THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
January 8, 2017
www.theparacast.com
The Paracast Explores Women in Ufology and Other Issues with Erica Lukes
The Paracast is heard Sundays from 3:00 AM until 6:00 AM Central Time on the GCN Radio Network and affiliates around the USA, the Boost Radio Network, the IRN Internet Radio Network, and online across the globe via download and on-demand streaming.
SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY A PREMIUM PARACAST EXPERIENCE! We have another radio show and we’d love for you listen to it. So for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to After The Paracast, plus a higher-quality version of The Paracast free of network ads, and chat rooms when you sign up for The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes, the Paracast+ Video Channel, episode transcripts, Special Features, Classic Episodes and there’s more to come! We’ve just begun to add podcasts and videos from Paul Kimball’s “Other Side of Truth.” Check out our new lower rates, starting at just $1.49 per week, plus our “Lifetime” membership and special free eBook offers! For more information about our premium package, please visit: Introducing The Paracast+ | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio.
This Week's Episode: Gene and Chris present Erica Lukes, who is making a return visit to The Paracast to cover some of the recent pressing issues in which she played a part. We’ll also be covering the ever-present question of why more women aren’t involved in the UFO field. Erica Lukes’ passion for the subject of Unidentified Flying Objects dates back to her early childhood. After a series of personal UFO sightings in 2013, however, Erica felt compelled to find out what was taking place in her home state of Utah. She is currently researching historical and current sightings in Utah and is the Communications Director of the International Association of UAP Researchers. Erica hosts a weekly show on KCOR called “UFO Classified.”
Chris O’Brien’s Site: Our Strange Planet
Erica Lukes’ Site: Erica Lukes, UFO Classified Radio Show Host KCOR
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on January 8: Gene is joined by guest co-host Paul Kimball. So months after the publication of Kevin D. Randle’s revisionist book, “Roswell in the 21st Century,” Paul responds to the question of how a forgotten case emerged 30 years after the original event to become the stuff of legend. According to Paul, the Roswell episode had all the ingredients to become part of pop culture, as he details the anatomy of the myth. He goes on to suggest that belief in the case is collapsing around us, and that the 2015 “Roswell Slides” debacle may, in part, be responsible.
Reminder: Please don't forget to visit our famous Paracast Community Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal: The Paracast Community Forums.
The Getting Along Column
By Gene Steinberg
I’ll start with a story I have told before. If you’ve heard it, bear with me, and I’ll get to the point quickly.
So in the 1990s, I had multiple jobs. In addition to being a desktop publisher, book author and contributor to several magazines, I was a moderator (a forum leader) for several forums on AOL. The job was similar to managing a message board, but I worked for a company with millions of members and I was a salaried employee.
Not long after I began the forum leader job in earnest, I was contacted by a book publisher who signed me up for several titles about — you guessed it — AOL. As part of my research, I looked into AOL’s increasing Internet outreach. At the beginning, you were restricted to the service itself; you couldn't even email someone who wasn’t an AOL member. Over time, the service made halting steps to set up an integrated web browser plus access to several popular Internet services.
Well, when checking out AOL’s clumsy interface to access Usenet Newsgroups (online message boards), I got involved in a few discussions. I soon learned that some people weren’t so interested in discussing a subject as to arguing about it. There were flamewars aplenty.
Well, one poster tried to bait me into a flamewar about something or other, and I simply responded to his statements fact-by-fact, trying not to get emotionally involved. So the poster tried to lecture me on how to behave. “This is a flamewar,” he wrote. “I flame you and you flame me.”
Only I wouldn’t comply, and I left the flamer arguing with himself.
Getting along online has always been difficult, because you can hide your real identity with a screen name, and there are usually no consequences. Usenet is long gone, but most of those newsgroups weren’t moderated, which meant you could pretty much do or say anything you wanted without consequences; well, except, perhaps, for illegal behavior.
Today, there are what seem to be millions of message or comment areas. You find them on Facebook, various and sundry blogs, and you could certainly discuss lots of subjects within the 140-character constraints on Twitter. As you know, tweets from certain posters can make worldwide headlines. What a strange world we live in.
The Paracast Community Forums were launched in 2006, a few months after the show debuted. With a quarter million posts — not including the ones that were deleted over the years — there’s an amazing repository of information about the paranormal, and more conventional subjects such as politics. But emotions can run high, and some posters take advantage of their anonymity to behave in ways quite different from their real personalities. They are often decidedly different people when you meet them in person or talk to them on the phone or Skype.
As with many message boards, we do have rules of the road, which means that the forum moderators — and that includes Chris and me — can issue warnings to members who go astray of the rules. We can also ban the offenders for brief periods, usually a month or so, or forever. Messages are easily edited or deleted. In fact, we give members a chance to have second thoughts. You have a day to edit or remove your message.
At one time, we allowed unlimited editing, until one poster with a grudge went through thousands of messages and removed all or most of his posting history. I won’t identify that person, but I think some of you might know if you find yourself unable to find posts from a former regular.
The freedom to post has clearly created a climate not just for entertaining and informative dialog, but for abusing the privilege. There are arguments aplenty online, and a lot of it enters our paranormal universe.
Now as much as anonymity allows someone to escape the consequences of what he or she says or does to a limited degree, there are legitimate reasons to keep your name secret. But the most common reason is a usually a matter of wanting to be known by a nickname, all in the interests of having a good time.
Sometimes the nom de plume is used to protect oneself. One UFO researcher, Isaac Koi, once a fairly frequent poster in our forums, says he works as a barrister in the UK. But he uses a different name because he believes his livelihood or reputation would be hurt if his real name were known. That’s certainly a legitimate reason to seek privacy.
Unfortunately, Koi recently withdrew from the UFO field due to what he perceived to be a threat to reveal his name. Now there is some dispute over whether such a threat was ever made, or even hinted at. It doesn’t matter. Since Koi is not doing anything improper or illegal, he has the right of privacy, and it should be respected. I also hope, over time, that he’ll think better of his decision and return. One of his most valuable contributions has been to digitize older UFO magazines. There’s a wealth of opinion and information in those publications, and he is to be commended for what he has done so far. I only hope he’ll see the way clear to do more.
But not all moves to stay private appear to have a benign purpose.
Take the case of one person who, under an assumed name, went after a well-known UFO researcher with both barrels because of real or claimed affronts. The researcher was always identified by name. The researcher’s employer and even the authorities were contacted, along with hundreds of others who had an online presence and a readily available email address. But the accuser never revealed a real name except to a few individuals privately.
Is that even fair?
This is not a matter of testifying to possible criminal behavior under the threat to one’s life. In such cases, the testimony would still be made under that person’s real name, but the witness, at least in the U.S., would often be placed under witness protection and begin a new life with a new identity. It’s a totally different situation.
So there are legitimate reasons to regard the UFO field as a bad place to be in due to all the personal attacks and pointless arguments. But bad behavior isn’t something restricted to the world of the strange and the unknown. As you know, it can happen anywhere. The ease of mass communication, with a few clicks making someone’s post available to millions, has only exacerbated the situation. Sometimes, before you point and click — or tap — maybe you should just count to ten if you’re mad about something. If more people did that, maybe the online world would be a friendlier place. But I’m not counting on it.
Copyright 1999-2017 The Paracast LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy: Your personal information is safe with us. We will positively never give out your name and/or e-mail address to anybody else, and that's a promise!
January 8, 2017
www.theparacast.com
The Paracast Explores Women in Ufology and Other Issues with Erica Lukes
The Paracast is heard Sundays from 3:00 AM until 6:00 AM Central Time on the GCN Radio Network and affiliates around the USA, the Boost Radio Network, the IRN Internet Radio Network, and online across the globe via download and on-demand streaming.
SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY A PREMIUM PARACAST EXPERIENCE! We have another radio show and we’d love for you listen to it. So for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to After The Paracast, plus a higher-quality version of The Paracast free of network ads, and chat rooms when you sign up for The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes, the Paracast+ Video Channel, episode transcripts, Special Features, Classic Episodes and there’s more to come! We’ve just begun to add podcasts and videos from Paul Kimball’s “Other Side of Truth.” Check out our new lower rates, starting at just $1.49 per week, plus our “Lifetime” membership and special free eBook offers! For more information about our premium package, please visit: Introducing The Paracast+ | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio.
This Week's Episode: Gene and Chris present Erica Lukes, who is making a return visit to The Paracast to cover some of the recent pressing issues in which she played a part. We’ll also be covering the ever-present question of why more women aren’t involved in the UFO field. Erica Lukes’ passion for the subject of Unidentified Flying Objects dates back to her early childhood. After a series of personal UFO sightings in 2013, however, Erica felt compelled to find out what was taking place in her home state of Utah. She is currently researching historical and current sightings in Utah and is the Communications Director of the International Association of UAP Researchers. Erica hosts a weekly show on KCOR called “UFO Classified.”
Chris O’Brien’s Site: Our Strange Planet
Erica Lukes’ Site: Erica Lukes, UFO Classified Radio Show Host KCOR
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on January 8: Gene is joined by guest co-host Paul Kimball. So months after the publication of Kevin D. Randle’s revisionist book, “Roswell in the 21st Century,” Paul responds to the question of how a forgotten case emerged 30 years after the original event to become the stuff of legend. According to Paul, the Roswell episode had all the ingredients to become part of pop culture, as he details the anatomy of the myth. He goes on to suggest that belief in the case is collapsing around us, and that the 2015 “Roswell Slides” debacle may, in part, be responsible.
Reminder: Please don't forget to visit our famous Paracast Community Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal: The Paracast Community Forums.
The Getting Along Column
By Gene Steinberg
I’ll start with a story I have told before. If you’ve heard it, bear with me, and I’ll get to the point quickly.
So in the 1990s, I had multiple jobs. In addition to being a desktop publisher, book author and contributor to several magazines, I was a moderator (a forum leader) for several forums on AOL. The job was similar to managing a message board, but I worked for a company with millions of members and I was a salaried employee.
Not long after I began the forum leader job in earnest, I was contacted by a book publisher who signed me up for several titles about — you guessed it — AOL. As part of my research, I looked into AOL’s increasing Internet outreach. At the beginning, you were restricted to the service itself; you couldn't even email someone who wasn’t an AOL member. Over time, the service made halting steps to set up an integrated web browser plus access to several popular Internet services.
Well, when checking out AOL’s clumsy interface to access Usenet Newsgroups (online message boards), I got involved in a few discussions. I soon learned that some people weren’t so interested in discussing a subject as to arguing about it. There were flamewars aplenty.
Well, one poster tried to bait me into a flamewar about something or other, and I simply responded to his statements fact-by-fact, trying not to get emotionally involved. So the poster tried to lecture me on how to behave. “This is a flamewar,” he wrote. “I flame you and you flame me.”
Only I wouldn’t comply, and I left the flamer arguing with himself.
Getting along online has always been difficult, because you can hide your real identity with a screen name, and there are usually no consequences. Usenet is long gone, but most of those newsgroups weren’t moderated, which meant you could pretty much do or say anything you wanted without consequences; well, except, perhaps, for illegal behavior.
Today, there are what seem to be millions of message or comment areas. You find them on Facebook, various and sundry blogs, and you could certainly discuss lots of subjects within the 140-character constraints on Twitter. As you know, tweets from certain posters can make worldwide headlines. What a strange world we live in.
The Paracast Community Forums were launched in 2006, a few months after the show debuted. With a quarter million posts — not including the ones that were deleted over the years — there’s an amazing repository of information about the paranormal, and more conventional subjects such as politics. But emotions can run high, and some posters take advantage of their anonymity to behave in ways quite different from their real personalities. They are often decidedly different people when you meet them in person or talk to them on the phone or Skype.
As with many message boards, we do have rules of the road, which means that the forum moderators — and that includes Chris and me — can issue warnings to members who go astray of the rules. We can also ban the offenders for brief periods, usually a month or so, or forever. Messages are easily edited or deleted. In fact, we give members a chance to have second thoughts. You have a day to edit or remove your message.
At one time, we allowed unlimited editing, until one poster with a grudge went through thousands of messages and removed all or most of his posting history. I won’t identify that person, but I think some of you might know if you find yourself unable to find posts from a former regular.
The freedom to post has clearly created a climate not just for entertaining and informative dialog, but for abusing the privilege. There are arguments aplenty online, and a lot of it enters our paranormal universe.
Now as much as anonymity allows someone to escape the consequences of what he or she says or does to a limited degree, there are legitimate reasons to keep your name secret. But the most common reason is a usually a matter of wanting to be known by a nickname, all in the interests of having a good time.
Sometimes the nom de plume is used to protect oneself. One UFO researcher, Isaac Koi, once a fairly frequent poster in our forums, says he works as a barrister in the UK. But he uses a different name because he believes his livelihood or reputation would be hurt if his real name were known. That’s certainly a legitimate reason to seek privacy.
Unfortunately, Koi recently withdrew from the UFO field due to what he perceived to be a threat to reveal his name. Now there is some dispute over whether such a threat was ever made, or even hinted at. It doesn’t matter. Since Koi is not doing anything improper or illegal, he has the right of privacy, and it should be respected. I also hope, over time, that he’ll think better of his decision and return. One of his most valuable contributions has been to digitize older UFO magazines. There’s a wealth of opinion and information in those publications, and he is to be commended for what he has done so far. I only hope he’ll see the way clear to do more.
But not all moves to stay private appear to have a benign purpose.
Take the case of one person who, under an assumed name, went after a well-known UFO researcher with both barrels because of real or claimed affronts. The researcher was always identified by name. The researcher’s employer and even the authorities were contacted, along with hundreds of others who had an online presence and a readily available email address. But the accuser never revealed a real name except to a few individuals privately.
Is that even fair?
This is not a matter of testifying to possible criminal behavior under the threat to one’s life. In such cases, the testimony would still be made under that person’s real name, but the witness, at least in the U.S., would often be placed under witness protection and begin a new life with a new identity. It’s a totally different situation.
So there are legitimate reasons to regard the UFO field as a bad place to be in due to all the personal attacks and pointless arguments. But bad behavior isn’t something restricted to the world of the strange and the unknown. As you know, it can happen anywhere. The ease of mass communication, with a few clicks making someone’s post available to millions, has only exacerbated the situation. Sometimes, before you point and click — or tap — maybe you should just count to ten if you’re mad about something. If more people did that, maybe the online world would be a friendlier place. But I’m not counting on it.
Copyright 1999-2017 The Paracast LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy: Your personal information is safe with us. We will positively never give out your name and/or e-mail address to anybody else, and that's a promise!