Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The Alien in Alberta
Look out, Stan Romanek! The aliens have moved to Alberta!
A video recently posted to YouTube is being promoted on UFO fan websites as the "clearest alien footage ever" and it "stuns UFO researchers."
(cf. http://www.allnewsweb.com/page1199999385.php)
The YouTube version is on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axeFnzsg3gI&feature=player_embedded
It has tens of thousands of views already, and it looks like it will soon go viral and capture the imaginations of those who should know better.
One person commented:
"this footage is being looked at by UFO researchers around the world" and "this is the most profound footage ever seen."
Well, de profundis perhaps, anyway. (Translation: "out of the depths of misery.")
Let's list some of what's wrong with this. Let's check for red flags.
1. Posted anonymously. Check.
2. Location not specified. Check.
3. Witnesses were not shocked to see it. Check.
4. No follow up possible. Check.
5. Video not sent to serious researchers. Check.
UFO fan sites should be ashamed of themselves for retweeting and hyping this stuff.
A video recently posted to YouTube is being promoted on UFO fan websites as the "clearest alien footage ever" and it "stuns UFO researchers."
(cf. http://www.allnewsweb.com/page1199999385.php)
The YouTube version is on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axeFnzsg3gI&feature=player_embedded
It has tens of thousands of views already, and it looks like it will soon go viral and capture the imaginations of those who should know better.
One person commented:
"this footage is being looked at by UFO researchers around the world" and "this is the most profound footage ever seen."
Well, de profundis perhaps, anyway. (Translation: "out of the depths of misery.")
Let's list some of what's wrong with this. Let's check for red flags.
1. Posted anonymously. Check.
2. Location not specified. Check.
3. Witnesses were not shocked to see it. Check.
4. No follow up possible. Check.
5. Video not sent to serious researchers. Check.
UFO fan sites should be ashamed of themselves for retweeting and hyping this stuff.
June 2010 UFO Reports in Canada
To those who asked:
To complement the list of Canadian UFO sightings reported in May 2010, here’s a list of June 2010 cases so far (it often takes another month to get all the reports in and together):
I will be discussing some of these in future blog posts.
Stay tuned.
To complement the list of Canadian UFO sightings reported in May 2010, here’s a list of June 2010 cases so far (it often takes another month to get all the reports in and together):
1 June 2010, 12:13 am, Kenora, Ontario
Light slowly zig-zagging across sky, near treeline.
1 June 2010, 10:45 pm, St. Catharines, Ontario
Light in sky “stays in one area” but “moves sorta fast.”
1 June 2010, 10:46 pm, Hamilton, Ontario
“Unfamiliar star” started moving, made 90 degree turns then accelerated out of sight
1 June 2010, 10:56 pm, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec
Black triangle like “two converging rows of lights” flew overhead, seen for few secs.
1 June 2010, 11:08 pm, Toronto, Ontario
Six or seven flashes of light from an object “skipping” across the sky
5 June 2010, 11:00 pm, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Starlike object began moving, pulsated, made 90 degree turn, flew south
7 June 2010, 10:45 pm, Stratford, Ontario
Fireball flew across sky heading north, seen for few secs.
9 June 2010, 9:30 pm, Dunrobin, Ontario
Odd noise heard, triangular obj. seen hovering over trees, moving slowly east
11 June 2010, evening, Montreal, Quebec
Triangular formations of orbs seen “every clear night”
12 June 2010, evening, Edson, Alberta
Reddish ball seen moving near home; paranormal effects inside house?
12 June 2010, 12:55 pm, Bear Mountain, British Columbia
Metallic cigar-shaped object, cruised silently overhead horizon to horizon
12 June 2010, 3:30 am, Windsor, Ontario
Bright light moved quickly and erratically in sky, “took off”
13 June 2010, 9:30 pm, Dunrobin, Ontario
Bright light hovered for 5 minutes in north
14 June 2010, 4:30 am, St. Catharines, Ontario
Black triangle with lights on corners flew low over homes, “scanning” neighbourhood
14 June 2010, 6:22 pm, Toronto, Ontario
White sphere of light emerged from rainbow; photo taken
14 June 2010, 10:00 pm, Orangeville, Ontario
Bright light in western sky
14 June 2010, evening, Edson, Alberta
“Super white orb” came out of west, moving very quickly, disappeared
15 June 2010, 9:00 pm, Bonfield, Ontario
Bright orange object with short tail flew overhead rapidly
15 June 2010, 10:00 pm, Orangeville, Ontario
Bright light in western sky
16 June 2010, 10:30 pm, Orangeville, Ontario
Bright light in western sky moved back & forth, dropped white flare
17 June 2010, 2:30 am, ??, Saskatchewan
Orange “ball of fire” with blue tint seen through binoculars
17 June 2010, 8:52 pm, ??, Quebec
Bright object flew east, then flew back after one minute; video taken?
18 June 2010, 4:01 pm, Navan, Ontario
Three red lights in triangular formation hovered for 30 minutes, vanished
18 June 2010, 10:00 pm, Orangeville, Ontario
Bright light seen, moved north out of sight
19 June 2010, afternoon, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Group of black spheres, changing shape, high in sky; photos taken
19 June 2010, 11:00 pm, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Moving starlike object made 90 degree turn, headed east, pulsated, vanished
20 June 2010, 9:00 am, Cookstown, Ontario
Two stationary balls of white light in sky, eventually disappeared
20 June 2010, 9:52 pm, Orangeville, Ontario
Bright light seen in sky, moving north
20 June 2010, 1:11 pm, Toronto, Ontario
Odd “structures” appeared in clouds?; photos taken
20 June 2010, 1:41 am, Edson, Alberta
Bright light in sky “whizzed” overhead; video taken
21 June 2010, 4:00 am, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Stationary dark object began emitting light, disappeared
21 June 2010, 11:15 pm, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Three lights in triangular formation traveled over city towards northeast; no sound
22 June 2010, 1:15 am, Trois Rivieres, Quebec
Very bright light moved rapidly in east
24 June 2010, 10:45 pm, Spanish, Ontario
Starlike object “hovered in one spot” in northwest sky, went slowly west, vanished
25 June 2010, 11:47 pm, Whitby, Ontario
White light crossed sky from south to north in about 15 seconds
26 June 2010, 2:54 am, Toronto, Ontario
Three “ships” appeared in sky, flashed lights, vanished after about 30 minutes
26 June 2010, 10:06 pm, Saguenay, Quebec
Bright light low in southwest, moving east, seen for two minutes
27 June 2010, evening, Edson, Alberta
Bright light moving in sky; video taken
I will be discussing some of these in future blog posts.
Stay tuned.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Canadian UFOs in May 2010
I’ve been contacted several times so far this summer by reporters wanting to know why there are no sightings of UFOs anymore. My short answer is that there are many sightings and reports; it’s just not a popular news topic these days.
I’ll go into detail regarding some of the UFO reports in Canada at a later time. Right now, however, I’ll just give a list of the cases brought to my attention during May 2010:
I list June 2010 reports in my next blog post.
I’ll go into detail regarding some of the UFO reports in Canada at a later time. Right now, however, I’ll just give a list of the cases brought to my attention during May 2010:
1 May 2010, 11:30 pm, Edson, Alberta
Bright object “bounced around” in NE sky; video on YouTube
12 May 2010, 9:55 pm, Calgary, Alberta
Two bright green lights flew west over house, descending
12 May 2010, 10:04 pm, Walpole Island, Ontario
Stationary light in west
12 May 2010, 11:18 pm, Riverview, Ontario
Large diamond-shaped object with 6 lights, stopped, changed direction, no noise
16 May 2010, 10:45 pm, Ottawa, Ontario
Black triangle flew overhead from south to north
18 May 2010, 4:20 pm, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
“Bulbous” white object with 2 orange spheres flew in wide arc in distance
18 May 2010, 11:40 pm, Acton, Ontario
Starlike object seen for 1 minute moving towards southeast
19 May 2010, 11:30 am, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Shiny silver object in north flew overhead, split into 2 pieces, photos taken
20 May 2010, 11:30 am, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Shiny silver object in west flew north, photos taken
20 May 2010, 11:40 pm, Port Hawkesbury, Ontario
Bright starlike objects “zipped” in sky
22 May 2010, 10:00 pm, Ottawa, Ontario
Cluster of orange lights moved across northeast sky, changed direction
24 May 2010, 11:30 pm, Edson, Alberta
UFO chased by witness in car; object took off, hovered
28 May 2010, 11:30 pm, Edson, Alberta
Stationary light seen in clouds in north; video posted to YouTube
29 May 2010, afternoon, Toronto, Ontario
Nine people saw three dark, fast moving objects seen in sky; third object photographed
29 May 2010, 12:00 midnight, Belleville, Ontario
Red ball flew from south to north
I list June 2010 reports in my next blog post.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Orbs and UFOs
Somewhere around two or three decades ago, the age of orbs came upon us.
It started, innocently enough, as ghosthunters examined photos taken in haunted houses and found round, transparent objects floating unobserved by humans.
Example:
http://www.ghostresearch.org/ghostpics/mtthabor.html
I'm not sure why the assumption was made that the objects in the photographs were spiritual in nature, and not just photographic artefacts. There's no question that the belief systems of ghosthunters affected their objectivity, but since image after image showed the same kind of globes, one would think that a photographic explanation would have become apparent.
Instead, we can find many websites such as this one:
http://theshadowlands.net/ghost/orbs.htm
which publish such photos. This one states authoritatively that orbs are: "energy being transferred from a source (i.e. powerlines, heat energy, batteries, people, etc) to the spirit so they can manifest."
What this means is, unfortunately, that many of the photographs that I take on vacation, such as this one inside a bowling alley, also show such orbs. This must mean that this place was haunted too, not that orbs are artefacts.
All is not lost, as many paranormal researchers have pointed out that ob photos are simply problems with digital cameras versus mechanical SLRs:
http://www.castleofspirits.com/orbs.html
On this page, you can see clearly how orbs photos can be created.
Then UFO fans started finding orbs in photographs, too. The origin of calling distant nocturnal light UFOs "orbs" came in the 1990s. One version of the origin is that a group led by Jennifer Jarvis, documenting UFOs over Lake Ontario in 1997 called them orbs in parallel to the lights seen over Phoenix:
http://www.globalserve.net/~mallet/name.shtml
The orbs are viewed anthropomorphically, as if they were actual creatures. Observers report some sort of empathic or actual telepathic communication with them, somehow:
It's common now for UFO fans to call all unusual distant lights "orbs," where previously they might be DDs or NLs.
An interesting example of daylight orbs videoed by a witness:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4394879/amazing_daytime_flying_ufo_orbs_over_japan_2010_edit/
And a nighttime orb video:
http://vodpod.com/watch/3072927-ufo-orb-lights-in-sky-16feb10-tx-us
The assumption by UFO fans is that orbs are definitely alien in nature, and likely physical spacecraft. Headlines like: "UFO Orb-like Scout Ship Flyby Nevada-Arizona" are common on popular UFO websites.
One example:
http://www.nowpublic.com/strange/ufo-ufo-orb-scout-ship-flyby-nevada-arizona
Other examples from popular UFO websites:
There are some web pages that talk about orbs as "plasma beings" and sentient creatures of "higher dimensions" popping in and out of our reality.
But speaking of "reality," most UFO orb photos and videos I've seen are simply distant planes, stars and planets, with a smattering of birds (usually seagulls) thrown in for good measure.
However, calling them "orbs" adds an aura of mystery to an otherwise unremarkable phenomenon.
And don't get me started on "rods."
It started, innocently enough, as ghosthunters examined photos taken in haunted houses and found round, transparent objects floating unobserved by humans.
Example:
http://www.ghostresearch.org/ghostpics/mtthabor.html
I'm not sure why the assumption was made that the objects in the photographs were spiritual in nature, and not just photographic artefacts. There's no question that the belief systems of ghosthunters affected their objectivity, but since image after image showed the same kind of globes, one would think that a photographic explanation would have become apparent.
Instead, we can find many websites such as this one:
http://theshadowlands.net/ghost/orbs.htm
which publish such photos. This one states authoritatively that orbs are: "energy being transferred from a source (i.e. powerlines, heat energy, batteries, people, etc) to the spirit so they can manifest."
What this means is, unfortunately, that many of the photographs that I take on vacation, such as this one inside a bowling alley, also show such orbs. This must mean that this place was haunted too, not that orbs are artefacts.
All is not lost, as many paranormal researchers have pointed out that ob photos are simply problems with digital cameras versus mechanical SLRs:
http://www.castleofspirits.com/orbs.html
On this page, you can see clearly how orbs photos can be created.
Then UFO fans started finding orbs in photographs, too. The origin of calling distant nocturnal light UFOs "orbs" came in the 1990s. One version of the origin is that a group led by Jennifer Jarvis, documenting UFOs over Lake Ontario in 1997 called them orbs in parallel to the lights seen over Phoenix:
http://www.globalserve.net/~mallet/name.shtml
The orbs are viewed anthropomorphically, as if they were actual creatures. Observers report some sort of empathic or actual telepathic communication with them, somehow:
However, the "ORBS" are out there, busy with their "work." Whenever I go to the shore, the lights spin and dance, and a nice warm feeling emanates from "their" direction. (ibid.)
It's common now for UFO fans to call all unusual distant lights "orbs," where previously they might be DDs or NLs.
An interesting example of daylight orbs videoed by a witness:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4394879/amazing_daytime_flying_ufo_orbs_over_japan_2010_edit/
And a nighttime orb video:
http://vodpod.com/watch/3072927-ufo-orb-lights-in-sky-16feb10-tx-us
The assumption by UFO fans is that orbs are definitely alien in nature, and likely physical spacecraft. Headlines like: "UFO Orb-like Scout Ship Flyby Nevada-Arizona" are common on popular UFO websites.
One example:
http://www.nowpublic.com/strange/ufo-ufo-orb-scout-ship-flyby-nevada-arizona
Other examples from popular UFO websites:
Orange Colored Orbs Over Burnham On Crouch Essex UK
Large Reddish Orange Orb Seen Over Toronto Ontario
4 Bright Orange Orbs Over Leeds Road Kippax UK
There are some web pages that talk about orbs as "plasma beings" and sentient creatures of "higher dimensions" popping in and out of our reality.
But speaking of "reality," most UFO orb photos and videos I've seen are simply distant planes, stars and planets, with a smattering of birds (usually seagulls) thrown in for good measure.
However, calling them "orbs" adds an aura of mystery to an otherwise unremarkable phenomenon.
And don't get me started on "rods."
Friday, June 04, 2010
The demise of ufology
I caused a bit of a stir several months ago when I called UFO case investigation a lost art. I'll go further this time: ufology looks like it's near death.
The bad news is: I'm an optimist.
I was having a conversation with Brian Savage recently, and he made the observation that the UFO phenomenon has been derailed. He was formerly with the Alberta UFO Study Group, an earlier incarnation that produced in-depth investigation reports and scoured government documents for historical Alberta cases. Brian's comment was in reference to the many popularized UFO-related developments over the past 20 years which have destroyed the legitimacy of serious UFO research.
Examples of these derailments include the alien autopsy film, Lazar's Element 115, the strawberry ice cream nonsense, Greer's telepathic vectoring of UFOs, crop circles, exopolitics, Nibiru, and the resurgence of the contactee phenomenon. These and others have served to draw public and popular attention away from serious UFO case investigations and into the realm of wild arm-waving speculation and wide-eyed fanaticism.
It's too bad; it really looked like there was something developing there, for a while.
UFO cases themselves have radically shifted characteristics. Things seemed so simple when Hynek formulated his Close Encounter classifications: CE1 was a sighting at close range; CE2 was a trace case; and CE3 involved seeing occupants. There was no CE4 or CE5, as adopted by some ufologists now, reflecting abductions and contactee incidents. Only three categories, nicely defined and delineated.
The CE2s went extinct first. Ted Philips had several thousand physical trace cases documented by the time crop circles arrived on the scene. Then - poof! No more CE2s. People stopped seeing UFOs landing and taking off; aliens stopped landing their scout craft and leaving behind scorched patches and tripod marks in fields. Instead, mysterious circles (and later, patterns) appeared, almost always without accompanying UFO sightings, and it was assumed that the aliens were using some kind of "rotating vortex" to power their ships.
Then the CE3s went AWOL. No more sightings of landed UFOs where entities were seen exiting and re-entering their crafts. Instead, abductions ballooned in number, eventually overtaking classic CE3s. Really, have you heard of a decent CE3 case recently? No bedroom visitations, no alien faces in windows, no telepathic instructions about saving the human race. Just a simple CE3 observation. No? No.
Even CE1s are mostly gone now, too. Instead, we have YouTube videos of "mysterious orbs" and "Galactic Lightships" seeming to dance all over the pace because the witness couldn't hold the video camera steady. On the other hand, we have goofballs with too much time on their hands using video toasters to create obvious hoaxed UFO videos that experienced UFO investigators can tell are not worth bothering with but go viral anyway, getting retweeted and reblogged everywhere by UFO fans.
But a well-witnessed, well-investigated CE1 case? Rarer than a straight-talking politician or oil executive. Sure, if you look at popular UFO websites that list UFO reports, there are dozens and dozens from all over the world, posted by witnesses. But follow-up to get additional details to make an evaluation, such as direction of movement, where the UFO was in the sky compared with other things, and even an accurate time? Forget it. Onsite investigation? Impossible. Referral to one of the few reliable UFO investigators who lives nearby the witness, to allow proper investigation? Can't, sorry; privacy of witnesses is guaranteed.
So what we have in ufology today is the maintaining of a high number of UFO sighting reports, but a decrease on information content of the cases. Public attention surges when UFO stories in the news go viral, but critical thinking goes out the window.
Part of this is because no one person is viewed as someone who can speak for ufology today. Following the death of Allen Hynek, no one was easily identifiable as someone to take his mantle. (Not even Philip Mantle.) Not Stan Friedman, not Jerome Clark, Mark Rodeghier, not Jenny Randles, not Kevin Randle, not Bill Birnes, not any other of the dozen or so who might (or might not) fit the bill.
(Similarly, who speaks for debunkery? After Phil Klass passed away, is it now Phil Plait? James Oberg? James Randi? Bill Nye? Even Larry King can't decide who is an authority and whom to have on as guests to debate UFOs.)
Poor MUFON and CUFOS, the few remaining doggedly determined UFO groups. They're hanging on, with declining revenue, losing staff and trying desperately to carry on with serious UFO study, when UFO fans have not the slightest interest in that.
Ufology is greatly fractured. With thousands of UFO-related web pages, everyone (and anyone) can be an expert. Anyone can tell you the "REAL Truth" about the aliens' presence on Earth and their nefarious dealings with the government and how Obama is an alien and why I've been chosen as their emissary and why alien hybrids have pale skin and why aliens will arrive in 2012 and where the underwater alien bases are in the Gulf of Mexico and why the hundreds of orbs in my photograph are mental images of aliens and not dust particles and why some UFO craft disguise themselves as airplanes and why chemtrails are not just contrails and why this blog is passing through into another dimension....
The bad news is: I'm an optimist.
I was having a conversation with Brian Savage recently, and he made the observation that the UFO phenomenon has been derailed. He was formerly with the Alberta UFO Study Group, an earlier incarnation that produced in-depth investigation reports and scoured government documents for historical Alberta cases. Brian's comment was in reference to the many popularized UFO-related developments over the past 20 years which have destroyed the legitimacy of serious UFO research.
Examples of these derailments include the alien autopsy film, Lazar's Element 115, the strawberry ice cream nonsense, Greer's telepathic vectoring of UFOs, crop circles, exopolitics, Nibiru, and the resurgence of the contactee phenomenon. These and others have served to draw public and popular attention away from serious UFO case investigations and into the realm of wild arm-waving speculation and wide-eyed fanaticism.
It's too bad; it really looked like there was something developing there, for a while.
UFO cases themselves have radically shifted characteristics. Things seemed so simple when Hynek formulated his Close Encounter classifications: CE1 was a sighting at close range; CE2 was a trace case; and CE3 involved seeing occupants. There was no CE4 or CE5, as adopted by some ufologists now, reflecting abductions and contactee incidents. Only three categories, nicely defined and delineated.
The CE2s went extinct first. Ted Philips had several thousand physical trace cases documented by the time crop circles arrived on the scene. Then - poof! No more CE2s. People stopped seeing UFOs landing and taking off; aliens stopped landing their scout craft and leaving behind scorched patches and tripod marks in fields. Instead, mysterious circles (and later, patterns) appeared, almost always without accompanying UFO sightings, and it was assumed that the aliens were using some kind of "rotating vortex" to power their ships.
Then the CE3s went AWOL. No more sightings of landed UFOs where entities were seen exiting and re-entering their crafts. Instead, abductions ballooned in number, eventually overtaking classic CE3s. Really, have you heard of a decent CE3 case recently? No bedroom visitations, no alien faces in windows, no telepathic instructions about saving the human race. Just a simple CE3 observation. No? No.
Even CE1s are mostly gone now, too. Instead, we have YouTube videos of "mysterious orbs" and "Galactic Lightships" seeming to dance all over the pace because the witness couldn't hold the video camera steady. On the other hand, we have goofballs with too much time on their hands using video toasters to create obvious hoaxed UFO videos that experienced UFO investigators can tell are not worth bothering with but go viral anyway, getting retweeted and reblogged everywhere by UFO fans.
But a well-witnessed, well-investigated CE1 case? Rarer than a straight-talking politician or oil executive. Sure, if you look at popular UFO websites that list UFO reports, there are dozens and dozens from all over the world, posted by witnesses. But follow-up to get additional details to make an evaluation, such as direction of movement, where the UFO was in the sky compared with other things, and even an accurate time? Forget it. Onsite investigation? Impossible. Referral to one of the few reliable UFO investigators who lives nearby the witness, to allow proper investigation? Can't, sorry; privacy of witnesses is guaranteed.
So what we have in ufology today is the maintaining of a high number of UFO sighting reports, but a decrease on information content of the cases. Public attention surges when UFO stories in the news go viral, but critical thinking goes out the window.
Part of this is because no one person is viewed as someone who can speak for ufology today. Following the death of Allen Hynek, no one was easily identifiable as someone to take his mantle. (Not even Philip Mantle.) Not Stan Friedman, not Jerome Clark, Mark Rodeghier, not Jenny Randles, not Kevin Randle, not Bill Birnes, not any other of the dozen or so who might (or might not) fit the bill.
(Similarly, who speaks for debunkery? After Phil Klass passed away, is it now Phil Plait? James Oberg? James Randi? Bill Nye? Even Larry King can't decide who is an authority and whom to have on as guests to debate UFOs.)
Poor MUFON and CUFOS, the few remaining doggedly determined UFO groups. They're hanging on, with declining revenue, losing staff and trying desperately to carry on with serious UFO study, when UFO fans have not the slightest interest in that.
Ufology is greatly fractured. With thousands of UFO-related web pages, everyone (and anyone) can be an expert. Anyone can tell you the "REAL Truth" about the aliens' presence on Earth and their nefarious dealings with the government and how Obama is an alien and why I've been chosen as their emissary and why alien hybrids have pale skin and why aliens will arrive in 2012 and where the underwater alien bases are in the Gulf of Mexico and why the hundreds of orbs in my photograph are mental images of aliens and not dust particles and why some UFO craft disguise themselves as airplanes and why chemtrails are not just contrails and why this blog is passing through into another dimension....
