Posted: December 26, 2007
HBCC UFO Research Note: I would like to request that if any ex-service men or woman have any information about the Loring AFB UFO Incident from back in 1975, would they please contact me at HBCC UFO Research. Thank you. Brian. Date of incident: 1975
Message: Hey Brian, just wanted to respond to that Loring AFB incident 1975 Article. She was asking about if anyone knew about it well I kind of do. I lived in Caribou, Maine, which was about 10 miles or so away and visited the base quite frequently. My friend whom I hung around with his father was in the Air Force and worked on the base. He (my friend) told me that his father saw a UFO on the base and told me about the lights and all of that. So, I told him I did not believe him so he got his father outside and I asked him and he hesitantly said no kind of laughing it off. And his son kept on him saying tell him the truth because he the father was always telling him about it. Even his sisters were saying that he saw it so that's all I know about the incident. Thanks.
Thank you to the person for relating this to me.
Brian Vike, Director HBCC UFO Research. email: hbccufo@telus.net Website: http://www.hbccufo.org http://www.brianvike.com, http://www.hbccufo.com, http://www.hbccufo.net HBCC UFO Research International: http://www.hbccufointernational.org/
HBCC UFO Research, Box 1091 Houston, British Columbia, Canada - VOJ 1ZO
THROUGHOUT MANKIND'S HISTORY, UFOS HAVE BEEN DEPICTED BY MANY DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS, OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS, AND ON MANY DIFFERENT CONTINENTS.
THEY ALL FELT COMPELLED TO DOCUMENT ALIEN VISITATION, AND IN REMARKABLY SIMILAR FORMS. MERE COINCIDENCE?
This is a very small sample of extraterrestrial "visitors", depicted by artists of different time periods, from around the world.
Two cave paintings from Tanzania. Both are estimated to be up to 29,000 years old. The one on the left is located in Itolo, and depicts several disc shaped objects. The other painting is from Kolo, and it shows four entities surrounding a women. There is also a entity looking down from inside some sort of box or object.
This cave painting, from ca. 10,000 BC, is from Val Camonica, Italy. It appears to depict two beings in protective suits holding strange implements.
7,000 B.C. - The Lolladoff plate, discovered in Nepal, appears to show a hovering disk-shaped object in the center, and a small being beside it. The circular pattern is reminescent of the spiraling movement of consciousness - Golden Ratio - Sacred Geometry of Creation.
7,000 year old petroglyph discovered in the province of Quer'etaro, Mexico in 1966. There are four figures with outstretched arms, below a large oval object, radiating what appear to be beams of light.
6,000 BC from Tassili, Sahara Desert, North Africa.
From Sego Canyon, Utah. Estimated to 5,500 BC.
Strange suited figure found in Kiev. It dates to ca. 4,000 BC.
Three Wandjina petroglyphs from Kimberley, Australia.
They are estimated to be 5,000 years old, and are believed to represent alien beings.
This intriquing ancient work of art from Ecuador, appears to be a man, or similar being, in a type of spacesuit. It is displayed beside a modern astronaut to demonstrate the remarkable similarities.
Sculptures from the ancient Incas, who were much more advanced than other similar civilizations of their time and area. Displayed are two flying saucers. The Inca civilization was in close contact with aliens. Their advanced mathematics, astronomical charts and calendars are attributed to extraterrestrial visitors.
This wonderful piece of ancient Egyptian art clearly shows an alien. Some have speculated for many years about the roles extraterrestrials played in history, such as in the time of ancient Egyptians. Now we know.
It is believed that aliens visited this planet long ago, helping advance civilizations, and steering human history. If Moses received the ten commandments from aliens, then many points of the bible, and other religions of the past, can easily be explained. This painting is from a wood drawer, kept at Earls D'Oltremond, in Belgium.
From the works of Admiral Blaeu, in "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum", the first true modern atlas, written by Abraham Ortelius and originally printed on May 20, 1570. This painting documents an encounter that happened when, while at sea, Dutch ships sighted two disk shaped objects hovering in the sky.
This illustration is from the 12th century manuscript, 'Annales Laurissenses'. It documents the siege on Sigiburg castle in France, in the year 776. The Saxons had surrounded the French, and were about to breech the castle, when 'flaming shields' appeared and hovered over the church. The Saxons, thinking the French were being protected by these beings, fled in terror.
Old Chinese illustration from ca.1400 A.D.
This is an artistic reproduction of a relief found in a labyrinth on the island Jotuo in Toengt'ing lake
'
The Crucifixion' - painted in 1350, depicts a small human looking man looking over his shoulder, at another UFO in pursuit, as he flies across the sky in what is clearly a space ship. The painting hangs above the altar at the Visoki Decani Monestery in Kosovo, Yugoslavia.
A french picture from the Literature "Le Livre Des Bonnes Moeurs", by Jacques Legrand, a book of French works from 1388. Some speculate that the object was a balloon, but during that period in time, there were no such devices yet.
Entitled "The Miracle of the Snow", this painting from 1388-1440, by Masolino Da Panicale, currently resides at the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, in Florence, Italy. It shows two 'humans' in a circle type cloud, hovering above the disciples. This could easily be interpreted spiritually, or, something more extraterrestrial, like them looking down from a hovering UFO.
Reference: project-ufo.blogspot.com
UFO SIGHTING IN LINDSIDE, WEST VIRGINIA ON OCTOBER 18TH 2013 - OBJECT MADE A LONG ARC DIRECTIONAL CHANGE
I was leaning outside my window (smoking) watching leaves flutter in the sky (from an updraft) when I saw an object as bright as venus moving into my line of sight, moving westward. I could not tell the elevation. It was relatively cloudless so there was nothing to scale. I watched it as it flew in an arc like direction and vanished over the treeline to the south (SSE possibly). I heard no sound at all from it. It was quite bright. Whether it was glowing or if it was reflecting the sun, I could not tell. It was only in my sight for about 10 seconds. Approximately 15 seconds later I saw a Piper Cub type plane flying in a westerly direction. The object I saw appeared to be at a higher altitude than the plane. I could hear the prop sound of the plane very clearly. It was moving pretty fast to cover such a span of skyline in a matter of a few seconds. At first I thought it was a plane, but it was too quiet and too fast. I also thought it was a satellite as I've seen them reflect the sun as they pass over.
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I was watching T.V and it was the night of which there was supposed to be a huge aurora borealis show over even the northern most of the US. So at 12:00AM Wednesday, March 18 2015 (00:00 military time) I turned off the T.V. and tried to look out various windows in hopes of seeing some of the aurora borealis. Instead, out of the second story window, almost directly above the house tops across the street (I live in a house complex) I saw a pink-ish, yellow-ish, white-ish glowing disc shaped object. It looked like your classic UFO but I quickly thought to myself, it can't be a UFO it's got to be a plane there's just no way. But I kept staring at it trying to figure out what it looked like and everything, to kind of try and prove to myself that it was just a plane. But it didnt make sense that there was no noise, it was bigger than a traditional plane, lower than a plane should be, and definitely didn't look like any plane or other flying vehicle I've ever seen before. I then hurried to grab my phone and try to take a video of it, but oddly enough it did not show up on the video, instead exactly where the UFO I saw with my naked eye, was a blurry weird kind of reflective like thing showing up on the video. I then just stared at it with my naked eye and kept recording to the best of my ability without looking at the phone, because I wanted to observe the UFO to the best of my ability and couldn't view it through the video. The UFO looked as if it was glowing, and very slowly pulsated between glowing a very light pink to a light yellow to a white, it would change colors visibly about every 5-15 seconds. It seemed as if it was staying at the same altitude, but it was moving kind of in an elliptical line around my house (from the view I had of it for the quick minute or 2 I had sight of it) not really a straight line, it seemed very close in distance (around a mile away or so would be my guess) and very low in altitude (right above the tree/house line) it went from the right side of my view to the left (sorry, I don't know my directions and do not currently have a compass to provide you with which geographical direction it was moving in) and was consistent in size as it moved across (which is why I say it moved in an elliptical motion rather than a straight line). To the left of my house is a small hill, in which the UFO eventually flew behind the tree line of the hill as it moved to the left side of my view/house and I lost sight of it. The entire duration of which I was able to view the UFO was about 12:03AM to 12:05AM (00:03-00:05).
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SHORT UFO FACT: [VEGANS is relatively peaceful and gentle humans descended from refugees from the '"Lyran Wars"', who work closely with other refugee-colonists now living in the Pleiades, Wolf 424, and elsewhere. Often described as "DARK SKINNED ORIENTALS" similar to the native residents of the nation of India (EVADAMIC).]
UFO BURSA OSMANGAZ MERKEZ TURKYE
SHORT UFO FACT: [VEGANS, HUMANOID-TYPE. We're basically going to break up the Vegan genotypes into only two categories. One is humanoid and one is nonhumanoid and these are appearances only, not genetic structures. What we have described to you previously as Vegan is of the humanoid type. Generally you're going to find in the humanoid group that the eyes are very striking. The average eye of the standard Vegan humanoid group has a very large, dark pupil and iris. The eyes are generally a little angled but still large, and they retain a lid. So it's not like the Zeta, who appear not to have a lid. If they walked down your street they would be very unusual looking, but you would not necessarily think they were alien. They would definitely attract your attention; you might think they had some type of birth defect. ]
REA 51 13
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JUNE 14, 2013 - SPACE - Luke Skywalker would be proud. Planets like Skywalker's fictional home of Tatooine in the "Star Wars" movie series might have more potential for habitability than planets in other systems, research suggests.
This is artist Lynette Cook's rendition of a binary star
system. Researchers now say these alien planets
could be habitable. Lynette Cook
Tatooine's dual suns might actually help prevent damaging solar winds from bombarding planets in their system, allowing for a wider "Goldilocks zone" of habitability, Joni Clark, an undergraduate at New Mexico State University, said during a poster session at the 222nd meeting of the American Astronomical Society last week.
"(The stars) calm each other down," Clark told Space.com of her new work that expands on earlier studies examining binaries. "It's like a really good marriage. They vent to each other, and they're not focused on anything else. They slow each other down and that causes increased magnetic protection of the planets."
When the stars in a binary are somewhat evenly matched in mass, they can enter into a synchronized dance that keeps solar winds to a minimum.
The stars also need to fully orbit one another within 10 to 30 days to expand the habitable zone. If they drift too far apart, it could put a significant gravitational strain on the orbiting planets. The magnetic fields of the planets aren't necessarily boosted in these kinds of binary systems, Clark said, but they don't have to deal with as much solar assault.
Water worlds and rocky planets could form in areas of the system that might not be habitable without the double star interaction.
"It also leaves the potential open for smaller planets that have less magnetic field protection to remain habitable because in a sense they don't have to protect themselves from as much as they would in a single star case," Clark said.
Clark found that some "p-type" planets (that orbit both stars in a binary system) receive 0.7 percent less flux from solar wind than Earth depending on their position in the solar system.
"Potentially, p-type binaries could have more potential for habitability," Clark added.
In these systems, it's also possible that habitable alien planets could exist as close-in to their stars as Venus is to the sun.
While planets that circle both well-matched stars in a binary system might have an easier time, not all binaries create this extended oasis.
Planets that only orbit one star in a binary can have it rough. If a planet orbits the secondary star in a system, it could get a double dose of solar aggression from stars that are too far apart to synchronize.
Planets that orbit primary stars in a binary, however, basically behave as any planet would in a single star system, Clark said. - NBC NEWS.
Pasadena, California Helicopter Crew Encounter UFO in 1972
http://www.ufocasebook.com/2009/california1972.html
10-15-1972-California
Al Matisoff
My date and times are approximate. I was assigned as a Police Helicopter Observer with the Pasadena Police Department and flying night patrol. The pilot was Pat Spafford. In the northeast area of Pasadena, very close to the foothills, we observed what appeared to be a Military Sikorsky helicopter hovering very low over a residential area. The helicopter was turning its landing light off and on. As we got closer, it gained elevation and started heading westbound. Being curious we started to follow it.
We were approximately at 1,000 ft. AGL. The military helicopter then appeared to lose altitude quickly as if it was going into auto rotation. Then about 300 meters past it, we saw what first appeared to be a large object looking like bunch of big balloons tied together. The object was going at our exact airspeed, which was about 60 mph. The object was round and appeared to be rotating. I saw no lights on it. Pat began yelling over the intercom that he was seeing a UFO. I immediately shut off our running lights so I could activate our "night star" search light.
The running lights were shut off because there would be too many amps going through the system with all the lights on and pop a breaker. Shutting off the running lights to power up the searchlight was S.O.P. (Standard Operating Procedure) Pat questioned what I was doing, and when I told him I was going to "light it up", he said, "No," and turned the running lights back on. We had a short argument about doing this or not, but he got the final word because he was the pilot. We watched the object for a few minutes and it flew abeam us going west. We then noticed that there was some fog coming in the L. A. basin, which was a signal for us to fly back to Bracket Field in Pomona, where we hangared the helicopter so as not to get caught in the fog. As we approached the west end of the city near the Rose Bowl, this object gained speed and in just a few seconds accelerated towards the L. A. skyline and disappeared out of sight. The speed it went was faster than supersonic. We were both amazed at how fast it accelerated.
We came back to the hangar and immediately started making calls. Pat called LAX to see if they had any such object on their radar. He got a "negative" from them. I called JPL in Pasadena to see if they had any kind of experiment going on and they said no. I was taken back by the response I got from them because the person I spoke to sounded like this was an everyday occurrence. We both wrote an incident report and turned it in.
I kept this to myself until one day, about 2 weeks later, the Police Chief saw me in the hallway and yelled, "Hey Al, did you see any more giant Frisbees?" Since that time I have told this story to people but never made a big deal about it. I also never found out if anyone forwarded that report or investigated it further. I left the PD in 1979 to join the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Dept. Just thought I would tell this story to someone who would enjoy hearing it. Pat Spaffor passed away some time ago, but I'm sure there are plenty of people that will remember that story from the old days.
ie." Normally explained away as space debris, or a satellite, most Ufologists think that this is a real UFO.
BLACK TRIANGLE SIGHTING IN SOUTH CAROLINA ON OCTOBER 27TH 2013 - HOVERING WITHOUT ANY SOUND
riding down hwy 29 out of greenville,looked up out of winsheild of car and saw this triangle like object floating in the air.took picture while driving,busy hwy with no place to pull over.there is a air force testing and repair in greenville called donaldson center.figure this is where it came from.
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Credit: MUFON
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By Irene and Klotz
(Reuters) - The launch of an unmanned Space Exploration Technologies' Falcon 9 rocket was aborted one minute before liftoff on Thursday due to an unexplained technical issue, company officials said.
It was the second attempt this week to launch a communications satellite for SES, which operates the world's second largest fleet.
An initial attempt on Monday was called off after unusual pressure readings in the rocket's liquid oxygen tank.
The company's next launch attempt is on Friday.
Perched on top of the rocket was a 7,000-pound (3,175 kg) communications satellite owned by Luxembourg-based SES S.A., which operates a 54-satellite fleet, the world's second-largest.
The satellite, known as SES-8 and worth about 100 million, will be positioned to provide television, cable, broadband and other services to customers in India, China, Vietnam and other markets in Asia.
"It's an extremely important satellite for us," Martin Halliwell, chief technology officer of SES, told reporters at a prelaunch gathering on Sunday in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
"We know that as we go forward into these very significant growth markets that it's absolutely critical that we have a cost-effective and efficient way to get to orbit. That's really what SpaceX has brought us."
Previous SES satellites were launched primarily aboard Russian Proton and European Ariane rockets, which cost far more than the approximately 55 million the company paid for its ride on SpaceX's Falcon booster, Halliwell said.
He would not say exactly how much SpaceX undercut the competition, but did say SES got a discount by agreeing to fly on Falcon 9's first mission to the high altitude that communications satellites require.
In addition to a September 29 test flight of an upgraded Falcon 9, older versions of the rocket have flown successfully five times, including three missions for NASA to deliver cargo to the International Space Station, which orbits about 250 miles above Earth.
QUARTER OF THE WAY TO THE MOON
SpaceX aims to put SES-8 into an elliptical orbit that reaches more than 50,000 miles from Earth, about a quarter of the way to the moon.
That altitude requires less fuel for SES-8 to fly itself into its 22,369-mile (36,000-km) high operational orbit, thereby extending its service life.
SpaceX hoped to demonstrate its ability to fire up the Falcon 9's upper-stage engine twice during the September test flight, but that did not work. Engineers later realized that liquid oxygen, used for chilling, had come into contact with the motor's igniter lines, causing them to freeze.
"It was not a complicated issue to fix. Obviously, we were glad we caught it on a mission where we were only demonstrating that second burn, as opposed to one where we have to get it done," SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told reporters during a prelaunch conference call.
The company needs three successful launches of its upgraded Falcon rocket before it will be eligible to compete to carry the U.S. military's largest and most expensive satellites, a market now monopolized by United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
"There's always some risk associated with the flight not working. So we're very appreciative that SES would place a bet on SpaceX," said Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and chief executive.
SES has options for three more Falcon flights, including one on the firm's heavy-lift rocket, which is under development and expected to debut next year.
SpaceX's launch manifest includes nearly 50 other launches, worth about 4 billion. About 75 percent of the flights are for commercial customers.
"Our prices are the most competitive of any in the world," Musk said. "We will force other rocket companies to either develop new technology that's a lot better or they have to exit the launch market."
Halliwell said SpaceX competitors were "shaking in their shoes."
"There are a lot of people who hope that SpaceX is going to fail," he said. "This is really rocking the industry."
The global satellite industry had revenues of nearly 190 billion in 2012, including nearly 90 billion in television services alone, the Satellite Industry Association trade group reported in October. The U.S. share of the market is 45 percent, the report said.
(Editing by Christopher Wilson)
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Source: aliens-are-friends.blogspot.com
Extraterrestrial Contact - Judy Carroll was born in Queensland, Australia, in 1952 into a family of Creole, English and Romany (Gypsy) heritage. A participant in ET contact since early childhood, Judy feels strongly that this unique blend of cultures helped her to assimilate ET encounters into her daily life. Judy left high school at 15 to pursue a career as a professional flamenco dancer, following in the footsteps of her grandmother. During a 1983 encounter with ETs, she was instructed to study Reiki. She spent several years as a practitioner before completing the master level, which qualified her to teach. She also teaches Qi Gong and Tai Chi. Judy's lifelong encounters with Greys, or Zetas, have given her deep insight into the field of ET/Human con- tact. At 30 she had a fully conscious daytime encounter in which she recognized the visitors as "family." In 1995, during an encounter at a sacred site in England, the visitors asked Judy to write two books, one about her contact experience and the other about sharing the Zetas' perspective of Earth human reality. Human by Day, Zeta by Night is the story of the Greys and their connection to us. In 2000 she "coincidentally" met Helene Kaye, with whom she co-authored The Zeta Message. Judy also wrote Looking Through Eyes of Love and Looking Through Eyes of Wisdom. - NOW 24/7/365 - The 'X' Zone Radio Is NOW broadcasting in HD Stereo at www.xzoneradiotv.com/listen.htm
From the story: Modest Debut of Atlas May Foreshadow Age of 'Robo Sapiens' -
Moving its hands as if it were dealing cards and walking with a bit of a swagger, a Pentagon-financed humanoid robot named Atlas made its first public appearance on Thursday.
C3PO it's not. But its creators have high hopes for the hydraulically powered machine. The robot - which is equipped with both laser and stereo vision systems, as well as dexterous hands - is seen as a new tool that can come to the aid of humanity in natural and man-made disasters....
Read the rest of the article here: http://nyti.ms/1ayQ8VF
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"On Wednesday, November 5, 2008, at about 4:30 p.m., I was driving from my office in Londonderry, New Hampshire, en route to my home in Andover, Massachusetts, a trip of about 21 miles. I was on Route 93, a major interstate highway which runs between Boston and northern New Hampshire. I was between exits #3 and #4, about a mile north of a truck weighing station, traveling at about 65 m.p.h. There was very little traffic, and the sun had not yet set. By chance, I happened to look up, and I noticed a flying disc of gray/metallic color which seemed to be hovering at an altitude of about 100 feet, off to the side of the highway. It appeared to be perfectly round, about 25 meters in diameter, perhaps seven or eight meters in thickness at the middle, looking very much like a classical "flying saucer." It seemed to have an observation dome made of glass (or similar transparent material), but I did not see anyone or anything within the dome. It seemed to have four "landing legs" extended from the underside. It appeared to be swaying slightly from side to side. My first thought was that it must be an advertising balloon designed to look like a "UFO" which was meant to attract attention to a business or store. However, I have passed that location on many subsequent trips and have observed no store in the area - and in fact, there is no street or road! I slowed down to try to get a closer look at the object, but it my view of it was obscured by a stand of trees atop a bluff. When I passed beyond the bluff, I looked back to try to view the object again, but it was gone. I have never seen anything like this before, but I was not at all frightened. Rather, I was intrigued, and I wished that I had been able to get closer to it and view it for more than eight or nine seconds. I wish I knew what it was, and I wonder whether anyone else saw something of this nature in the area at the time. Please feel free to contact me if there is anything more about this experience that I can share."
Source: MUFON ( photo is an illustration)
Top Stories
Japanese spacecraft fails to enter orbit around Venus - Japan's Akatsuki spacecraft missed its chance Monday to enter orbit around Venus, and the next opportunity will not come for another six years, according to statements by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. -Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now
Arsenic and old Universe - Two news updates, both of which are pretty interesting. 1) The arsenic-utilizing bacterium is still in the news... Last week, a paper made the rounds on various sites that Roger Penrose and a collaborator had found circular patterns in the cosmic background radiation that might point to clues about what happened before the Big Bang. -Phil Plait / Bad Astronomy
SpaceX Dragon capsule set for launch - A US capsule that could soon be hauling cargo and even astronauts to the space station is set to make its first demonstration flight on Wednesday. -Jonathan Amos / BBC
One Hundred Days until Mercury Orbit Insertion - One hundred days from now, MESSENGER will execute a 15-minute maneuver that will place the spacecraft into orbit about Mercury, making it the first craft ever to do so, and initiating a one-year science campaign to understand the innermost planet. - MESSENGER Mission News
Sneak Attacks from the Sun - Our Sun can be a menace when it sends out powerful solar blasts of radiation towards the Earth. Astronomers keenly watch the Sun to learn more about what powers these solar eruptions, in hopes of being able to predict them. New research shows that one-third of the Sun's blasts are "sneak attacks" that may occur without warning. -Center for Astrophysics
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Reference: truth-just-ahead.blogspot.com
Visual Sightings of UFONICAP.org Between the dates of August 19 of 1949 and March 10 of 1950, an almost unbelievable wave of UFO sightings were logged in the Norwood, Ohio area. These visual sightings were of an odd, often stationary object which was witnessed by many ground observers. The Norwood searchlight incident was logged in detail by searchlight operator Donald R. Berger, and is a mainstay of Ufology.It is often said that a sighting's credibility is based upon the reputation of its witnesses. This case was reported by members of the clergy, scientists, police and military officials, as well as civilians. On October 23, 1949 Norwood Police sergeant Leo Davidson took photographs of the unknown objects, and Reverend Gregory Miller took 2 reels of 25 foot motion picture film.The very first reports of a UFO were made during the Jitney Carnival in 1949. There were literally hundreds of witnesses to strange lighted objects in the sky. The next day press reports were made of the sightings. The Cincinnati Post, The Cincinnati Enquirer, and the Cincinnati Times Star all carried a description of what occurred.Some press reports minimized the sighting reports as nothing more than searchlight reflections from the cloud cover. Several churches and at least one theatre were operating searchlights on the first night of the reports. However, sightings were made all night long until daybreak, and it is very unlikely that the searchlights were operating the entire time. One official from the weather bureau made a report of an early morning sighting of "two objects" that appeared to be weather ceiling balloons, but they were motionless, despite winds up to 32 mph.Refuting the searchlight explanations, Berger explained that even when he removed the searchlight from the sky, the brightly lit object was still visible. Berger would intrust his logs to Reverend Miller for five years. At that time, he gave them to UFO researcher Leo Stringfield. The photographs of the Norwood UFO have a very similar look to the ones taken during the Colares Island IncidentRobert Linn, who was managing editor of the Cincinnati Post, along with Reverend Miller, both stated that Berger's searchlight had accidently found a "definite object, and the light only enhanced its view from the ground. They reported this to Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. Although many reports were made of the unusual objects, Project Grudge would not investigate the case, either from lack of funds or lack of interest.if(zSbL
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On November the 21st 1783, Jean-Francois Pil^atre de Rozier and Francois Laurent d'Arlandes ascended to the skies in the worlds first known manned flight using a hot air balloon. Seeing that anniversary the other day sort of reminded me about those anomalous flying machines of the late 19th Century; the "Mystery Airships"
New Hampshire in 1870
Things began to go bump in the sky in the 1870s. Paris was occupied by the Prussians and Alexander Graham Bell was tinkering with a prototype which would one day drive us all insane and in America strange reports were appearing of "airships" in the sky. Over the next few decades the sightings continued, mostly in sporadic bursts, right up until the foo fighters took their place as the UFOs of the 1940s.
Although the major "flap" didn't occur until 1896 there were significant unidentified flying object sightings before that, with the below being the best known, and best documented, one.
On March the 26th 1880, in a small dot on the map named Galisteo Junction, New Mexico, a worker on the railroad and couple of friends were walking after a hard days work when they heard voices in the sky. The voices were in an unknown language, punctuated with laughter, and when they raised their eyes to the sky they were greeted with the sight of a gigantic craft floating above them occupied by a dozen or so men. They would later describe the craft as "fish shaped" because of it's cigar body shape with a tail, all driven by some sort of propeller.
The occupants threw out some objects and pieces of paper which were carefully examined by the men. The writing on the paper made them think of Oriental script and a cup was later described as being unlike any they'd seen before.
Later a strange visitor to town bought the objects and they were never seen again but, according to this site and the April 5th 1880 Santa Fe Weekly New Mexican, there is a postscript:
A party of tourists which included a wealthy young Chinaman stopped in the vicinity and found the stranger engaged in archaeological work. The young man grew excited on seeing the articles dropped from the airship, because among among them was a note in his fiancee's hand, and he explained that CHINESE EXPERIMENTS IN FLYING HAD AT LAST SUCCEEDED, meaning, the airship which crossed the skies of Galisteo Junction was THE FIRST FLIGHT OF a CHINA-TO-AMERICA airline.China. To America. By Airship. In 1880. Hell, it's one heck of an idea!
But the real excitement started in 1896. Sightings began in California and over the next few months moved gradually eastwards.
In Sacramento in November 1896 some men "Not Addicted to Prevarication", as one newspaper put it, reported seeing a light moving across the sky and heard voices (in a remarkably similar manner to the New Mexico sighting that happened nearly two decades before).
"The most detailed report of the evening came from one R.L. Lowery, a former street railway employee who said he heard a voice from above call, "Throw her up higher; she'll hit the steeple." When he looked up he saw two men seated on a bicycle-like frame, peddling. Above them was a "cigar-shaped body of some length." Lowery said that the thing also had "wheels at the side like the side wheels on Fulton's old steam boat." The Mystery Airship Of 1896A few days later even greater numbers of people observed the phenomenon in Sacramento and also in San Francisco. After that the sightings, and the claims about them, became increasingly weird and worryingly common. Sightings were reported all along the west coast from Canada down to California and people claimed the airships to be the works of crazy inventors or military machines destined for war against the Spanish (read any right wing blog and insert the word Spanish for Muslim and you'll understand America's feelings towards our European cousins in the late 19th Century). The feverpitch gradually dissipated and all was calm until...
In February 1897 the airship(s) made another appearance, this time over Hastings, Nebraska and few days later 40 miles away in Invale. Soon they were again coming from all over with one farmer reporting:"It is cigar shaped, about 200 feet long and 50 feet across at the widest point, gradually narrowing to a point at both ends,"The Nebraska sightings grew so numerous many people began spending their evenings watching the skies, nearly one hundred years before Mulder and Scully! The sightings moved into other states near and far and that's when things got a little weird...
The airship was first spotted in Kansas on March 26, and reports came in through April and early May. The most amazing account out of Kansas came from a farmer named Alexander Hamilton, in the little town of Le Roy. According to Hamilton, the airship had dropped down on his farm on the night of April 20. The pilots lassoed a heifer from Hamilton's herd and carried it off into the air. Mr. Hamilton even produced a notarized statement from twelve prominent men of Le Roy, attesting to his honesty and truthfulness.
The small town of Aurora, Texas, had an even more dramatic incident. On April 19 the Dallas Morning News reported that the airship had crashed into a windmill in Aurora and exploded. The body of the pilot was recovered, and was identified as a native of the planet Mars. Despite this, the remains were buried in the local Masonic cemetery.
Chicago awaited the airship with great anticipation, and was not disappointed. The mysterious lights reached Illinois at the beginning of April, and lasted through the first half of the month. After a handful of reports during the first week of April, a spectacular series of airship sightings swept Illinois and Indiana during the week of April 9-16, with 110 reports over the course of seven nights. It was spotted all over Illinois, frequently in different parts of the state on the same night.
In nearby Wisconsin, a farmer found a letter, apparently from the pilots of the airship, describing its construction in Tennessee. Other letters turned up in Michigan and Texas, obviously practical jokes. The most celebrated "airship message" was found in Astoria, Illinois. It was addressed to Thomas Edison, and was seemingly a coded report to him from the pilot of the mystery airship. The great inventor called it a "pure fake."
After Illinois and Indiana, the sightings began to taper off. They did not end at once; reports were still being published in June of 1897. But they were scattered and few in number. The great wave of airship mania had broken and receded. The Amazing Airship of 1896
I believe the below picture to be one taken in Chicago at the time of the ships appearance there, although even then it was widely assumed to be a fake.
Things didn't end there.... Mystery Airships: The Steampunk UFOs Part Two
Further Reading
Mystery Airships In The Sky - Steven A. Arts (UK Amazon, US Amazon)
Solving the 1897 Airship Mystery - Michael Busby (UK Amazon, US Amazon)
The Great Airship Mystery - Daniel Cohen (UK Amazon, US Amazon)
Hinode Observes an Active Sun The X-ray Telescope on the Japanese/NASA mission Hinode has been observing the full sun, nearly continuously, for an extended period. In this movie significant small-scale dynamic events can be observed as well as the slow maturation of many active regions now visible on the solar disk. Hinode is joint JAXA/NASA mission to study the connections of the Sun's surface magnetism, primarily in and around sunspots. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages Hinode science Commercial Crew Program: Launch Abort Systems NASA's work in the next generation of launch abort systems (LAS) is significantly different from past programs. Instead of designing a specific system for a given spacecraft or rocket, engineers are drawing objective requirements that private companies must meet to be considered for NASA missions to low Earth orbit. Under the second round of development for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, several companies are moving their LAS concepts forward. Commercial US spacecraft are not expected to VIDEO RATING: 0 / 5
Credit: ufoproofs.blogspot.com
By Larry W BryantUFOVIEW12-27-11TO: Freedom-of-Information Officer325 CS/SCOK (FOIA)555 Suwannee RoadTyndall Air Force Base, FL 32403-5505TO: Freedom-of-Information Officer482 CS/SCXR (FOIA)12719 Elmendorf StreetHomestead Air Reserve Base, FL 33039-1299TO: Freedom-of-Information Officer96 CS/SCOKO (FOIA)202 West Georgia Avenue - Suite 113Eglin Air Force Base, FL 32542-5453FROM: Larry W. Bryant3518 Martha Custis DriveAlexandria, VA 22302DATE: December 27, 2011 * Reference: My classified advertisement: 2,000 Whistleblower Reward for Gun-camera Footage of the Oct. 23, 2011, Aerial Attack on a UFO Near PensacolaThe text of which is printed below. * This freedom-of-information request seeks a photocopy of all your installation/command's records produced from the incident of October 23, 2011, in which one or more jet interceptors shot down an airborne UFO near Pensacola, Fla. I ask that you begin your records search by determining the volume and whereabouts of any and all interceptor gun-camera film footage of this hostile encounter. That key documentary evidence presumably would lead you to locate all other related documentation -- such as air intelligence reports, flight-operations logs/incident reports, command-and-control/communications recordings, radar-tracking data, security forces' actions, pilot-debriefing transcripts, after-action reports, executive correspondence (including e-mail and faxed material), and UFO-sighting reports submitted/processed under requirements of Joint Army-Navy-Air Publication 146 ("Communications Instructions for Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings"). * Since the FOIA-amending provisions of the U. S. Open Government Act of 2007 afford my requester status (representative of the news media) automatic exclusion of all records-search/review fees incident to your fulfilling this request, I hereby state my willingness to pay for only your reasonable document-duplication costs beyond the first 100 pages of responsive records. * By USPS mail, I'm sending to you a signed printout of this e-formatted letter.Copies furnished to:Editor, UFO MagazineChief of Staff, U. S. Senate Armed Services CommitteeTEXT OF LWB's ADVERTISEMENT at www.classifiedads.com:2,000 WHISTLEBLOWER REWARD FOR GUN-CAMERA FOOTAGE OF THE OCT. 23, 2011, AERIAL ATTACK ON A UFO NEAR PENSACOLAHow many USAF-deployed jet fighters joined the Oct. 23, 2011, aerial attack against a UFO near Pensacola, Fla., in which one or more of these interceptors fired upon the low-flying interloper, causing a fiery explosion over the Gulf of Mexico? Hard evidence of this alleged attack probably was recorded by the interceptors' gun cameras. If you (or someone you know) possess, and can offer, an authentic copy of that smoking-UFO film, you may qualify for a 2,000 reward, as to be adjudged by a panel of UFO-research specialists.Please help fulfill the public's right-to-know in this matter of UFO-centered hostility -- a case that one or more congressional committees might wish to investigate and report upon. As you develop your whistleblower role in this pivotal case of official U. S. overreaction to the worldwide UFO-E.T. presence, I'm submitting a freedom-of-information request to multiple Air Force bases in the Pensacola area -- for access to all their records about the event (see its text posted as Item 2.144 of my blog - Larry W. Bryant's UFOview ). Meantime, I welcome receipt of your insider tips/leads/deathbed confessions at: Larry W. Bryant3518 Martha Custis DriveAlexandria, VA 22302phone: 703-931-3341e-mail: overtci@cavtel.netFor updates on this perennial pursuit of UFO truth, subscribe for my free online newsletter at UFOview-Updates newsletter.... More See Also:FOIA Request to U. S. Naval Air Station Pensacola re the Anti-UFO Attack of 23 Oct 11 FOIA Request for Malmstrom AFB's Entire FOIA Case File No. 2011-00354-F FOIA Request [For UFO Reports] to the U. S. National Reconnaissance OfficeFOIA: Where is The Eisenhower Alien UFO Film? FOIA Request re CIA UFO Cover-up SHARE YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE HELP SUPPORT THIS SITE ABOUT DONATIONS^Grab this Headline Animator
Recently there have been suggestions that it is possible to travel faster than the speed of light, which takes us almost into science fiction.
But supposing this is true, it then opens up the possibilities that much else we take to be fact, may actually be incorrect. It might mean, for example, that bizarre UFO sightings, like those of Carol and Steve from Gateshead UK, could be true. Even though main stream logic says they are fiction.
Carol and Steve aren't a publicity seeking couple but they have witnessed many weird UFO sightings, which are completely different from the norm.
Steve was working the night shift and Carol was home alone with her three year old daughter. She was restless and couldn't sleep and about 2 a.m she made herself a cup of tea to drink in bed.
While sipping her drink she could see a red light through the curtains. She looked out and saw what she describes as a "cymbal shaped object over the roof tops opposite." The UFO then displayed various coloured lights and sped away into the sky.
Okay, nothing different there to many normal UFO sightings, but more was to follow. As she returned to her bed she heard a sort of rumbling noise and saw the same object - but this time in a miniaturised form, and it was flying inside her room!
The small UFO gave off a trail of glittering specks which made her body tingle. The specks returned to the UFO, which was about 18 inches in diameter, and the craft then left though the door.
The mini UFO returned 13 days later. This time she was in her daughter's bedroom. Again the tingling sensation returned and she screamed out to her husband, Steve. All he saw was a flash of light heading for the window. The craft, or whatever it was, flew through the window and away without causing any damage.
A further four nights later Steve was again on the night shift. Carol and her young daughter went to stay with her mother as she didn't want to be alone.
At about 4 a.m she heard a buzzing noise and her tingling body felt paralysed. The UFO had returned. But something even stranger - and some will say impossible - happened. Twelve weird creatures, but similar to humans, were also in the room. They were about two-and-a-half feet tall and were wearing white suits. Their faces appeared pale, delicate and almost feminine.
Some of the creatures approached Carol, conversing by clicking noises, and looked into her eyes.
This UFO haunting continued for over two months and all of Carol's family felt the tingling sensation. Their dog went into a frenzy whenever the buzzing noise of the vehicle was heard.
Then suddenly the mysterious visitations ceased completely and were never heard again.
At first the story sounds impossible: mini UFOs travelling through solid windows and doors; twelve 2ft 6ins creatures travelling in an 18 inch diameter craft and so on.
For fun, let's make it all the more puzzling and throw in something we would probably class as paranormal.
A well-off businessman from Manchester, UK was staying the night with his girlfriend. He was lying in bed asleep when he felt as if he was being invaded by some strange tingling sensation. It was like the air was filled with electro-magnetism. As he looked about in the darkness he saw that it was 3 a.m. Then he noticed something else.
A figure appeared in front of the window. He saw it was a woman and she looked to be quite solid and real. He noticed her features and clothing in detail and then for some reason he cried out. As he did so the woman faded away.
He woke his girlfriend and told her what he had seen. She immediately knew who the woman was from his description. It perfectly matched her dead mother.
It's interesting how this ghost story has certain similarities to that mini UFO: the tingling, the buzzing noise etc. If we look at ghost and UFO stories they can almost, at times, seem to interlink
It's easy to write off such things as nonsense but, if it turns out we can travel faster than light, we should perhaps open our minds to other possibilities. But I'll leave readers to draw their own conclusions!
Image: Fish Gravy
Credit: shieldufoproject.blogspot.com
DANIEL SHEEHAN
BIO:
Daniel Sheehan is a social activist who has spent virtually his entire life working on progressive social programs and initiatives. As the Legal Counsel on such nationally-recognized investigative cases involving government covert operations as The Karen Silkwood Case, The Iran/Contra Case, The Pentagon Papers Case, The Watergate Burglary Case, and The American Sanctuary Movement Case, Dan brings to the issue of Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the UFO Phenomenon a unique background in investigating and exposing the world of American governmental covert operations, "black budget" operations, mind control programs, government disinformation projects, covert warfare and clandestine operations. He established the Christic Institute in Washington, DC, which for nearly two decades was the country's preeminent public-interest law firm.
PRESENTING: Friday February 25, 2011: 2:30 - 3:45 PM
TALK: Open Minds Ministry: Providing Answers to Questions Posed by Extraterrestrial Contact
Attorney Daniel Sheehan, a Harvard Law graduate, will expand his observations in response to the Vatican's shocking announcement that there is another highly-advanced non-human species elsewhere in our galaxy and that this likely extraterrestrial species is going to be discovered by humans in just a few short years. Sheehan will explain why he believes it is incumbent to prepare people for the various implications which will arise with the possible arrival of these beings.
2011 THE INTERNATIONAL UFO CONGRESS
The 2011 International UFO Congress, brought to you by Open Minds Magazine, will mark the 20 year anniversary of the event. This year the event will take place at the Fort McDowell Resort and Casino in Fountain Hills, Arizona which is just outside of the Phoenix area. You can find out more about the event and register at UFOCongress.com.
RUSSIAN MISSILE BRINGS DOWN ALIEN CRAFT IN RUSSIA
AUGUST 10, 1989.... PROHLADNYI RUSSIA
At approximately 11:00 AM on August 10, 1989 near the city of Prohladnyi, Russia, Soviet military radar units detected an unidentified flying object. After attempts to communicate went unanswered, the object was noted as "hostile." Defense systems were put on alert, with utilization of surface to air missiles, and the deployment of Mig-25s. Blasting out of Rostov and Krymsk, the Migs were ordered to intercept and identify the unknown object. The UFO was on a north heading, like foreign missiles or planes would be, and the order was given to arm and use weapons. A GROUND TO AIR MISSILE HIT THE UFO, causing it to ditch over the Caucasian Mountains. A retrieval team on board an M1-8 helicopter was sent, and the DISC-SHAPED OBJECT was located outside of Nizhnizy Chegem, and the area around the crash site was soon cordoned off. The object was 6.9 meters long and 3.0 meters high, shaped like a cockleshell, according to witnesses. A long rut in the earth could be seen leading to the craft, which had smashed into an area of rocks. The damage from the missile was obvious, causing the object to lose its original shape. A team with special protective equipment moved into the scene. Dosimeters detected radiation, and precautionary measures were immediately taken, but not before some team members had been exposed. The object was delivered by helicopter to Mozdok Air Base, where nuclear weapons and long range bombers were housed. A special investigative team was assembled, and sent to the base to begin an investigation into the mysteries of the unknown flying object. This team consisted of military and civilian personnel. The KGB began a cover-up operation. The craft research team gained entry into the craft via a partially opened door. The team was in full protective gear as they began their investigation of the inside of the craft. As one would expect, control panels and equipment was visible, but more importantly THREE ALIEN CREATURES, TWO DEAD WERE FOUND. The two dead aliens had apparently been killed by falling equipment, but the third managed to save itself, but was suffering from several wounds. A medical team attempted to keep the alien alive, but their efforts failed. He and his two companions were about 1.0-1.2 meters tall, with whitish gray skin that appeared to be outer cover. The real skin beneath this cover was a blue-green color with a reptilian texture. The other worldly beings also had hairless heads, large black eyes, almost round, which were covered by a protective lid. Three web fingers were at the end of their long, slender arms. The three dead aliens were preserved in glass containers in a top-secret underground facility. This secret location is allegedly hidden among the multitude of trees near the research center east of Solnechnogorsk. The damaged disc was taken to the Kapustin Yar range and placed under ground west of Ahryomkin. All of the information included here originated from three Russian investigators; Anton Anfalov, Lenura Azizova and Alexander Mosolov. They claim that the disc is still housed near Kapustin Yar. NOTE: The above image is a rendering.
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Origin: discover-ghosts.blogspot.com
JULY 22, 2013 - UNITED STATES - On Feb. 5, 1971, Edgar Mitchell became the sixth of only 12 men to step on the moon. Of that elite dozen, which included Buzz Aldrin and the late Neil Armstrong 44 years ago this week, Mitchell is the only one to go on record about his controversial belief in extraterrestrial UFOs -- and of a possible government cover-up.
Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 lunar module pilot, moving across the moon while looking over a traverse map
during extravehicular activity Feb. 6, 1971. AFP/Getty Images
Mitchell, 82, is no dummy. While on active duty as a test pilot for the U.S. Navy, he completed an M.S. in aeronautical engineering at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and a doctorate in aeronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mitchell also served in combat during the Korean War as a fighter pilot. In 1970, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
After retiring from NASA in 1972, he founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences and later wrote "The Way of the Explorer" to document his experiences with mysticism and space.
I recently spoke on the telephone with the retired U.S. Navy Captain from his home in West Palm Beach, Florida. He was lucid and convincing with his heavy southern drawl, and just a little guarded.
Apollo 14 astronauts Stuart Roosa, Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell. They spoke to personnel aboard the prime
recovery vessel through the window of the mobile quarantine facility following recovery from the Pacific Ocean Feb. 9,
1971. Shepard died July 22, 1998. Source: Nasa/Getty Images
Clash: Let's start with the moon. Did you know your Apollo 14 crewmate Alan Shepard was going to "tee off" up there?
MOON GOLF
Mitchell: Yes, I knew before it happened. But I didn't know quite when he was going to fit it in. After we had rolled up the solar wind experiment and put it in the data box, I did my javelin throw and he did a golf shot for the first "Lunar Olympics."
They were between 50 and 55 feet, and my javelin went four inches further than his golf ball. I've got the pictures to prove it!
Clash: Was there any big emotion when you stepped on the moon, or was it just part of a long list of things you had to do?
Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard (front), Stuart Roosa (middle) and Edgar Mitchell (top),
with a lunar module mock-up Aug. 19, 1970. Source: Nasa/Getty Images
Mitchell: The latter is correct. Sure it was wonderful, we were pleased to do it and it was enjoyable to be among the first, but it was just part of a checklist we had practiced week after week at Cape Kennedy. We would go through the whole routine, rewrite it and modify it again until we were comfortable with the order.
And, of course, our mission on Apollo 14 was to be the first to do science on the moon, so we had to be careful about getting everything in during the allotted time. Apollo 11 and 12 were more to prove physically we could get (astronauts) down to the surface, then back safely to Earth.
MARS BASE
Clash: Do you believe we need to establish a base on the moon before sending humans to Mars, as some of your fellow Apollo astronauts do?
Mitchell: I don't think there is much value in trying to use the moon as a base to go to Mars. That's going into one gravity belt and having to get back out of it again. And the moon doesn't have a lot to offer as a resource base.
There is something we could mine there, I'm sure, but there are better ways to do it. We do need different types of propulsion to get to Mars. I wrote one of the first Ph.D. theses on that in the 1960s.
A fish-eye lens showing Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard (front) and Edgar Mitchell in a lunar module simulator at
Kennedy Space Center July 15, 1970. Source: AFP/Getty Images
Clash: You're also known for your views on UFOs. What's your experience regarding the Roswell, New Mexico, incident of 1947?
Mitchell: After my space flight, I was contacted by descendants of the original Roswell observers, including the person who delivered the child-sized coffins to the Air Force to contain alien bodies. Another was one of the children of the deputy sheriff who was patrolling traffic around the site.
ALIEN BODIES
There was also a military officer who was a friend of the families not involved in that particular operation, but who did share office space there. They all seemed credible with their stories that the bodies found were alien.
Clash: If that's the case, why has it been hushed up?
Mitchell: Initially I think there was justification in that leadership officials thought people weren't ready to handle it. But we are well past that now. Frankly, and this is just personal opinion, remember what (President) Eisenhower said in his final speech: "Beware the military industrial complex." I suspect that's what we're talking about.
A picture taken during the Apollo 14 mission in February 1971 of astronauts Alan Shepard (front) and Edgar Mitchell.
Apollo 14 was launched Jan. 31, 1971 and landed on the moon Feb. 5, 1971. Source: STF/AFP/Getty Images
But it's not just military. It's a cabal of organizations primarily for a profit motive. We invented aircraft at the beginning of the 20th century.
MONEY INVOLVEMENT
Twenty years later, we had an airline industry. Think of what that could mean in terms of space travel with control of UFO machinery, technology. There's a lot of money involved.
Clash: Have you ever seen a UFO yourself?
Mitchell: I consider myself fairly well informed, although I have not seen one personally. I'm not out there looking -- I'm pretty busy.
Clash: Have you been threatened by anyone about your outspokenness on the subject?
Mitchell: No, but they wouldn't be very successful with me if they tried.
Clash: Are you disappointed that America last visited the moon back in 1972 and has only sent astronauts into low earth orbit since?
Mitchell: There is no question we have to continue with human space development to other planets. But we also need to get our economy running. Then we have to get the world organized to work on this because it is really too much for any one country.
We need a community of nations capable of space flight because we all have to be off this planet sometime in the future. Our sun is going to burn out eventually, and we are not in a sustainable situation. - BLOOMBERG.
This post is reviewing Erich Goode's book "Paranormal Beliefs". Goode is a sociologist based at the University of Maryland, and proposes one of the few rigorous analyses of the social dimension of paranormal beliefs. This book does not provide any answer about the reality of paranormal phenomena, although it presents some of the key arguments for and against paranormal beliefs. This book raises a number of interesting questions about how paranormal beliefs emerge, why they remain present in spite of being constantly attacked by the scientific community (and the sceptics), and why science ignores paranormal knowledge in spite of being confronted with challenging evidence.
The full notice is:
Goode, Erich. (2000). "Paranormal Beliefs: A sociological introduction". Long Grove: Waveland Press.
MOVING FORWARD WITHOUT INNOVATION?
Before analyzing what Goode has to say about beliefs in UFOs, and other paranormal phenomena, it is important to situate his book within the larger context of sociology and parasociology. Goode is very clear about the topic of his book: he is focusing on the sociological dimension of paranormal BELIEFS. Although he does not consider the actual reality of paranormal phenomena as completely irrelevant, he states that he does not pay much attention to such an issue. For him, the actual reality of paranormal phenomena is only relevant in contexts where solid scientific evidence about the paranormal are produced (according to the rules of science, and thus, should be accepted by science), but such evidence are either ignored or rejected without cause by the scientific community. Researches in parapsychology are a key example of such a situation. From that point view, Goode's analysis is very much in line with "Newtonian" sociology, and although he may provide interesting analyses about an understudied topic, it cannot be considered as being innovative. He takes also, in my opinion, a very convenient position as he does not have to "get his feet wet" (i.e. without having to state his own position on the matter) by focusing solely of the belief dimension. However, because he does not dismiss off hand people who believe in the paranormal, like some other sociologists have done in the past, his book deserves some credits.
Goode is approaching paranormal beliefs in the way sociologists of scientific knowledge have studied scientific controversies. He is using the approach called symmetry, which implies that he puts on the same level paranormal beliefs and scientific beliefs (i.e. without granting any uncritical support to either side). As well, he recognizes that one side is dominant in Western societies (i.e. scientific belief) and has powerful social, political and economic bases while the other (i.e. paranormal beliefs) is the "deviant" one with limited support. As a sociologist, he is more interested in studying the dynamics at play, and tries to understand why in the context of scientific dominance there is still a very large portion of the population believing in the paranormal. Once again, his questioning is NOT based on "how can people be so irrational to believe in the paranormal", but rather he implies that scientific beliefs may be dominant among the elites of Western societies, but not necessarily so among the rest of those societies. In other words, he sees this issue as one of knowledge power base divided along social and political class lines. I agree with this perspective. Various forms of knowledge will be considered as more or less valid in great part based on how much social and political power is behind them. For Goode, paranormal belief is therefore an alternate source of knowledge for those who are not powerful.
If Goode is right in stating that the validity of any knowledge is in great part dependent on its social and political power base, it is also important to understand that its validity is also based on how effective it is for people to relate with the world around them (i.e., any form of knowledge has also a pragmatic component). In other words, "deviant" forms of knowledge are not only maintained to assuage psychological needs not addressed by the dominant forms of knowledge (e.g. seeing aliens in replacement of religious forms of spirituality, see ghost because science ignores the spiritual, etc). The key issue that Goode does not address, because he is focusing solely on the social dimension of paranormal beliefs, is the fact that people believe in the paranormal because they are many who did objectively face situations that are incomprehensible to them AND to the scientific community. Although I agree with him that if science would study such phenomena more extensively and find some serious and intellectually honest answers, then the belief in the paranormal would disappear because there would be no need to have an alternate form of knowledge to address what is ignored by science. This holds true for sociology too. If sociology is to provide useful answers, then it cannot ignore that there are some genuine and poorly understood dynamics at play behind paranormal phenomena. This reinforces my conviction that parasociology is a step ahead from "Newtonian" sociology by accepting and integrating, as a matter of principle, that paranormal phenomena have a degree of objectivity.
BELIEFS IN UFOS AS ALIEN SPACESHIPS
Goode pays a fair bit of attention to the UFO phenomenon. For him, UFOs are a paranormal belief when they are construed as being spaceships under extraterrestrial control (because it contradicts what science says about UFOs - particularly the improbability of interstellar travel). Then, he proposes an historical genesis of the belief by reviewing how in the early 1950s the ETH became firmly entrenched (p. 141). His analysis is very similar to the ones of M'eheust (1978) and Spencer (1994), where he identifies that in the early 1950s, a few years before the beginning of the space race, technology was sufficiently advanced to create a "plausibility structure" where the notion of visiting spaceships was imaginable (p. 148).
Another important element of his analysis is that the ETH cannot be falsified. In theory, all UFO sightings, except one, could be proven wrong and that would be enough to prove the ETH is right. It would require disproving ALL sightings, without exception, to refute fully the ETH, which is an unrealistic task. So, the ETH can live on the hope that one sighting will be proven to be of ET origin. The fact that in over 60 years no objective evidence about the presumed ET origins of UFO has yet surfaced is for the ETH believer completely irrelevant. From that point of view, it is clearly a belief system (i.e. it is based on the hope that one day they will prove that the ETH is right). This certainly constitutes the fundamental sociological dynamics behind the ETH.
Goode proposes a similar analysis about the Roswell conspiracy. In spite of having no evidence, that there are at least six versions of the story, that there are seven photographs of the debris that matches the Mogul project description, that Cavitt (who accompanied Marcel) did not see anything unusual about the debris, the ETH ufologists are still pursuing that story in the hope that one day real evidence will emerge. For Goode, the fact that the Roswell story emerged and stuck in the late 1970s is not a coincidence. In the post-Watergate years, the plausibility structure was in place for such a story to get lots of supports (which did not succeed to do so in the past, e.g. Scully's and Keyhoe's books both discussed governmental conspiracy in the 1950s).
It is unfortunate that Goode's book does not address in any length the notion that there is an irreducible minimum of reports that cannot be explained away by science, and that those reports are essentially ignored by the scientific community. Even if one excludes the ETH as an explanation, these very strange reports still remain unexplained. It is therefore a scientific belief to consider all UFO sightings as irrelevant without looking at the evidence. Sturrock's book (1999) is one of the rare exceptions. This situation fuels, in my opinion, the retrenchment of ufologists into the ETH. Because the scientific community does not touch the field, then other non-ETH explanations are not explored. The more the scientific community ignores these reports, the more it creates room for the ETH to flourish.
THE PARAPSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY
Goode is more sympathetic to the cause of parapsychology. Although it is considered a paranormal belief system because it is in opposition to some key scientific beliefs about the nature of reality, parapsychology was able to produce evidence using the scientific method. He quotes many meta-analyses of parapsychological research to show that psi effects occur and are clearly beyond chance. Goode is very clear in stating that "something is happening but no one knows for sure what it is" (pp. 130 & 132). In this case, it is the scientific beliefs in the nature of material reality that are challenged, and ignoring or even ridiculing parapsychology represents an easy way out to avoid dealing with inconvenient evidence.
It is unfortunate that Goode did not discuss an important issue in parapsychology that is very much relevant to the topic. One of the most interesting findings in parapsychology is that psi effects are more likely to occur when people believe in the possibility of the paranormal. In other words, plausibility structures are not only conditions to allow beliefs to emerge, but also conditions for paranormal effects to occur. Hence, plausibility structures are also enabling conditions. These parapsychological findings are at the root of any thinking about the possibility of social psi. Goode, here, missed a great opportunity to link some key elements together. He wrote that "sociologists are very interested in the social 'glue' that binds members of a society" (p. 84). If it is true that belief systems can be a form of social glue, then the objective elements at the core of the belief should also be considered as being part of the glue. In other words, if parapsychology has clearly shown that there is "something" going on, then that "something" should be part of the glue as well because sociologically shared plausibility structures are key enablers to psi effects. Goode's book, by focusing solely on beliefs, failed to see that there is a need to establish a bridge between parapsychology and sociology, and I think that parasociology offers such a bridge. But it is clear that if sociology studies only paranormal belief systems, then sociologists will have only an incomplete approach to understand the paranormal.
Copyright (c) 2009 Eric Ouellet
