Skeptics rejoice.

[Sean Elifritz]

And basically on cue to prove my point it now turns out that one of the most famous UFO photographs of all time, the Belgium triangle of the late 80s/early 90s, is a fake. I just found out about it at UFO Updates. There's a thread there called Iconic Belgian UFO Claimed To Be A Hoax. This particular revelation has given me a sickly feeling as it is a pic I had personally considered to be perhaps the best ever, one I would show people when they'd say no good UFO photos exist. But now the guy that took the pic admits it was just a joke. Sure, that doesn't invalidate the radar reports or the many hundreds of witnesses to those events but the picture was perhaps the best evidence that an artificial object was involved, rather than just some crazy weather phenomena. Wonder what other famous piece of UFO "evidence" I'm going to find out is a load of bullshit tomorrow.

 

[jimp]

Add conspiracy theories to the UFO mystery and you have an even worse mess. Is a UFO photo or video a hoax? Are you sure? Maybe the authorities got to the photographer and forced him to say it was a hoax. There are well-known stories about UFO researchers who later recanted -- Donald Kehoe for instance? -- and it seems that some government types may have gotten to him and twisted his arm. And he died young under mysterious circumstances? I suppose when writing about this stuff I should end every sentence with a question mark -- because who knows? (?)

Of course the most vocal conspiracy theorists out there who are saying the most outrageous stuff are alive and well -- David Icke and Alex Jones for instance. Why haven't they been killed? Oh -- because that would make them martyrs that would further their causes even more. Just like Mulder from the X-Files. (Though that never convinced me of being reasonable even for a fictional character. It was simply a necessary plot contrivance. And I suppose that plot contrivances are even more necessary for supposedly dangerous conspiracy promoters like Icke and Jones.) Yet, just because there are delusional charlatans in the conspiracy-exopolitics field, that doesn't keep me from believing that conspiracies happen.

Conspiracy = something planned by two or more people, usually having criminal goals.

UFO = unidentified flying object. Yet generally understood by the public to be extraterrestrial craft. Understood by afficianados like those here as having a much less certain nature.

I agree with what Tyder said about the either/or nature of the general public's understanding of many subjects. Christian/atheist. UFO believer/UFO skeptic.

Try being an openminded Christian these days and you will get shit from both sides of the duality. I was an Episcopalian for many years (and that's still the church I would go to I was gonna go). Atheists might have thought that I was just another fundamentalist Christian -- fundamentalist Christians might have thought I wasn't really a true believer.

This is the "excluded middle" that Greg Bishop talks about. It's a hard road to follow. People misunderstand you on either side of the path. But the middle of a path always has the clearest view, don't you think? Not that you can claim to truly understand what you see -- but your eyes are open to the most possibilities.

 

[The Pair of Cats]

Add conspiracy theories to the UFO mystery and you have an even worse mess. Is a UFO photo or video a hoax? Are you sure? Maybe the authorities got to the photographer and forced him to say it was a hoax. There are well-known stories about UFO researchers who later recanted -- Donald Kehoe for instance? -- and it seems that some government types may have gotten to him and twisted his arm. And he died young under mysterious circumstances? I suppose when writing about this stuff I should end every sentence with a question mark -- because who knows? (?)


This is the "excluded middle" that Greg Bishop talks about. It's a hard road to follow. People misunderstand you on either side of the path. But the middle of a path always has the clearest view, don't you think? Not that you can claim to truly understand what you see -- but your eyes are open to the most possibilities.

Good post. I am suspicious of people who immediately jump on the bandwagon when claims are made, be it claims of proof or claims of hoaxing. It's like these people are just waiting for something to latch on to to prove their personal view or opinion.

The 'excluded middle" is a apt term, i agree. The study of UFOs and the Paranormal offer very little of hard evidence, the kind the uber sceptics would like us to produce but nonetheless there is ample anecdotal evidence to make us think that there is something going on. What that is we may never know.
Sometimes people in this area of research and investigation get hysterical about the goings on within its ranks as evidenced by the recent hullabaloo with Imbrogno. People like him appear in all walks of life on a daily basis. Luckily enough he was weeded out by someone who associated with those who delve into this field, not some main stream media type.
I think we should take all proclomations in this area with a grain of salt, be it claims of "hoax" or claims of "proof".

 

[Angel of Ioren]

Try being an openminded Christian these days and you will get shit from both sides of the duality. I was an Episcopalian for many years (and that's still the church I would go to I was gonna go). Atheists might have thought that I was just another fundamentalist Christian -- fundamentalist Christians might have thought I wasn't really a true believer.

This is the "excluded middle" that Greg Bishop talks about. It's a hard road to follow. People misunderstand you on either side of the path. But the middle of a path always has the clearest view, don't you think? Not that you can claim to truly understand what you see -- but your eyes are open to the most possibilities.

That's how I feel when it come to Global Warming.

 

[boomerang]

Try being an openminded Christian these days and you will get shit from both sides of the duality. I was an Episcopalian for many years (and that's still the church I would go to I was gonna go). Atheists might have thought that I was just another fundamentalist Christian -- fundamentalist Christians might have thought I wasn't really a true believer.

This is the "excluded middle" that Greg Bishop talks about. It's a hard road to follow. People misunderstand you on either side of the path. But the middle of a path always has the clearest view, don't you think? Not that you can claim to truly understand what you see -- but your eyes are open to the most possibilities

Very well said!