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January 6, 2019 — Yovav Gad


Gene Steinberg

Forum Super Hero
Staff member
Sometimes a guest will surprise us in a positive way, sometimes the surprise is disappointing, and sometimes the surprise is something that we couldn't possibly expect.

I'll let the listener decide in which category this episode fits.

Randall and I also talk about it more on this weekend's episode of After The Paracast, an exclusive feature of The Paracast+.

For more details on our subscription service, please visit: Introducing The Paracast+ | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio
 
I agree with DavidVincent that Yovav is clueless. He didn't even know what To The Stars Academy is, which practically disqualifies him as a ufologist.

As for coding his own website, that looks to have been a mistake. His website stinks! If he had gone with ready made platforms he could have customzed it without putting in so much effort.
 
I’m 20 minutes in. Will Gene be saying anything or is Randall doing all the heavy lifting with this guy?

So far, man, Randall, you may be the hardest working man in paranormal radio carrying this interview!
 
I signed up recently to find out what was happening these days in the world of ufology ...
Thanks for the comments. Like I say someplace on one of the shows: The reason I felt like inviting Yovav onto the show is because the spirit of what he's doing is constructive, and he actually did it. Plus I like the idea of interviewing people who aren't necessarily on the A List UFO lecture circuit, including people from our forum. I also like to have a positive influence on the field, and this was an opportunity to help someone out at a fairly early stage in the development of their project, and then see how it evolves over time.
 
Ok I’ve since taken a look at that website and I’m sorry but, not to put a finer word to it, it’s shit. Am I missing something here?? I’ve been out in the ufo wilderness for a long time now, but to my mind this can’t be considered research/progress - really?? I seems to be patchwork of stories taken from the internet (some pretty damn whacky) interspersed with article postings by this one guy who has absolutely no creditials or first hand experience. How does this advance the field in any way?
Can somebody please tell me where the modern day equivalents of Vallee and Hynek are? Surely we want to hear from the ufological equivalent of giants not pygmies ?? Are there any?
I think your viewpoint fails to take into account that there are more positive ways to look at the situation. If someone has something to contribute, then people are free to go there and do so. This means the quality of the content is up to the contributors. So if the ufology community doesn't utilize it as a resource and contribute to it in a positive way, who have they really got to blame? Not Yovav. He seems to have done his level best to provide a free platform for reporting.
 
Maybe it's time to retreat back into that ufological wilderness once more and check back in another 20 years or so?
I'd like to hear more about your history. You sound like an interesting character, and your handle "David Vincent" is a classic. Also I'd like you to know it's not all doom and gloom in ufology, and encourage you to be part of that by attempting to be a little more balanced in your comments. If you see a problem or are in some way disappointed, then think of a way to improve it or help improve it yourself. Find something good in it. I did, so it can't be all that hard.
 
I agree with DavidVincent that Yovav is clueless. He didn't even know what To The Stars Academy is, which practically disqualifies him as a ufologist.

As for coding his own website, that looks to have been a mistake. His website stinks! If he had gone with ready made platforms he could have customzed it without putting in so much effort.
Still, the idea to create a cost free portal for freelance UFO reporters and ufologists is well intentioned. I've also seen worse sites, and sites can evolve with the right help. Like I said someplace on the show. Let's see where's he's at with it in five years. Personally, I hope that it works out and turns into something that everyone here would agree has been a worthwhile effort. I also hope nobody here is wishing any I'll on Yovav. Doesn't anyone else besides me have some friendly advice and constructive criticism?
 
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Aw. That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me.
You (and Gene) were swimming against the tide on this one and you performed admirably :)

As for constructive criticism, I would tell Yovav that:
  • There's a good idea for a site in this, somewhere. Keep at it!
  • "providing sources" has to be more than just the writer telling the reader where they found their outlandish story.
  • I like the reader voting idea with regard to a story's credibility, but how do you avoid the blind leading the blind?
  • Maybe a tighter focus would be good--there's a lot of general "all the UFO/Weird Science" news places around. Reddit already has the upvoting/downvoting thing. What would make you stand out?
As for other good places to discuss current UFO news, I wish I had some insight. Most of my interest is in UFO history rather than the seemingly endless churn of current revelations and hot takes. Speaking of which, Greg Bishop and Adam Gorightly have a new book on Contactee history called A is for Adamski that just came out and I think it would be great to have them on the show!
 
But I imagine that any site, even if run as a hobby, must have certain ongoing expenses that need to be recovered and ads are maybe a necessary annoyance to put up with. Do all those other sites run similar ads?
To clarify: Our agreement with GCN is strictly barter. We share commercial opportunities, and the more we sell, the more money we get. Alas, without sales help, we haven't done well in that score, except on rare occasions. If we did, there'd be plenty of money to provide a decent middle class lifestyle.

I always welcome applicants.
 
ok I think the penny's dropped for me now, and was probably the reason I originally exited the field 20 years ago. There was mention just now of the "ufo community" - it's just a hobby really, a club, almost maybe a religion/cult isn't it (with all of its various beliefs and infighting squabbles) ? And for some people a nice income stream/ego trip? And the very last thing it wants to do is to actually solve the mystery - it just wants to perpetuate itself.
Maybe I will check back in another 20 :)
If it's solved, there will be plenty more mysteries to cover. But at my advanced age, I have little confidence there will be any solutions anytime soon.
 
Checking back in after 20 yrs expecting everyone but yourself to advance the subject is frankly lazy....that is the actual problem with Ufology today. I speak only for myself but the Paracast continues to give me exciting new information with a balance of the nostalgia. There are those of us who are trying to move the ball, the world is more complex, and so is the phenomena than we once knew, in fact so different that I would call the current ufology movement has advanced beyond expectations, unfortunately, the subject, fakes, and research got more complicated, not simpler, more questions than answers...which should be expected for such an incredible subject/field.

Every case is this field needs a follow-up investigation...pick one and get back to us after you have something to report, if it takes another 20 years, fine, we will be here.
 
I've no desire to be an active participant/researcher myself, I just had a certain passive interest in/knowledge of the subject some decades ago. I was curious to see how matters may have progressed (or not - as appears to the case) since, and those were just my observations and personal opinions. I don't think (again my opinion) that any amateur/hobbyist undertakings are going to advance matters any further in the next 20 years no matter how much old cases are picked over, but obviously people are entirely free to do so. It also seems that mainstream science is still not prepared to enter the field to any great extent, so nothing has changed really? - still no tangible proof.
Have you checked out these guys? The Scientific Coalition for Ufology
 
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