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CSETI- Cutting Edge or . . . Cult?


Decker

Administrator
Staff member
In September 1995, I hosted Dr. Joseph Burks on UFOs Tonite. Dr. Burks was the West Coast Director of the CSETI organization.

In Volume 10, Issue 3 of UFO Magazine, the theme of that issue was "Cults- Cutting Edge or Something Else?" In that article the CSETI organization had been mentioned in passing and .... oh boy did they get pissed off. One of the directors of CSETI began attempting to smear UFO Magazine, my wife Vicki and I by using a Bill Cooper smear. (You'll hear it in the show.) Dr. Burks sent us an 11 page letter and in it challenged us to a debate . . . on Compuserve. I said hell no, I have a radio show, lets debate it there.

That night Dr. Burks came down to the studio, and in studio with me was Vicki, my frequent guest co-host and buddy Dwight Schultz and of course myself. There were FIREWORKS.

Check this blast from the past right here on the Paracast.

Decker

Show Opening
https://www.theparacast.com/darkmatters/DrBurksopening.mp3

Hour 1
https://www.theparacast.com/darkmatters/DrBurks-01.mp3

Hour 2

https://www.theparacast.com/darkmatters/DrBurks-02.mp3
 
'Ambassador trainings' only $995...flights and accommodation not included.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Each training provides the skills for anyone to form their own research team capable of contacting extraterrestrial life forms within the framework of Universal Peace. The foundation of the work is the understanding and experience of remote viewing and remote vectoring of ET spacecraft into a research site. Participants will also train with ET communication systems including lasers and electronics as well as thought interaction with machines. These systems allow ET technologies to interface directly via the framework of universal consciousness, thus negating the limitations of linear time and space. We frequently have very close encounters with ET craft during these trainings and expeditions.[/FONT]

Pen lasers are now 'ET communication systems.' That stack of new age, mumbo jumbo sounds a lot like a cult to me:D

CSETI Ambassador to the Universe and Consciousness Trainings
 
Personality cult. Perhaps the most pathetic and dangerous kind of cult.
 
Oh yes, reading the thread this AM I recalled that Dr. Joe stormed out of the studio immediately after we went off the air. He was pissed. Of course it was Joe who wanted the debate. However .... I ran into Joe a number of years later after he broke with Greer and he didn't seem to harbor any ill will. And so it goes ....

Decker
 
Personality cult. Perhaps the most pathetic and dangerous kind of cult.

I met Greer back in 1993 in Ft Collins, CO and soon after turned down his offer of a free "lifetime membership" to CSETI. I used the Groucho excuse of not wanting to become "…a member of a group that would have me as one." I did, however, become close friends with Shari Adamiak until her death in 1998. As a result of CSETI's early success in the San Luis Valley—where I field-investigated for 10+years—the SLV is now a perennial "ambassadors-to-the-Universe" training site. During the next five years (until 1998) I became a sounding board for Shari's private concerns about the direction of CSETI, the style and visibility of the leadership, and the public perception of Steven Greer. These were her major concerns. I considered Shari to be the rudder of the group—directing the engine—Steven. On a number of occasions (two that I remember distinctly—one in front of George Lamb, Rockefeller's right-hand dude in charge) I reminded Greer that "his message was more important than he was," and suggested that he should consider taking a lower profile role to put the focus firmly on the message and deflect any miss-perceptions that CSETI was an emerging cult of personality. I also suggested that if he didn't he could become the lightening rod for criticism.
I must have been psychic *smirk*

The impression I got in the mid-90s was that the good doctor thought he was the only one that could handle the spotlight and lead the charge for disclosure and contact. On one occasion he became frustrated with my insistence that he should consider a lower profiled role and to silence me, he blurted out "I'VE been on the ships—I KNOW!" I think this statement (like a proverbial picture) speaks volumes. That is the real Steven Greer. His early teenage contact experiences are what apparently drive him.

When Shari passed in '98 I sensed that the good ship CSETI-pop would have major problems without Shari's rudder-like vision and her ability to temper the good doctor's tendencies towards grandstanding and pontificating. I must have been psychic for sadly, these past 11 years have proven this true. The bottom line with his flawed approach is fairly simple: who elected him humankind's ambassador to the Universe, and how can he claim that ETs are totally, 100% benign? I wonder if he ever took my advise and looked into the Colima, Brazil wave of "chulpa" sightings and attacks.

A perfect illustration of Greer's penchant for grandstanding was his infamous "Blanca Gas Attack" story that had to be debunked. Or google who was authorized to release the Rockefeller-funded "Best Available Evidence" document, written by Don Berliner and Antonio Huneuus. Was it Greer/CSETI or was it BGW—Sandy Wright/Bootsey Gailbraith? Comments on either topic paracasters?

Greer will always be his own worst enemy. He has become a cliche in this field of u-fool-ogy. He's a messiah on parade that believes he has been anointed as the only game in town.
 
heaven.gif
 
Neither.

Not demonstrably any further ahead than anyone else, so nowhere near the cutting edge.

Not nearly well organized enough to be a cult.

CSETI is just... sad.
 
I think it was back in 2001 that Greer organized his Disclosure Project event at the National Press Club. He managed to get a number of credible, eloquent witnesses to attend that event.

He also lined up a lovely assortment of wingnuts. The juxtaposition of the two groups made them both look like a bunch of kooks, and I believe most of the media coverage of that event described it in exactly those terms.

I'm always leery of claims that so-and-so is a "disinformation agent" (Exhibit A: John Lear's mutterings about Mr. Biedny....'nuff said). Then again, there are times when one has to wonder. If Phil Klass, for example, wasn't a paid government shill, I'll eat my tin-foil hat.

And I certainly wonder about Greer. His timing was impeccable: Before the NPC event, he was semi-credible, even if he was a bit of a jerk. Afterwards, he evolved into a full-on, carpet-chewing nutbag.

Was the whole point of that exercise to lure in a group of credible witnesses, set them up, and then knock them down? And then afterwards, to inflict additional damage on the field by putting on their crazy hats, hopping up and down, and hooting at anyone unfortunate enough to pay attention?

Greer seems to make a pretty decent living at the messiah thing. Don't you wonder whether, say, the IRS has standing orders to leave him alone while he peddles his crazyware? Or does that sound like a bit of a stretch? Just thinking out loud...
 
The more I think about the CSeti, X-Con, DP guys the more I think it's a straightforward confidence trick...a scam. No 'disinfo' BS, just a long con for no strings cash. Greer's devotion to exopolitics falls way short of vetting spokespeople or checking sources & evidence. How can that be plausible unless his real interest is elsewhere? IMO It's dollars and the Barnum trade-off.

The speakers are mostly circus clowns. The big question is whether people lower down the scheme actually know about it? A good con-artist would keep those cards close to the chest. The best thing about the operation is there's no legitimate cause for sponsors and backers to justify their money back.

He's selling them an imaginary Golden Gate Bridge! Gotta admit, it's working well and we all know that UFOlogy has no conclusions.
 
The best thing about the operation is there's no legitimate cause for sponsors and backers to justify their money back.

He's selling them an imaginary Golden Gate Bridge! Gotta admit, it's working well and we all know that UFOlogy has no conclusions.

I think you hit the nail on the head. If the snake oil some sucker buys doesn't work (or simply poisons them), one can seek legal recourse.

If the same sucker pays for Greer's "educational" garbage and the Saucer People don't show up when called, they're just SOL. It's a fine racket, and there's a jaw-dropping upside for the scam artist. Elron Hubbard certainly proved the point with his shabby little sci-fi scam.
 
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