Deus Ex Machina

[TerraX]

"Deus ex machina is a Latin phrase that is used to describe an unexpected, artificial, or improbable character, device, or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction or drama to resolve a situation or untangle a plot (e.g., having the protagonist wake up and realize it was all a dream, or an angel suddenly appearing to solve problems). The phrase has been extended to refer to any resolution to a story which does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and is so unlikely that it challenges suspension of disbelief, allowing the author to conclude the story with an unlikely, though more palatable, ending. In modern terms the deus ex machina has also come to describe a being, object or event that suddenly appears and solves a seemingly insoluble difficulty (e. g. the cavalry arriving). A classic example of this type of deus ex machina is Homer's Odyssey; a more contemporary example is Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain. The device is a type of twist ending.
The notion of deus ex machina can also be applied to a revelation within a story that a seemingly unrelated sequence of events are joined together by some profound concept. Thus the unexpected and timely intervention is aimed at the meaning of the story rather than a physical event in the plot. This may more accurately be described as a plot twist."

From Wikipedia;
Deus ex machina - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

After hearing the show on the 14th of January with guests Paul Kimball and Jeff Ritzmann, I started to wonder how far we can extend the concept off Deus Ex Machina within ufology.

 

[auntiegrav]

"Deus ex machina is a Latin phrase that is used to describe an unexpected, artificial, or improbable character, device, or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction or drama to resolve a situation or untangle a plot
,snip,
After hearing the show on the 14th of January with guests Paul Kimball and Jeff Ritzmann, I started to wonder how far we can extend the concept off Deus Ex Machina within ufology.

I think that entirely too much time went into that wiki entry you quoted. In truth, Deus ex machina can be translated roughly as 'the ghost is in the machine", remembering that there weren't a lot of mechanisms around in those days, so more accurately, "the ghost is in the machinations". I would also apply it to religion, by saying that "God (as we are taught) is in the rituals and machinations" of perceptions created by the paternally pious.
The UFO stories may turn out to be exactly the opposite: The UFO machinery may be anything BUT a ghost or a god, but rather, the real machinery behind the images presented by people who want to keep those mechanisms secret. In this case, "machina ex deus", for once we find out how to explain the machinery, the ghost no longer exists.

 

[Aaron LeClair]

All I know is a couple video games were called Deus Ex. I played one. Funny, it dealt with Area 51 and aliens. I can't recall the reason for it being titled Deus Ex however. The main character reminded me of the Terminator, but way wimpier.

 

[TerraX]

There are probably more variations to deus ex machina. For example, in Portugese Deus means God. But what I had in mind when I started this thread was not so much the various meanings of the words, I aimed at this reference in the Wikipedia quote.

"The notion of deus ex machina can also be applied to a revelation within a story that a seemingly unrelated sequence of events are joined together by some profound concept."

In the show of the 14th with Paul Kimball and Jeff Ritzmann, both guests point out the variations in perception by people who observe UFOs (sometimes simultaniously). What's behind this? Is it an internal matter of the observant, or is it an external matter belonging to the phenomenon?

Jeff Ritzmann pointed out that some people reported seeing UFOs which looked like the starship Enterprise. David and Jeff themselves mention seeing unusual objects which don't make any sense. Why are some sightings so unusual? What's behind this?

 

[Paul Kimball]

In the show of the 14th with Paul Kimball and Jeff Ritzmann, both guests point out the variations in perception by people who observe UFOs (sometimes simultaniously). What's behind this? Is it an internal matter of the observant, or is it an external matter belonging to the phenomenon?

Internal, and not unique by any means to UFOs. It's part and parcel with witenss testimony in general - different people will see the same thing, but recall it differently, in part or (more rarely) the whole thing.

As an example, when I spent a summer with the RCMP while in law school, we pulled over a driver for impaired driving. At trial, before being called to testify, my recollection was that the car was green; the other officer stated it was blue. I double-checked my notes, and sure enough - it was blue.

That kind of stuff happened all the time. In the case above, it would have been because I was focusing on other things more than the colour of the car, so I noted it, but it didn't stick in my memory. Obviously, it did for the other officer. At the same time, however, there were particular things that I remembered about the incident that he was fuzzy on.

In short, different people perceive an event in different ways, based on what they're looking for, or what they choose to focus on.

Paul

 

[Aaron LeClair]

Jeff Ritzmann pointed out that some people reported seeing UFOs which looked like the starship Enterprise. David and Jeff themselves mention seeing unusual objects which don't make any sense. Why are some sightings so unusual? What's behind this?

I've seen strange things as well. I call the Undetermined Flying Objects. Still UFOs, heh. I have different possible explanations, which one is correct I do not know. At the same time, some of my sightings do not fit in with the commonly associated objects connected with the use of the term UFOs. No, saucers, egg, cylindrical, diamond, or triangular shapes to them.

 

[TerraX]

Internal, and not unique by any means to UFOs. It's part and parcel with witenss testimony in general - different people will see the same thing, but recall it differently, in part or (more rarely) the whole thing.
In short, different people perceive an event in different ways, based on what they're looking for, or what they choose to focus on. Paul

I agree to a large extent Paul although it doesn't fully explain some of the more bizarre sightings/experiences. When a group of people are witness to a car accident you can bet your bottom dollar that the details will be different by each observer, nonetheless all witnesses would record the car accident and not a pink elephant doing a lapdance on a car. With multiple witnesses there's indeed something at the core of the matter.
Having said that Paul, I'm a bit amazed regarding your recent blog entries where you are hung up on the differences in the O'Hare sighting where some people report a spinning object and others don't. You seem to focus on that and disregard the core of the matter which is an unknown and highly unusual object was spotted by several people. Above in the quoted text you concede that observations by persons are an internal matter and can differ, knowing that then why do you make it an obstacle? I don't disagree with you that the sighting should be thoroughly investigated but the 'early debunking approach' isn't helpful either. But from reading some of your material I get the impression that you want to balance matters in your own way.

 

[TerraX]

I've seen strange things as well. I call the Undetermined Flying Objects. Still UFOs, heh. I have different possible explanations, which one is correct I do not know. At the same time, some of my sightings do not fit in with the commonly associated objects connected with the use of the term UFOs. No, saucers, egg, cylindrical, diamond, or triangular shapes to them.

Hell, I've seen quite a bit myself. Just last new years eve I, along with my nephew and sister in law spotted an orange disc. First it was in the sky similar as a star. My nephew pointed it out to me. Then it began to move and zig-zag our way until it passed over our heads and we could see its shape. I estimated it was the size of a basketball about 200 feet up in the sky. In my neck of the woods we celibrate new year with fireworks but that was the damnest fireworks I've ever seen and it was visible for about a minute (normally fireworks blows up rather quickly). Even more weird, my nephew (15 years old) reminded me that during our holiday in Portugal we spotted an orange "star" as well which I whisked away as a normal allbeit unusual star in the nightsky. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

 

[Paul Kimball]

I agree to a large extent Paul although it doesn't fully explain some of the more bizarre sightings/experiences

I agree - and these are the cases truly worth looking at, because of the "high strangeness" value. But they are fairly rare (at least the credible ones are).

Here's an example from my neck of the woods, where the same event was perceived in two different ways that obviously can't be accounted for by the witness perception angle I was discussing:

The Other Side of Truth: Search results for "high strangeness in halifax" styles vallee

Paul

 

[Aaron LeClair]

One of my sightings MAY have been fireworks. Not sure. A large white round light appeared high in the sky suddenly and traveled quickly toward the ground, not at an angle but straight down. It was night time, around 10 pm I think. Only a few sparks came off it, but no sound. No fireworks were going off that night so far as we knew. Fireworks are illegal in my area. People still set them off though, but usually on the 4rth of July and New Years. It wasn't the 4rth or New Years. One impression I got while watching it, or right after, was it was a meteor, but there wasn't a tail and it didn't fall at an angle.

Another sighting I've had, is very hard to describe, BUT I saw daytime video from Gulf Breeze that looked just like what I saw. It was black, but didn't have a actual shape we have a label for. A sea horse shape, or the shape of Africa is the only thing I can think of to describe what it was like, unless you've seen the Gulf Breeze vid. The color (or lack of) the object seemed black. One of the possible explanations I came up with was that it was a kite. The area that someone would have had to be in to fly it looked inaccessible though. Very tall vegetation, fenced off etc. The movement was kite like in the sense it travel slowly downward. It didn't move side to side. This sighting occurred aroun 7 pm in the summer. Clear skies.

I've had several more weird ones. At least weird to me. I might talk about them later.

There has been a current ufo sighting in my city (Charlotte NC) and surrounding areas I'm looking into. This was seen across multiple counties, loads of witnesses, calls into police etc. There's conflicting news reports however. I might make a thread here soon about it. One alleged photo.

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I came across some info. on that Deus Ex video game I mentioned before. The greys were not alien, but a biological experiment in that video game. I never completed it, so I didn't know while playing it