• NEW! LOWEST RATES EVER -- SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE VERY BEST PREMIUM PARACAST EXPERIENCE! Welcome to The Paracast+, eight years young! For a low subscription fee, you can download the ad-free version of The Paracast and the exclusive, member-only, After The Paracast bonus podcast, featuring color commentary, exclusive interviews, the continuation of interviews that began on the main episode of The Paracast. We also offer lifetime memberships! Flash! Take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! You can sign up right here!

    Subscribe to The Paracast Newsletter!

The Mount Rushmore of Ufology


Which Ufologists Would You Pick For The Mount Rushmore of Ufology


  • Total voters
    9
  • This poll will close: .

Randall

J. Randall Murphy
On a recent episode of The Paracast Gene & Chris commented on how Stan Friedman could, metaphorically speaking, be considered one of the faces on the Mount Rushmore of Ufology, and I thought that was a fun way to ponder which ufologists have played the most significant roles within the field. Which four ufologists would you pick? What makes them so special for you? Unfortunately this poll only allowed for a maximum of 10 options. There are certainly others who should be contenders. If they're not on the list tell us who else you think should be included and why you think they should have their likeness carved in stone!

Some Other Ufologists & Researchers Who Deserve Mention:

  1. Jenny Randles
  2. Timothy Good
  3. Bud Hopkins
  4. Nick Pope
  5. Michael Swords
  6. Nick Redfern
  7. John Keel
  8. Bruce Maccabee
  9. Phillip Klass
  10. Raymond Fowler
  11. Richard Dolan
  12. Chris Rutkowski
  13. Wilburt Smith
... More ?

My Responses:

  1. J. Allen Hynek: Astronomer, Official consultant to USAF Project Blue Book, and founder of The Center For UFO Studies.
  2. Edward J. Ruppelt: Creator of the word UFO, author of The Report On Unidentified Flying Objects ( IMO the most important introductory book on ufology ever written ), and one of the heads of USAF Project Blue Book.
  3. John E. Mack: Author and IMO the most responsible and well credentialed investigators into the UFO abduction phenomena.
  4. Jerome Clarke: IMO one of the most objective, responsible, and thorough ufologists who specializes in the history of the UFO phenomenon.
 
Last edited:
Not to pervert your poll here but being that I'm more intetested in ..and thus a little more familiar with...the fortean side of things I'm going with Jerome and Jacques to start and although Coral probably wasn't a Fortean per say her newsletter seemed to reflect a more fortean side not just in the name (arpo) but some of the reports got into the high strangeness side.

To that from the secondary list i'd certainly put Jenny on it and if she was on it she'd be my first likeness , if the man himself (Fort) was on it he'd be first.

Over the years since I joined the forum I've cooled on Keel, I think Nick is o.k. but as long as we are keeping a Rushmore theme I would hold it to four places so Nick would would fall a little short but being that I consider my four choices to be not only Rushmore worthy but also maybe akin to the 27 Yankees Murder's Row it's not a bad four to fall short off.

And lastly I'd put my monument here
https://goo.gl/maps/5Horq4W8YMR2
even though it's off the beaten track.
 
Last edited:
Vallee and Hynek were the obvious choices for me.

Mark Pilkington and Greg Bishop should get an honorable mention for illuminating the dark side of ufology so well.
 
Vallee, Dolan, Randles, Keel
Yes, if there could be 5 instead of four, Vallée would have been my next choice, but because he worked with Hynek, and Hynek was my first choice, it seemed a bit redundant, whereas Clark made his contributions from a very objective historical perspective ( e.g. The UFO Encyclopedia ) spanning a broad range of subjects over a wide range of time and that virtually anyone in the field can still benefit from.
 
Yes, if there could be 5 instead of four, Vallée would have been my next choice, but because he worked with Hynek, and Hynek was my first choice, it seemed a bit redundant, whereas Clark made his contributions from a very objective historical perspective ( e.g. The UFO Encyclopedia ) spanning a broad range of subjects over a wide range of time and that virtually anyone in the field can still benefit from.

I see your point, but Vallee has built an impressive body of work.

At least we can acknowledge that there are, ah, certain individuals who most certainly don't belong. :cool:
 
Friedman, Vallees, MacDonald, Hynek.

It does feel incredibly 'unfair' toward those each of us have had to leave out of our top 4 and many of these people would be very close in value, if their Ufological life was reduced to some basic hard statistics, a bit like 'Top Trump' collectable cards (nothing to do with Donald Trump).
The cards showed some key information unique to the subject on the card; if they were racing car themed cards, they might list 0-60mph time, top speed, fuel endurance, engine size etc.
I've never had a baseball card but I imagine the idea is the same - facts and records about an individual player?

Anyway, imagine all these UFO researchers, each on a card, with some information about their research career. So just some ideas here and not at all probably the best parameters to maybe feature etc, but:

1.Time in field
2. Number of books/papers or articles on UFO's that have been published.
2. Number of original, unique and generally accepted theories/assumptions about any aspect of Ufology.
3. Number of' pertinent UFO-related official documents discovered/declassified on request etc.
4. Willingness to change or amend theories - rate up to 5/5 points.
5. Number of instances of official/military/MIB/paranormal interference attempts to thwart UFO research.
6. Number of witness interviews carried out (0-50 1 pt, 51-500, 2 pt, 501 + 3 pt).
7. Travel score - for individual journeys made to carry out research/interviews.
8. Hard evidence discovered/recorded - 5 points a piece.
9. Likely to/already is remembered 20+ years after death.
10. Rating for frequency of name used by debunkers.


So this is a light-hearted and clumsy attempt to illustrate my 'Top Trumps' collectable cards idea for featuring some of the biggest names associated with the UFO topic.

I would certainly welcome anyone else's ideas for parameters to be featured and scored?

I feel my choices for the vote are stunted somewhat because there are names whose books I've not even read, so I am admittedly very ignorant of the possible contributions some of them have made to the field - but hey ho! It's only an online forum, nobody is going to die and there is no money to be made!:p
 
Friedman, Vallees, MacDonald, Hynek.

It does feel incredibly 'unfair' toward those each of us have had to leave out of our top 4 and many of these people would be very close in value, if their Ufological life was reduced to some basic hard statistics, a bit like 'Top Trump' collectable cards (nothing to do with Donald Trump).
The cards showed some key information unique to the subject on the card; if they were racing car themed cards, they might list 0-60mph time, top speed, fuel endurance, engine size etc.
I've never had a baseball card but I imagine the idea is the same - facts and records about an individual player?

Anyway, imagine all these UFO researchers, each on a card, with some information about their research career. So just some ideas here and not at all probably the best parameters to maybe feature etc, but:

1.Time in field
2. Number of books/papers or articles on UFO's that have been published.
2. Number of original, unique and generally accepted theories/assumptions about any aspect of Ufology.
3. Number of' pertinent UFO-related official documents discovered/declassified on request etc.
4. Willingness to change or amend theories - rate up to 5/5 points.
5. Number of instances of official/military/MIB/paranormal interference attempts to thwart UFO research.
6. Number of witness interviews carried out (0-50 1 pt, 51-500, 2 pt, 501 + 3 pt).
7. Travel score - for individual journeys made to carry out research/interviews.
8. Hard evidence discovered/recorded - 5 points a piece.
9. Likely to/already is remembered 20+ years after death.
10. Rating for frequency of name used by debunkers.


So this is a light-hearted and clumsy attempt to illustrate my 'Top Trumps' collectable cards idea for featuring some of the biggest names associated with the UFO topic.

I would certainly welcome anyone else's ideas for parameters to be featured and scored?

I feel my choices for the vote are stunted somewhat because there are names whose books I've not even read, so I am admittedly very ignorant of the possible contributions some of them have made to the field - but hey ho! It's only an online forum, nobody is going to die and there is no money to be made!:p
Well, unfortunately Rushmore only has four faces. But I like where you're going with the idea. It would be interesting to do up a spreadsheet with everyone on it, add all these criteria ( and more including the negatives ) and see who comes out on top ... lol.
 
Interesting question. I'm having trouble narrowing it down to ten. There are probably twice that number of deserving people that I can think of. But anyway, if I had to pick four right now: Hynek, Vallee, Keel, Lorenzen. Tomorrow's lineup would probably be different. I could replace Washington and Jefferson up there at the beginning of my list with Randles and Friedman, and not lose much sleep over it. Like many others, they have done a lot of heavy lifting over the decades.
 
...
1.Time in field
2. Number of books/papers or articles on UFO's that have been published.
2. Number of original, unique and generally accepted theories/assumptions about any aspect of Ufology.
3. Number of' pertinent UFO-related official documents discovered/declassified on request etc.
4. Willingness to change or amend theories - rate up to 5/5 points.
5. Number of instances of official/military/MIB/paranormal interference attempts to thwart UFO research.
6. Number of witness interviews carried out (0-50 1 pt, 51-500, 2 pt, 501 + 3 pt).
7. Travel score - for individual journeys made to carry out research/interviews.
8. Hard evidence discovered/recorded - 5 points a piece.
9. Likely to/already is remembered 20+ years after death.
10. Rating for frequency of name used by debunkers.
:p
Based on that equation, where's my name? :)
 
Yes, if there could be 5 instead of four, Vallée would have been my next choice, but because he worked with Hynek, and Hynek was my first choice, it seemed a bit redundant, whereas Clark made his contributions from a very objective historical perspective ( e.g. The UFO Encyclopedia ) spanning a broad range of subjects over a wide range of time and that virtually anyone in the field can still benefit from.

I didn't recognize Clark until you mentioned that he wrote The UFO Encyclopedia.

I grew up reading, re-reading and pouring over that book; probably the single most important influence on me re: the phenomenon.
 
We should start one of those party games, Friendlier than John Keel or something like that.

Or how about if Keel = Inspector Morse then Chris = ?

Sam Spade?
Fox Mulder?
Joe Friday?

No, wait! I've got it: Mike Hammer
 
We should start one of those party games, Friendlier than John Keel or something like that.

Or how about if Keel = Inspector Morse then Chris = ?

Sam Spade?
Fox Mulder?
Joe Friday?

No, wait! I've got it: Mike Hammer
Oooh ... I'd take that as a slam. Hammer is a straight laced, hard nosed, red neck. I liked his character in the show, but Chris? I dunno man. There's nobody quite like Chris in the investigator genre. Maybe a cross between Melvin Frohike ( The 60s radical in the Lone Gunmen on the X-Files ) and Ruben Castle ( The investigator in the movie Endangered Species who gets involved in the cattle mutilation mystery ), but to get one like Chris they really need to do one based on him :D .
 
Last edited:
Actually Chris I was thinking about you and your research when writing that post!

The reason you ain't on the list is that you weren't on the poll list at top of page! You'll have to blame Randall for leaving you out of the choices. ...:D

I left us all out ( meaning Chris, Gene, Micah, me and other sort of "regulars" ) to avoid perceptions of favoritism, delusions of grandeur, and leave some room for comments like yours which are very nice ( except for the "blame Randall" part ! ) ... lol.
 
Back
Top