An op-ed piece in the New York Times, written by UFO researcher Nick Pope and found on-line here, seems to be suggesting that a major reorganization of funding and monitoring efforts needs to be made in the U.S. And what should we be monitoring more closely?
Why, reports of UFOs, of course.
Pope seems to be trying to make the point that, despite people reporting seeing UFOs in American (and, presumably, secure) airspace, the US Gov't hasn't investigated UFO reports since the late 60s. According to Pope, this is an unconscionable breach in security that the government isn't taking seriously.
I'm not quite sure that the logic comes through for ol' Pope there. He seems to be trying to make the following argument: "we all like security right? Well, UFOs that some folks claim to see don't show up on radar, right? That means we can't track em with radar, so we need to take these reports seriously, since it would be dangerous to ignore them".
Why would it be dangerous to ignore them, exactly? Have the Nazis on the Moon been replaced by Al-Qaeda on the Moon? Or are we fearing an imminent invasion from the stars? The piece isn't clear about the "why", of course, merely extolling us to start paying UFO claims more attention, particularly at the official, government level.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Of Astronauts and Aliens
Apollo 14 astronaut and sixth man to walk on the moon Dr. Edgar Mitchell has been in the news recently for his assertion that a UFO/ET conspiracy has been going-on for the last 60 years, perpetrated by NASA and the Gov't in order to hide the fact that aliens have been hittin' up the Earth for a while. The Daily Mail has the story here.
According to Mitchell, Roswell pretty much conforms to the stories told about it, and there have subsequently been "many" UFO visits to ol' Terra Prime here, each one nefariously covered up by NASA (and, presumably, Cancer Man). During the radio interview that started all the news stories a-spinning, Mitchell said that the aliens were "little people who look strange to us"; in other words, your standard issue Gray. Mitchell also seems to imply that the aliens are at least non-hostile, since their amazing space technology is supposed to be so far beyond ours that turning our little dirt ball to so many ionized particles wouldn't tax them in the least.
Of course, NASA has refuted the claims, saying that they don't track UFOs, and that we haven't been visited by Beings from Somewhere Else. Of course, seeing as how they've been blamed for the conspiracy, I doubt that folks will take the offical NASA line seriously.
Which sort of makes you wonder about credibility, doesn't it. All these stories have been awfully flattering to Dr. Mitchell. He's always identified early on as "6th man on the moon", his Apollo record is brought up, and his quotes and ideas are passed on without any comment or editorializing.
It seems that having been in space makes him an authority on everything about space, including speculative topics like alien intelligence and visitation. That often seems to be the case in the world of the "true believer." It's an argument from authority of course, and false authority at that. I mean, I've been in hospitals; does that make me an expert of surgery? What does an astronaut know about UFOs, or aliens, or secret government plots to obscure those things? No one seems to be asking what Mitchell's credentials are in regards to his knowledge regarding the vast UFO-conspiracy.
A quick look at NASAs bio for Mitchell is a little interesting, actually. If you scroll down to the "business experience" section, it turns out that Mitchell was one of the founders of the Institute of Noetic Science (IONS)!
The IONS is a group that describes itself thusly:
That last bit is interesting; IONS effectively says that the scientific method doesn't work for what they look at. That means that they DON'T do SCIENCE when investigating all their brainy-wainy, mindy-windy, psychic stuff.
Sort of puts ol' Mitchell and his claims into perspective, don't it? He's not really into the whole "scientific method" or "evidence-based claims" side of things. And yet, when he goes around claiming that their are aliens, they've visited the Earth, and there is a heinous conspiracy to hide all that from the common folk, no one bothers to bring up the fact that he's ALSO associated with a group who eschews science and the peer-review process when making its claims about the paranormal.
IF his credibility is being derived from what he once did (i.e., astronaut stuff), then shouldn't it also include his affiliation with the IONS and his obvious interest in the world of explicitly non-scientific fringe ideas?
According to Mitchell, Roswell pretty much conforms to the stories told about it, and there have subsequently been "many" UFO visits to ol' Terra Prime here, each one nefariously covered up by NASA (and, presumably, Cancer Man). During the radio interview that started all the news stories a-spinning, Mitchell said that the aliens were "little people who look strange to us"; in other words, your standard issue Gray. Mitchell also seems to imply that the aliens are at least non-hostile, since their amazing space technology is supposed to be so far beyond ours that turning our little dirt ball to so many ionized particles wouldn't tax them in the least.
Of course, NASA has refuted the claims, saying that they don't track UFOs, and that we haven't been visited by Beings from Somewhere Else. Of course, seeing as how they've been blamed for the conspiracy, I doubt that folks will take the offical NASA line seriously.
Which sort of makes you wonder about credibility, doesn't it. All these stories have been awfully flattering to Dr. Mitchell. He's always identified early on as "6th man on the moon", his Apollo record is brought up, and his quotes and ideas are passed on without any comment or editorializing.
It seems that having been in space makes him an authority on everything about space, including speculative topics like alien intelligence and visitation. That often seems to be the case in the world of the "true believer." It's an argument from authority of course, and false authority at that. I mean, I've been in hospitals; does that make me an expert of surgery? What does an astronaut know about UFOs, or aliens, or secret government plots to obscure those things? No one seems to be asking what Mitchell's credentials are in regards to his knowledge regarding the vast UFO-conspiracy.
A quick look at NASAs bio for Mitchell is a little interesting, actually. If you scroll down to the "business experience" section, it turns out that Mitchell was one of the founders of the Institute of Noetic Science (IONS)!
The IONS is a group that describes itself thusly:
We are a nonprofit membership organization located in Northern California
that conducts and sponsors leading-edge research into the potentials and powers
of consciousness—including perceptions, beliefs, attention, intention, and
intuition. The Institute explores phenomena that do not necessarily fit
conventional scientific models, while maintaining a commitment to scientific
rigor.
That last bit is interesting; IONS effectively says that the scientific method doesn't work for what they look at. That means that they DON'T do SCIENCE when investigating all their brainy-wainy, mindy-windy, psychic stuff.
Sort of puts ol' Mitchell and his claims into perspective, don't it? He's not really into the whole "scientific method" or "evidence-based claims" side of things. And yet, when he goes around claiming that their are aliens, they've visited the Earth, and there is a heinous conspiracy to hide all that from the common folk, no one bothers to bring up the fact that he's ALSO associated with a group who eschews science and the peer-review process when making its claims about the paranormal.
IF his credibility is being derived from what he once did (i.e., astronaut stuff), then shouldn't it also include his affiliation with the IONS and his obvious interest in the world of explicitly non-scientific fringe ideas?
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Bigfoot Corpse?
HAS A BIGFOOT BODY BEEN FOUND!?!
Probably not, and even if it were, I doubt that it would warrent all-caps.
Anyway, some salt-of-the-earth types in North Georgia have recently made the claim that they have found the corpse of a male bigfoot (see the story on the Fayetteville, GA, newspaper website right here). These guys, Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, are obviously very serious and credible, since they chose to make their claims known via that bastion of reasoned thought and careful documentation, YouTube.
These two guys run a website, bigfoottracker.com, which apparently sells spots on bigfoot searching expeditions in the hill country in North Georgia. I might also mention that the hill country of North Georgia is where Deliverance was set, so interested parties might wanna prepare accordingly.
The two "researchers" put up further videos with a "pathology prof" and his shock at the frozen Bigfoot body. Turns out, though, the "prof" was actually the brother of Whitton. But despite the hoaxed professor thing, these guys STILL claim that they have a bigfoot body, and are willing to sell it to the highest bidder.
Just another day in the totally awesome and completely respectable field of cryptozoology, I guess.
Probably not, and even if it were, I doubt that it would warrent all-caps.
Anyway, some salt-of-the-earth types in North Georgia have recently made the claim that they have found the corpse of a male bigfoot (see the story on the Fayetteville, GA, newspaper website right here). These guys, Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, are obviously very serious and credible, since they chose to make their claims known via that bastion of reasoned thought and careful documentation, YouTube.
These two guys run a website, bigfoottracker.com, which apparently sells spots on bigfoot searching expeditions in the hill country in North Georgia. I might also mention that the hill country of North Georgia is where Deliverance was set, so interested parties might wanna prepare accordingly.
The two "researchers" put up further videos with a "pathology prof" and his shock at the frozen Bigfoot body. Turns out, though, the "prof" was actually the brother of Whitton. But despite the hoaxed professor thing, these guys STILL claim that they have a bigfoot body, and are willing to sell it to the highest bidder.
Just another day in the totally awesome and completely respectable field of cryptozoology, I guess.
Friday, July 25, 2008
...Inconclusive
"Yeti Hair" from the Garo Hills in the northeastern state of Meghalaya, India, have been undergoing "extensive" microscopy in the UK, as per this news story from the BBC. Using some of the "most powerful" microscopes in England, the researchers can only say that the visual comparison of the hairs to other hairs has resulted in an "inconclusive" finding, and have now been sent on for DNA testing.
First thing first, the story should really have said "most powerful OPTICAL" microscopes, as Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopes (FESEM) can magnify things many many many many times (easily reaching 100,000 X, in many cases). These "most powerful" microscopes in the story magnified the hairs up to 200x; so they were probably just confocal optical microscopes.
Secondly, the "inconclusive" bit is a little misleading. These guys were just visually comparing hair samples with the possible "yeti" hair. Who knows how long these things have been out in the humid air, weathering away and getting worn out?
Still, keep your ears to the ground for the DNA results from the Garo Hills sample!
First thing first, the story should really have said "most powerful OPTICAL" microscopes, as Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopes (FESEM) can magnify things many many many many times (easily reaching 100,000 X, in many cases). These "most powerful" microscopes in the story magnified the hairs up to 200x; so they were probably just confocal optical microscopes.
Secondly, the "inconclusive" bit is a little misleading. These guys were just visually comparing hair samples with the possible "yeti" hair. Who knows how long these things have been out in the humid air, weathering away and getting worn out?
Still, keep your ears to the ground for the DNA results from the Garo Hills sample!
Elvis Rex!
How appropriate that, for our first foray into the world of the weird, we run into Elvis Presley. As described on Mysterytopia and the Daily Mail, an 1800-year old bust (called an acroterion) and meant as an ornament to a sarcophagus, , has recently come up for auction. The funny thing is, this acroterion bears a striking similarity to the King of Rock and Roll (picture nabbed from the Daily Mail story, linked above):
More importantly, this statue definitively proves the unique importance of the pompadour, and its impact on human culture.
More importantly, this statue definitively proves the unique importance of the pompadour, and its impact on human culture.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Psychic Bigfoot Lives!
Welcome to Psychic Bigfoot, weary blog-o-nauts!
This blog is designed as a clearing house for all the Fortean-esque things that I, a simple, psychically gifted crypto-hominid living in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, come across. I hope that, together, we can come to understand the intricacies of the secret, hidden universe of psuedo-science.
And maybe, just maybe, learn a little something about love.
This blog is designed as a clearing house for all the Fortean-esque things that I, a simple, psychically gifted crypto-hominid living in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, come across. I hope that, together, we can come to understand the intricacies of the secret, hidden universe of psuedo-science.
And maybe, just maybe, learn a little something about love.
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