Nick Redfern's The NASA Conspiracies

Nick Redfern’s latest effort at deriving truth from within the corridors of government and other bureaucratic constructs involved the National Aeronautics and Space Administration: NASA.

His book, The NASA Conspiracies: The Truth Behind the Moon Landings, Censored Photos, and the Face on Mars, [New Page Books, Pompton Plains, NJ], is replete with information readers will think they are familiar with but will find out they are not.

Mr. Redfern’s forte isn’t just ferreting news from FOIA documents. He actually has accumulated first-hand information, via face-to-face interviews with persons privy to the inner workings of NASA, the military, and other relevant agencies – insiders.

He has done this again for his NASA book, with a fellow named John, from Bloomington, Minnesota about Area 51 (page 57 ff.), Nick Pope, former U.K. Minister of Defense staffer about contactees, et cetera (Page 97 ff.), Matthew Williams, an investigator with the U.K.’s Customs & Excise Agency about crashed UFOs in the Britain (Page 125 ff.), and a NASA employee with NASA’s Public Affairs office about the Gary McKinnon affair (Page 199 ff.).

Mr. Redfern also presents incredible stories about alleged alien abductions (Sharon, Page 146 ff.) and persons who have experienced mothman-like creatures in and around NASA facilities (Hilda Walker and Frank Shaw, Chapter 13, The Monsters of NASA, Page 153 ff.).

Mr. Redfern also offers a kind of paean to Sci-Fi writer and UFO maven Mac Tonnies, who died recently but left a legacy of hypothetical thought that is unique and provocative, about the so-called Face on Mars (Chapter 9, Page 101 ff.) and cryptoterrestrials, a concomitant, hidden Earthian civilization that interacts with human beings who share this planet with “them.”

Mr. Redfern also provides illuminating minutiae about Roswell, the Moon landing, and the Frank Scully Aztec story.

His ruminations about the Space Shuttle and NASA’s astronauts, some of whom who are believers in extraterrestrial visitation, offer grist to those who believe that the UFO phenomenon is ET oriented.

But most of all, Mr. Redfern confirms for the rational observer that NASA and other U.S. agencies (such as the CIA and FBI) harbor secrets that would be explosive if revealed.

The NASA Conspiracies is a must-read for those who would like a heads-up on the agency that is at the fore-front of our Space exploration and efforts, including the next trips to the Moon and Mars (and beyond).

What does NASA know now, and how would that “secret” information, if made public, impact humanity, and human civilization? Mr. Redfern gives readers some insightful clues.

Mr. Redfern’s book may be had via Amazon.com or from Career Press, Inc., 220 West Parkway, Unit 12, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444 (careerpress.com or newpagebooks.com).

The Roswell Balloons

What was the Roswell debris? Mogul balloons?

No. They were controlled-altitude meteorological balloons.

And who was involved in experiments with those balloons in Roswell, 1947?

David Rudiak’s nemesis, C.B. Moore of Mogul notoriety.

Click here to read an abstract [PDF] of the balloon tests

UFO Truth? Not so fast....

The December 13th, 2010 Issue of The New Yorker has an article that all UFO mavens would do well to absorb.

It’s “The Truth Wears Off” by Jonah Lehrer [Page 52 ff.].

Lehrer recounts how science (and researchers) get snookered by “The Decline Effect” –the measurable drop off of one-time observations and data that, when first obtained, seemed invincible as proof of various phenomenon, but end up on second (or third) observations to be considerably less that originally measured.

Rhine’s studies, at Duke, of ESP are mentioned, as are pharmacological, ecological, psychological, biological studies.



The gist of the article is that studies are intrinsically flawed but why is still open to question.

Some relevant quotes from the piece, which UFO debaters should heed, include:

“Most of the time, scientists know what results they want and that can influence the results they get.” [Page 52]

“Asking people to put their perceptions into words led to dramatic decreases in performance.” [Page 53]

(Re: Rhine’s studies/experiments) “What he wanted to know was whether the images [from Zener card experiments] that got a second showing were more likely to have been identified the first time around. Could subsequent exposure have somehow influenced the initial results? Could the effect be the cause?” [Page 54]



“The extrasensory powers of…subjects didn’t decline – they were simply an illusion that vanished over time.” [Page 54]

“…the ‘decline effect’ deserves more attention: its ubiquity seems to violate the laws of statistics.” [Page 54]

“…[an] author might publish several critical papers, which distort his analysis.” [Page 54]

“…some – perhaps many – cherished generalities are at best exaggerated in their…significance and at worst a collective illusion nurtured by strong a-priori beliefs [are] often repeated.” [Page 55]

“…the problem seems to be one of subtle omissions and unconscious misperceptions, as researchers struggle to make sense of their results.” [Page 55]

“…act[s] of measurement [are] going to be vulnerable to all sorts of perception biases.” [Page 56]

“The problem of selective reporting is rooted in a fundamental cognitive flaw, which is that we like proving ourselves right an hate being wrong.” [Page 56]

“…after a claim has been systematically disproven…you still see some stubborn researchers citing the first few studies that show a strong effect. They really want to believe that it’s true.” [Page 56]

“Every researcher should have to spell out, in advance, how many subjects they’re going to use, and what exactly they’re testing, and what constitutes a sufficient level of proof. We have the tools to be much more transparent about our experiments.” [Page 56]

“Although…reforms would mitigate the dangers of publication bias and selective reporting, they still wouldn’t erase the decline effect. This is largely because scientific research will always be shadowed by a force that can’t be curbed, only contained: sheer randomness.” [Page 56]

“…a lot of extraordinary scientific data are nothing but noise.” [Page 57]

“…dramatic findings are also the most likely to get published in prestigious journals…” [Page 57]

“…the decline effect is actually a decline of illusion.” [Page 57]

“While Karl Popper imagined falsification occurring with a single, definitive experiment – Galileo refuted Aristotelian mechanics in an afternoon – the process turns out to be much messier than that. Many scientific theories continue to be considered true even after failing numerous experimental tests.” [Page 57]



“Even the law of gravity hasn’t been perfect at predicting real-world phenomena. In one test, physicists measuring gravity…in the Nevada desert found a two-and-a-half-per-cent
discrepancy between the theoretical predictions and the actual data. Despite these findings…The law of gravity remains the same.” [Page 57]

“Such anomalies demonstrate the slipperiness of empiricism.” [Page 57]

“Although many scientific ideas generate conflicting results and suffer from falling effect sizes, they continue to get cited in textbooks…Why? Because these ideas seem true. Because they make sense. Because we can’t bear to let them go. And this is why the decline effect is so troubling. Not because it reveals the human fallibility of science, in which data are tweaked and beliefs shape perceptions…And not because it reveals that many of our most exciting theories are fleeting fads and soon will be rejected.” [Page 57]

The decline effect is troubling because it reminds us how difficult it is to prove anything. We like to pretend that our experiments define the truth for us. But that is often not the case. Just because an idea is true doesn’t mean it can be proved. An just because an idea can be proved doesn’t mean it’s true.” [Page 57]

“When he experiments are done, we still have to choose what to believe.” [End of article]

Scientists and (some) “ufologists” like to think they have a lock on truth. But as Mr. Lehrer’s New Yorker article shows, truth is as elusive as ever, and nothing is certain.

UFO Peer Review? You gotta be kidding….

The UFO phenomenon continues as a mystery, unabated.

Although some so-called researchers have spent their life-times studying the phenomenon, these “researchers” have come nowhere close to resolving any aspect of the UFO phenomenon.

Not an iota of understanding or tangible hypothesis has evolved over the sixty years plus of UFO study by a small group of UFO die-hards, who like to pretend research credibility by labeling their hobby “ufology.”

The resident hang-out for this moldering group of UFO devotees is UFO UpDates, called “The List” by habitués of the shop-worn web-site.

A visit to The List will show you that the left-over and left-out members of “ufology” try to one-up other members with attempts at faux-expertise; that is, members strive mightily to show that they have some expertise about something: aircraft, chemistry, photography, et cetera – all things that have little or nothing to do with the intrinsic UFO riddle.

Elder statesmen of the concocted “science of ufology” hope to create a legacy of some kind for the futile and fruitless endeavors over the years.

Jerome Clark, for instance, hangs his hat on the rubric “UFO Historian” – a sad commentary for one’s career or life.

Stanton Friedman, a well-known UFO spokesperson has been relegated to defending his obtuse views about UFOs and various elements of the foolish study called ufology.

Bruce Maccabee, a Naval insider, uses The List to showcase his knowledge – limited knowledge we note – of UFO photography that has shown up over the years.

Don Ledger is a pilot, who likes to correct Listers when they wax eloquently but incorrectly about airfoils and things that fly in the sky.

When a topic arrives at UFO UpDates, it’s never ignored, but always flailed by someone who uses the topic to back-bite others or to showcase a pretense at scholarship about something.

No topic is ever debated on its merits, or efficacy. The List is all about ego and self-promotion.

What’s even sadder is that the small contingent of UFO mavens who still use UpDates for a presence in the UFO community have no idea how ridiculous their ramblings are to outsiders who look at UFOs in the context of wider realities or surrealities.

Over the years, The List has accumulated more UFO rot than any other UFO site in existence.

The surfeit of blather is astounding, for its faux seriousness and ludicrous patina, as academics and true scientists see the thing.

We continue to refer to the group that maintains a presence at UFO UpDates, The List, as UFO Geezers: a group of has-beens or never-weres who represent nothing worthwhile within the legitimate study of UFOs.

This group of pathetic UFO hobbyists are in the final stages of life, thankfully, whose passings will leave open the door of UFO study for real peer review by persons who are less inclined to defend their smarmy, egotistical wasted lives and pursue a mystery that evokes true awe in the human mind.

Jenny Randle's segment about the Cumberland Spaceman and Woomera sighting of 1964 on BBC-TV's "Secrets of the Paranormal"

Jenny Randles is one the few bona fide UFO researchers in the world. Here is her investigation of the Templeton Solway Firth (Cumberland) "spaceman" photo and concomitant Woomera (Australia) sighting of a similar being.

(Nick Pope is interviewed also.)


Disclose.tv - the cumberland spaceman 1964 Video

The new Paratopia site is up and running

Jeff Ritzmann informs us that his podcast ventures now make way to the internet via a new web-site.

Click here to access the splendid, informative Paratopia web-site

UFOs and The Smiley Blanton Syndrome

In a monograph (1966) for Abnormal Psychology, University of Michigan, this writer provided an epithet – The Smiley Blanton Syndrome – for the confluence of materials that form a new memory or recollection, composed of diverse artifacts that a human mind accumulates, around a topic.

That is, when one reads or sees an item, then reads or sees another item (in the same or near-same context), a new memory or recollection is formed, from combining and mixing the disparate data/information.

The new memory or recollection is considered to be valid (or true, real) by the person who has “created” the new memory/recollection, even though it is a unique creation made up of tidbits that are only tangentially connected if connected at all.

This corresponds to the theses advocated by Bartlett in his 1932 work, Remembering, which remains a primary, still relevant work by cognitive psychologists and neurologists. (See current thinking about Bartlett’s work by accessing the list of materials below.)



When a witness to a UFO event, such as Roswell or Betty/Barney Hill’s testimony, after-the-fact (of their alleged abduction), comes into contact with related materials, they tend to incorporate, unconsciously or semi-consciously, elements from those related materials, forming a new “reality.”

This isn’t a direct malfeasance by the persons concocting the new “story” or enhancing another story in the news. It is a quirk of the mind, as Bartlett noted, correctly, many years ago.

The Smiley Blanton Syndrome, which was reproduced in experiments at U of M, provides a template for UFO researchers who want to separate the wheat from the chaff, as it were.

Roswellian testimony is a selective source for determining if a witness has, inadvertently, combined multiple data and input to form what appears to be accurate and supportive testimony from other Roswell witnesses.

This is Anthony Bragalia’s thesis: the testimony he has acquired resonates with other witness testimonies.

The collective memory flaws are also addressed by Bartlett and the writers below. (Jung, too, dealt with collective memory, and its caveats.)

It is time to move away from Roswell testimony and witnesses, in the public arena, anyway, and time to move on to other UFO events without the residual energy of ET believers and resident debunkers or skeptics that Roswell generates.

That is, until Mr. Bragalia, and a few other UFO researchers produce information from new leads, which may (or may not) confirm the ET crash in Roswell.

(The RRRGroup is not holding its united breath, however.)

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N.B. Bartlett's book Remembering (1932) is frequently cited as a major forerunner of the information processing approach to memory and cognition....remembering in natural contexts. A re-examination of Bartlett's work demonstrates that it offers little basis for an information processing approach, but rather that it offers the foundation of a much broader, culturally contextualized and functional approach to the study of everyday remembering. Three particular themes are discussed: the integration of social judgements and affective reactions with cognition, the role of conventional symbols in the coding and communication of experience, and the importance of conversational discourse. Bartlett's best-known studies, involving the method of serial reproduction, are shown to be microcosmic demonstrations of the process that he was most concerned with—that of conventionalization of symbols rather than of the workings of an individual's memory. It is argued, again beginning with Bartlett, that everyday remembering may be most fruitfully studied in terms of its personal and social functions, and particularly through its realization in discourse. [Conversation and remembering: Bartlett revisited, Derek Edwards, David Middleton, Copyright © 1987 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd]
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The thinking person's emotional theorist: A comment on Bartlett's "Feeling, imaging, and thinking" [Tim Dalgleish, British Journal of Psychology, 2009]
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Bartlett, Culture and Cognition [Edited by Akiko Saito, University of Cambridge, UK, 2000]
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Disparate Effects of Repeated Testing: Reconciling Ballard's (1913) and Bartlett's (1932) Results [Mark A. Wheeler and Henry L. Roediger, III, Rice University, American Psychological Society, 1992]
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The Roswell Memory Mess

Copyright 2010, InterAmerica, Inc.

Debate continues here and elsewhere about witness testimony regarding the Roswell incident [sic] and other UFO episodes.

Related accounts at the time and, more importantly, later – much later in some instances – have to be tempered by all the psychological caveats for memory.

The literature is extensive, but not accessed by ufologists (which isn’t surprising, as ufologists generally are inept at researching what they perceive as tangential to their preconceived notions) and, along with their inadequate training in appropriate academic disciplines, the matter of memory failure is shunted aside or disregarded altogether.

But it is clear to psychologists, neurologists, and those in the legal profession (lawyers, prosecutors, judges, et al.) that witness testimony has to be corroborated by something more than circumstantial elements. That is, memory alone cannot and should not be the sole arbitrator in matters of serious consequence.

The mental acuity of every person is subject to a diversity of things including physiological debilities, associative history (from childhood onward), memory disorder,¹ and something we call the Smiley Blanton Syndrome, predefined by F. C. Bartlett in his book Remembering [Cambridge University Press, 1932]:

"[Bartlett] has demonstrated that the content of what has been previously acquired in ordinary experience may be radically altered when remembered…It is his argument that the individual tends to incorporate new items a mental ‘schema’ so that remembering is ‘an imaginative reconstruction, or construction, built out of the relation of our attitude towards a whole active mass of organized past reactions or experience…"²

Ernst Jones also discussed “memory replacement” in his Papers on Psycho-Analysis, (4th Edition, Wood, Baltimore 1938)³

The processes of memory may be afflicted by neural maladies including simple forgetfulness all the way to dementia. The “memory trace” or neurogram (engram) can be disoriented by brain modifications or diseases of the nervous system, as outlined in Psychology [4th Edition, Norman L. Munn, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston 1961, Page 451 ff.]

Repression also needs to be determined, as many Roswellians, according to Anthony Bragalia (See material in archives here), were affected psychologically (and physiologically) by their association with the Roswell story and may have resorted to the neurotic escape of suppressing what they experienced, in reality or in fantasy. (See The Psychology of Adjustment, 2nd Edition, Laurance Frederic Shaffer and Edward Joseph Shoben, Jr., Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1956, Page 236 ff.)

Then there is “memory error” or confabulation where, unable to recall exact events or details, persons manufacture something that seems appropriate.⁴

None of the things mentioned here have been taken into account, for the Roswell witnesses or witnesses to other UFO sightings and events.

Until the memory matter is clarified, which is possible for some still-living Roswell witnesses, their accounts and remembrances remain suspect.

-----------------
N.B. See also sciconrev.org/category/cognition/

¹ Symptoms of Psychopathology: A Handbook, Edited by Charles G. Costello, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. NY, 1970, Page 95 ff.

² A Dictionary of the Social Sciences, Edited by Julius Gould and William L. Kolb, The Free Press, NY, 1964, Page 422

³ Psychiatric Dictionary, 4th Edition, Edited by Leland E. Hinsie, M.D. and Robert J. Campbell, M.D., Oxford University Press, London, 1970, Page 189

⁴ Psychology Today, CRM Books, Del Mar, California, 1970, Page 360

UFOs, Zamora, Zamorro, Big Foot, and ?

The tale in a clipping we found in our batch or UFO stuff intrigues in several ways.

Click here to see clipping

Lonnie Zamora saw a UFO with two beings near by. Zamorro saw a “saucer” with a Big Foot creature near by.

What’s our point?

That observations of UFOs and other paranormal artifacts (ghosts, sea monsters, fairies, et al.) are connected by synchronous delusions, variegated by the mind-sets of the observers, posing a psychological or neurological link amongst witnesses to UFO events, as we and Paratopia’s Jeff Ritzmann would have it.

UFOs, while having, sometimes, a tangible effect on materiality, the residue or remnants of that original tangible effect are lost or muddled in the observational aftermath.

UFOs have remained elusive for millennia. Collected data has provided no distinct clue as to what they are.

Ritzmann, among others, think that UFOs alter their presence or appearances to correspond to the cultural/societal conditions at the time they are observed.

That is, UFOs adopt the technological attributes of the period in which they are seen or witnessed.

No, it’s not a matter of interpretation by witnesses – such as chariots of fire in the early historical records of humankind or the 1890 airships. What is seen or reported is exactly what is seen; the UFO (or flying saucer) manifests itself precisely as witnesses have reported them.



The “saucers” of the 1950s, the occupant-sightings too, were geared to the mind-set of the observers.



The zeitgeist determines how UFOs will look -- their apparent construct.

But as the old philosophical saw goes – if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? – applies: if a UFO is in the vicinity of humans, but no one is around to see it, does it produce a tangible presence (for cameras, radar, et cetera)?

It seems that real UFO incidents need humans to perceive them, directly or indirectly.

And when humans perceive the UFO(s), they do so with all the aggregate mental detritus that suffuses their mind or memory.

Is there a UFO reality that is concrete or uniform? Apparently not.

UFOs alter themselves – we’re suggesting a living attribute obviously -- or are altered by the mental configurations of those perceiving them.

There is no one UFO presence, no one UFO reality. UFOs are all things to all people, manifesting their reality dependent upon the mental make-up of the person or persons taking in their presence, in the air, on the ground (as in previous years, more so than today), or via technology (radar, for instance).

And those who refuse the reality are also determinant mentally. They refuse the “reality” or “delusional reality” of others because they are saddled with mind-sets of a restrictive kind.

Until neurology, psychology, sociology, and other disciplines tackle the UFO phenomenon within the parameters of human mental vagaries, the mystery will remain elusive.

Hypothesizing about UFOs with an extraterrestrial orientation seems a futile enterprise. The folkloric aspect, propounded by Jacques Vallee or Dr. David Clarke, is a sensible approach.

But one shouldn’t eschew the ET interpretation out-of-hand. It remains a possibility, in the great scheme of things, but it shouldn’t becloud other interpretations, as it has for the past 60 years or so….

Nick Redfern's new book: Final Events

Nick Redfern presents material outlining a government study group's “obsession” with a demonic aspect of UFOs and the Afterlife too.

Click here for Mr. Redfern’s site about his new publication

The Trent (and other UFO) Photos [REDUX]

We’ve always thought that the 1950 Trent/McMinnville photos were fakes, based upon the amount of time that the “flying saucer” stayed in view – long enough for farmer Trent to snap two pictures, without the UFO traversing much distance between shots. (Trent must have had a fast shutter or fast shutter-finger.)

However, the comparison of a 1954 photo (above) from Rouen, France with one of the Trent photos, France in UFOs 1968 magazine gives us pause.

There is also this photo from a man in Germany that duplicates the Trent “saucer:



While many (most?) flying saucer/UFO photos are fakes, some are not.

UFO researchers might seek out those similar UFO photos that are not connected by locale or time for information that integrates with other UFO accounts to see if there are elements that might provide clues leading to a clarification of the UFO mystery.

Certain photos, such as the Heflin polaroids, the Trindade set, and others which are unique in constructive value can be dismissed. But photos that seem to be free of fakery, including even (yes) some Adamski-like "saucers" should be scrutinized by qualified photography and CGI professionals.

The problem with previous photo analyses is that most have been looked at by photography tyros or amateurs and, thus, are virtually worthless.

But a new crop of savvy photogs and CGI mavens, tackling new and older photographs and videos, could bring serious enlightenment to the UFO riddle (perhaps).

An article in PIC magazine, June 1954, “I proved flying saucers are real” about U.S. Marine Ralph Mayher’s movie film (taken July 29th, 1952) of a moving light (saucer?) seemed authentic to this writer at the time, and still resonates as authentic today.



An analysis, by a credible, professional researcher, would go far to validate that film and others.

The lack of such analyses – we’re dismissing Bruce Maccabee’s woefully inadequate and biased analyses – has caused media, science, and academia to place UFOs and their photographic evidence in the collective fringe basket.

But the UFO camp could and should provide its own real experts to look at past and present images of UFOs (flying saucers), instead of letting a handful of pretend-experts make the call.

We’ll be following up on this matter, upcoming…..

Stanton Friedman: Derivative UFO Researcher?

Stanton Friedman is notorious for his incessant use of the term “Cosmic Watergate” which he applies to his conjecture that the U.S. government and its Air Force have been covering up the real story of what happened at Roswell in 1947.

But the Watergate reference derives from noted UFO researcher Raymond Fowler as found in an article by Mr. Fowler in the May 1976 issue of Official UFO magazine.



Mr. Fowler applied his phrase for all UFO accounts, whereas Mr. Friedman applies his sobriquet to the Roswell incident only.

Click here for a look at the Fowler piece in Official UFO:

Mr. Freidman’s use of his term stems mostly from the period of 2000 forward and was used “officially” in his book:

Top Secret/Majic: Operation Majestic-12 and the United States Government’s UFO Cover-up (Marlowe and Co. 2005)



While Mr. Friedman was the first person to re-invigorate the Roswell episode by his 1978 interview with Jesse Marcel, his contribution was snubbed by Charles Berlitz and (discredited?) William Moore in their book, The Roswell Incident of 1980, the book that got the Roswell story back in the public arena.



But everything by Mr. Friedman about Roswell after his initial interview with Marcel is reactionary, not revolutionary or original, by a long shot.

While some UFO researchers, such as Jacques Vallee, offer imaginative conjecture and hypotheses, Mr. Friedman maintains a defensive, non-original stance on Roswell and UFOs generally.

He has done the same with the MJ-12 documents, which were dealt with or publicized by others (Moore, again and his cohort, Richard Doty, and Canadian Arthur Bray et al.).



Mr. Friedman has co-opted, as he did with the “UFO Watergate” mantra, the MJ-12 controversy, providing some interesting interpretations and insights while offering nothing that would clinch the truth or falsity of the documents.

Mr. Friedman is the face of “ufology” and has provided UFOs with a patina of respect and sanity.

But as a revolutionary UFO thinker, Mr. Friedman, like most of his fellow ufologists, falls short.

After all, Friedman’s many years at the forefront of the UFO mystery has produced nothing like a “smoking gun” although he has to be given props for a good try.

UFO information is often flawed....

This is the cover of True magazine’s Flying Saucers & UFOs Quarterly (for Summer 1976):



As you can see, the Travis Walton story is listed as Travis Waltman’s Weird Story.

Inside, on Page 10, is the story, picturing Walton (as Waltman) being interviewed by Dr. James. Harder.

The caption shows Travis Waltman [sic] in the center of the photo.

Click here for a close-up view of that photo

This is just one of many errors we found as we scanned our UFO magazine collection (for another matter).

UFO material is replete with factual errors and so many dumb mistakes that it’s no surprise that academia, media, and sensible folks eschew the topic of UFOs out-of-hand.

UFO UpDates still stinks!

A few years ago, I was a UFO UpDate habitué, but came to rue the time spent visiting the archaically formatted web-site.

The host of UFO UpDates is a codger: Errol Bruce-Knapp. His site is a codger-site, where UFO geezers congregate and ruminate endlessly and nastily about UFOs, (mostly) past and present.



Also a few years ago, Bruce-Knapp established UpDates as a fee-oriented site. Apparently that effort has proved fruitless as the site is once again free for visitors.

Visitor input is set in a circa 1984 computer format that Facebook and Twitter users would find, as I do, infuriating and off-putting in the extreme.

But the main problem with UpDates is that, by catering to geezers, the content is overwhelmingly curmudgeonly; visitors back-stab and try to one-up each other, and eschew anything approaching diplomatic dialogue.



This includes UFO “celebs” such as Stanton Friedman and Jerry Clark.



Friedman is always defending himself against barbs from critics of his UFO work.



Clark damns and corrects content, while never or rarely addressing UFO sightings per se, even those he has championed in years past when he was a UFO researcher of note.

Clark has become the old-lady celebrity in a rocker at a nursing home for has-beens.



The other UpDate regulars are either sycophants (kissing the asses of the UFO celebs) or UFO skanks – persons with no real UFO acumen who want to be in the presence of the UFO old-timers who still have cachet among deluded UFO aficionados.



Yet, UpDates does provide an occasional nugget of UFO gold, and does spur lively, albeit often retrograde, information that UFO newbies might find interesting.

If Bruce-Knapp would bring UpDates into the 21st century, his site might be worth a visit from new, fresh UFO mavens.

But as it is, UpDates is an island populated by the dead or dying of ufology, and it has the smell of decay all over it.

UFO hoax exposures: too little, too late?

The rush to expose long-time, classic UFO events as hoaxes is in full swing.

Kevin Randle’s blog is thrashing about with the (in)famous 1958 Trindade Island photos that once were considered by almost all UFO researchers as authentic.

The Heflin photos have been declared fraudulent.



Roswell is on the cusp of hoax, seen as a misidentified balloon crash by many, and exacerbated by the UFO old-timers who’ve committed themselves to the Roswell extraterrestrial myth and can’t accept their long-time duncery.



The next UFO episode that will be labeled a hoax is Brentwaters, the 1980 Rendlesham UFO incident.



A new book about George Adamski -- George Adamski: A Herald for the Space Brothers – is trying to resurrect and revise the stature of the ultimate UFO hoaxer.



The Socorro/Zamora sighting of 1964 is rife with the patina of hoax. [See Anthony Bragalia’s pieces about the sighting at this blog and others.]



But UFOs, themselves, are a phenomenal fact. The evidence is overwhelming, and some of us have experienced the phenomenon, first-hand, so we know that it is a real phenomenon, even though we have no idea as to what they are or what they represent.

But the orgy to disclose the plethora of UFO sightings and episodes that are now known to be frauds undermines any attempts by legitimate societal agencies (media, science, academia) to look into the phenomenon.

What serious construct would take on a topic that is rife with fraud or hoaxes? The effort to separate the wheat from the chaff is daunting.

Jerome Clark, who usually gets the rubric as the noted UFO historian, has all but recused himself from the subject, unresting his laurels once in a while only at the UFO gathering place for ufology’s has-beens and quidnuncs: UFO UpDates.



Kevin Randle is trying mightily to re-connect with sanity by his recent blogified mea cupals for all those UFO and flying saucer accounts he once extolled as authentic but now prove to be fake.



The “art” of ufology is under attack, by members within it own ranks, joined by the ongoing and overwhelming feeling of serious phenomenal investigators who have always felt that UFOs are a matter for psychiatrists and those who fill their boring, unproductive lives with fantasy and a need to garner attention to themselves.

Some UFO events need further investigation. But the surging efforts of some well-known ufologists to separate themselves from sightings they once touted as real and a proof for extraterrestrial visitation will only muddy the UFO waters again.

And what true UFO aficionado wants that?

UFO POSERS AND THE "MIRAGE MEN" MYTH by Anthony Bragalia

Copyright 2010, InterAmerica, Inc. [Permission required to reproduce this article verbatim. Fair Use of course is acceptable, but internet links are preferred.]



A recent book entitled "Mirage Men" by Mark Pilkington has been received with great fanfare and positive review by the UFO community. According to Amazon's summary, "Mirage Men" are those men who are part of "the strange and symbiotic relationship between the U.S. military and intelligence agencies and the community that believes strongly that UFOs have visited earth."

But much of the premise of the evocatively titled "Mirage Men" - like a mirage itself - is illusory and insubstantial. The truth is that there is no truth to a "strange and symbiotic relationship" with agencies of the US Government and those into UFOs. There is nothing whatsoever to be gained from giving even passing consideration to the UFO tales told by those such as former AFOSI Special Agent Richard Doty. Such people are not government-sanctioned "disinformers" as some speculate. And their efforts are not being used to officially "cover up" advanced experimental military craft or operations. Nor do such men have any "special knowledge" to impart us about the true "core story" of UFOs and ET.

Calling even more attention to such attention-craving individuals only serves to feed their egos and perpetuate their pranks. Putting the spotlight on these types - even in the context of "UFO folklore" or as a social commentary - does the field of serious UFO research a serious disservice. The best course of action is not to highlight the actions of these Mirage Men at all - but to ignore them forevermore. We should not listen to the Mirage Men.

MIRAGE MEN



UFO enthusiasts know of the endless stories and documents associated with people such as Richard Doty. I will not detail here the many things that he has been involved with in the world of UFOs, as the list is so long: MJ-12 stories, the Paul Bennewitz Affair, fabrication of a UFO base intrusion document, the book "Exempt from Disclosure" with author Robert Collins, etc. Recent evidence ties Doty rather conclusively to the ridiculous "Project Serpo" hoax from a couple of years ago.

Mirage Men are much more than a mere "distraction" to the disciplined and intelligent pursuit of the UFO mystery. To have to "deal with a Doty" - and those of his ilk - is tiresome and counter-productive in every way. Such nonsense takes away valuable resources that are better spent on real investigation. It involves the time of researchers who must work to "disprove" fraud. And most importantly, it clouds the public's perception of what is true when it come to things UFO.

"Mirage Men" are not here to help- but their role is not a "sinister" or "covert" one either. Rather, their "role" is a self-serving one. They are not "mysterious" or "shadowy" - though they would like you to think so. They are really here to feed their egos. They receive enjoyment from deceit because they have nothing "real" to give. They insinuate their "power" over others in a way that is meaningful only to themselves.

People hoax many things - from literary works to clinical results. Precisely why they do this is difficult to ascertain. But personal "elevation" is always at the heart of such hoaxes. We have all faked something in our lives. We do so when we cannot offer truth. And there are many who have faked their knowledge of the truth about UFOs. This includes people from all walks of life. Station and position in the world have little to do with the desire or ability to fake. Some very intelligent and very prominent people have done so. Those who lie about the "core story" of ET have included military officials, intelligence agents and even men of science. They all can be Mirage Men.

Stories from people such as these - which surface with alarming regularity in the world of UFOlogy - suggests that the "Walter Mitty" syndrome is widespread in the field. Making up stories to get attention, or wanting to be someone important without expending a lot of effort, are hallmarks of these compulsive fantasists. They remind me of The Talented Mr. Ripley. The title character says what Doty, et al. must believe: "It’s surely better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody."

But unlike Walter Mitty and The Talented Mr. Ripley (which are clearly and delightfully fictional) Mirage Men is rather like putting the spotlight on those afflicted with deep-seated emotional, social or mental challenges. There is nothing "funny" or "entertaining" about it - and it only serves to document the sad, inner workings of the deluded and psychologically needy. It also "eggs them on" to create new "mirages" and it inspires future Mirage Men.

Dr. Colin Gill, a brilliant UK psychologist who has studied such types, states: "There is a suggestion that these kind of fantasies reflect some kind of deficit in childhood - they were not noticed, rewarded or perhaps loved - so later in life they go on to try and seek the attention or praise that was denied them." Such psychologists caution that the best "treatment" is not to engage them in their delusions and to give them no attention. Do not play into their mind-games, or they could infect yours too.

John Lear Jr. (UFO tall-tale-teller and Doty friend) is a perfect example of the psychological dynamic of which Gill speaks. The rebellious son of an overachieving father, the Junior's achievements were far surpassed by those of the Senior, the inventor of the Lear Jet. John Jr. did not need the money or notoriety to tell his tall ET tales, he just wanted to have some fun and spin some yarns in his advancing years. An adventurous type, Mr. Lear spun tales of adventure about pretend underground alien bases at Dulce. Lear even flirted briefly with supposed ex-Navy Intel's William Cooper's UFO fantasies. When Cooper began carrying guns and behaving very strangely, Lear backed away.

"REAL" DISINFORMING



"Real" disinformation does of course exist. Governments generate false information all the time. This is particularly true in two cases: during wartime for military purposes and for political purposes during peacetime. Such disinformation and propaganda can include covert media placements; dissemination of false stories and documents; and editing broadcasts or images. The technique of disinformation by military and intelligence goes back to at least 1918 with the end of WWI.

And I do believe that the art and science of disinformation does extend to UFOs. As readers know, I also believe that the Government used all manner of disinformation to suppress the truth of fallen ET at Roswell in 1947.

But such obviously phony stories emanating from people like Doty are not examples of an "official" disinformation campaign - or of "authorized" actions. They are amateur attempts by men who are trying to insert themselves into history. They are like Walter Mittys and talented Mr. Ripleys:

* They are not helping to "hide secret military aircraft experimentation" with tall tales

* They are not themselves knowledgeable about the "core story" of the truth about UFOs and ET

* They are not agents who are authorized by their superiors to spread "wild tales" to make UFOs and ET "appear ridiculous"

Rather, Mirage Men are men who wish that they knew the truth about UFOs and ET. Due to their positions in US military and intelligence, they may have even been near - or suspected that they were near - the truth. But instead, they are men who never quite made it, ones who would never be in a position to "really know." They were always near the action and around men of achievement, but were themselves mere wannabes. They wanted to "make a mark" for themselves by making great "revelations." They would use "smoke and mirrors" to delude themselves and others in the process.

The Mirage Men are "seeking" ET answers - just like all of us. The difference is that they will go to any length. They will even lie, play "games" and use others to find the truth. The MJ-12 "papers" were fabricated - not so much as to "deceive" - but to "smoke out" the "real" papers. Mirage Men have their own sense of strange humor. And they will even make up stories to get to the real story.

MY BRUSH WITH MIRAGE MEN


"RESEARCHER" WILLIAM MOORE


FORMER AFOSI AGENT RICHARD DOTY

I have little interest or time for the Mirage Men. I hesitated even writing this article because I do not wish to give them any more attention than they already "enjoy." They need no more attention from anyone, ever. But during the course of doing some research on Roswell, I had a brush with them.

Some months ago I had happened across a 1982 MUFON paper that researcher Bill Moore had presented. Moore had cited an interview with Special Agent Percy Wyly (who authored the FBI Telex on Roswell.) Moore claimed the interview of Wyly was conducted by Richard Doty, about a year prior. Due to the startling, confirmatory information that Wyly supposedly imparted to Doty about Roswell, I felt compelled to "break my rule" and I contacted Mirage Men.

I e-mailed Richard Doty directly about this. He chose not to answer my question about his supposed interview of Percy Wyly. Instead, I received a brief e-mail reply from him dated March 31, 2010, 12:09 AM that read:

"Mr. Bragalia: I am no longer involved in any aspect of UFO investigation, research, nor do I involve myself with the topic. It is impossible to provide any information without being criticized, defamed or trashed. I suggest you contact Bill Moore. Richard Doty."

So, I then contacted Bill Moore by e-mail and received an email back from him:

"Dear Mr. Bragalia: You must understand that all of my concerns were satisfied a long time ago and therefore I no longer have any need, or desire, to pursue these matters any further."

But then Moore later in the e-mail contradicts himself and indicates that he would indeed pursue the matter with me further - but only under these stipulated, bizarre conditions:

"If you can answer these three recognition questions correctly, you will have identified yourself as someone I can safely talk to. Otherwise I have nothing more to say. I understand that you have an Aunt who is a famous dancer. (1) What is her name? (2) Where does she dance? (3) And what is her favourite bird? Best, WLM"

I do not need to point out to readers that the reply from Doty is disingenuous. He still loves being a Mirage Man. Though we should not listen, we will hear more nonsense from Richard Doty in the future. Of that you can be sure.

The e-mail reply that I received back from William Moore seemed like it could have come from a kid obsessed with "cloak and dagger" games. He continues with his imagined "aviary" of "UFO insiders." Moore had put together what he termed an "aviary" of individuals in military and intelligence who were seeking truth about the "core story" of ET after Moore had written his book "The Roswell Incident" in 1980. He assigned these individuals code-names using the names of birds. The "birds" (many of whom I have talked with) often did not even know that they had ever been "assigned" such names or that they were even part of a formal "Aviary." On the face of it, we should have known that Bill Moore was not acting as an especially mature man. He was acting out James Bond-like scenarios. William Moore's e-mail to me confirms that he has still not grown up. At one time early on, a ground-breaking UFO researcher, Moore has perhaps regressed into fantasy and puerile behavior.

Doty and Moore fed each other tall tales. And they fed each other’s egos. A "minor member" of the Aviary was Dr. Henry Monteith. Erroneously reported as deceased in Greg Bishop's credulous book "Project Beta" on the "Paul Bennewitz Affair," Bishop did not dig deep enough and he allowed the "cast of characters" to influence his research.

Now retired after decades with Sandia Labs, Monteith is a believer in ET. However, when Doty came by to discuss the UFO matter with him in the 1980s, Monteith told me, he did not trust him. Not because Monteith felt that Doty had a "covert" agenda or any "official" status, but because he didn't think much of Doty. Doty was apparently trying to elicit any UFO "tidbits" from anyone he could because he had no "special knowledge" about ET himself. He then fed the information to others, inspired others, and mixed a cocktail of stories only the gullible would swallow.

Do you really think that the US Government military or intelligence agencies would employ such rank-amateur, laughable characters as Messrs. Moore, Doty or their ilk? Would they entrust the cover-up of state secrets (whether relating to ET or to experimental military technology) to people who write e-mails like the ones written to me?

Mirage Men can be found out. We know many of these military, intel, and science posers already: Sgt. Rick Doty, Capt. Robert Collins, Dr. Kit Green (whose MD is apparently from a non-existent school) Sgt. Clifford Stone, Dan Smith, John Lear Jr., Val Valerian (Capt. John Grace, Lear's friend) Bob Lazar, Sgt. Dan Sherman, Command Sgt. Major Robert O. Dean and many, many others.

They form their own cliques; they "support" and reinforce one another's claims and they feed their "mirages" into the future. Despite their station and position, these Mirage Men are not dissimilar to "contactees" and other fringe denizens of UFO conventions. None are worth our energy, and to get too near them will sap our's. We are instructed in Galations to "discern" the spirits and test for their veracity. So too must we apply this instruction to anyone in military, intel, or science who claims to know the "core story" of UFOs and ET.

AVOIDING THE MIRAGE MEN



Mirage Men are legion, but they are easy to detect. Many are mentioned in the book- and there were many before this current crop. In fact, they have always been with us under many guises, and they always will be.

But they are not "official government agent dis-informers." Nor are they "trickster figures" with some sort of "deeper meaning." Nor do they know more than we about ET. They are merely a group of minor men who themselves have more questions than answers. In their own confusion, they confuse us and waste our valuable time. And in some way, putting a spotlight on them is cruel, like putting a spotlight on the afflicted, for our own entertainment and amusement. They deserve our pity but not our attention, lest we get woven into their web ourselves.

The lesson learned from the Mirage Men is that they are best left alone.