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Philip J. Imbrogno withdrawing from paranormal research!

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first of all I think it's good that the truth came out after all. I applaude Lance for dealing with it with all the respect a situation like this deserves...what I don't like is that the paracast forum is turning into a phil imbrogno bashing forum. If you liked the guy before and respected him for his work you should give him at least the benefit of doubt that he was not lying about everything he researched. vanity is a bad habit but nothing uncommon. everybody with clear conscience step up, please.. ;) yes, I am terribly disappointed. I contacted Phil some months ago on facebook and asked him some questions about his take on the difference between djinn and demons. I told that I am doing research for a script I am planning to write and this question should be an integral part of the story. Phil was very kind and very honest and told me that he personally believes that both are different entities but that he didn't have any definite proof. He never tried to "sell" me his opinion and was very professional. Am I disappointed? Hell yes! what a stupid thing on his part... his vanity destroyed his credibility (as you guys are living proof), his reputation and his career... stupid, stupid, stupid...but I will always remember that I really enjoyed his public appearances no matter whether on the paracast, dmr or other shows. as someone mentioned earlier it was always interesting listening to him and his appearances on the paracast were some of the best shows ever... imho...peace..ps: chris, do you know what rosemary's take on the whole situation is? will "multidimensional portals" be published under her name only or is the whole project cancelled?
 
Beltemps said:
If you liked the guy before and respected him for his work you should give him at least the benefit of doubt that he was not lying about everything he researched.
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Why is that? The respect was unwarranted. He was already extended the benefit of the doubt for decades was he not?

This illustrates one of the reasons why paranormal research has never risen above the status of the carnival sideshow. When hoaxers, liars, and confidence men are exposed as such, the desire to believe is so great in a percentage of the audience that they think they can pick out the gems and leave out the dross. It simply doesn't work that way. We couldn't tell Phil was misrepresenting his educational credentials last week but this week we think we can tell the bullshit from the truth? Really? I for one cannot.

In his last few interviews Phil mentioned designing special instruments to detect portals and so forth. Is anyone hanging on to some hope against hope that he was shooting straight with that business?

This incident is going to be a big reveal for some folks. The scales should fall from many eyes, but will they? What a missed opportunity if that is not the case.

Giving Phil the benefit of the doubt in regards to anything at this point is a bit like offering up your other leg to get pissed on after you've just discovered it wasn't raining after all.

I would love to hear Phil's explanation of how this is all a big mistake and Imbrogno is just a pen name or some such. I'd be much happier if this wasn't just the 19th nervous breakdown in Ufology. But am I going to ignore it and say, "Thank you sir, can I have another?" I don't think so. No thanks.
 
trainedobserver said:
Why is that? The respect was unwarranted. He was already extended the benefit of the doubt for decades was he not?
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In any research or scientific field, if an authority were shown to have lied and cheated then their work would also be discredited. That is not to say that it it invalid, just that it can not and should not be counted. Someone with actual qualifications would need to take up the research from scratch and publish their findings.

If this is a certainty, and it looks as though it might be, then a lie of this magnitude invalidates all previous claims and research. Period. He deserves nothing but contempt.

I have seen this happen with plenty of people that were once considered beacons of truth and later through exposure or action they have shown themselves to be unworthy of respect.

Bob Lazar
Steven Greer
Clifford Stone
Richard Hoagland

Just to name a few. Each one has been shown to be either a liar or a lunatic. Sadly, it looks like Imbrogno catapulted himself to the upper shelf of that list. I wouldn't feel sorry for him though. He did it to himself. nobody put a gun to his head and said "lie or die". He chose to do it.

trainedobserver said:
This illustrates one of the reasons why paranormal research has never risen above the status of the carnival sideshow. When hoaxers, liars, and confidence men are exposed as such, the desire to believe is so great in a percentage of the audience that they think they can pick out the gems and leave out the dross. It simply doesn't work that way. We couldn't tell Phil was misrepresenting his educational credentials last week but this week we think we can tell the bullshit from the truth? Really? I for one cannot.
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I totally agree. The real issue is that the scamsters will become better at it and detecting them will become harder. unfortunately the lack of respect for the subject combined with the near religious fervency much of the audience has will ensure this kind of behavior is far from over. Sadly.

---------- Post added at 11:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:48 PM ----------

Also, here is a webarchive file of how the bio on the Vengeful Djinn website looked before they changed it.

Philip J. Imbrogno | Vengeful Djinn
 
Sadly Trained and Ron you are right. The desire to believe is strong when it comes to the paranormal. But, be that as it may in order to find the truth one has to face the truth. Now, I'm not going to jettison every belief I have about the paranormal or every hope I have that there is really something "there" to find. But, it certainly is another brick out of the wall of the so called "study" of the paranormal. Still, does it prove that all his stuff is false? No, but it does taint it. It has to.
 
tyder001 said:
Still, does it prove that all his stuff is false? No, but it does taint it. It has to.
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Does it prove that all his stuff is false? Well no. However, if someone has been perpetuating a hoax for decades does that not do a bit more than taint his work? I think so. He has invalided his work himself if that is the case. You would not drink from a poisoned well.
 
Despite the hullabaloo on this one, I'd have to admit I'm not surprised. Shocked in a sense that Phil put his very life at risk for a balloon ride in a fringe field, however this sort of attraction to high risk behavior may be a bit of a clue as to what propels this man. Beyond the misery he's caused for himself and the "field," I will have to say I'm much more saddened by the damage he's done to his family. The emotional fallout surrounding such an event will certainly be significant with considerable consequences resonating for generations to come.
 
Why on earth do people need to embellished academic qualification is mind boggling which is growing trend through out the World. Not just paranormal researchers folks.
 
I always wonder why people feel compelled to lie about their education. When I was in college, I was on double secret academic probation and I'm still proud of that fact!
 
Frank Stalter said:
I always wonder why people feel compelled to lie about their education.
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Money.

Respect.

Women.

Them's a few reasons why a man would lie about such a thing.

Another one is infiltration. A person doing say, corporate espionage just has to have their jacket hold up long enough to get in and get out with the data.

But that is a more rare reason than the Big Three of money, women, and power.
 
Hotkafka said:
Beyond the misery he's caused for himself and the "field," I will have to say I'm much more saddened by the damage he's done to his family. The emotional fallout surrounding such an event will certainly be significant with considerable consequences resonating for generations to come.
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Certainly, but how much did they know and how much do they know now? It is possible that all they know is that he has dropped out of the spooky stuff for whatever reason he has chosen to give them. If that is the case I say that is all well and good. His private life is his private life.

The public TV/radio personality and author part of his life may be so insulated that it may not be as big an issue as we might imagine. Phil's audience is pretty much limited to a fringe interest group after all.

On the other hand, I think he could sell a tell all book about the personal reality behind his long career. I'd certainly buy a copy. That is the kind of thing people buy movie options on.

Another aspect of emotional fallout I think needs to considered is the distress some of his subject matter may have caused the more credulous and already vulnerable individuals who are often drawn to subject of the paranormal. People trying to cope with strange experiences they may be having don't need pseudo M.I.T. scientists as information sources. Admittedly, that is where my sympathies mostly lie. When folks are deceived by those they look to foranswers, advice, or inspiration, it can be a pretty emotionally distressing and psyche scaring experience.

Like the Vallee quote in my signature says: "Not only is there an amazing willingness in the human mind to invest credence and faith in unproven facts, but there is more evil, more readiness than ever on the part of various sophisticated groups, to use this human weakness as a tool in controlling others." Jacques Vallee, Revelations.
 
trainedobserver said:
I had no idea this sort of thing was so available. You can get diplomas, transcripts, the whole nine yards.

PhonyDiploma.com

It's cool I suppose as a joke, but when you receive employment as a result or use it to validate your work, that's another thing. I suppose if I ever have a spare $124.95 to waste, I might consider it, though of course I'd admit it's fake from the get-go.
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Maybe they can get a testimonial from Imbrogno.
 
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