Koji K.
Skilled Investigator
OK, apologies for the odd subject title but I really wasn't sure what to call this.
Basically, recently on the Paracast Gene has been mentioning the idea that certain UFO incidents, such as the Betty & Barney Hill case, might be attributable to government (or otherwise human) machinations.
I think this is a very, very important issue in the field which needs to be looked at more. So important is this issue that I think it was actually one reason Jacques Vallee left the field. I highly recommend his last book on ufology, Revelations, which is more or less devoted to this exact topic. In it, Vallee mentions several pretty remarkable cases where he feels (sometimes because of explicit facts resulting from his own investigation, and sometimes more from "educated opinion") that government activity is responsible for alleged UFO cases. The Brentwater/Woodbridge case is one example which he devotes a chapter to.
Here's a little diversion on that topic:
Consider for example trying to penetrate an airfield of that size by, say, flying a helicopter into it. It would get shot down pretty fast, needless to say. Now what if you could incapacitate the guards by having them stare in awe at a light show? Or a simulated UFO landing? "High Strangeness" can be a potent weapon. (This is just one possible rationale for simulated UFO activity, I am not trying to sum up the book.) I have my own thoughts on Woodbridge which stem from my (nonparanormal) experience there. Let's say you were testing this "UFO weapon." You want a controlled subject sample. You want soldiers in the subject sample and you want it near as possible to an active installation. BUT you don't want them deciding it's a major threat, shooting at it and/or being able to sweep up any solid evidence if something goes wrong. How do you do this?
You simulate it on foreign soil just outside a US airbase where the US troops you are testing it on have no jurisdiction to open fire or bring out anything more than a pre-defined and "established" search team BUT still have authority to search. If anything goes wrong with the experiment, you shoo them back to their base and tell them the local authorities will be handling it (or someone ostensibly better placed to liase with those authorities.) Everything can be swept under the rug with some minor diplomatic cover-story. (The Brits do, incidentally, have a special response team devoted to handling nuclear accidents and other incidents at airbases on UK soil. So you could just say "these guys will take it from here" and send in your men in black or whoever.)
End of diversion. Getting back to my main point:
Another case is Gulf Breeze. He makes some really incredible claims about Gulf Breeze which I have not heard anyone- including Bruce Maccabbee when he was on the show- talk about, and which I would love to question him about (if vicariously, at least, through the Paracast!) Unfortunately I don't have my copy of the book with me, but the specific facts I remember Vallee going into were the odd disappearance of several (repeat, several) military intelligence personnel from their German bases (more or less on the eve of the first Gulf War), only to reappear having gone AWOL in Gulf Breeze during the UFO flap. These servicemen were not disciplined in any way, and essentially just faded away.
Put frankly, I want to know more. I've heard a lot about Gulf Breeze but since the first I had heard about it was reading Revelations, I've always been highly skeptical about it and I think next time Maccabee is on he should be asked if he's read this pretty important book and what he thinks about Vallee's opinion.
And please, read the book. This book was the first I read on the topic because I happened to find it in a used bookstore and it looked interesting. I am to this day glad it was the first I read because it is essentially Vallee's final conclusions and warning (Eisenhower style) to all who would venture into ufology about the very complex state of the field and the deceptions within.
Peace out.
Basically, recently on the Paracast Gene has been mentioning the idea that certain UFO incidents, such as the Betty & Barney Hill case, might be attributable to government (or otherwise human) machinations.
I think this is a very, very important issue in the field which needs to be looked at more. So important is this issue that I think it was actually one reason Jacques Vallee left the field. I highly recommend his last book on ufology, Revelations, which is more or less devoted to this exact topic. In it, Vallee mentions several pretty remarkable cases where he feels (sometimes because of explicit facts resulting from his own investigation, and sometimes more from "educated opinion") that government activity is responsible for alleged UFO cases. The Brentwater/Woodbridge case is one example which he devotes a chapter to.
Here's a little diversion on that topic:
Consider for example trying to penetrate an airfield of that size by, say, flying a helicopter into it. It would get shot down pretty fast, needless to say. Now what if you could incapacitate the guards by having them stare in awe at a light show? Or a simulated UFO landing? "High Strangeness" can be a potent weapon. (This is just one possible rationale for simulated UFO activity, I am not trying to sum up the book.) I have my own thoughts on Woodbridge which stem from my (nonparanormal) experience there. Let's say you were testing this "UFO weapon." You want a controlled subject sample. You want soldiers in the subject sample and you want it near as possible to an active installation. BUT you don't want them deciding it's a major threat, shooting at it and/or being able to sweep up any solid evidence if something goes wrong. How do you do this?
You simulate it on foreign soil just outside a US airbase where the US troops you are testing it on have no jurisdiction to open fire or bring out anything more than a pre-defined and "established" search team BUT still have authority to search. If anything goes wrong with the experiment, you shoo them back to their base and tell them the local authorities will be handling it (or someone ostensibly better placed to liase with those authorities.) Everything can be swept under the rug with some minor diplomatic cover-story. (The Brits do, incidentally, have a special response team devoted to handling nuclear accidents and other incidents at airbases on UK soil. So you could just say "these guys will take it from here" and send in your men in black or whoever.)
End of diversion. Getting back to my main point:
Another case is Gulf Breeze. He makes some really incredible claims about Gulf Breeze which I have not heard anyone- including Bruce Maccabbee when he was on the show- talk about, and which I would love to question him about (if vicariously, at least, through the Paracast!) Unfortunately I don't have my copy of the book with me, but the specific facts I remember Vallee going into were the odd disappearance of several (repeat, several) military intelligence personnel from their German bases (more or less on the eve of the first Gulf War), only to reappear having gone AWOL in Gulf Breeze during the UFO flap. These servicemen were not disciplined in any way, and essentially just faded away.
Put frankly, I want to know more. I've heard a lot about Gulf Breeze but since the first I had heard about it was reading Revelations, I've always been highly skeptical about it and I think next time Maccabee is on he should be asked if he's read this pretty important book and what he thinks about Vallee's opinion.
And please, read the book. This book was the first I read on the topic because I happened to find it in a used bookstore and it looked interesting. I am to this day glad it was the first I read because it is essentially Vallee's final conclusions and warning (Eisenhower style) to all who would venture into ufology about the very complex state of the field and the deceptions within.
Peace out.
