"UFOs, Conspiracy Theories and the New Age": Ask David G. Robertson

[Gene Steinberg]

The book, UFOs, Conspiracy Theories and the New Age: Millennial Conspiracism, asks, "How-and why- were UFOs so prevalent in both conspiracy theories and the New Age milieu in the post-Cold War period? In this groundbreaking book, David G. Robertson argues that UFOs symbolized an uncertainty about the boundaries between scientific knowledge and other ways of validating knowledge, and thus became part of a shared vocabulary.

"Through historical and ethnographic case studies of three prominent figures-novelist and abductee Whitley Strieber; environmentalist and reptilian proponent David Icke; and David Wilcock, alleged reincarnation of Edgar Cayce-the investigation reveals that millennial conspiracism offers an explanation as to why the prophesied New Age failed to arrive-it was prevented from arriving by malevolent, hidden others. Yet millennial conspiracism constructs a counter-elite, a gnostic third party defined by their special knowledge."

Yes, I realize this book is extremely expensive. One can always hope for a lower cost edition.

We look forward to speaking with David on Thursday, starting at Noon Arizona time for airing this coming weekend.

 

[technomage]

1. As you pointed out in one of your blogs, the term "conspiracy theory" was coined by the CIA to discredit anyone who questioned the official Kennedy assassination theory. Since the term wasn't an honest attempt to represent a concept but was instead designed as a weapon to marginalize opposition to an establishment or mainstream world view, why continue to use it? Should we not deal with each theory on its own merits or come up with an honest term instead?
   
   
2. What constitutes a "conspiracy theory"? For example, in the early forties, you would have been a "conspiracy theorist" if you thought the Nazis had concentration camps, yet this is well established fact today.
   
   
3. Are "conspiracy theories" just limited to private citizens or can governments engage in them as well? For example, governments routinely publish information with no independent confirmation, yet the public is expected to believe them. Would these qualify as "conspiracy theories"?

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Oh, and the author informs me that there will be a paperback edition of the book out next year for $20. I say wait!

 

[EricTheRed]

You write that “There may or may not be spacecraft visiting this planet, but I do not have the faculties to assess that nor is it my principle concern.” This reads, in part, as a rote academic proviso, but I’m wondering if you could step out of your academic shoes for a moment and elaborate on your personal reasoning process relative to whatever stance you take with regard to the ETH as an explanation for UFOs. Do you really find yourself as a perfect agnostic on the topic? Or, is it possible you think there is likely some non-terrestrial reality behind UFOs, but because the phenomenon tends to defeat easy epistemological handholds you prefer the agnostic label, perhaps for simplicity’s sake? In other words, does your academic voice on the ontology of the UFO question differ from your private voice? If so, how?

Whitley Strieber is a contentious figure. There are those that hang on his every word, but there are others who accuse him of being a fabulist and sensationalist, even one who personally has lost track of what’s real and what’s not. You write of his transition from the “physicalist thesis” of UFOs to a “more ambiguous interdimensional and/or supernaturalist one,” which arguably places the UFO phenom. into a place of epistemic protection from falsification, and raises the question of whether Strieber knows something that we don’t and is thus evolving in his thinking, or whether he’s “simply” following in his own psychological tracks, which continuously lead him to ever more fantastic tales once the sparkle dims on the old stories. How do you understand Strieber? Is he a reliable narrator in a modernist rationalist vein, or something else? Is he more subtle investigator or skilled storyteller, a daring yet reliable edge-walker or muddled New Ager?

Are you familiar with the New Age/UFO movement called ‘starseeds’? If so, what have you observed about its current trends and where it might be heading?

Right-wing websites and comment sections are rife with belief in conspiracies alleged to be operating behind climate change, the Obama presidency, LGBT rights, and much else. How much of an influence do you think that David Icke, Jim Marrs and others of a “millennial conspiracist” [Robertson’s term] bent have had in preparing the ground for right-wing conspiracies more generally?

 

[Honey-Pot]

Given that probably most, if not all, UFO and ET Conspiracy Theories have often been experienced and learned by watching our most popular SyFy movies and TV series, then what will be the aftereffects of these conspiracy theories? Does it really matter whether these are real or not anymore? Is this the ultimate objective of the PTB to convert "crucial fictions" into a new reality that is not based on fact but movies and television and Internet media? Is the Human race transitioning to virtual reality to live out most of our waking life and time spent "online" in VR?