July 19th, 2009 - Christopher O'Brien

[Unky]

I just got finished listening to last Sunday's show and some of the discussion about the SLV rang very familiar. I first heard about Chris O'Brien in the Fall of 1996 when I went to the SLV to visit my mother, whom has coincidentally lived in the Baca Grande since the early 90's. I went and picked up the a copy of the Mysterious Valley from the bookstore in Crestone and read it in about two days. I had only begun researching and reading books about this subject a few months earlier so I was enthusiastic to discuss some of the incidents in the book with my mother and, but she indicated that she found the whole subject of high strangeness in the SLV unnerving and really wasn't comfortable talking about it.

I believe I still have some newspaper clippings from the Eagle around that time containing Chris' stories about animal mutilations. The various times i've been back over the years it seemed that paranormal activity had been on a continuous downslide. I was most recently back in November last year and people seemed less intrigued about it as though much of the enthusiasm surrounding the events had subsided or gone underground.

 

[7 String]

Gene and Dave,

Great show! Chris has so much to offer..... He could be a reoccuring guest each week for the next several months! You guys just touched base on so many things, all of which are 2 hour episode in and of themselves!

At risk of sounding like a "Kook" or being way out in left field with Gene Roddenberry,,, but what if the cattle mutilations were actually experiments with "teleportation"? The theories are there, it's on paper, the problems with it have been spoken of.... One problem thought to be that the when moving an object by teleportation that it would not all go back together in the proper order or things would just not make it through. As far out as that seems, think about it.... 1,700 lb cow found in an Adobe, in the middle of a snowy field with no tracks, on tables? Come on! I realize it's out there but again, it's theory? We talk about time travel, we consider black holes now found, worm holes and dimensionality are becoming more and more plausible...
This could explain the randomness of it all. It's been said that if the government is doing this, why do they have to take farmers stock why not use there own? Maybe they have there own. They use there own as a controlled test. They can DNA sequence and what ever else so that they know exactly what they are moving. The real world test would be to grab animals outside of there test range and see what happens when certain charecteristics are assumed? Helicopters are sent out to said locations to verify transport and report on conditions? We've got shit poppin in and out of our sky, some of it is small some is as big as a frik'n aircraft carrier. There one minute gone the next? What the hell is that? The craft Dave saw and many others as well can't just dissappear,,,can it? Things are getting crazy, and alot of questions are being raised in new directions now. This is very reassuring to a sometimes stagnant field.

LOL,,, well I've said enough
Great show guys!

~A

 

[lachlan]

For those interested there are in fact 3 christopher obrien interviews on mysterioso,for the 2nd you have to go to the Radio4all radio mysterioso site,you can get there from the main site

 

[PhantomAce]

Good show as usual. I found the reccollections when he was six years old very interesting. Particularly the description of the "beings" turning and vanishing "edge on" like a piece of paper. holographic projection? transport?

Chris's involvement in the skinwalker ranch was interesting as well.

 

[Gareth]

7 string: The teleportation thing... thats a pretty fun idea! I could see that as a great story idea for a novel.

"The dark truth of the cattle mutilation phenomenon revealed..."

 

[Double Nought Spy]

Thanks, guys, for having Chris on the show. I have been hoping he would make an appearance, and the result was one of the best I have heard. Near the end, you got into some really interesting stuff, and I thought, "now we are getting somewhere."

The Keel tribute show was also quite good, for a number of reasons. Keep up the good work; the show is the best of its kind that I have found. I have not checked on the forum in some time, but I see some of the regulars are still not housebroken. Maybe I'll participate when the concentration of maladjusted thirteen year olds drops a notch or two.

Thanks, Chris. The Valley is indeed a wonderful place, and your work was the main thing that attracted me to it. I just may end up living there, eventually.

 

[Blacknight]

Is it just me...or did Christopher pretty much develop out of thin air? Has he been remarkably low key and under-the-radar for the last decade or so? Is he just "surfacing" now? Has he been a speaker at any conferences of consequence?

There's such a dearth of capable, interesting personalities in this arena that it's quite peculiar that someone so involved for so long is so little known (again, at least by me). I mean I know about cretins like Morton, Greer, Dames, Sereda, ad nauseam, so I'm stymied by why I never heard even a whisper about Christopher O'Brien before this podcast.

I will say I found him an intriguing and articulate guest. I will also admit to his having registered a few blips on my bullshit radar...just an intuition, which I've come to trust over the years (sometimes to my detriment). Am I alone on this? Does anyone have any solid background on him, something other than what's on his website?

 

[David Biedny]

About Chris and his visibility in the field...

There's a guy I know, he's a Photoshop artist, and it just so happens that he's also the most capable Photoshop expert I've ever met - and I've met a lot of them. This fellow knows more about that program that just about anyone, probably more than any single programmer working on the Photoshop development team, he's a frighteningly smart person. He works for Apple these days, and his name is almost totally unknown in the realm of published, publicized Photoshop authors, experts and instructors. I'd put him up against any of the top names, he runs circles around them. He's one of small handful of Photoshoppers I am humbled by, and almost no one knows who he is.

Take from that what you will.

We totally enjoyed having Chris on the show, and he will certainly be back. I don't get the sense that he's the kind of person to shy away from tough questions, and there's so much more to speak with him about, so fear not, you'll be hearing more from him on Le Paracast.

dB

 

[Double Nought Spy]

As possibly the only one here who has actually met Chris O'Brien, I suppose I should speak up. I have attended exactly two presentations by "UFO researchers" over the years. The first was one of Bill Knell's "seminars" in a midwestern Holiday Inn, at which I paid $10 to listen to a nonstop stream of bullshit for an hour and a half. Of course, at the time I knew that about half of it was bullshit, but time has a way of shining light on that stuff. A few years later, I was at one of the presentations Chris gave at Crestone, Colorado. I had read his first book, and bought a signed copy of his then-new second book at the event. There was no charge for admission, and the book was all he had for sale. Chris turned out to be the polar opposite of Knell. Here was a reasonable, humble person who gave a straightforward, no-baloney talk. Some of the things he said were amazing, but there was no hype, no sign of anything but a curious and intelligent person who was as amazed by it as we were. Being about the same age as Chris, and having the same sort of curiosity and rational mind, it was easy for me to imagine myself in his situation, though I seriously doubt I ever would have written books about it.

I live in rural Colorado myself, and spent quite a lot of time in the San Luis Valley, and I can assure you that if Chris has gained the respect and trust of the locals, then he is anything but a flake. Those hard bitten old ranchers and farmers do not entertain nonsense for one second, if for no other reason than they just don't have the time to waste. Someone like Knell wouldn't last ten minutes there.

As for Chris's "invisibility," it is nothing unusual. I don't recall ever reading anything about Robert Hastings, to take one example, until recently when he had a book out. The field is vast, and I am always "discovering" able and accomplished researchers who have been digging into the mystery for as long as I have been alive. In O'Brien's case, he has not been invisible to everyone, and he took a well earned break from the madness for a few years. I am very glad he is back, and I'm looking forward to reading his new book. His books are top-notch and among the ones I recommend but do not lend.

Do I agree with everything Chris says? Of course not! But anyone who has been anywhere near a dead cow in a pasture on a hot day would be insane not to respect someone who has actually done work on that subject. Even though I have been extremely critical (on other forums) of Linda Howe's recent behavior, I still respect her for her cattle mute work, among other things.

Read O'Brien's books. They answer a lot of the questions I have seen in this thread, and they are well worth the time no matter what one might believe about this stuff. I applaud Chris for taking "the road less traveled" and seeing where the evidence and the connections lead. They lead to some place that's really weird, so take an open mind. It's the only way out of the circles ufology and related fields have been running around in for decades.

 

[Blacknight]

About Chris and his visibility in the field...
I'd put him up against any of the top names, he runs circles around them. He's one of small handful of Photoshoppers I am humbled by, and almost no one knows who he is.

Take from that what you will.

dB

Isn't there a difference between someone who's role is as substantive, "backroom" expert and someone who's role is to (1) investigate and (2) share the results of such investigations? Christopher has apparently written several books about the San Luis Valley and been reasonably public on a very local scale. It doesn't appear he's engaged in his research for its own sake.

I'm simply curious about where's he's been and why he's been so private in a field full of very public participants--many of whom we'd be better off keeping private. If people like Greer and Hoagland find ready forums I would certainly expect that Christopher would have. His stories are a lot more entertaining than theirs, at the least, and he's articulate, quick and poised. In short, where's O'Brien been these last 10 years? He's apparently not new to the "field", but he's sure new to me.

 

[Double Nought Spy]

It's simple, really. Not everybody seeks attention for the sake of being the center of attention. Some of us prefer to work in the background. That's usually where the real work happens anyway, and that's far more interesting than "fame and fortune," at least to some of us.

 

[DVS]

David, I have a suggestion.. I was wondering if the paracast would add sort of a blog or section of the message board where you (or other qualified people) can post opinions of ufo pics and/or footage that has come out. There is some interesting footage out there that seems to never have been scrutinized. Just something that the listeners can reference or ask you questions about.

I like the show, Chris is interesting and a great guest. Just wondering why he doesn't have a lot of footage or carry a camera around more often since he has had so many sightings and is one of those people that just gets lucky with sighting so much.. Although, I haven't look on his site yet, if there is anything like that on it.

Also,this Ray Stanford guy sounds like a good guest..I found this interview with him on Radio Misterioso:

Radio Misterioso Ray Stanford - Part 2

I haven't listened to it yet, thought I'd post the link.

 

[Christopher O'Brien]

Isn't there a difference between someone who's role is as substantive, "backroom" expert and someone who's role is to (1) investigate and (2) share the results of such investigations? Christopher has apparently written several books about the San Luis Valley and been reasonably public on a very local scale. It doesn't appear he's engaged in his research for its own sake.

I'm simply curious about where's he's been and why he's been so private in a field full of very public participants--many of whom we'd be better off keeping private. If people like Greer and Hoagland find ready forums I would certainly expect that Christopher would have. His stories are a lot more entertaining than theirs, at the least, and he's articulate, quick and poised. In short, where's O'Brien been these last 10 years? He's apparently not new to the "field", but he's sure new to me.

In response:
Why have some of you never heard of me before? I'm not surprised, I don't consider this aspect of my work to be a "career" by any stretch. Early on I decided to take a unique approach to investigating the San Luis Valley as an interested amateur investigator. I was inspired by Keel's work in the Pt. Pleasant events of '66-67 and cultural anthropological approaches to field work. My first approach was to put blinders on and only cover the region's unusual activity (i.e., ALL unusual events, societal, meteorological, paranormal, religious etc.) the second approach was to allow the events in the SLV to generate interest in my work, not the other way around. I have never made a call to the media to promote myself or my work. Word of my work has filtered out and generated any and all interest in the public at large. As we know the very act of observing phenomenal events changes them e.g., Hisenberg/Copenhagen Interpretation, so I figured the most efficient approach to maintain as pristine an investigative environment as possible was to let the events themselves generate interest which would then subsequently translate into dissemination of the events out into the public. This is also one of the reasons why I did not attempt to analyze most of the events I investigated that are covered in my first two books.

Having said this, I must admit that I have a real problem with the vast majority of folks in this field who create cults of personality after coming to foregone conclusions with their work. They become invested in these conclusions and then run around attempting to find data that supports these conclusions. Add in the element of self-promotion and (IMO) you have a jumbled mass of pop-cultural mish-mash that limits the quality of our potential understanding of these puzzling subjects.

I hope this clears up any confusion as to who I am and what I'm about.

 

[Christopher O'Brien]

I have quite a bit of video footage and still photographs but mostly of my cattle death investigations. I do have some anomalous object footage that I have taken but I haven't bothered to transfer some of it from High 8mm to digital. You may have seen some of my cattle investigation footage on various TV shows over the years like Sightings, Strange Universe, Inside Edition, Extra, etc., plus overseas on the BBC, Nippon TV…

 

[scottish doug]

i really enjoyed the show,Gene and David do it again,with a guest i would add to my.."people i would have at a dinner party" list. A very interesting man and dedicated,NOT ONLY TO THE TOPIC AT HAND BUT IN blowing the crap factor that took me away from ufology in the past.i.e the celebrity bullcrappers!
i think David was described as the Godzilla of ufology! again i reiterate the man is Morpheus to Genes Neo, they are very likeable guys, SEEMINGLY DEDICATED TO TELLING IT AS IT SHOULD BE TO ALL US NORMAL PEOPLE! and Christopher o brien seems to be cut from the same cloth.

 

[AnnetteMarie]

I liked this episode. Lots.

'nuff said.

 

[Kieran]

I Liked the show, i think chris is very opened minded that is asset in my book not a
liability. I like the trickster theory put forward by chris, even in fairy lore the trickster is a key element.In my culture, The "tuathann de dannann" ( fairy people) were considered to be tricksters who often shaped shifted into animals so to fool people.

The cattle multilations seem to me to be very common in America. I rarely hear of such acts happening in countries in europe even do ufo sightings are happening all over the world.
What is so special about cattle in america could anyone answer that? I am open to correction if it is occuring elsewhere.To me it leads credence to the theory that humans are doing the cattle mulltilations maybe not the public, but i cant say for sure who.

Anyways thanks again for a good show guys.

 

[scottish doug]

IRISH SEEKER, we live in an area of the world with lots of cattle, why have we never had any cattle mutilations? sure we here in Scotland have bonnybridge,famed for a ufo hot spot here in the UK but never a mutilation.
We have had a few sightings along the clyde cost, on some of the islands toward northern ireland, indeed the old RAF base at Machrihanish has been bough by the USAF! AND LOW AND BEHOLD THER HAS BEEN WEIRD LIGHTS SEEN ON THE IRISH SEA AND EVEN A TRIANGLE MENTIONED!

• There was a small and quite secret group of American SEALs (Sea, Air and Land Forces) based there - doing what? They weren’t seen much in the area outside the base.
• The runway at RAF Machrihanish is unusually long at 10,000 ft. The need for this length remains inadequately explained.
• The base contains a mysterious hangar whose function is imperfectly explained: the Gaydon Hangar.

Over the years there have been a number of unexplained sightings of UFOs in the Kintyre area which, added to the truth that the base was indeed used for top secret testing of American aircraft in development and the other facts above, has led to the base being known as ‘Scotland’s Area 51′. The secret American airbase is itself the focus of a lot of UFO sightings.
The wilder theories are that the Americans took secret information on flight evolution from the crashed UFO from which the Roswell aliens were recovered and that this information was used to breed revolutionary military aircraft which, if seen in testing, were thought to be UFOs. And as in Area 51, so in Scotland’s Area 51.

 

[Blacknight]

In response:
Why have some of you never heard of me before? I'm not surprised, I don't consider this aspect of my work to be a "career" by any stretch.

I hope this clears up any confusion as to who I am and what I'm about.

Thanks; it does help. It does, however, beg an obvious question. Have you decided to now take a higher profile?

From everything I've read and heard, this "field" is hardly lucrative; you're as likely as not to lose money pursuing it. So I could certainly understand your hesitation. But, given the rather low threshold for being dubbed an "expert" in paranormal matters I'd expect you'd pretty easily distinguish yourself, especially if you avoid being too committed to an "answer". Certainly it would be good to have a rational and engaging voice. I, for one, have grown very tired of hearing the same old rehashes of the same old cases and the same, tired conclusions. Most of the rather small cadre of "paranormalists" (or whatever they dub themselves) struggle to find anything new to say. They're passing their time and wasting mine. Jump in, please!

 

[scottish doug]

if you are on right now CHRISTOPHER...i thank you.