Matt Damon to portray Bob Lazar

Yeah, okay...you know it's coming. I'm going to say something unsavory before this post ends. I'm not going to do it on purpose. I'm not aiming to disrespect anyone, but c'mon people! Throw me a bone here. Matt Damon was really itching to play Bob Lazar? Really? Did he read a script that was about anything but the whole story?

I mean, let's just think about it for a second: Bob Lazar (according to..Bob Lazar), worked for S4. S4-Sector 4 sounds like something out of a James Cameron film. It was located near Groom Lake (Area 51). He claims to have seen discs and knows how they travel.

I'm going to admit it, when I was like ---what--- twelve, I believed him. Okay, not believed, but I was fascinated by his story. What kid, totally in love with the idea of life in space wouldn't have found his story fascinating?

So, Atomic Element 15 (the element that Lazar says makes UFO's fly, not the element in Donald Trump's hairspray), supposedly produced effects akin to anti-gravity. But Bob Lazar has been under fire for various things that basically throw his credibility (if he ever had any) under such close scrutiny, Howard the Duck looks more respectable than he does.

Matt Damon is a great actor. Maybe he's looking for an artistic challenge. Personally I would suggest he do a David Mamet movie, but whatever. Actors are a strange lot. Especially the really good ones who make massive amounts of money. Maybe Bob Lazar's story should be told. Because who knows...maybe he is telling the truth.

The 12-year old Tina would have given him the benefit of the doubt.

The Loch Ness Boatster

It could be a monster. It could be a boat. I'm actually curious about the things to the left of the object, or from the viewers perspective, they're at 9 o'clock.

Hm.

The MASS MONSTER MASH cometh!!!

If you're in NEW ENGLAND, or from the neighboring states and thinking of something cool to do this fall, well then come check out the MASS MONSTER MASH!!! Every year the speakers and their topics get better and better. I have been to the TRIPLE M twice so far and it never ceases to amaze me; the people and the research. Everything you've ever wondered about...better yet all the things you thought you knew are covered. From the Bridgewater Triangle to the Ghosts of Rehoboth. This years special guest speakers include Loren Coleman and Nick Redfern (which I forgot to include in my last post, because 'Three Men Seeking Monsters'is still one of my all-time fave books...but I digress). Jeff Belanger (he's really funny), and Christopher Balzano (very knowledgeable) will also present. The always awesome John Horrigan will be host, with special thanks to Tim Binnall for his support in putting together this years event.

There will be refreshments, giveaways, books to buy and people of likemind to mingle with and make connections (the kind of people who will follow you into the dark unknown). Tickets are $25 and available here.

Come join the Dark Side! We have cookies...

The Legendary BUDD HOPKINS @ BOA

Budd Hopkins is part of what I like to call 'the holy trinity of Tina's esoteric madness'. John E Mack and Brad Steiger round out the tail end of my THREE. That's not to say I haven't got more favorites, because I do. Loren Coleman knows I am talking about him. So does Whitley Strieber with whom my fascination is more like 'where does that dude come from'?! But in a GOOD way. And I had/still have the greatest respect for John A. Keel.

When I was a kid, BUDD HOPKINS' 'Intruders', JOHN MACK'S 'Abductions', BRAD STEIGER'S 'Project Blue Book','Star People', and 'Overlords of Atlantis...', WHITLEY STRIEBER'S 'Communion', LOREN COLEMAN'S 'Mysterious America', and JOHN KEEL'S 'The Complete Guide to Mysterious Being's' rounded out my slow decline into the strange and fantastical.

It's a shame though. Because when I look at my list, there isn't a single woman on it. But I am working on that.

Go listen to Tim Binnall asking all the good questions, regarding BUDD HOPKINS life in Art and UFO's... @ BOA AUDIO.

Morning Glory Clouds

These mysterious clouds appear over Burketown, Queensland, Australia, and no one can figure out how they are made...

Fantastic Maps of old

(Courtesy of Dark Roasted Blend)

The World according to Ptolemy:


Sea Serpents figure heavily in old maps...




Giant Squid:



Gods and Angels:

Twisted logic

We've been told that humans came out of Africa so, so long ago. That's fine with me, but for some reason I cannot wrap my head around the fact that some of the most intricate and awe-inspiring ancient structures are found anywhere but. That's not to say Africa doesn't offer some intriguing sites for Archaeologists and enthusiasts alike, but c'mon...do you ever hear about any of it?

There are stone circles and megalithic structures strewn across the landscape of Ireland (we are constantly reminded). There are pyramids in Mexico. South America has some great sites to ponder, as does the Middle East. You always hear about these places. But when it comes to Africa, the closest we get to ingenuity is Egypt. Egypt this and Egypt that. Standing stones and Megaliths of Africa are not well documented at all. You'd have to search long and hard to find any mention of such pursuits in the cradle of humanity.

You have to search long and hard to find info on GREAT ZIMBABWE, or the Kamabai Rock Shelter in Sierra Leone. Perhaps it's not the lack of sites, but the lack of interest. Just imagine the stories Africa has to tell, and no one is listening.

The 4th Kind

The 1st kind: A sighting
The 2nd kind: A landing
The 3rd kind: Contact


and...

The 4th kind:

1n 1972, a scale of measurement was established for alien encounters. When a UFO is sighted, it is called an encounter of the first kind. When evidence is collected, it is known as an encounter of the second kind. When contact is made with extraterrestrials, it is the third kind. The next level, abduction, is the fourth kind. This encounter has been the most difficult to document ... until now.

Structured unlike any film before it, The Fourth Kind is a provocative thriller set in modern-day Nome, Alaska, where-mysteriously since the 1960s-a disproportionate number of the population has been reported missing every year. Despite multiple FBI investigations of the region, the truth has never been discovered.

Here in this remote region, psychologist Dr. Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovovich) began videotaping sessions with traumatized patients and unwittingly discovered some of the most disturbing evidence of alien abduction ever documented.

Using never-before-seen archival footage that is integrated into the film, The Fourth Kind exposes the terrified revelations of multiple witnesses. Their accounts of being visited by alien figures all share disturbingly identical details, the validity of which is investigated throughout the film.

Airships...

Without delving into the whole Ancient Astronaut theory, let's just think for a moment about UFO's. Unidentified Flying Objects. Flying machines and/or unknown animals, who for some reason beyond us, manage to evade our detection. I say 'evade detection' because at the rate in which 'supported' sightings seem to appear, you'd think the skies were teaming with UFO's. And yet, not everyone has noticed them.

For some reason or other, they can manage to travel through our skies, under our seas and from (possibly) planet to planet without a trace of evidence. But back in the 1800's they were a little careless.

The Airship sightings always consisted of an airship, some occupants who may or may not have spoken any number of European languages. Sometimes Russian. They looked like men. They had a knack for handing out baked goods (like the faeries of lore who also liked to hand out cookies or little cakes).

They weren't sneaking up on people in the night, and stealing them away. And if they were, no one was really talking about it. It was as if they took to kidnapping special people in Biblical times and then the 'taking' tapered off.

So it's safe to ASSUME the airship sightings don't come complete with abduction tales. Abductions begin to occur (again), much later. It's a giant jigsaw of schizophrenic alien endeavors. Which leads me to conclude more than one alien race is at work here, and they don't always check up on one another.

"Hey, Zeta Alpha, did you guys happen to abduct some life forms from earth in the passed, oh...I don't know...500 years?"

"Negative, Zeta Beta. We were just chillin' with the natives. They gave us peote. It was nice."

Whatever. Something about all of this is erratic. That is the best way to describe not only UFO's but the entire phenomena. Erratic. Which leads me to conclude there may be a dark agenda at hand. Oh sure, I could be exercising my right as an american to be paranoid. But...think about it...several different races, pulling tricks on humans, like the Trickster or worse, the Devil. The nice little encounters are miniscule compared to the freaky, outlandish, frightening and downright evil encounters.

Erratic, possibly. Ancient, maybe. Evil, definitely.

Weird pic of the day/year/century

MARTIAN MONOLITH

Timothy Good @ BOA

Direct from London, England, venerable UFO researcher Timothy Good joins us for an in-depth discussion on his latest book Need to Know as well as a number of elements of the UFO phenomenon which he has uncovered in his lengthy career investigating the phenomenon.

We'll be discussing the early intelligence conflicts between the US and UK with regards to the Swedish 'Ghost Rockets' wave of the 1930's, Winston Churchill's failed attempts to find out about UFOs from the MoD, the story of Polish biophysicists and their visit to JPL where they saw remains of a dead alien possibly from Roswell, information that Good has received about alien bases located around the world and what their purpose might be, the ongoing, secret conflict between Earth and alien races, stories of retaliation by UFOs against planes that challenged them, the concept of "gradual disclosure" of the UFO phenomenon, the MJ-12 papers, Good's role in their publication and what he really thinks was going on back in the 1980's when they were released, and the state of Ufology in general. Plus, of course, tons and tons more.

It's a thought provoking edition of BoA:Audio with a researcher who has uncovered some truly unique information that may have you taking a second look at the UFO enigma.

Full Preview: We kick things off by finding out how Timothy Good first got interested in the UFO phenomenon. We then talk a bit about how Timothy has had some amazing sources over the years and he reflects on how one works with getting such information, especially bit and pieces over long periods of time.

We then dive into some areas of discussion from Good's latest book Need to Know, beginning with how the US and UK had a rather chilly relationship with regards to UFOs during the 1946's Swedish 'Ghost Rocket' flap. This leads to some discussion on if that relationship changed over time and makes a startling revelation about US control over the UK's nuclear weapons. Timothy goes on to tell us further about Sweden's 'Ghost Rocket' flap of 1946 and why the UFOs probably weren't Soviet V1 rockets. We next talk about Winston Churchill's failed attempts to get UFO information from the UK MOD. This leads to some discussion on the early 1950's "UFO Working Party" in the UK, a precursor, of sorts, to Project Blue Book.

Timothy talks about information he has received about Polish biophysicists who were first tasked with examining a piece of UFO wreckage and were, later, shown parts of a dead alien inside the secret lower levels of JPL in 1977. The story includes some interesting information regarding the blood of these particular aliens. We then cover what Timothy has learned about alien bases being located throughout the world and he shares information he's received since he first published these revelations. This leads to us talking about the aliens, themselves, and Timothy explains how there are different types of aliens with different agenda and histories of dealing with the human race. He talks about what may be the agenda behind the abductions and how there are conflicting perspectives on it, depending on whether you look at it from humans or aliens' point of view.

Segueing from there, we muse about how deeply US interaction with ETs has been over the years, is there a working arrangement, hostility, etc. We then discuss the concept of "Needing to Know" and how that may be seemingly completely arbitrary depending on time and place. We ponder the concept of "gradual disclosure" and how it seems like the process has been almost too gradual. This leads to us finding out what happened between his previous book Unearthly Disclosure and his latest book Need to Know that made him change his mind about how UFO disclosure should unfold. We find out more about the conflict that has been ongoing with the US (and other nations) and the ETs.

We next hear about the W56 group out of Italy, which is a fascinating story of human / ET interaction. Timothy shares stories, as told by Stephano Brecia in the book Mass Contacts, of ETs taking humans to their underground bases, a humorous tale of an ET trying to drive a car, and how the ETs got food for their base in Italy.

Following that, we get Timothy's perspective on what seems to be the changing face of UFOs over the years, from balls of light to cigar shape to saucer shape to black triangles. Timothy shares his advice on how to tell if a UFO is "one of ours or one of theirs." He talks about joint operations between US jets and UFOs as well as information he has received about how extensive the UFO knowledge is inside the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI). We also get Timothy to expand on his statement in Need to Know that he is certain that the Bermuda Triangle phenomenon is involved with UFOs as well as find out his thoughts on a potential Puerto Rico / UFO connection.

This leads to a sidebar about the importance of emphasizing official statements about UFOs from high ranking and highly respected people such as Edgar Mitchell and, more recently, Col. Charles Halt regarding the Bentwaters Incident. We then talk about the popular notion of ETs on the moon and Mars and get Timothy's take on these ideas.

Our conversation then moves further into the 'war' between UFOs and Earth and how it seems like this is one aspect of the phenomenon that Ufology does not want to discuss. This leads to us talking about the ETH and how Timothy endorses it "with qualifications" and challenges the notion of what is "extraterrestrial" if not just something from outside of Earth and, if 'ETs' were here first, then they are not really 'extraterrestrials.'

Moving back into Need to Know, we cover one of the more interesting stories in the book: a richly detailed alien contact story from an Air Force reserve, Sid Patrick, in 1965. Timothy recounts the story with remarkable detail and draw some parallels from the information gained in the Patrick case to the Gary McKinnon revelations. We then briefly talk about the Gary McKinnon case as well.

Next, we discuss Timothy's integral role in the MJ-12 'documents' story and get his opinion on the veracity of the documents and what he thinks was really going on in the mid-1980's when he was given that information. We then discuss who might be at the top of the UFO information pyramid in contemporary times and Timothy shares some surprising names and some expected ones. We then discuss Ufology's public relations problem and, if Timothy had his druthers, where he would like to see Ufology go in the future. This segues into some discussion on how the National Enquirer used to do some great reporting on UFOs, which is ironic given that it has such a terrible reputation. We also get Timothy's take on the 'Obama mania' that is sweeping some circles in Ufology.

We also talk about the media coverage of the UFO phenomenon and how it has seemingly started to improve in the last few years. Timothy also makes a stunning and hilarious revelation about some of the much-ballyhooed UFO files being released by the UK government. Timothy also highlights the positive side of these file dumps, even if the Ufology community isn't getting much of substance from it. Timothy also discusses another element from Need to Know: the ten year study of UFOs by the Soviet military.

Getting back to our discussion on 'gradual' disclosure, we talk about how it may be a generational movement and Timothy shares a story that encapsulates that idea. This segues into some discussion on the religious institutions and how they probably feel about the ET situation and we talk about the Vatican's announcement that it is 'okay' to believe in aliens. We also get Timothy to speculate on where Ufology may be in the next few decades and reflect on how the field seems to have gone off the rails in the last 30 years.

Heading towards the close, we find out what Timothy may be working on for future projects. Right before the close, we also go down a brief side road and talk about Timothy's other work as a professional musician and he talks about recording with Paul McCartney.

Dress codes: Cryptozoology, Ufology, Ghost hunting and Fishing

Loren Coleman recently posted a question on Cryptomundo: "Are there reasons for the way the public sees me and others, or wishes to see cryptozoologists?"

It's a valid question, but as I was reading Coleman's post, all I could think was, "Who gives a shit?" And this was in no way projected toward Loren Coleman (because I adore the man). It was projected at the public-at-large.

I can tell you as someone with a degree in fashion design, what you wear does say a lot about who you are. You are showing the world who you are or what you do, but it's not an accurate portrayal of the person inside. Most of the time, what you wear is a costume.

A theoretical physicist in dungarees is no less a great physicist than the one in a suit. Maybe the one in dungarees is on vacation, or writing a book. Maybe the one in a suit is promoting a book or visiting the white house. Who knows, and who cares?

My point is, yeah...Cryptozoologists sure do wear a lot of hats, but who wouldn't under the beating sun, in the jungle, out in the field...looking for cryptids? It's a uniform because it's essential! Cryptozoologists don't wear suits because they don't find answers in offices.

Now, skeptics do a lot of talking. A majority (but not all), never leave the confines of a warm and cozy building. They talk a lot and they type a lot. They are indoor folk. Indoor folk pay attention to what they wear, especially if they sell books about how much more they know and how nothing exists because they say so. Skeptics are SUITS.

Ufologists, Ghost hunters and Cryptozoologists are adventurers. Adventurers don't play dress up. I would never take an adventurer seriously if he/she didn't have a little dirt under their nails, a sunburn here or there, at least one pair of cargo pants or shorts in their closet and some hiking boots/sneakers.

That is what the public should be aware of. The talkers may look good? But the actual doers look sharp. On and off the field. Just wait till Coleman is in a suit. Shermer and his button ups don't stand a chance.

Is the Large Hadron Collider cursed?

Does anyone believe it was ever going to work in the first place? What if it was all a ruse? They made all these huge claims about what the HC can do, but they had no clue how to make it work, or (of course) what would happen once it did. SO repairs...sound like excuses. It's not going to work. It's an abomination, as awesome a machine (concept?) as it is. It's outcome is unknowable, and that makes it bad mojo.

Decisions will be taken as to whether there are more that need repairing or not within the next couple of weeks, and when we know that, we will be in a position to be a little bit more definitive about what we plan to do for the rest of the year... Essentially what's happening is we're proceeding with extreme caution. We have to be absolutely certain that when we switch on this time, it stays switched on.

The 37 mil in repairs should go to building/designing a better freakin' space shuttle!

Cockamamey, crap, bull...and all the rest

Today Carlos Cotta and Álvaro Morales from the University of Malaga in Spain add another angle to the discussion. One consideration is the speed at which a sufficiently advanced civilization could colonize the galaxy. Various analyses suggest that using spacecraft that travel at a tenth of the speed of light, a colonization wave could take some 50 million years to sweep the galaxy. Others have calculated that it may be closer to 13 billion years, which may explain why we have yet to spot extraterrestrials.

Cotta and Morales take a different tack by studying how automated probes sent ahead of the colonization could explore the galaxy. Obviously, this could advance much faster than the colonization wave front. The scenario involves a civilization sending out eight probes, each equipped with smaller subprobes for studying the regions that the host probe visits.

This is not a new scenario. One previous calculation suggests that in about 300 millions years, those eight probes could explore just 4 percent of the galaxy. The question that Cotta and Morales ask is this: what if several advanced civilizations were exploring the galaxy at the same time? Surely, if enough advanced civilizations were exploring simultaneously, one of their probes would end up visiting the solar system. So that fact we haven't seen one places a limit on how many civilizations can be out there.

Buzz Aldrin and Monoliths on Phobos

Buzz Aldrin is the man. He doesn't make any wild claims. The man says the universe put a monolith on one of the moons of mars. And why not? What is the universe? Who runs the universe? Who or what tells the universe what to do and when? Yeah...sounds ridiculous. But...on second thought...does it really sound that crazy?

Antikythera mechanism much older...

...like...duh!

The mechanism was probably not used for navigation but perhaps served more as a beautiful representation of an ordered, clockwork universe. "Something to elevate the spirit and get closer to God or the true meaning of things," as Marchant put it during a talk at the Royal Institution in London last night.

So what about the new stuff? Research from Prof Alexander Jones of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York, which has yet to be published, suggests that rather than dating from the 1st century BC the Antikythera mechanism may in fact have been constructed in the preceding century.

The new data concerns the four-year Olympiad dial, which has the names of significant Greek games etched into it – Isthmia, Olympia, Nemea, Pythia and Naa (plus one other that hasn't been deciphered). The first four were major games known throughout the ancient world, but the Naa games, held near Dodona in northwest Greece, were a much more provincial affair that would only have been of local interest. "One possibility is that it was made by or for somebody in Naa," said Marchant, who described the clockwork computer on the Guardian's Science Weekly podcast last year.