelligences.

Woo T.V.
Are you doing your part to keep Woo Television on the air?

New posts at Snarly Skepticism

A few new things over at Snarly Skepticism, including the latest Bigfoot thread on the JREF.

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…

"Smirks and Sneers"

Another great piece by Alfred on the UFO Magazine blog: "Those Smirks and Sneers"

This is for anyone who wrongly detests the working stiff holding them in his or her providing arms, and manufacturing their complete convenience out of thin air — you lofty, sneering, clueless, and non-appreciative Elite!

And an equally entertaining perceptive response by Mike Good.

This elite classist sneering and such goes on within UFOlogy and Bigfoot research . . . obvious point but felt like making it anyway.

Lesley on "Powerless Policing"

Lesley has a good piece on "the wannabe Ufology Police" for her Grey Matters column at Binnall of America.

"A Movement Afoot" : Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

According to a few bloggers with a disturbing dependence on thesauruses (thesauri?) there is an underground UFO group afoot. Why underground? Ah, to seriously study UFOs. I mean, seriously. Deeply. Studiously. Without the taint of the rest of us. Allusions to this all mysterious, top secret, underground UFO study group have been made before. I have visions of them toiling away in dank rooms, kind of like mushrooms grown in basements as a side business...when will they emerge to give us the truth? We can only wait, and hope.

Explains All Reticence

UFOs are everything! From ancient times they wail and sing. Through the years they've shown themselves, we've pictures, film we've stacked on shelves. Anecdotes abound in waves, from Presidents without disgrace, to airline captains coming clean — these craft are NOT a specious dream!

Indeed! Alfred does it again; I really liked this one. For more visit the UFO Magazine blog, The Green Room, and read the rest of Alfred's post.

It's astounding, simply astounding, that there are still those who deny the fact of UFOs. Worse, are the ones who acknowledge the reality of UFOs, but play disingenuous head games around the fact. Those pathological skeptics who shrug and say "UFOs, lights in the sky, so what?" or yawn after hearing a witness relate an incredible sighting, mumbling something about classified military craft. . .

Making Money, Changing the Vibe

It's true the uber-skeptics of the world lie about the huge piles of money pouring in from UFO book sales, TV deals, and other related UFO commercialism; that's how, these skeptoids tell us, UFO researchers, witnesses and pundits make their money. UFO writers make money from telling, and selling lies. That's the gist of the pathological skeptics meme.

Those within the UFO community will tell you it's not true, no one is making money, not much of it anyway, from publsihign their books or doing what they re doing. Very few make any money to matter. There aren't any UFO researchers out there who are making enough money from their UFO and esoteric interests to give up their day jobs.

The latter is true. The former is just more nonsense from the so-called skeptic crowd.

But, there's nothing wrong with making money, and there's nothing wrong with making money from something you love to do. In my case, it's writing, and in particular, writing about UFOs and esoterica in general. In my case, I'm investigating myself as much as others. I also enjoy facilitating people of similar experiences and interests -- like Women Of Esoterica -- I love that. Making money from this is a blessing.

Of course, I'm making very little money. So far. Not enough at all to give up my day job. That doesn't stop me from exploring the UFO and paranormal realms every chance I get.

What if we changed this idea that "no one ever makes any money" to "it's possible to make a living doing what you love." Constantly reinforcing this negative idea that no one makes money from this ensures it stays the reality. I'm not naive, it's a hell of a lot of hard work, and you have to have the chutzpah to be annoyingly self-promoting. But maintaining that intent, if that's what you want to do, is a start. Like attracts like. Why not make some money from this?

The next time someone says no one's making money from this, just ignore them. While it may be true, it doesn't have to stay true. Arguing with skeptids is pointless; I don't even go there. Exchanging nasty barbs is not my idea of being productive. But with others who know first hand the truth (so far) that there's little or no money to made in UFO and paranormal research, there's the very real possibility this can change.

Just setting the intent, while continuing to do what you do because you want to do it, is a start.

Alfred Lehmberg: "Cognitive Dissonance"

Horrors beyond imagining, and it's not aliens eating our heads! It is us ourselves.

Columbus accomplished this bringing slavery to the western hemisphere according to James W. Loewen in Lies My Teacher Told Me. A very dirty-dealing Christopher —a lying, cheating, thieving, and serial-murdering-for-profit brand of "Chris"— initially found his "Indians" delightfully spiritual beings as "uncomplicated and intelligently innocent as gifted children" — to paraphrase from his own hand. Only later would he classify them as "guileful vermin" when he realized —with his second thought— that they could be terrorized into collecting gold for him in a color coded system that, oh by the way, lost the reluctant collector a nose or an ear ...or a child... if he didn't cough up the dictated tithe, on time...

Cognitive Dissonance, in so many ways . . . the above I know well, working in schools. Alfred's been there himself as well, read this.

Bringing us up to the UFO issue:

This begs the emblematic question. Who profits in this legislated, continuing and traditional ignorance regarding UFOs?

There's no interest, disinterest, and trivialization within ignorance of the subject; anyone who "believes in" UFOs gets the glassy eyed look from others. You know they can handle you blabbing on about the Rapture far better than the sujbect of UFOs, let alone aliens.

So why is the truth kept from us, about UFOs? As Lehmberg writes, it is, and anyone who thinks otherwise just isn't paying attention. So, why is it so? Read his article Cognitive Dissonance on his blog an alien viewand find out.