July 6th Exopolitic Special

[Dnold7X]

 

[Paul Kimball]

A couple of take-aways:

1. Bassett is looking really old and haggard.

2. Great bit re: the money, which Bassett tried to ignore.

3. UFO guys should never, EVER try to do comedy.

4. It's easy to marginalize the subject of UFOs, isn't it, by putting kooks like this on? How about putting the guys from the JAL case, or any one of a number of witnesses of undisputed quality, or an examination of the Tehran case (1976), or the RB47 case (1957), or... oh, well, never mind.

Crackpots like Bassett prove the point of people like Lance - that there are really goofy people attached to the UFO subject.

"Reports" like this prove mine - that the media, by and large, has completely failed to address the subject of the UFO phenomenon in a meaningful way.

The sad part for Bassett is that if there really is a "truth embargo," every appearance he makes helps marginalize the subject, and therefore perpetuate that emnargo.

Ah, irony...

 

[Ron Collins]

I see the intrinsic unfairness of this TV report and lament it. I don't like unfairness. As much as I think Bassett is a clown, I don't think he deserved this.

I'll never understand why "news" agencies continue to address this subject. It is always approached in this ridiculous manner. So if they know they are not going to take it seriously, then why cover it at all.

Don't know the other guy at all, don't know where they found him.

I'll bet they found him on the Mall. The big news outlets comb the mall for new protestors or general kooks. They actually take their contact information just in case they wan to throw these folks on camera.

I completely agree that this appearance by Bassett did much more harm for his "cause" than good but Bassett (in a more convivial forum) can certainly ply his trade with great skill. He is an excellent speaker on this topic and can create a veneer of respectability when he discusses it. Only those of us who have seen his act multiple times (or have heard the famous Paracast episode where he spectacularly implodes) can see the mechanism behind the curtain: a man who can speak at prodigious length without saying anything at all.

Unfortunately there are far to many of those types out there. The biggest thing that bothers me about Bassett is that according to him, the "government" is perpetually poised to "lift the truth embargo". I am not yet convinced that there is a grand truth secreted away. I think it much more likely that they know little more than we do.

 

[Paul Kimball]

Hey, that's not my only point!

I see the intrinsic unfairness of this TV report and lament it. I don't like unfairness. As much as I think Bassett is a clown, I don't think he deserved this. Don't know the other guy at all, don't know where they found him.

I completely agree that this appearance by Bassett did much more harm for his "cause" than good but Bassett (in a more convivial forum) can certainly ply his trade with great skill. He is an excellent speaker on this topic and can create a veneer of respectability when he discusses it. Only those of us who have seen his act multiple times (or have heard the famous Paracast episode where he spectacularly implodes) can see the mechanism behind the curtain: a man who can speak at prodigious length without saying anything at all.

Lance

Bassett is an ass-clown. Anyone who knows me and my history with him knows why that's funny.

---------- Post added at 12:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:25 AM ----------

I'll never understand why "news" agencies continue to address this subject. It is always approached in this ridiculous manner. So if they know they are not going to take it seriously, then why cover it at all.

Simple answer - ratings. Whatever anyone might think of the paranormal, it's popular. I bet a CNN report on any aspect of the UFO phenomenon would garner a bigger news audience than a CNN report on US foreign policy. Which is truly sad.

 

[Ron Collins]

I'd love to hear more about this, Paul!

Listen to one of the old Paracasts. I think it's on the November 2007 with Paul as the guest. I guess it could be one of the others. Can't remember for sure. Damn funny though!

 

[Dana]

Bassett is an ass-clown. Anyone who knows me and my history with him knows why that's funny.

---------- Post added at 12:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:25 AM ----------

i think it was Pauls first meeting with him where he was debating him friendly in a bar setting and Bassett got up turned around and slapped his ass towards Paul. I don't know if it was meant to be an insult or an invite. It was one of the funniest/oddest things I've ever heard