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Post by swamprat on Oct 20, 2017 20:30:01 GMT -6
Newsweek special edition covers UFOs and the search for aliens in a positive lightPosted by: Alejandro Rojas October 19, 2017
Newsweek recently released a special edition magazine titled Life Beyond Earth? The Mission to Find the Answer, and while one might expect it to be dominated by stories about NASA’s search for extraterrestrial microbes, or the SETI Institutes search for extraterrestrial radio signals, instead it is full of information about topics such as UFO investigations and alien abductions. That may make some of our readers cringe in fear of ridicule, but the stories are balanced and largely treat the topics positively.
The magazine has a lot of pictures. Some of them are rare pictures in remarkable condition. The kind of pictures writers like me search hours for, so that is why this excited me so much. Some of the pictures were even provided by OpenMinds.tv. With so many pictures, the stories are short, but cover a large variety of topics.
The stories range from ancient alien type topics to the Mars rover. What is exciting is that the UFO and alien stories are mixed in with the conventional science based stories, treating them all equally. There is also diversity within the topics. For example, their coverage of alien abduction covers experts who describe more positive experiences, and those who do not. More popular cases such as Betty and Barney Hill, the first alleged abduction to receive media coverage, and Travis Walton, are also included.
As an example of the tenor of the stories, when dealing with abduction they include a 1993 study from the Journal of Abnormal Psychology which found people claiming to be abducted by aliens to be as intelligent and prone to fantasy as the general public.
Another interesting aspect of the magazine is a section on how UFOs and aliens have influenced art. From wild comic books in the 1950s, to blockbuster movie and TV shows, like the X-Files, today.
The magazine even recommends resources for more information, including books, and a particular interesting podcast called Open Minds UFO Radio. You will have to check the podcast out.
You should also check out the magazine. It is on the shelves in every grocery store, so it is easy to find.
www.openminds.tv/newsweek-special-edition-covers-ufos-and-the-search-for-aliens-in-a-positive-light/41199
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Post by swamprat on Nov 25, 2017 11:39:05 GMT -6
Before I share these articles, let me just add my cent and a half...... As "established science" advances, one thing that even established scientists are beginning to realize (and admit), is how much they DON'T know about our vast and mysterious universe. Dark energy? Dark matter? Mysterious signals? Multiple universes? Big Bang? String theory? Worm holes?
Ufologists have a tough, tough job. Pareidolia is rampant in UFO/alien reports. Many devious head-line seekers take advantage of new photo-shopping technology. Mental and emotional health can be involved in interpretation of life events. Governments don't help, with their secret programs and dis-information tactics.
A ufologist must sift through it all and find that 2 or 3 percent that do not have one of those explanations. And through it all, we are perceived as mis-guided, uneducated idiots by many...
SwampratWhy UFO Investigators Ignore the Naysayers and Critics From Established ScienceBy James Ellis, Senior Editor, on 11/21/17
This article, along with others exploring the possibilities of alien life and other mysteries hidden beyond the stars, is featured in Newsweek's Special Edition: Life Beyond Earth? The Mission to Find the Answer. For more on the possibility of alien life and potential answers pick up a copy today.
The phenomena of UFO abductions is familiar to everyone—even if the experience of one has only ever been secondhand at best. But the ubiquitous perception may be largely inaccurate, stemming from the likes of hackneyed depictions in sci-fi films and clickbait fabrications on the internet. That’s unacceptable to the small but dedicated group of individuals who have pledged their lives to solving this mystery. “I continue my research no matter what, and nothing’s going to stop me, nor will it stop others in the field,” says Denise Stoner, one of the world’s leading authorities on UFO abduction reports and a member of the Mutual UFO Network’s (MUFON) Experiencer Research Team. Experts in the field know that the truth about abductions, whatever it may be, lies within the reports from thousands of people in dozens of countries.
For more than half a century, Americans have reported experiencing UFOs in an up close and personal way that alters their lives forever. In 1961, a media frenzy occurred when Barney and Betty Hill described the night a UFO containing several humanoids hovered directly above their Chevy Bel Air on a rural New Hampshire road. The couple claimed the rest of their drive was a hazy state of altered consciousness, but Betty’s inexplicably stained dress and Barney’s mysteriously scuffed shoes served as mementos of the experience. Another landmark case occurred in 1975, boasting the benefit of witnesses. During a logging job in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona, Travis Walton was struck by a beam from a mysterious craft as his crew looked on. He would disappear for five days until resurfacing some 30 miles away at a gas station—all while his crewmates proved their innocence in the matter by passing polygraph tests. Both cases, which only represent the tip of the iceberg concerning UFO abduction reports, remain a mystery to UFO researchers.
Some details may differ slightly from account to account, but the fundamental elements are intact in every encounter, fueling validation for both abductees and researchers. “All accounts are essentially the same,” says Dr. David M. Jacobs, author of books such as Secret Life: Firsthand Documented Accounts of UFO Abductions and Walking Among Us. Speaking from decades of experience in the field, Jacobs feels the common ground spanning the litany of cases gives considerable weight to each new report.
While Denise Stoner investigates many local reports for MUFON within Florida, where she resides, Jacobs’s experience informs his insistence that UFO abductions occur worldwide. “It is a global phenomenon,” he states. “It has nothing to do with the United States. We do not know if we are the center of UFO abduction activity.” One of the earliest UFO abductions on record supports Jacobs’ claim. The case of Brazilian farmer Antonio Villas Boas in 1957 has withstood even the most liberal application of UFOlogist scrutiny thanks to the intricate details provided by the abductee and the ceaseless physical ailments (including painful lesions) he suffered following the incident. Jacobs is certain the phenomenon has spread across the globe since then, noting that he has worked with abductees from nearly every continent—and they have all reported many of the exact same details. “That’s extraordinary,” he says. “That has never happened before in human history, where people will be saying, ‘This happened to me,’ and they’ll describe the exact same instruments used and the same procedures involved, and everything else is the same as everyone around the world is describing. Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, all saying the same thing, all knowing full well that it sounds crazy.”
Of course, researchers still do their due diligence to devote investigations to only the most credible of accounts. Any time an individual reports being abducted by a UFO, researchers first attempt to rule out mental illness as a cause. “When we first speak to an individual, we want to spend as much time as possible with them to discover whether or not they have ever had a diagnosis that includes mental issues, what kind of medication they’re on,” says Stoner. “There are several reasons for people to have these types of experiences, and we need to eliminate those when we’re doing an investigation.”
For the majority of his career researching UFO abductions, Jacobs has sought to root out any inconsistencies by conducting hypnotic regressions with abductees. Recognizing the skepticism surrounding a process that seeks to acquire information from hypnosis, he says, “It’s so ridiculous, and yet it works.” Jacobs explains that because the process spans over several sessions, trust is organically built between researcher and experiencer. “They don’t want to tell me things that didn’t happen,” he adds.
As Jacobs learned the first time he conducted a series of hypnotic regressions with an alleged abductee, though, the truth can be elusive, even if the subject isn’t trying to withhold it. He recalls working with a 7-year-old girl who claimed she was with a friend in the park when she felt arms wrap around her waist as she was suddenly pulled from the ground up into something. Now in an unknown setting, the girl noted seeing a humanoid with a pageboy haircut named Cosmo, who proceeded to place her on a table for a physical examination. Claiming she was then instructed to place her hand on the head of an extraterrestrial, the girl described feeling immense positivity and warmth. Before being returned to the park by Cosmo, the girl stated she met a group of extraterrestrials sitting at a table who told her she would live a “brave, courageous strong, wonderful life.” Ecstatic by what he had extracted from the hypnosis, Jacobs went to transcribe the story from his tape recorder that night, only to find that the girl’s mostly whispered words had not been picked up. Determined to capture the incredible descriptions, Jacobs had the girl retell the experience in a later session. She obliged, and the initial beats were consistent—the hands around the waist, the pageboy-haired Cosmo figure, the physical exam—only this time, there was no mention of placing her hand on the being’s head or receiving the affirming words from the table of extraterrestrials. Jacobs prodded for the missing pieces, but the young abductee claimed she didn’t remember those aspects and said she thought those things happened to the friend she was with at the time. “I knew at that time that I had no idea what I was doing, and I vowed I was never going to let that happen again,” Jacobs says.
As with any skilled trade, such as performing brain surgery or writing computer code, experience is the way to limit the frequency of errors in researching UFO abductions. The greatest mistake someone in the field can make, it seems, is allowing themselves to be abducted by the blinding beam of naysaying critics. But Jacobs and Stoner are both far from ignoring their decades of research in favor of believing only what accepted science is able to explain.
Stoner points to some skeptics dismissively chalking abductions up to mere dreams as an example she feels is easily countered by her research. “We’ve had many, many abductions that took place in broad daylight. And if you’re in broad daylight, and you’re driving or walking and this happens, you don’t have those excuses to give,” she says. “You don’t have people saying ‘Okay, you were dreaming, you were asleep, you were this or that.’ It happened, and there’s no way that anyone can tell you it didn’t.”
For Jacobs, the uncanny commonalities across reports stand as the reason for continuing research. “We know the abduction phenomenon is considered to be completely psychological by 99.9 percent of all psychologists, psychiatrists, etc.,” he says. “Except, of course, by those psychologists, psychiatrists, medical doctors and university professors who are themselves abductees and say the same things as the kid in Pakistan.”
www.newsweek.com/observers-experts-behind-ufo-phenomena-715834
See next post for second article
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Post by swamprat on Nov 25, 2017 11:40:51 GMT -6
Article # 2
Another article from Newsweek's special edition:UFO Sightings: Is the Government Withholding an Interest in Alien Life?By James Ellis, Senior Editor On 11/20/17
In December 1969, the United States government called for the end of Project Blue Book, its 22-year investigation into unidentified airborne phenomena. Overnight, the authorities’ official position changed from one of indulgent public curiosity to absolute public disinterest. “The Air Force was the head agency during Project Blue Book, where they went out into the field and talked to witnesses, essentially trying to figure out what was going on,” explains John Greenewald, founder of The Black Vault, an Internet-based resource that has compiled more than 1.4 million declassified government documents. “After 1969, it was the United States Air Force that said, ‘no government agency including our own has any interest in this phenomenon.’” But thanks to the dogged effort of Greenewald and other UFO researchers wielding Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, anyone with an Internet connection and an open mind can deduce the government isn’t quite as apathetic toward UFOs as it claims.
One curious item indicative of the cat-and-mouse game Greenewald feels the government plays with UFO researchers was an entry in an Air Force training manual discovered through a FOIA request. “I discovered, about eight to 10 years ago now, an Air Force regulation, Air Force Instruction 10-206,” Greenewald says. “It deals with what to do if pilots see something strange in the sky and how they have to report it. The rule was a short list of things to look for—for example if they saw a missile streak across the sky, that was outlined as something they would need to report. On this very short list was the entry, ‘Unidentified Flying Objects.’ Obviously we’re talking about 30 or more years after their investigation was stopped.”
The regulation seems odd enough on its own, but the rest of Greenewald’s story seems to give credence to his and other investigators’ sneaking suspicion that something is amiss with how the government reports its relationship to UFOs. “I’ve worked Air Force Instruction 10-206 into a couple of documentaries I did for History Channel and National Geographic Channel, but there wasn’t a lot of attention paid to it until a few years ago—the Huffington Post did an article about myself and The Black Vault,” he says. “I told the reporter the Air Force doesn’t have an interest in this topic anymore, and yet here’s a very recent manual that references UFOs.”
When the reporter followed up on the story and contacted the Pentagon for a response, officials reacted in a manner UFO researchers have grown accustomed to expect from the government—they stonewalled him. But the Pentagon’s silence didn’t necessarily indicate inaction. Greenewald later received a call from the reporter, who had shocking news. “He went online to download the instruction directly from the Air Force, and it didn’t have mention of UFOs anymore. Chapter Five, in which Instruction 10-206 could be found, had been revised. UFOs were completely omitted. Now the section had to do with hurricanes.”
Incredulous, Greenewald wanted to check for himself. “I thought when the reporter said all this via the telephone that maybe he was mistaken, that he clicked on the wrong instruction because these manuals can get very confusing. I thought, ‘Once I get home I’ll take a look and steer him in the right direction, never thinking that the United States Air Force would completely rewrite this instruction. I was very surprised to see that they changed it 48 to 72 hours after the Huffington Post called the Pentagon, which is all documented.”
In light of the fact that FOIA requests can turn up all kinds of buried treasure for our government’s assassination tactics, questionable wartime practices and everything in between, Greenewald’s original question is still a nuisance even to the skeptical. Why, if the government has no official interest in explaining unexplained phenomena, are they so adamantly hiding the last half-century of documentation to that effect? The answer may be an earth-shattering revelation that changes humanity’s understanding of its place in the universe. Or it may be as mundane as shedding some new light on the bureaucratic systems used to file reports. Either way, Greenewald and his cohorts will keep looking.
www.newsweek.com/air-force-withholding-interest-ufos-715843
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