It's Not Nice to Steal

Back here on the original Orange Orb at blogger.

A comment: Don't steal my stuff. Linking to my content is great, but if you do, please cite the source. You know, something like "Written by the ever insightful and charming Regan Lee at Orange Orb" or some such.

Don't just rip off the post. I've had a lot my words just copied onto other sites, without any links or citations at all. I know this has happened to just about everyone who publishes on-line. And it sucks.

It's wrong. Knock it off.

#Metoo in the Fringe

Not to say males have been notoriously lousy with each other when it comes to UFO Land ... And Beyond! -- but women in this field have also experienced really vile stuff. No, this is not 'old news' --- it's been going on, it  continues to go on.

I've been a feminist since I was fifteen. That's a few months shy of fifty years. Same shit, same shit. More awareness, more men speaking out against misogynist behavior, and yet, still. . . it does goes on. Just because it may not be going 'as much,' (that is sarcasm by the way) or, that many good men are also aware, doesn't mean us women folk have to stop pointing out the obvious.

In this process of speaking out, is accountability. And it seems to be, that many have been given a huge pass in this field. Stalking, lies, name calling, threats, calling to question a woman's mental stability, her sexuality (real or imagined), and more,is a huge NOT OKAY. And yet, when these behaviors have been blogged about, discussed, pointed out, the ones responsible for these behaviors go on about their business. They still blog, post on Facebook -- oh, now under their 'real names' so that makes it okay. As if their previous behavior was simply a creative exercise in Anomalous Street Theater -- they get invited to speak at UFO conferences, their work is published, men and women (sigh) support them.

Yes, woman are more present and vocal in this field. All the time. And there have always been some women in this field. I'm not talking so much here as to the number of women in this field, but the behavior directed towards them, as well as the lack of accountability.

One more point: I've had some women say to me in various anomalous fields -- Bigfoot research, etc. -- that they've never had any problems at all.  As if this somehow diminishes, or dismisses completely, the experiences of those who have  encountered such behaviors from males. This is not an argument, or, a contest. If we can't extend respectful listening and non-defensive responses to our sisters, then how can we expect researchers to be respectful and non-judgemental to witnesses?

Demons and Deer

Thanks to Lesley Gunter at The Debris Field for the following links, both of which are very interesting for their perspectives on UFOs.

"The UFO manifestations seem to be, by and large, merely minor variations of the age-old demonological phenomenon. " (John A. Keel, The Trojan Horse)

Aliens are Demons We start with the following story link at UFO Disclosure blog: Experiences Changes Mind - Aliens Are Demons. Immediately the mind rebels: "demons?" That superstitious Christian fear based crap? But if we think of "demon" as an entity -- akin to Djinn, say -- and strip the label of its religious trappings, we might get somewhere. However, UFO Disclosure does not take any of these ideas seriously, commenting that he and Nick Redfern recently debated the idea of "demonic" forces at work within a UFO context. And the story itself, from "Messina" -- while described in somewhat sexist terms by UFO D. who paraphrases Messina's theory: "...including combining the missed periods of women in the 40's going thru the change of life - into being aborted by the aliens in their spaceship." (I've never interpreted my hot flashes as being alien induced probings, though they sure as hell feel damn supernatural sometimes.) Messina's story, about abductee Camille James Harman and linked to by UFO Disclosure, reports that Harman prayed for clarity regarding her alien encounters as she worked on her book about those encounters:

 "I started to pray, 'God, give me an answer to this whole mystery. I want to have a useful conclusion.' I was then guided to read a couple of books that I hadn't come across in my research. (Later on), a profound feeling of grace came over me. I felt the divine, protected and guided." Harman considers herself a born-again Catholic."

Not just a born again Christian, but a born again Catholic. I find this distinction intriguing for its connection to Marian apparitions and UFOs. I find myself in a betwixt and between place with all this. Fear and religious constraints vs. non-human but not ET alien alien. Meaning, some non-human, intelligent force that's been with us for eons. John Keel is just one of many UFO researchers who long ago came to this conclusion. Really nothing new, yet still a shadowy kind of theory that hangs out on the fringes of UFOlogy. This is not to say other entities also exist, including literal ETs.

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Deer Men and UFOs
I've been thinking on deer imagery in relation to UFOs for awhile now, as I wrote about not long ago. Besides the deer connection, the account of other animals and their behavior as signals something is definitely not at all right is a subject I've been following for some years. So I found this link at The Debris Field interesting: UFOs and Deer Men in Oklahoma, at Mysterious Universe. Very cool encounters, and scary as hell. Definite high strangeness!

Leah Haley on the Abduction Mythology

I've been following Leah Haley's story for years. So naturally I am keenly interested in her current stance regarding UFOs and abductions. Which is, as Jack Brewer at The UFO Trail relates:

Former self-described alien abductee Leah Haley has revised her perspectives about her experiences of high strangeness to conclude that no alien abductions ever took place in her life. She now completely attributes her remarkable perceptions to having been an involuntary research subject. Commenting on literal alien abduction from her home in Pensacola, Florida, Haley stated, “It doesn't happen.”

Now I'm really interested! I haven't experienced anything close to what Leah Haley has experienced, but, given my own two (possibly three) missing time episodes, and life long UFO/paranormal/high strangeness encounters, the abduction scenario has always been a part of this history. Like an unwelcome, sometimes embarrassing relative or friend that insists on being a part of your life no matter how diplomatically you tell them to just go away, the alien abduction scene persists in inserting itself. I've never thought I was literally an "abductee" -- and, in fact, don't think alien abductions are literal events or even, (maybe) related to ETs. Still, there is much weirdness afoot, and that weirdness is  from outside ourselves. (Mostly.)  These experiences (with some exceptions) are not due to psychosis or pathologies or la de fucking dah. They are real, and they of the "other." Of course, that opinion/belief rests on the assumption that the rest of us accept this "other" which of course, most don't. Worse, some do indeed accept that premise but pretend that they don't. That's the insidious side of all this. Some may call that view paranoid. Me, I'm being practical. It's real, it's insidious, it's part "other," it's part human. I've long suspected that humans are involved in much of this stuff: manipulating events, capitalizing on the dregs "they" leave behind or allow us to play with. Dark, paranoid, bleak. Sure. That's not all of it, and I am always hopeful. So I'm not completely pessimistic. In fact, I'm not pessimistic at all. Those humans that fuck with us in concert with "them" (ETs, and/or non-human entities) can go to hell. And if it does turn out they've messed with my head on more than one occasion as well as my husband's, that really is every bit as unnerving and fantastic as aliens. Something I've been saying for a long time.

So. Leah Haley. For years Haley has been writing about her experience concverning alien abductions. She wrote a book: Lost Was the Key, and related her experiences of UFOs and all kinds of related weird events. You can read about it by Googling and reading Jack Brewer's articulate article.

The idea of MILABS (Military Abductions) has always been an uneasy part of UFO research. Not many want to go there. Too paranoid, among other things. (I have had so many experiences with UFO groups who persist, like some Fortean Pelicanist-ostrich hybrid of keeping their heads in the sand, that only "positive" stories and theories of ET and UFOs be allowed. Even if your experience is the your truth, if it's "negative" they don't want you around.) There's a middle here; it's not only ETs, and it's not only humans operating covert staged abduction events. One does not exclude, or negate, the other. ETst still exist -- so do humans manipulating the idea of ET existence for all its worth.

Haley has uncovered government documents, incuding patents, that have led her to her conclusion that alien abductions are human created mind control experiments. For example, as Brewer relates:

Haley cited U.S. Patent Office documents, demonstrating evolution of electronic technology and non-lethal weapons that correlates with the time line of reports of alien abduction. Advances in technology during the 20th century included using electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs) to remotely entrain brain waves, induce altered states of consciousness and transfer an otherwise inaudible voice directly into the brain. Overexposure to EMFs was documented to cause hallucinations, nausea, short term amnesia (missing time) and reddened skin, circumstances which became staples of abductee testimonies.

Robert Bigelow figures into this. MUFON founder John Schuessler  rejects criticisms and suspicious of Bigelow's involvement in MUFON and UFO reports, thinking such opinions are silly paranoia. But I've been suspicious of Bigelow's involvement (and indeed MUFON in general) and Haley's experiences add support to the idea of a hidden agenda. It's not altruism on Bigelow, etc. part. (I should add, "in my opinion.:)

Of course we can't know if Haley is being truthful, if she isn't, in reality, just paranoid, if alien abductions really are literal, if the government is pure as the driven snow, and so on. I have no idea. I'll amend that: of course I have an idea, or else I wouldn't be commenting. I have no proof. In my own case, all I have is the knowledge of my experiences:

• Seen several UFOs throughout my life
• Have had related UFO "alien" experiences: telepathy, "visions", dreams, precognition, shared events, synchronicities...
• Have had two episodes of missing time (and possibly a third), shared by another witness
• That witness is now my spouse, who has had his own life long experience with such things
• (We even lived a few blocks from each other when we were teens years before we met)
• Have cover or screen memories related to these events
• And all that's just for starters...

if she's telling her truth, she is not to blame for anything. 

In the meantime, those of us with experiences know something very odd occurs, and after years of investigating, exploring, speculating, sharing and discussing, no UFO pundit, self-elected UFO Police, or anyone else, has walked up to us and handed us a big "Here! All the answers to all your questions in this fancy little envelope." Nope.

So where ever Leah Haley's current opinions takes her, and us, we'll have to see. But in the meantime, for now, I appreciate her honesty in coming forth with her perspective. It causes us to take another look from a different perspective and that is not ever a bad thing in this realm.

Rejecting Witness, Assassinating Character...

Self elected UFO Police, whether it's someone who runs a podcast or forums, or researchers who get up organizations with manifestos and rules about what speculations will and will not be entertained, are annoying, sure. They're liars. They're manipulators. All that is certainly a drag, but, while on the surface it may seem like petty bullshit, it's actually very dangerous.

It's dangerous because pundits decide, for whatever personal whims and biases of their own, that a witness is full of crap. Whatever witness comes forward with her or his story, these would be gurus of UFO Land are no better than the psycho-skeptoids who debunk fringe topics, including UFOs. Demands are made by these Flying Saucer Fascists that the witness reveal their true name. Sometimes it is their real name, but try convincing these thugs of that. Other times anonymity is absolutely understandable, to protect family or jobs, but that's not good enough for those who make these demands. The goal posts are moved -- again something the uber-skeptic does constantly -- but it's baffling when UFO folk do it. The witness is expected to suddenly be of the highest caliber of UFO researcher, familiar with all of UFO history and theories. The witness is supposed to stop "whining" if they tell their story, or portray themselves as a "victim." And yet these same little fascists tell us they want to solve the Big UFO Mystery; collect data, and do diligent research. How can any of that happen if the witness is rejected? If the witness is consistently treated with insults, suspicions and even threats? 

And great goddess help the witness if they question theory or, worse, reveal their personal interactions with a researcher that conflict with ones' personal views.

The witness doesn't owe anyone anything. As a given, in all human interactions of every kind, honesty and integrity are expected. I assume those are present when talking with a witness. If it turns out they're not -- the witness is a lunatic or a liar, then, oh well, that's life. I'll  survive. UFOlogy will survive. Back to the star map. If a witness trusts me to share their story, I owe that witness, actually. I owe them respect and I owe them the honoring of their experience by retelling it faithfully and being honest in my responses to that experience. I may not understand their experience, or share the same cultural world views (ie, religious experiences) but that doesn't mean the witness is a liar.

Distractions and Paranoia
Meanwhile, all the insults and lies and attacks continue. The accusations of what someone said, without support, are made. Either the ones telling these made up stories about witnesses or writers they don't like are genuinely mistaken, or they're liars. Hard to believe adults can be so stupid as well as petty but UFO World and its cousins, like Bigfoot World, certainly have their share of stupidity. Egos are huge in the Flying Saucer Universe. No proof is provided to back up accusations, yet accusations are made. I know, amazing!

It's a distraction.  Those who smugly attack others for sometimes ridiculous reasons (like their use of the English language-- they don't get it, so the writer is the buffoon, not them), accusations without support when called on it, or, more profoundly, attacks, slanders, slurs and literally libelous statements about crimes that were never committed, actual research and data reporting are being ignored.

It's incredible to me many of these characters are held in some kind of high UFO regard as credible contributors to UFO research.

It's the Paola Harris Show! Harris Speaks at McMinnville UFO Fest

It's The Paola Harris Show!

Paola Harris at McMinnville, OR UFO Fest 2011

I debated posting what I thought of Paola Harris’s presentation at the McMinnville UFO Festival this past May because I have nothing nice to say. This is what I emailed Deirdre O’Lavery when trying to come up with something about the presentation:

All right, well, I can't seem to write anything worthwhile about old Paola. Except that it was the worst thing ever ... but [I have] nothing articulate or insightful [to add]. I thought I had taken better notes but apparently I was so amazed I had doodled numerous semi-psychotic renderings. Hey, maybe that's what I'll say.

While I don’t agree with the exo-politics movement in UFOlogy, I don’t have anything against it. My issues with Ms. Harris’s presentation isn’t with her views on exo-politics (whatever those are; it was difficult to tell) but with her lack of coherency and her immense ego.

Harris was introduced as “the Barbara Walters of UFOlogy,” and that title was reiterated by Ms. Harris herself, but it became clear to me she isn’t that, but I will say she’s clearly the Sarah Palin of UFOlogy.

So the talk begins, and I am telling you, it was the craziest, most disjointed, manic, ego-fueled thing I've been to. It was so bizarre and surreal that it was funny.

While I’m not much for the exo-politics aspect of UFOlogy, which is what Ms. Harris is all about,  I was interested in Harris’s presentation for a couple of reasons. One, anything to do with UFOs (excluding the uber-psycho skeptics) I’m up for, and two, I was curious to hear about the San Antonio, New Mexico 1945 crash Harris promised to discuss.

The presentation began with  a montage of UFO images -- “sixty-one years of UFOs” Harris told us -- accompanied by Buffalo Springfield's Something's Happening Here. Instead of ending the introduction at that point, it continued with another slew of slides, this time accompanied by some kind of screechy space age music. Harris introduced the images by telling us it’s “sixty-one years” of UFOs but it appeared to be 108 years, since the intro slide read “1870 to 2008.”  It would have been nice to have captions of the photographs; when and where the UFO image was taken, or how the illustration related to what sighting, but all we got were slides. After slides. After. Slides. And then there were the slides.

After that overly long intro, Harris literally spent forty minutes talking about herself while showing several images of the book and magazine covers where she’s appeared in print, as well as photo after photo of her with various UFO bigwigs. “Here I am with so and so...” she announced. Over and over. Forty minutes! Literally. I timed it.

I detected an undercurrent of, not racism exactly, but a cultural ignorance or maybe it was cultural superiority. (Surprising since she has dual citizenship and  lived in Italy for many years.) She showed a slide of Israel, referencing that country’s UFO sightings, informing us that  “They talk Jewish over there.” She showed slides of  UFO researchers --  Jacques Vallee among them --  meeting with politicians in the Middle East and slides of the Muslim Brotherhood, and insinuated there is something insidious afoot about their interest in UFOs. We're  not told why this might be so. This was one of the problems with her presentations: lack of support for her case. (The other problem: her huge ego.)  Harris mentioned several times that she was a retired teacher, something I found simply astounding given her consistent rambling, incoherent, point jumping circus act. But, she did teach in an Italian private school and among her students were “Mel Gibson’s kids,” and other VIPS which Harris felt was a relevant bit of information to share with us.

After more than forty minutes of  It’s The Paola Harris Show, she gets to the 1945 San Antonio, New Mexico (not Texas,) crash. More slides of places and people but with little context.  It was such a rambling and nonlinear WTF mishmash I had no idea what she was talking about and  I didn’t learn anything about this case after her presentation. It was extremely disappointing.

There was also a video of Philip Corso; the video got stuck and there we sat, listening to audio of Corso while Harris looked adoringly on; again, how it connected to what Harris was talking about wasn’t made clear.  (I noticed that Harris conspicuously did not mention Bill Birnes.)

Harris finished with her “12 Protocols” of exo-politics which, it turned out, was really 9 protocols. Or maybe it was 7.  At that point however I didn’t give a damn how may there were. Besides, they weren’t exactly “protocols” as in: don’t use your salad fork when eating fish, but assumptions about the coming of the Space Brothers. The slide got stuck on number 1 and remained there; she either didn’t notice or didn’t care, and at one point said “It says there are 12 protocols but there’s really only 9” which is where I was afraid to look at Deirdre O’Lavery who was sitting next to me, because I knew we’d both lose it.

Glitches happen, but there were so many in Harris’ presentation I had the impression there was no care taken; just a thrown up mess of stuff at the last minute. Even those technical errors could be forgiven if Harris herself hadn't been so inept. Take your pick: her massive ego, her incoherent presentation, her rambling, her lack of cohesiveness, the lack of support for her case, the lack of editing: put it all together and it was one bad, very bad, UFO lecture. I was entertained  but that was inadvertent. It was a completely pointless presentation and absolutely embarrassing. And I’ve seen Stephen Greer speak, so that’s saying something.

From Interstellar Housewife: Dimensional Wrinkles

Deirdre O'Lavery asks a not so new question but one we don't think of often enough: what if UFOs ("true UFOs" as she puts it) are from other dimensions, and what we see is only part of those UFOs?

"Consider that UFOs (the truly unexplained kind, mind you) are not of this dimension. You’ve probably heard some of this before, the idea that UFOs are not extraterrestrial, but extra-dimensional, although this isn’t really about that speculation as much as it's about a possible explanation for the seemingly simplistic shapes we see darting around our skies."

Deirdre's post reminded me of one UFO I saw years ago that morphed in color and shape when viewed through binoculars, but remained a bright white light when seen with the naked eye. The shifting colors and shapes were not due scintillation; this was precise and obvious behavior of the UFO, which was quite close to us. There's more to this sighting: I "knew" we were going to see a UFO that night when we arrived at the house where we were visiting friends, I "knew" the person who had been looking out the window for some time was watching a UFO (and I was getting very impatient with her, wondering when the hell she was going to let us in on it), one person in our party became downright angry at the fact we were watching this thing; he walked away in disgust and wouldn't look. The UFO came from a distance away, but steadily came towards us, the house, until it came between a large tree and the picture window of the house. It seemed to come in close as if saying "hi," and then, after it passed by the window, it curved back and made its way back. We watched it until we couldn't see it any more.

James Rich, Dance of the Elements, acrylic on wonder-board

As I said, when seen with the naked eye, it looked like a round bright white light. Through binoculars, it changed both shape: square, rectangle, triangle, oval, and back again, as well as color: turquoise, red, orange, yellow, blue, green. (I don't remember the order of the shapes or colors, but I do remember the vividness of both.) There was a rhythm to the changes; they were constant, not randomly timed.

That night, I had a dream where I'm standing on the sidewalk by my childhood home with the owner of the house where we saw this shape shifting UFO. (I did not know this person when I was a kid.) We are looking up in the sky together, and we see several of these UFOs above us. This time we can easily see them change shape and color, no binoculars needed. Also, they were very large, much larger than the one seen at his house. This person was an artist, and the UFOs had something to do with art. The dream message was very clear about that.

Was this changing UFO related to what Deirdre proposes? If from another dimension, is it also possible the UFO was cognizant, or responding in some way, to some of us? The fact that I knew, with unshakable certainty, we would see a UFO that night -- was that also an aspect of this UFO's connection to us, or, us to it?
Read Deirdre's article here: The Interstellar Housewife: Dimensional Wrinkles

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Gary Haden on Eschewing Emma Woods

Another excellent article by Gary Haden at Speculative Realms:The Nausea of an Emma Woods Idiot: Paranormal Celebrity Munchausen by Proxy, the Revolt of the Damned Alive and Making People Sick for Kicks concerning Emma Woods, this time on the responses, or rather, non-responses of the "shrug-so-tiring/boring" variety from researchers. (some who I respect very, very much; but on this one issue, I cannot understand why they think they way they do on this topic.)

Now, this is a hard one because Haden's words are harsh, and as I say, I respect some of the individuals he names. I'm the messenger, not the message. However, again, when it comes to the intentional "mind fucking" as Haden calls it, of witnesses by UFO researchers and disinfo agents, there doesn't seem to be any question as to the acceptance of such devious, manipulative behavior that, well, fucks with people's lives and minds! Yet, somehow, there has been a continued silence and/or acceptance of these doings.

Paul Benneiwitz. John Ford. Emma Woods, for starters. How many more?

It was hard for me to read some of Haden's words concerning Redfern, for example. But Haden is entitled to his opinions. Again, I am the messenger, not the message. Among the many very important paradigm shifting (UFO-wise) elements within Emma's story is the relationship between researcher and witness. What people are still not getting is that Jacobs, no matter what one thinks of his research overall and his theories on aliens, ET, abductions, hybrids, got away with absolutely egregious behavior. Behavior that is no doubt illegal, or would be in other circumstances.

I don't agree with everything Haden writes in this article, though they are minor, nit picky points. Anyway. Read the article. As usual with Haden, it's a great piece, and he is one of the few voices out there continuing to bring the Woods/Jacobs story to our attention.

Brazen Hussies Invade Earth! Serious UFO Research Attacked!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

John Collier, Lilith, 1892

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Painting by James Rich

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

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

Web Site: Women in UFOlogy

Thanks to the amazing Skylaire Alfvegren, I was made aware of a website that seems fairly new: Women in UFOlogy. I don't know who's behind it; it's still under construction, but there's an impressive list so far over there. I'm sure there'll be more to come. Check it out here.

Red Orb/Orange Orb: UFO Synchronicity and Similarities

I have a new article up at UFO Digest: Red Orb/Orange Orb: UFO Synchronicity and Similarities once again, inspired by something Chris Holly wrote.

Quote of the Day

The Regan Lees, Frank Warrens, Don Ledgers, Moulton Howes, Steven Greers, Chris Rutkowskis, et al. are the UFO proletariat; they don’t count or matter. ~ UFO Provocateur(s)

Heh. Hey, I made it first on the list! Hooray for me.

Proletariat: pro·le·tar·i·at (prl-târ-t)
n.
1.
a. The class of industrial wage earners who, possessing neither capital nor production means, must earn their living by selling their labor.
b. The poorest class of working people.
2. The propertyless class of ancient Rome, constituting the lowest class of citizens.


All their other nonsense aside, they sure are a snooty bunch, aren't they?

Random Things

Women Of Esoterica on Untamed Dimensions
Richelle Hawks and I were interviewed by Adam Gorightly the other night for his Untamed Dimensions podcast. It was fun. You can listen to it here.

Texas UFOs
I haven't commented too much on the Texas UFOs, what's there to say? Everyone else is saying it. I did comment a bit on it on my recent Trickster's Realm column for Tim Binnall's site.

Binnall of America
Speaking of Binnall of America, I wore my UFOs Are Real; Get Over It hoodie sweatshirt today. Nice and cozy for a cold rainy Oregon day. No one commented though; however, this is Eugene, so not surprising. You can order cool things like the sweatshirt at Binnall of America. If you do, you'll be supporting the site! (No, I don't get a damn penny from them!)

UFO and Fortean Entertainment
Glad Torchwood is back for its second season. I love that show!

I didn't see the Sci Fi UFO Hunters; did watch the other one on History channel though. I thought it was interesting, but my first thought was "where are the women?" and the program's getting some criticism. I haven't delved into that much but whatever they may have exaggerated, or whether or not the entire thing was a hoax (hmmmm...) there are some very suspicious connections concerning the entire case. Typical UFO Trickster stuff to be sure.

Bigfoot Threads
What is it about the JREF (James Randi Educational Forum) and Bigfoot threads? They have something like eight seperate threads about Bigfoot. I comment here and here about the Bigfoot thread wackiness.

Books
I don't know if it's menopause (oh, grow up!) winter, working too hard or what, but lately I've been coming home and finding I'm asleep by 9:00 pm. I hate that! I have several books I'm reading, or trying to, but am slow at it because I fall asleep every night. Last night I fell asleep in Red Moon. That's the book written by David Michaels and Daniel Brenton. (Daniel has the blog The Odd Little Universe of Daniel Brenton.) It's well written and very enjoyable. Lots of twists and surprises. I also have some Mothman books I want to get to, as well as contactee Dana Howard's book Beyond the Valley. I'd like to finish them soon. Maybe I need more vitimins.

UFO Magazine Editor Nancy Birnes on Bennett and Lehmberg

Yeah, Nancy Birnes!

Nancy Birnes is editor of UFO Magazine. In her editorial in the current issue, Nancy addresses the issue of complaints she gets regarding the magazine’s writers. Two contributors that seem to get slammed a lot are Colin Bennett, and Alfred Lehmberg.

Those two, by the way, are two of my favorite writers.

And yet, there are many who dislike one, or both, of them very much. Nancy, thankfully, doesn’t share those views and happens to think very well of them indeed.

She begins her piece by discussing the things we “hate” and that it’s helpful to turn that around. If we “hate” something so much, what does that say about the individual who hates the thing? A cliché, but a lot of truth in it; we project. (I’m still trying to figure it out in regards to my own self . . .)

Nancy suggests we hate things we fear, at times, but also things that we haven’t dealt with, that we find irritating for what it calls up within us:

“We’ve barely learned to read and we don’t cotton to fancy turns of phrases. We can’t carry a tune, so nobody had better be crying on with a loud tune-box on a busy Monday morning. “

(That last one; at first it seems just rude to blast your music on a “busy Monday morning” and it is rude. But there is also this; we’re rushing around on a Monday, much preferring that we didn’t have to at all, while the lucky bastard blasting his music gets to avoid all that rat race stuff. Irritation flung his way, if out of proportion, might say more about my anger that I’ve chosen to work a 9 -5, M-F, while music blaster man doesn’t. Or, if he does, he doesn’t take it all that seriously. Which is very cheeky, and makes one even more irritated.)

What do the Lehmberg and Bennett “haters” fear? If you dislike Bennett, Birnes suggests you

“read a little more history and a few less newsletters and you’ll come to see how eloquent and spot-on he is. We are truly honored that he’s writing for us.”

As for Alfred Lehmberg:

“Before dismissing his prose, consider adding a dash of poetry to your life, preferably of the epic variety. If you think he’s ornate and far too enthusiatic, consider the topics he tackles. He’s the loneliest voice on he planet when it comes to the sad John ford story, and yet he keeps on. He is a loyal solider standing in the eh rain like a movie samurai, and he is well - armed with an arsenal of wit.”

And then there’s this idea: don’t read them if you don't like them.

Women in Esoterica Blog: Help

I'm not satisfied with the title of my blog Women in Esoterica; too stuffy. Likewise, I 've never been satisfied with the template; it was a pale, dull, academic blue, then a too girly middle school pink, now a stodgy beige. I'm thinking of the dot motif, (light) but we'll see.

But, as to the title. I have a poll up there, asking for your ideas. If you have a suggestion, or like one of the ones offered, vote and let me know, at Women in Esoterica.

Sunday Orb

Chemtrails
Recently chemtrails have been the topic around here. While I may mention them now and again, they are on my mind a lot. It can’t be helped; the things are up there almost on a daily basis.

Like many people, a few years ago I didn’t think about chemtrails much. I’d heard of them, as any esoterica buff would, but didn’t see what the controversy was. It all seemed too scientific and clinical in a vague way. But as I began to look both up to the skies and into the subject, I realized there was something going on. And it wasn’t (isn’t) just contrails.

I have yet to come across explanations -- satisfying explanations that make sense -- for: black beams shot out from near the nose of the plane. I’ve seen this twice. Plane going along; abruptly a beam of cloud or some substance comes shooting out from what appears to be the nose of the plane, or somewhere near the front.

The “explanations” offered by denialists have included such semantical nonsense as “I couldn’t possibly have seen a black beam since black isn’t a color,” “It was a shadow,” and of course, the old standby; I’m a liar.

I’ve seen white sky spheres -- machines -- moving slowly back and forth, in connection with the trails.

I’ve seen white, unmarked planes at extremely high altitudes, and speeds, leaving all kinds of trails behind.

I’ve seen trails that were thick, drippy, twirly, circular, X’s, elbowed or angled. I’ve seen huge squarish or rectangular shaped patches that stayed stuck in the same place in the sky for hours that were oily looking, with rainbow type colors. (The local paper called one of these a “natural phenomena” due to ice crystals. This on a hot July day, with lots of helicopter activity in the area a few days before and during.)

I think what Fortean author Colin Bennett has to say about this is excellent, and anyone even milady interested needs to read his article Chemtrails:A Fortean View.

Thanks to Cindy PDX for sharing her experiences and videos, and to everyone else, like Lesley of Debris Field, who also comments on the chemtrails in her area. Lesley of the Debris Field blog has also taken photos and video of weird things related to this.

There’s also all kinds of chemtrail forums out there, including the West Coast Chemtrails on Yahoo. Look to the menu on your right for the purple Yahoo sign up box.

Glowing Red Eyes
Kithra, who writes very well on weird things and folklore, wrote a piece on anomalous creatures with red glowing eyes. That inspired me to write about an experience I had with a being when I was a child. You can read about both on Women in Esoterica.


Native American Ancestry
There’s an idea that the majority of people with paranormal experiences and who study this field are Native American -- either enrolled in a tribe, or of that ancestry. (I’m Cherokee and Lenape.) I don’t know if this is true, and my little poll isn’t scientific in any way, but it’s interesting to see how it comes out. So far, those who’ve answered that they have Native ancestry are in the majority.


Bigfoot and Fairies
A relationship I’ve been interested in, and Lisa Shiel of Bigfoot Quest has an item on it. You can read more on my Bigfoot blog Frame 352.

The Great Gazoo Has Moved
I had a video clip stream going here of The Great Gazoo, the little green man from outer space from the Flintstones. I moved it over to Vintage UFO. Please take a look and leave comments. And if you have any unusual UFO related experiences you’d like to share that occurred before 1980, please E-Mail Me here.

The Patio Alien with Glowing Eyes

Kithra (Kithra's Krystal Kave) wrote a recent article on beings -- cryptids -- with red glowing eyes. That inspired me to write about an experience I had when I was young. You can read about both my experience, and Kithra's excellent piece, on Women in Esoterica.

Women in Esoterica

I started a new blog: Women in Esoterica. The title's too stuffy for my taste, but at least it gets the idea across. Also, do we want Women and Esoterica, Women of Estoerica, etc.

I'll write more on the whys and whats of the blog in my next Trickster's Realm column for Binnall of America, which help be up sometime on Monday.

A Post Script on UFO Magazine Trianlge Article

The new issue of UFO Magazine is out. As usual, lots there, I'm looking forward to reading Farah Yurdozo's article on Adamski and Nazis. Yes! Haven't read the article, but it will prove to be very interesting. I've wondered for years about the Contactee movement and how there is a lot below the dichotomy of "they're nuts-lairs"/"they really did see ET".

My article on Black Triangles and the Trickster is in this issue as well. In the article I asked why the triangle hasn't changed in the many decades they've been present? You'd think that, over time and with their technology, they'd have changed quite a bit.

After the article, someone mentioned to me that there might be a couple of reasons why they haven't changed. We have ships; they really haven't changed much over several decades. If the triangle occupants are ET, time travel is a possibility: what may take a few hours in their life may seem like years in ours. I don't mesh with the idea of time travel; but who knows.

Another possibility: maybe they have changed, but they've changed to such a degree we don't recognize them as being triangles or related to triangles in any way. If that's so however, why use the triangles -- unless, as we do, use of older machines is still done.

All highly speculative of course. But it keeps me off the streets.

Podcast:Paranormal Women League

This is a neat find; I stumbled on it on the Mysterious Dimension Yahoo group:
Lisa Shiel and her podcast:Paranormal Women League.