Advice & Warnings to Investigators: (Includes Chris O'brien's)

[DissectionStalker]

Please offer your ideas and advice including media or "case history" examples, if possible...

Chris O'brien's Advice & Warnings to Investigators:

3-23-14 Interview with Greg Bishop

When a case comes out of nowhere, Chris mentions:

“Be really wary when cases come out of the blue.”

(Example: This happened with Sherman-Skinwalker ranch.)

“Watch out for grandstanding.” “Lusts for publicity.”

(Example: Was there TV news? Sherman? Area residents? Skinwalker? Bigelow? Investigators?)

“Bringing in tv crews [or other media].”

(Example: There was at least one newspaper article that started it all by Sherman (Skinwalker ranch). Balloon boy potential and deep cover, a cover story for Black Ops?)

“I think if you want to be taken seriously as an investigator or researcher you have to look into people's backgrounds.”

(Example: Sherman was co opted immediately with big money by Bigelow and NDA's.)

“As soon as the media gets involved or some other investigator, I stay out of the picture.”

“Try to get a side profile on those involved.”

(Motives, Criminal Possibilities, Financial Reasons, Deep Cover, PSYOPS from different sources, Patsy potential, Covert Designs like Cover Stories, Fronts, Hidden in Plain View, Media Patsies and Co opted Assets, etc.)

“You have to be in a position where your not touting off your theories to the media, bringing in tv crews, and all this.”

“I really shy away from the media and touting these things and being the mystery monger.”

"A lot of these cases can be just media induced hysteria! You have this snowball rolling down the hill effect."

"What happens once the media gets involved it's like throwing gasoline on the fire. [...] It really muddies up the waters and makes it extremely difficult."

 

[Randall]

Interesting idea for a thread. I have a great amount of respect for the amount of experience that @Christopher O'Brien has in the field. My personal field investigations pale in comparison, consisting of informal interviews, casual observations, and skywatching. The rest has been reviewing and analyzing the work recorded by other investigators. There's enough material there alone to keep any student of the subject busy for a lifetime. Here's the first ten things that came to mind. Perhaps we can add more and eventually come up with a "Top 10" list of advice and warnings.

1. Learn the basics of critical thinking and apply it to everything you study or investigate so that you avoid leaping to unsubstantiated conclusions. Helpful link here.
2. Know your basic ufology history with particular attention to serious investigators and classic writers such as Hynek, Hall, Clarke, Swords, Keyhoe, Edwards, Ruppelt
3. Take an introductory astronomy course and/or learn some basic astronomy on your own.
4. Know some basic meteorology with particular attention to cloud types, formation and relative altitudes.
5. Get an encyclopedia of aircraft and learn the basic history of aviation. Do some plane spotting and practice identifying common things in the sky.
6. Consider taking a UFO Investigator's course and join a UFO interest group that takes the subject seriously.
7. Always consider the skeptical alternatives and familiarize yourself with their common arguments and publications.
8. I would not recommend doing solo field investigation. But if you have to, make sure you have a plan and that someone knows where to find it in the event that you run into some kind of trouble.
9. Be confident in public and don't use language that avoids and marginalizes the subject matter or erodes its credibility in the eyes of the public.
10. Observe, read, write, record, refine, and repeat. Try to write something every day, even if it's just as simple as participating here in the forum.

 

[Christopher O'Brien]

Here are some "Suggested Rules of Investigation":
(Taken from my 1996 book The Mysterious Valley)

#1. Controversial subjects generate polarized responses.

#2. Record or write down everything as soon as possible, no matter how inconsequential or insignificant it might seem at the time.

#3. Always credit your sources and respect requests for anonymity.

#4. Always be ready for anything, anytime. Look for coincidences. Often, there may be synchronistic elements at work.

#5. It is impossible to be too objective when scientifically investigating claims of the unusual.

#6. Always assume there is a mundane explanation until proven extraordinary.

#7. Appearances can be deceiving. There may be more happening than meets the eye.

#8. If you publicize claims of the unusual, choose your words wisely, for your “spin” may have tremendous influence.

#9. Media coverage of the unusual, because of its sensational nature, is often inaccurate and cannot be accepted as totally accurate.

#10. The human mind, when faced with the unknown, reverts to basic primal symbols to rationalize its experience.

#11. When investigating claims of the unusual, one cannot reach conclusions based on intuition alone.

#12. There is a possibility that the (sub)culture itself may co-create manifestations of unexplained, individually perceived phenomena.


#13. You should be careful not to perpetrate your own beliefs and suspicions into your coverage of unusual events.

 

[Fedora Chronicles]

Guidelines for Exploring from my own experiences.

Every Hike Practices

1. Clothes and Boots: Be comfortable – wear clothes that will make your journey on foot as easy and carefree as possible. Wear boots that are already broken in, bring an extra pair of socks, and clothes will not constrict your movements. Tight jeans are a no-no… I don’t care how cool you think you look.

2. Gear: Be responsible for yourself by bringing your own…

· Packs and bags

· Food

· Water

· Clothing

· Toiletries

· First Aid & Bug Spray

· Flashlights and batteries

· Cellphone and/or two-way communication devices with the group

· Map, Compass and/or GPS

· Camera

· Whatever else you want or need.

Do not trust or depend on the generosity of others, especial with people you are not acquainted with.

3. Maps: Everyone MUST familiarize themselves with the map and the location of where they’re going… none of this “Oh, I’ll just leave it to dad/my husband/leader.” Know where you’re going, the trails you’re going to take, the destination and the time everyone thinks it’s going to take to get there. Be sure you set up a contingency plan – perfect example is that if there’s more than one entrance into the state park where you’re going to be hiking than maybe you should park one of your cars there.

4. Know how to use your equipment before you go! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve hiked with someone who just bought a brand new gadget and thought this hiking trip would be a great way to break it in and learn how to use it. There’s nothing more annoying than having stop every time someone says “wait… let me figure out how to do this.”

5. Take your own pictures with your own camera and don’t annoy the people you’re with by asking “can you take a picture of that for me” more than once.

6. Only hike with people you trust.

Excursions into Danger Zones “No Trespassing” Areas.
1. Lighten Your Load: Don’t wear or bring things you’re not willing to lose if they get confiscated or you need to ditch them to make a quick escape. Don’t bring your favorite backpack with sentimental attachments if you think there might be a reason why you might need to lighten your load to make a faster get-away.

2. Bring your own Gear: Revisit Number 2 from above – do you really need what you want to bring? When exploring Danger Zones only bring what you need! If you’re going to take notes, leave your journal and diary at home and take notes on a fresh note pad. Again – don’t take anything you can’t afford to lose. Be sure to have your own map, flashlight, water, snacks…

3. Know Your Maps: Repeat of number three on the list above especially if you’re going into ‘danger zones.’ You MUST be well versed in the map of the area where’re you’re going and know the details of the planned trip. Where are you going in, where’s your exit, how long is the group planning on staying in the area and what are the goals. Even if the goal is “seeing some weird shit” know the plan.

· What’s the history of the area?

· Is there more than one way in and out.

· What’s YOUR escape plan in case something goes south?

4. Flashlights -Learn not to point your flashlight at the people you’re hiking with – that’s an easy way to get punched, slapped, shot at, shot, picked up, caught, captured, arrested or even raped.

5. Camera: If you’re going to bring a camera into danger zones, know the consequences of what’s going to happen if you get caught – they will either take the film or destroy the camera.

6. Re-evaluate bringing your ID and you are every-day wallet. It might be best to leave it at home and bring an alternative wallet with cash and only one credit/debit card.

7. Let someone know where you’re going – Yes, even if you’re trespassing and going into danger zones. Let someone know what time they should expect you back.

 

[E. L. Wisty]

Excuse me, but some of this advice is drifting into the realm of gibbering insanity! Regarding Fedora Chronicle's "Excretions Into Danger Zones" (I think the word you're looking for might be "Excursions", though if some of the hazards you mention really are a regular occurrence for you, I wouldn't be at all surprised if, while you're inside these "Danger Zones", things sometimes come out of you that ideally shouldn't if you aren't sitting on the toilet), apparently this is a practical piece of advice that all amateur UFO investigators should heed:

Learn not to point your flashlight at the people you’re hiking with – that’s an easy way to get punched, slapped, shot at, shot, picked up, caught, captured, arrested or even raped.

Remind me never, ever to go for an excretion with Fedora Chronicles and his heavily-armed trigger-happy rapist psycho buddies! If accidentally pointing a flashlight at personal friends who agreed to go for a walk in the woods with you may result in your being shot or raped, maybe you need to address issues that have absolutely nothing to do with UFOs. Just saying...

Anyway. I personally know people who assumed for no particular reason other than paranoia (one of them was suffering from a serious mental illness at the time) that any part of the UK which the British Army excluded the general public from must be a secret UFO base. So they disregarded large red warning-signs explaining that it was both illegal and dangerous to enter a certain clearly marked area where live-fire exercises might be taking place, and were genuinely surprised to be arrested by special forces who were extremely angry to have their training interrupted, and who interrogated them not very pleasantly for two days because they didn't believe that anybody could be daft enough to enter the area in the hope of meeting space-aliens, so they were probably terrorists with an incredibly bad cover-story.

In a nutshell: whichever country you're in, if you encounter a fence beyond which it is both illegal and dangerous to go, it's a good idea to assume that it probably isn't secret code for the presence of space-aliens, and furthermore, if the army straight up tells you that you shouldn't be in a certain place because they're firing live ammunition at it, if you disregard the warning and blunder into it anyway, you may die. And if you don't, the soldiers you will inevitably meet won't be terribly pleased to see you.

 

[Fedora Chronicles]

Ha ha! Good for you! You win a Gold Star for the week.

I can laugh at my mistakes; I don’t dare take myself too seriously and I genuinely worry about those who do. I love Auto-Correct – it’s like the “Ghost In The Machine” playing pranks on me on purpose.

The list I posted above (and corrected thanks to you…) is free of charge and you can either enjoy or ignore it as you see fit. I don’t remember carving it in stone but those are my rules to live by thanks to my own experience.

I’m the first to admit that I’ve been a very naughty boy – I’m not a choir boy or cub scout who always follows the rules – in my reckless youth the best way to get me to do something is to forbid me to do it. Put up a “No Trespassing” sign and that night I’ll be looking for gaps in your fence.

Now, as for my rule about flashlights – I part company with clowns who will be standing in the middle of an area where we’re not supposed to be while shining flashlights at each other. If you’re where you’re not supposed to be that’s just helping the people trying to find you.

Also, that’s just rude if you’re hiking in the middle of the night and someone is shining a light in your face after your eyes have adapted to the dark. Now, in the off chance you’re ever on a hike with me (and you have a better chance winning the lottery at this point in time…) and you do shine your flashlight at me for too long while we’re in a danger zone… I will take it from you and give it back to you when we are done.

Furthermore on my rule about flashlights: “Learn not to point your flashlight at the people you’re hiking with – that’s an easy way to get punched, slapped, shot at, shot, picked up, caught, captured, arrested or even raped…” I should have made this clearer, old sport… those actions won’t be taken by me but by the people looking for you after you’ve trespassed. Geeze… None of my heavily-armed trigger-happy psycho buddies are rapists… that I know of.

I’ll say this, though – Guns are a huge no-no. If you’re going into a danger zone armed you’re asking for tragedy. That’s not a joke.

To summarize; in my experience – bad things happen to people who get caught where they’re not allowed to be. There’s nothing worse than stumbling upon people doing questionable behavior out in the middle of the woods and wonder what they’re going to do if they catch you.

Then again, there’s no greater thrill almost getting caught and making a get-away.

 

[Fedora Chronicles]

“Anyway. I personally know people who assumed for no particular reason other than paranoia (one of them was suffering from a serious mental illness at the time) that any part of the UK which the British Army excluded the general public from must be a secret UFO base. So they disregarded large red warning-signs explaining that it was both illegal and dangerous to enter a certain clearly marked area where live-fire exercises might be taking place, and were genuinely surprised to be arrested by special forces who were extremely angry to have their training interrupted, and who interrogated them not very pleasantly for two days because they didn't believe that anybody could be daft enough to enter the area in the hope of meeting space-aliens, so they were probably terrorists with an incredibly bad cover-story.”

Here’s my take on that anecdote: 15 or 20 years ago I would have done the same thing. Does that mean others should, too?

I think the phrase “Don’t Try This At Home” comes to mind.

I just posted a link on The Electric Speakeasy about this guy who runs a tourist company and accidently drove into Area 51 and the consequences weren’t funny. Since 9/11/2001 and The Patriot Act here in The States “they” have an excuse to detain you indefinitely. They can hold you for as long as they want and make an example of you then put you into a black hole you might never come out.

It’s a totally new game with tougher rules and harsher consequences, troops.

 

[PCarr]

Here are some "Suggested Rules of Investigation":
(Taken from my 1996 book The Mysterious Valley)

#1. Controversial subjects generate polarized responses.

#2. Record or write down everything as soon as possible, no matter how inconsequential or insignificant it might seem at the time.

#3. Always credit your sources and respect requests for anonymity.

#4. Always be ready for anything, anytime. Look for coincidences. Often, there may be synchronistic elements at work.

#5. It is impossible to be too objective when scientifically investigating claims of the unusual.

#6. Always assume there is a mundane explanation until proven extraordinary.

#7. Appearances can be deceiving. There may be more happening than meets the eye.

#8. If you publicize claims of the unusual, choose your words wisely, for your “spin” may have tremendous influence.

#9. Media coverage of the unusual, because of its sensational nature, is often inaccurate and cannot be accepted as totally accurate.

#10. The human mind, when faced with the unknown, reverts to basic primal symbols to rationalize its experience.

#11. When investigating claims of the unusual, one cannot reach conclusions based on intuition alone.

#12. There is a possibility that the (sub)culture itself may co-create manifestations of unexplained, individually perceived phenomena.


#13. You should be careful not to perpetrate your own beliefs and suspicions into your coverage of unusual events.

Not sure I understand #12, but good things to keep in mind in general.

 

[Wade]

if you're going on an investigation don't forget to bring your patience and a good book or perhaps a suduko or 2048 puzzle game.

Also it helps if you bring someone with a penchant for telling most excellent tall tales at the campfire or at a tavern.

 

[DissectionStalker]

EXPOSING AND REVEALING INVISIBLE OBJECTS OR UFO'S

As far as some of the cloaking or missing images go, you might capture images by using one of these two methods.

1) You should have a film (not digital) camera with very high shutter speed 1/2000th or 1/1000th and highest ASA/ISO in Black and White. (Tri-X 400 ASA can be pushed to 1200 ASA if you develop it in a developer called Acufine, but you have to shoot the whole roll at 1200 or 400 ASA. The highest ISO black and white film at this time is T-Max 3200 and as you can guess, its sensitivity is 3200 ISO.)

This will work in the daytime at highest shutter speed and will work at night with high-power flash or high-power spot light if object is within range.

The idea of the high shutter speed is that it "uncloaks" the hidden objects. This was PROVEN to work by Gabe Valdez and Bennewitz with hidden UFO's in the Sky. The theory is the cloaked objects resonate at a high frequency perhaps by using "light flicker rates" and sometimes the high shutter speed can capture the "invisible" object(s) at the precise frequency of resonance and "uncloak" its camouflaged light blending on a point or instance of exposed "flicker" that the Human brain can never see or a slow speed camera can't capture.

Bennewitz found that just shooting pictures randomly of the Sky IN A HOT SPOT AREA revealed hidden UFO's including Cloaked Military Aerial Objects!!! That was back in the late '70's and early '80's too, so these cloaking technologies have been around at least that long ago.

Do not use a battery powered camera to avoid the usual "doesn't work" when these "paranormal events" disable these.

2) There might be a way to protect a camera with electromagnetic and microwave shielding too. I bet if you had a special housing, then you might be able to shield the camera from such effects. That might even protect a battery powered and/or digital camera too! Seriously!

 

[manxman]

Bennewitz found that just shooting pictures randomly of the Sky IN A HOT SPOT AREA revealed hidden UFO's including Cloaked Military Aerial Objects!!! That was back in the late '70's and early '80's too, so these cloaking technologies have been around at least that long ago.



Any pic's of the UFO's/Object's he captured.

 

[DissectionStalker]

Any pic's of the UFO's/Object's he captured.

Chris Lambright got some directly from Bennewitz, but these were nighttime and not high shutter speed.

Gabe Valdez's son Greg I think has a picture(s) of what Bennewitz (maybe Gabe) photographed that was military. But, I don't know if any came directly from Bennewitz as originals. He probably has some.

One thing I know for sure... some were "stolen" or "taken back" by someone at Los Alamos Labs that did some enlargement photos for Bennewitz. These were classified aeral objects or prototypes, and so the photos were confiscated with probably the damn negatives too!!! They were not so "smart" to have done that with Los Alamos. Foolish! My guess is that the Bennewitz family and Valdez's son will have some for sure.

The point is... THIS TECHNIQUE WORKS for "capturing" some cloaking technologies. There is a real scientific basis for why this works too! This is not BS.

 

[manxman]

The point is... THIS TECHNIQUE WORKS for "capturing" some cloaking technologies. There is a real scientific basis for why this works too! This is not BS.

I dunno about it being true m8, i havent seen any of this stuff on youtube.

 

[DissectionStalker]

The point is... THIS TECHNIQUE WORKS for "capturing" some cloaking technologies. There is a real scientific basis for why this works too! This is not BS.

I dunno about it being true m8, i havent seen any of this stuff on youtube.

Youtube = Truth ???

Lambright has at least some of these Bennewitz nighttime pictures online. I've seen these myself, but this is likely Orb technology, or Helicopter-like MODIFIED craft, and/or light-air craft ALL disguised as various UFO's for NIGHT operation only!

I believe Greg Valdez has at least one picture in his book of the top secret aircraft that was "captured". Bottom line: All photos are second-hand information, and I sure as hell trust Gabe/Greg Valdez before I'll trust ANY UFO person. UFO people are blinded by some bias, great or small, but those two policemen are neutral about it. I choose to believe Gabe, period, regarding how these photos were captured and existed too. I think Greg 'may' have some Bennewitz pics too. You can contact him, or get his book to find out.

Bennewitz could definitely "imagine" things were in his photos ON THE GROUND at Dulce that other people could not see, so we have to rely on Valdez and Lambright for what was/is actually REAL -not imagined.

 

[Pigsinzen]

Interesting idea for a thread. I have a great amount of respect for the amount of experience that @Christopher O'Brien has in the field. My personal field investigations pale in comparison, consisting of informal interviews, casual observations, and skywatching. The rest has been reviewing and analyzing the work recorded by other investigators. There's enough material there alone to keep any student of the subject busy for a lifetime. Here's the first ten things that came to mind. Perhaps we can add more and eventually come up with a "Top 10" list of advice and warnings.

1. Learn the basics of critical thinking and apply it to everything you study or investigate so that you avoid leaping to unsubstantiated conclusions. Helpful link here.
2. Know your basic ufology history with particular attention to serious investigators and classic writers such as Hynek, Hall, Clarke, Swords, Keyhoe, Edwards, Ruppelt
3. Take an introductory astronomy course and/or learn some basic astronomy on your own.
4. Know some basic meteorology with particular attention to cloud types, formation and relative altitudes.
5. Get an encyclopedia of aircraft and learn the basic history of aviation. Do some plane spotting and practice identifying common things in the sky.
6. Consider taking a UFO Investigator's course and join a UFO interest group that takes the subject seriously.
7. Always consider the skeptical alternatives and familiarize yourself with their common arguments and publications.
8. I would not recommend doing solo field investigation. But if you have to, make sure you have a plan and that someone knows where to find it in the event that you run into some kind of trouble.
9. Be confident in public and don't use language that avoids and marginalizes the subject matter or erodes its credibility in the eyes of the public.
10. Observe, read, write, record, refine, and repeat. Try to write something every day, even if it's just as simple as participating here in the forum.

Thank you for the suggestions. I'm curious why you left Vallee out of your list of classic UFO authors?

 

[Randall]

Thank you for the suggestions. I'm curious why you left Vallee out of your list of classic UFO authors?

Vallée is an icon in ufology history and he was not left out intentionally. It's just that with so many authors, the ones I included are the ones who first came to mind as the most grounded. That's not to suggest that Vallée hasn't done some very grounded work ( he has ), but he's also tended to drift off into myth and exotic theories like the Extradimensional Hypothesis ( EDH ), which although interesting to ponder, aren't ideas that I take as seriously as others.

 

[Pigsinzen]

Vallée is an icon in ufology history and he was not left out intentionally. It's just that with so many authors, the ones I included are the ones who first came to mind as the most grounded. That's not to suggest that Vallée hasn't done some very grounded work ( he has ), but he's also tended to drift off into myth and exotic theories like the Extradimensional Hypothesis ( EDH ), which although interesting to ponder, aren't ideas that I take as seriously as others.

I was just curious. I heard Jerome Clarke say once on an episode of the Paracast that he didn't agree with some of his research which made me curious as to why? Vallee's theories are provocative and I can appreciate researchers that do not tow the party line. That doesn't always mean that I agree with all of his way of thinking. I do think he approaches the topic with an appropriate degree of humility. This is an amazing topic! I appreciate you taking the time to elaborate.