I'm willing to stand back and see if he makes any changes, moves in a better direction etc but I won't be holding my breath unfortunately.
I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, so maybe he will come around but I would be very surprised if he does. I'm not a video analyst or UFO expert, so my opinion posted on a YouTube channel shouldn't weigh nearly as much as say someone like Chris or anyone who has spent significant time studying videos, UFOs, etc. But on YouTube, you are going to get a mix and unfortunately most are going to be more like me - NOT experts (or worse - people who are not experts but think they are). It is not a good way to judge content for authenticity. I would also think that after seeing what is passed for authentic on "ThirdPhase" (I'm not typing that out, it doesn't sound right
), a serious expert would probably look elsewhere and effectively lower the overall quality of opinions posted in the comments.
A few things struck me, including the constant references to "ThirdPhase" by name and at one point, I thought I heard Blake begin to say something to the effect of "people start complaining if we don't have more video content up quickly" (I'm paraphrasing here). If that's a concern, then I interpret that as entertainment and not honest research - sort of like how a TV show has to air new episodes or people get frustrated waiting and fall off the series wagon. Unless I misunderstood what he was saying, I took that as a red flag. To me that shows a desire for popularity and audience appeasement, not valuable data gathering.
I almost felt bad for the guy when he finally did come on. Maybe he doesn't realize what he's doing. One of the reasons I like listening to Gene and Chris is because they seem to tell it like it is. They don't mince words but they still allow the other person to explain themselves (if they are willing/able to do so). I felt that when Gene spoke over Blake, it was mostly because he (Blake) was trying to veer away from the question. So I'm not really sure where the previous host hate came from. That approach is not always easy to listen to, but it's not because of the hosts. It is because of the guest's approach and reaction. They didn't hang him, they just gave him enough rope and let him decide what to do with it. And he really is doing a disservice to anyone who takes the UFO field seriously. It is something that needs to be brought out into the open just in case he honestly doesn't realize the damage that is done when hoaxers are given a platform to ply their trade. He does sound very young (says me, the 30 year old
), so this could turn out to be one of those important events in his life that encourages him to focus his energy in a more positive and effective way in terms of contributions to the UFO world (if he is sincere about wanting to be a positive player in all of this).
As far as the misspellings go, that is a good way to lower the professionalism of a website. Sure, we all make mistakes. A slip up here or there in a forum post or email is forgivable. However if you take the time to post content or an about us page and you don't bother to proofread it, have someone else proofread it and/or just run it through spellcheck, then you obviously aren't trying to present yourself as professional or someone with expertise. Which also makes me wonder if part of Blake's problem is that all of this is too much work. I didn't really get the impression that he wanted to devote more time than he already is to this endeavor.
I will say one thing though, I really liked hearing Goggs on the show! He sounded knowledgeable, thoughtful and made great contributions to the discussion. I would love to hear more Goggs from time to time!
