May 22, 2021

Hynek and Vallee applied science to things at the frontier of reality.

Hynek started with UFO reports, as there weren’t any objects available for hands-on study. His thinking evolved as more and more “credible people reported incredible experiences.”

https://anomalyarchives.org/collections/files/hynek-josef-allen/

Vallee applied information science to the phenomenon. He wrote the data show a more complicated explanation than extraterrestrial hypothesis. While he would be disappointed if UFOs turned out to be alien visitors, he fears humanity may get the visitors we deserve.

May 22, 2021

Dr. J. Allen Hynek found their story credible.

Thank you for the heads-up, nolabear. Here’s a report on the case which includes Dr. Hynek’s thoughts. The astronomer was a scientific consultant to the Air Force’s Project BLUE BOOK.

Something I read, I believe from Jacques Vallee, but am unable to source, is the old man/young man pairing — contrasts in age, race, beliefs — may echo in similar cases reported through history.

May 20, 2021

Trump's Li'l Mitch (NY Daily News cover)

https://twitter.com/NYDailyNews/status/1395215221233487879

May 19, 2021

Here's what Chief Delbert Newhouse filmed -- on dry land in 1952.

When a dozen luminous, disc-shaped objects flashed across a clear blue sky on July 2, 1952, near Tremonton, Utah, Navy Chief Delbert C. Newhouse pulled his car off the road, grabbed his 16mm movie camera and filmed what he knew was a bizarre sight.

Newhouse, who had more than 1,000 hours of aerial photography mission experience, shot 1,200 frames of one of the objects, which has been described as "two pie pans, one inverted on top of the other."

After rigorous examination of the 75-second film, Navy analysts concluded that the objects were not conventional aircraft, but some sort of "intelligently controlled" vehicles. They stopped short of calling them space vehicles. The Air Force, however, called them "possible birds."

Source: https://www.stripes.com/news/is-the-sky-falling-this-man-says-maybe-not-1.130358

May 19, 2021

We live in interesting times.

The 5 Massive New Telescopes That Will Change Astronomy Forever

https://gizmodo.com/the-5-massive-new-telescopes-that-will-change-astronomy-1610529758

May 19, 2021

Good on her! Good on you!

Your Aunt sounds like a remarkable person. Learning about things that are on the “edge of reality” shows the two of you are very brave.

The subject is fascinating on so many levels. I’ve been reading about UFOs since 1966, when I was 9 years of age. I lived in Michigan, where a flap was in progress. The newspapers weren’t afraid to print stories on what people reported. While we don’t know many answers, yet, we can learn and share, think and talk.

Here’s one of Dr. J. Allen Hynek’s favorite cases:



Papua New Guinea Sighting (1959)

William B. Gill, an Anglican priest with a mission in Bosinai, Papas New Guinea, observed craft-like UFOs — one with Humanoid figures on top — on two consecutive evenings, June 26-27, 1959. About twenty-five natives, including teachers and medical technicians, also observed the phenomena. They “signaled” the humanoids and received an apparent response. This was one of sixty UFO sightings within a few weeks in the New Guinea area.

Continues...

https://closeencounterproject.wordpress.com/papua-new-guinea-sighting/

More...

https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/father-gill-1959-papua-new-guinea-ufo-sighting/

Here’s audio of a lecture he made years later in Australia:

May 19, 2021

What some scientists said.

‘Unidentified Aerial Phenomena,’ Better Known as UFOs, Deserve Scientific Investigation

UAP are a scientifically interesting problem. Interdisciplinary teams of scientists should study them

By Ravi Kopparapu, Jacob Haqq-Misra
Scientific American on July 27, 2020

UFOs have been back in the news because of videos initially leaked, and later confirmed, by the U.S. Navy and officially released by Pentagon that purportedly show "unidentified aerial phenomena" (UAP) in our skies. Speculations about their nature have run the gamut from mundane objects like birds or balloons to visitors from outer space.

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to say what these actually are, however, without context. What happened before and after these video snippets? Were there any simultaneous observations from other instruments, or sightings by pilots?

Judging the nature of these objects (and these seem to be “objects,” as confirmed by the Navy) needs a coherent explanation that should accommodate and connect all the facts of the events. And this is where interdisciplinary scientific investigation is needed.

Snip...

But we understand to an extent the nature of GRBs, supernovae and gravitational waves. How? Because we have not dismissed the phenomena or the people who observed them. We studied them. Astronomers have tools, so they can share the data they collected, even if some question their claim. Similarly, we need tools to observe UAP; radar, thermal, and visual observations will be immensely helpful. We must repeat here that this is a global phenomenon. Perhaps some, or even most, UAP events are simply classified military aircraft, or strange weather formations, or other misidentified mundane phenomena. However, there are still a number of truly puzzling cases that might be worth investigating.

Snip...

A template to perform a thorough scientific investigation can be found in James McDonald’s paper “Science in Default.” While he entertains the conclusion that these events could be extraterrestrials (which we do not subscribe to), McDonald’s methodology itself is a great example of objective scientific analysis. And this is exactly what we as scientists can do to study these events.

Continues...

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-better-known-as-ufos-deserve-scientific-investigation/

May 18, 2021

Oh, well. Cubs win.

I’m with you, doc03. It seems most DUers are unaware of the importance of this news or want to continue keeping their heads in the sand. For those interested in learning more:

How the Pentagon Started Taking U.F.O.s Seriously

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/10/how-the-pentagon-started-taking-ufos-seriously

May 16, 2021

Gives new meaning to "Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?"

New details about Trump-McCarthy shouting match show Trump refused to call off the rioters

By Jamie Gangel, Kevin Liptak, Michael Warren and Marshall Cohen
CNN, Feb. 12, 2021

In an expletive-laced phone call with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy while the US Capitol was under attack, then-President Donald Trump said the rioters cared more about the election results than McCarthy did.

"Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are," Trump said, according to lawmakers who were briefed on the call afterward by McCarthy.

McCarthy insisted that the rioters were Trump's supporters and begged Trump to call them off.
Trump's comment set off what Republican lawmakers familiar with the call described as a shouting match between the two men. A furious McCarthy told the then-President the rioters were breaking into his office through the windows, and asked Trump, "Who the f--k do you think you are talking to?" according to a Republican lawmaker familiar with the call.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/12/politics/trump-mccarthy-shouting-match-details/index.html

Witness tampering at Merde-de-Lardo.

May 16, 2021

Been an oligarchy for a long while, Thom.

U.S. more oligarchy than democracy, study suggests

A new study has found that elites and business interests wield the most political influence.

NBC News, April 19, 2014
By Meredith Clark

Excerpt...

It also found that the preferences of the middle class made essentially no difference to a bill’s fate.

“The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence,” Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page wrote in the study, titled "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens."

While Gilens and Page call the state of the current political system “economic elite domination,” another term could also be used: Oligarchy, otherwise known as a system in which power rests with a small number of economically or politically advantaged people.

The study looked at nearly 1,800 policy issues over a 20-year period between 1982 and 2002. According to their data, when the rich support a policy, it has a 45% chance of becoming law. And when they oppose it, it has only an 18% chance of being enacted.

“We believe,” the study’s authors concluded, “that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.”

Source: https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/the-us-no-longer-democracy-msna310901

Thom makes an important distinction: we are sliding from Friendly Fascism as defined by Bertran Gross to the malevolent kind advanced by Steve Bannon.