Well-stated! After all, unless you do your own research--its all just entertainment...
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The 5th Anniversary Show
- Thread starter ALPHA ROMEO UNIFORM
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Hooray! More room in the sandbox!
Okay, for anyone still reading: I think it's fair to criticize Farrell for being unfoundedly loopy, to call him completely wrong, whatever. It's your opinion. I only hope anyone saying that has actually read his books, or at least thumbed through his bibliographies to see where he is getting his information. But to suggest that he is a con-man who is making money off of people's gullibility is a harsh accusation.
First of all, who is making a lot of money in this business? Very few -- and certainly not Farrell, who publishes primarily with Adventures Unlimited Press. You can ask Chris O'Brien about the pay there -- I figure not much. Second of all, have you seen Farrell in videos, or heard him in audio interviews? The guy is like the Wally Cox of esoterica. Okay, there are admittedly many Wally Coxes in this field. He is soft-spoken, he doesn't push his views -- if people disagree with him, he politely states his case. He really was an academic, he taught at the university level -- not his esoteric stuff, but mainstream academic theology. I think he knows the difference between his speculative, revisionist work -- and his mainstream academic work. He really seems like a humble guy who has published an amazing amount of work in esoterica in a relatively short time -- and who is not trying to get famous or develop a coterie of followers.
What he is, however, is extremely interesting -- to me, of course. Basically, I think there are two kinds of books in the paranormal field -- interesting and boring. Kinda like art. You can talk about good or bad, right or wrong (aesthetically), but if it doesn't capture your interest at some subjective...gut level -- you will never bother with it. I recently bought two books -- "The Mothman Prophecies" by John Keel and "Uninvited Guests" by Richard Hall. Guess which one I ripped through in a few hours. And guess which one I think is okay -- I admire the effort and research that went into it -- and I will probably eventually get through most of it -- it's like a textbook or reference book.
So in my original post, I wondered with everyone else: does Ufology have a future. I think if there continue to be writers like John Keel, yes. And if there continue to be researchers like Richard Hall, who you can turn to in more sober moments, after Keel's thrill has subsided.
Okay, for anyone still reading: I think it's fair to criticize Farrell for being unfoundedly loopy, to call him completely wrong, whatever. It's your opinion. I only hope anyone saying that has actually read his books, or at least thumbed through his bibliographies to see where he is getting his information. But to suggest that he is a con-man who is making money off of people's gullibility is a harsh accusation.
First of all, who is making a lot of money in this business? Very few -- and certainly not Farrell, who publishes primarily with Adventures Unlimited Press. You can ask Chris O'Brien about the pay there -- I figure not much. Second of all, have you seen Farrell in videos, or heard him in audio interviews? The guy is like the Wally Cox of esoterica. Okay, there are admittedly many Wally Coxes in this field. He is soft-spoken, he doesn't push his views -- if people disagree with him, he politely states his case. He really was an academic, he taught at the university level -- not his esoteric stuff, but mainstream academic theology. I think he knows the difference between his speculative, revisionist work -- and his mainstream academic work. He really seems like a humble guy who has published an amazing amount of work in esoterica in a relatively short time -- and who is not trying to get famous or develop a coterie of followers.
What he is, however, is extremely interesting -- to me, of course. Basically, I think there are two kinds of books in the paranormal field -- interesting and boring. Kinda like art. You can talk about good or bad, right or wrong (aesthetically), but if it doesn't capture your interest at some subjective...gut level -- you will never bother with it. I recently bought two books -- "The Mothman Prophecies" by John Keel and "Uninvited Guests" by Richard Hall. Guess which one I ripped through in a few hours. And guess which one I think is okay -- I admire the effort and research that went into it -- and I will probably eventually get through most of it -- it's like a textbook or reference book.
So in my original post, I wondered with everyone else: does Ufology have a future. I think if there continue to be writers like John Keel, yes. And if there continue to be researchers like Richard Hall, who you can turn to in more sober moments, after Keel's thrill has subsided.
Kieran
Paranormal Adept
Mr Farrell is what I would call a true skeptic, he has claimed most of the UFO crowd are nuts, and the stories they tell, are so untrue. I do like what he has to put forward because of that.
I have heard him on a number of radio shows, he really does get annoyed, but politely and gently, puts it to the audience straight away, what his theories are/ not what other people think his theories are, and what they believe they should be!!
He says the Nazis never went to the Antarctica region to build a Nazi Base installation!!
He does say U-Boats might have been in the area during World War 2, but that as far as it went in his personal opinion!
He also clearly states some of his research is "Legend" And that three legends exist about the Nazi Saucer Mythos/ but non are confirmed as yet to be an undisputable fact.. He also says some of the War time documents /found on the Web/ said and alleged to be SS Documents with information about Nazis building flying saucers are indeed fake.
He also says Neo-Nazi groups were making these documents, and putting them out there, he figured this out by doing his own personal research. In simple terms the alleged saucer documents were on shaky ground as nothing in the documents from these sources could be collaborated by him!
Mr Farrel does give credence to the fact not blindly though, that the Nazis were interested in designs that were Saucer shaped, because scientists with an Engineering background went on the Record after Germany had lost the war this happened/ true or false it up to each of us to decide to what is the truth here!
Mr Farrel says a genuine blueprint showing a Nazi Saucer design does exist/ and he has looked at it, which he proved to his satisfaction, was authentic, but Farrel does say this blueprint was belonging to Nazi Scientist (he named him can't remember now of the top of my head who he was) The blueprint was only seen after the War has ended not during the War, this is problematic factor in deciding if it is legitmate.
Mr Farrel said also this Nazi Scentist is on the record "Claiming" he worked at Peenemunde, very close to the end of the war, trying to get this design off the ground there, and that between six and seven other Nazi Scentists, have made similar Proclamations, since the war has ended...
The Nazis did not escape on Saucer like craft after World War 2..And go to the Moon
And the Nazis were not Supermen with amazing superpowers!! He clearly states the Nazi human made saucers, would be advanced for their time, but the technology was nothing, as Humans we could not build at the time. The Evidence is pointing to Nazi Saucer having a "Jet Engine" not a Field propulsion engine!!!
And he does not believe what crashed at Roswell is extraterrestrial. In his opinion. It was the testing of something previously designed by Nazi Scientists, but crashed, and there was a cover up of the crash, as it was Nazi Designed technology.
I have no firm opinion on it, but strangely enough. It was only two years after the war had ended, that the Roswell crash allegedly took place.
Mr Farrel primary research is more about NAZI-Bell stuff. Which is far more interesting, to me, as more evidence exists for that project. But still a crude device made by us allegedly, if it existed at all, and outside of Mr Farrel telling us about it.
Nick Cook ( former Aviation Editor of Janes Defence Weekly) a highly respected person in his profession, who had won four Journalist of the year awards, previously from, the Royal Aeronautical society, has himself looked into the legend, and the stories, about the Nazi Bell, and he truly wondered after he finished his research, did it exist, he was very open minded about it, and suggested the Nazi Bell went to America after the war had ended!!
Mr Farrel has an alternative opinion to the Roswell story, and the Bell story, and he does backs up stories with collaborative evidence. I respect that kind of UFO Journalism. Did anything he has claimed happened for real, well I would not be foolish to say No, and foolish to say Yes, but I will never dismiss something, just because Nazis were involved in the story, and that it does not suit my version of learned human history.
There is Four UFO cases in Ufology were I think a Terrestrial explantation (Human Experimental) could be found... Roswell 1947.. Socorro Mexico 1964... Kecksburg UFO incident 1965 and the The Cash-Lundrum UFO incident 1980.. I don't rule out anything because of those cases..
But some of technology seen since 1947/ can't be explained with a Terrestrial explantation, so we are left with very little option, but to consider a nonhuman origin for what people have been witnessing since 1947..
I have heard him on a number of radio shows, he really does get annoyed, but politely and gently, puts it to the audience straight away, what his theories are/ not what other people think his theories are, and what they believe they should be!!
He says the Nazis never went to the Antarctica region to build a Nazi Base installation!!
He does say U-Boats might have been in the area during World War 2, but that as far as it went in his personal opinion!
He also clearly states some of his research is "Legend" And that three legends exist about the Nazi Saucer Mythos/ but non are confirmed as yet to be an undisputable fact.. He also says some of the War time documents /found on the Web/ said and alleged to be SS Documents with information about Nazis building flying saucers are indeed fake.
He also says Neo-Nazi groups were making these documents, and putting them out there, he figured this out by doing his own personal research. In simple terms the alleged saucer documents were on shaky ground as nothing in the documents from these sources could be collaborated by him!
Mr Farrel does give credence to the fact not blindly though, that the Nazis were interested in designs that were Saucer shaped, because scientists with an Engineering background went on the Record after Germany had lost the war this happened/ true or false it up to each of us to decide to what is the truth here!
Mr Farrel says a genuine blueprint showing a Nazi Saucer design does exist/ and he has looked at it, which he proved to his satisfaction, was authentic, but Farrel does say this blueprint was belonging to Nazi Scientist (he named him can't remember now of the top of my head who he was) The blueprint was only seen after the War has ended not during the War, this is problematic factor in deciding if it is legitmate.
Mr Farrel said also this Nazi Scentist is on the record "Claiming" he worked at Peenemunde, very close to the end of the war, trying to get this design off the ground there, and that between six and seven other Nazi Scentists, have made similar Proclamations, since the war has ended...
The Nazis did not escape on Saucer like craft after World War 2..And go to the Moon
And the Nazis were not Supermen with amazing superpowers!! He clearly states the Nazi human made saucers, would be advanced for their time, but the technology was nothing, as Humans we could not build at the time. The Evidence is pointing to Nazi Saucer having a "Jet Engine" not a Field propulsion engine!!!
And he does not believe what crashed at Roswell is extraterrestrial. In his opinion. It was the testing of something previously designed by Nazi Scientists, but crashed, and there was a cover up of the crash, as it was Nazi Designed technology.
I have no firm opinion on it, but strangely enough. It was only two years after the war had ended, that the Roswell crash allegedly took place.
Mr Farrel primary research is more about NAZI-Bell stuff. Which is far more interesting, to me, as more evidence exists for that project. But still a crude device made by us allegedly, if it existed at all, and outside of Mr Farrel telling us about it.
Nick Cook ( former Aviation Editor of Janes Defence Weekly) a highly respected person in his profession, who had won four Journalist of the year awards, previously from, the Royal Aeronautical society, has himself looked into the legend, and the stories, about the Nazi Bell, and he truly wondered after he finished his research, did it exist, he was very open minded about it, and suggested the Nazi Bell went to America after the war had ended!!
Mr Farrel has an alternative opinion to the Roswell story, and the Bell story, and he does backs up stories with collaborative evidence. I respect that kind of UFO Journalism. Did anything he has claimed happened for real, well I would not be foolish to say No, and foolish to say Yes, but I will never dismiss something, just because Nazis were involved in the story, and that it does not suit my version of learned human history.
There is Four UFO cases in Ufology were I think a Terrestrial explantation (Human Experimental) could be found... Roswell 1947.. Socorro Mexico 1964... Kecksburg UFO incident 1965 and the The Cash-Lundrum UFO incident 1980.. I don't rule out anything because of those cases..
But some of technology seen since 1947/ can't be explained with a Terrestrial explantation, so we are left with very little option, but to consider a nonhuman origin for what people have been witnessing since 1947..
I think that is over-the-top harsh Paul. The guy has a PhD from Oxford for christ sake! By the way, have you ever met him? Have you ever read his books? Which ones? Just curious...
Kieran
Paranormal Adept
Mr Farrell clearly stated these stories are mostly legends, and non can be proved beyond all doubt, and to everyone's satisfaction. But honestly how anyone can say he is a charlatan is beyond me. He does not make claims, he can't back up like some characters in this field. I have only touched on a short amount of his work as you said, but if people don't agree with his conclusions that is fine, but come on which is more likely scenario for Roswell a crashed alien Spaceship or testing of something the Nazis were working on towards the end of the Second World War.
CapnG
Devil's Advocate
Just had a chance to listen to the show. Like everyone else I want to offer my heartiest congratulations to the Paracast for five years of solid paranormal programming. At a time when I was in a paranormal daze, this was the show that slapped me across the face and made me pay attention again.
On the subject of UFO conventions I have a few thoughts. I have several illustrator friends who work in the comic book and video game industries and four or five times a year they must jam themselves into crowded hotels halfway across the continent to attend (insert conference name here). They do this for two reasons: 1) To put a face to their work and 2) to make money signing books, doing commisions and so forth. The key element however is that the "conference" is now indistinguishible from the "trade show". The purpose of having one is to entice potential customers and introduce long-time customers to new product.
So what exactly is "new" about the ufo field? Does anyone really want to pay to hear Stan Friedman (charming and erudite as he may be) give the exact same speech that they can watch on three dozen Youtube channels for free? Or stuff about Roswell? Travis Walton? The Hills case? Not likely. I think that UFOs as a subject is therefore simply no longer suited to what the 21st century version of a conference has become. It's tired, it's been done and it has nothing new to offer. As I believe Chris Rock put it: "If ain't new, it's through!"
One other thing (and I can't remember who brought it up) I'm pretty sure "Beast of Yucca Flats" is a Colman Francis picture not Ed Wood.
Anyway, here's to five more years of Para-excellence!
On the subject of UFO conventions I have a few thoughts. I have several illustrator friends who work in the comic book and video game industries and four or five times a year they must jam themselves into crowded hotels halfway across the continent to attend (insert conference name here). They do this for two reasons: 1) To put a face to their work and 2) to make money signing books, doing commisions and so forth. The key element however is that the "conference" is now indistinguishible from the "trade show". The purpose of having one is to entice potential customers and introduce long-time customers to new product.
So what exactly is "new" about the ufo field? Does anyone really want to pay to hear Stan Friedman (charming and erudite as he may be) give the exact same speech that they can watch on three dozen Youtube channels for free? Or stuff about Roswell? Travis Walton? The Hills case? Not likely. I think that UFOs as a subject is therefore simply no longer suited to what the 21st century version of a conference has become. It's tired, it's been done and it has nothing new to offer. As I believe Chris Rock put it: "If ain't new, it's through!"
One other thing (and I can't remember who brought it up) I'm pretty sure "Beast of Yucca Flats" is a Colman Francis picture not Ed Wood.
Anyway, here's to five more years of Para-excellence!