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Old Guys Arguing


In many ways it's a function of life in the digital era. It's so easy now to blow up minor moments, or get contentious with each other online and create the flare ups. There are other basic threads at play as well. When you look at the history of the debate, or search, to identify critical theories in the field we are still hanging on to older, unresolved themes: Roswell (currently a sliding circus), MJ12, gov't coverup & the saga of the disclosure movement, ETH or not ETH etc. In the age of UFOlogical & illogical blogging everyone has a broadcast point from hardcore debunker to true blue believers. It's easy, with so many voices at play, to get into a fracas. It's more about personality than the event.

And because of this, whether anyone recognizes it or not, it is still the wild, wild west filled with radical outlaws and self-proclaimed sheriffs. There is no real school of critical thought, or direct descendents of James E. - no one can claim authority or provide real direction, as there is no designated, legitmate, connected sphere of critical thought taking place. It's a democratic field day of infighting, camps, supporters and self-destruction. It has, for the most part, become a very sociological study, a discussion of the aftermath of the event as opposed to a critical examination of the phenomenon itself, the "Roswell slides" being a very good example of this.

I would think that most critical discussion is happening in online fragments and in underground groups that are not really sharing publically what they know. Consequently, what you are expressing is a very valid observation. MUFON has Hollywood in its sights and there is little room for boots on the ground investigation. Those agencies that are data driven, as opposed to speculation driven, are given little if any notice.
You've got that right. What actually constitutes the phenomenon are UFO reports over a period of more than 70 years. Applying standard historical methodology to the subject is a reasonable way to begin to understand the problem. See, for example,
 
Tom, do you do podcasts or lectures? I’ve been so impressed with the research on the Minot B52 case you’ve assembled on your site, not to mention impressed by the case itself, that in the past I’ve suggested you to podcasts and conferences as someone I would like to hear speak on the case. Though I don’t know if you even do those sorts of talks.

Loren’s site looks like another great wealth of history to dig into.
 
Can I, as an old boomer, place a complaint about a major aging ufology player, Linda Moulton Howe? She has a YOUTUBE channel and a new show every Wednesday called earthfiles. But she starts almost every show displaying her annoying 2 cats, Fluffy and Stinky Butt, or something like that. Talk about old lady tactics: obsessing on her 2 cats and spending minutes hugging them and talking about them. I find it rather sad. I am glad she has comfort animals, but it gets embarrassing the way she smooches with them on camera week after week. Note: My older sister is also a cat lady, but she has 12 cats. At least Linda is keeping it under control at 2. And Linda has NO SENSE OF HUMOR about her cats. In the comments section, I joked that her cats were shapeshifting Time Lords who control all world finance. She banned me from commenting. Get a life or at least a sense of humor, lady.
 
Speaking of the "elderly statesmen" of ufology, Ivonne Smith (the hypnotherapist) is getting rather old also. I just watched a video of her where she hinted that she needs to retire soon and wished there were younger people involved. But since hypnosis is NOT supposedly a valid tool for memory recovery (a ufology controversy) then perhaps it is for the best that the young and brightest do not want to continue this nefarious practice of regressing people to draw out an abduction scenario.
 
Can I, as an old boomer, place a complaint about a major aging ufology player, Linda Moulton Howe? She has a YOUTUBE channel and a new show every Wednesday called earthfiles. But she starts almost every show displaying her annoying 2 cats, Fluffy and Stinky Butt, or something like that. Talk about old lady tactics: obsessing on her 2 cats and spending minutes hugging them and talking about them. I find it rather sad. I am glad she has comfort animals, but it gets embarrassing the way she smooches with them on camera week after week. Note: My older sister is also a cat lady, but she has 12 cats. At least Linda is keeping it under control at 2. And Linda has NO SENSE OF HUMOR about her cats. In the comments section, I joked that her cats were shapeshifting Time Lords who control all world finance. She banned me from commenting. Get a life or at least a sense of humor, lady.
I have no beef with animal lovers. My wife and I are animal lovers, but Howe's lack of a sense of humor is troubling. We actually made a move to bring her on The Paracast once, but once she realized that, at the time, Chris O'Brien was co-host, she disappeared, so to speak.
 
Speaking of the "elderly statesmen" of ufology, Ivonne Smith (the hypnotherapist) is getting rather old also. I just watched a video of her where she hinted that she needs to retire soon and wished there were younger people involved. But since hypnosis is NOT supposedly a valid tool for memory recovery (a ufology controversy) then perhaps it is for the best that the young and brightest do not want to continue this nefarious practice of regressing people to draw out an abduction scenario.
We've had Kathleen Marden on a few times, and she's a trained hypnotherapist, but I'm still quite concerned about the practice to retrieve alleged hidden memories of an abduction.

Our classic moment, however, came during our October 18, 2015 episode, featuring Dr. David Jacobs. When asked about the danger of asking leading questions during hypnotic regression, he nearly yelled that there "are no leading questions." It was hard to take his investigative techniques seriously after that.

 
We've had Kathleen Marden on a few times, and she's a trained hypnotherapist, but I'm still quite concerned about the practice to retrieve alleged hidden memories of an abduction.

Our classic moment, however, came during our October 18, 2015 episode, featuring Dr. David Jacobs. When asked about the danger of asking leading questions during hypnotic regression, he nearly yelled that there "are no leading questions." It was hard to take his investigative techniques seriously after that.

The rumor mill (a major Fortune 500 company on the NY Stock Exchange) claims that Dr. Jacobs had dementia. I could see this coming because in interviews he said that he had no memory and could not answer questions due to this problem. It was an "uh oh" moment for me since I am a full time caregiver for someone with Alzheimer's disease. So podcasts are a means to escape for awhile.
 
I don't pay attention to rumors. If that's true, I would feel bad for him and he shouldn't be criticized. We should all redouble our efforts to combat a disease that takes people away from their loved ones.
 
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