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Post by swamprat on May 23, 2012 15:09:15 GMT -6
NatGeo To Start 'Chasing UFOs' This Summerby Tom Rose May 23, 2012 02:56 PM EDT Finally. NatGeo will try to answer the question once and for all with a new investigative series starting on June 29 called Chasing UFOs. The show, which looks like it's following in the tradition of Finding Bigfoot in its presentation, films a team of investigators through 8 episodes running down some of the most famous recent sightings. The first episode will focus on Central Texas where, since 2008, residents have been spooked by weird lights and objects in the sky, and since then rises to the top of prime locations to see unidentified flying objects on a regular basis. The team consists of Erin Ryder, Ben McGee, and James Fox, all respected paranormal investigators and who, as Ryder coins the phrase, are all avowed "skelievers." That's a mix of skeptics and believers which is par for the course these days since the sightings of UFOs has exploded in recent years. Partially due to a rising belief that there is something out there, part Doomsday thinking and mostly due to the surging popularity of high quality camera phones, it seems this is one series which is long overdue. Although the show has only just been announced, comments on the YouTube channel about its prospects include more than a few non-believers decrying National Geographic's departure from its roots of nature programming into the realm of what they say is digging for Reality TV trash.Which means it's probably going to be a big hit. What do you think? Will you be watching? Here's a preview trailer: entertainment.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981351373
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Post by skywalker on May 23, 2012 21:11:01 GMT -6
This sounds interesting. I'm glad they are featuring the texas sightings first. Hopefully it will turn out better than the other UFO shows that have been tried in the past.
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Post by swamprat on Jun 8, 2012 19:42:46 GMT -6
OMG!! James Fox falls victim to reality TV! I'm so disappointed. I'm hoping Billy overreacted, but we'll see. The Sarasota Herald Tribune
De Void
I have no idea what I sawWednesday, June 6, 2012 at 11:40 by Billy Cox What other thing sounds like a cow when it moos? Wild boar, maybe? Beowulf’s Grendel? A Texas chainsaw massacre? Klingons? In the National Geographic Channel’s upcoming “Chasing UFOs” premiere, during a sequence set somewhere in the featureless nocturnal outback, amid the grainy-green otherworldly claustrophobic glow of night-vision cameras, the common and the ordinary translate into anxiety and terror. But viewers are the ones left in the dark, because it’s not certain if this campy shtick is intentional or inadvertent. Borrowing heavily from the format of The History Channel’s 2008-09 reality series “UFO Hunters,” NatGeo brings a different set of expectations to the genre due largely to the presence of filmmaker James Fox. Fox is a grounded researcher who has produced a couple of solid documentaries, 2002’s “Out of the Blue” and “I Know What I Saw” in 2009. But a screening of the first two hour-long installments gives us something totally bizarre. Here’s the setup: Fox, whose NatGeo handle is Ufologist, is joined by two cohorts with real names and identified in subtitles as Radiation Scientist and Tech & Recon. Radiation Scientist is the appointed skeptic; Tech & Recon is the cheesecake chick who could go either way. They organize road trips to explore UFO mysteries. They have decent resources: thermal cameras, Geiger counters, night vision, metal detectors, a travel budget, etc. Along the way, they record lights in the sky and review footage acquired by other folks. Some sequences are more interesting than others; none are conclusive. That’s the skinny on the first two episodes. If this sounds a little boring, it doesn’t have to be. Road trips, no matter how superficially uneventful, can prove revelatory if you forsake the bang for the sublime. With as many witnesses as they meet, there’s plenty of material to mine. “Chasing UFOs,” however, is gunning for drama and suspense, and goes the extra mile to manufacture it. The facial distress of our three heroes is an essential component. In order to monitor their shock and awe, NatGeo issues mini face-cams mounted on little shoulder booms so we can see them being terrified in the dark. Don’t get the reference? Fox spells it out as they’re traipsing through the wilderness one night outside Stephenville, Tex.: “What’s that one horror movie they shot 10 years ago, ‘Blair Witch Project’? This kinda reminds me of that.” Yes, every breathless stagey step of their sojourns is taut with menace as they split up into teams, communicating in hushed voices by radio as even the moo of a nearby unseen cow becomes something potentially sinister (“Shh! What’s that?” “I don’t know — I hear they got wild boar out here!”) There are also moments of pure kismet. Ricky Sorrels, one of the more prominent eyewitnesses to the 2008 Stephenville UFO, rehashes his encounter, along with an assertion — “I know what I saw” — that demands a quick knowing zoom on Fox’s face. And from the WTF Dep’t., “Chasing UFOs” hires a couple of private pilots to fly light aircraft in tight formation, in broad daylight, to disqualify light aircraft flying in tight formation in broad daylight from the list of potential Stephenville UFO suspects. The payoff comes from Tech & Recon, who goes along for the ride, and screams as one of the pilots conducts an impromptu touch ‘n’ go on the airstrip. Close call, there … and so lucky to be alive. Riddle me this: If you’re hot to trot for UFO debris reported to have crashed over rural Texas in 1891 — 121 years ago — would you want to comb the alleged impact zone by day or night? The NatGeo team, well — why ruin the suspense? They also visit Fresno, Calif., in hopes of discovering the source of triangular UFOs appearing at night. A contact insists they’re coming from a super-secret underground military base. “Chasing UFOs” conducts a white-knuckle nighttime recon op into the mystery, where they enter an unguarded empty tunnel (“This is like something out of a sci-fi movie … I’ve never seen anything like that, ever in my life”) and an airfield (“This definitely doesn’t look like a municipal airport”), then flee as things get really tense. By light of day, we learn the tunnel is connected to an ordinary hydroelectric plant, and that the military base is the not-very-secret 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard. Its website says the place has been running military operations here since World War II. What else can you say, except: NatGeo’s “Chasing UFOs” premieres on June 29. The good news is, the only place to go from here is up. devoid.blogs.heraldtribune.com/13067/i-have-no-idea-what-i-saw/
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Post by skywalker on Jun 8, 2012 21:03:32 GMT -6
That wasn't a very flattering review. It sounded like the Ghost Hunters show (whichever one it was ) where they were manufacturing phony ghost evidence and brushing against each other and then saying, "Did you feel that??" Having spent my share of nights sneaking around in the darkness I can appreciate how normal things can sometimes take on an abnormal--sometimes even terrifying--quality (like the old tree stump that convinced me I was going to get eaten because it was pretending to be a bear : but I also know that there are plenty of mysteries out there to cause enough suspense and excitement to keep an audience entertained. There is no need to falsify phony drama and excitement. I hope that show turns out better than it sounded.
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Post by auntym on Jun 21, 2012 22:32:34 GMT -6
nukethefridge.com/2012/06/21/national-geographics-chasing-ufos/ National Geographic’s “Chasing UFOs”[/color] Mysterious lights, crash sites, and close encounters are the basis for the National Geographic Channel’s new eight-part series “Chasing UFOs.” Join a team of pioneering investigators as they push the limits to find the truth behind unexplained UFO sightings. Are we being watched? Is the government hiding information on UFO happenings? Can this team use science and technology to explain mysterious sightings or will the evidence truly be out of this world? These burning questions motivate the Chasing UFOs investigative team to travel far and probe deep into a number of strange encounters previously left unanswered. Risking it all, the team investigates some of the most compelling UFO sightings in history and discover stunning new evidence that could change everything we believe about this mysterious phenomenon. Ryder, Ben and James push the limits of scientific exploration in their quest to learn the truth behind these incredible sightings. From the desert Southwest, to Florida’s space coast, to Mexico’s Soanna desert and the jungles of Brazil – Ryder, Ben and James risk everything to hunt down clues to explain this phenomenon. While investigating video of a possible UFO in New Mexico, the team ends up at the famed crash site in Roswell where they uncovered tantalizing evidence of a military cover-up. In Arizona while out surveying the skies, Ryder and the team spot a pulsing ring of lights that none of them can explain. Investigating a California military base rumored to be home to unexplained craft, the team is chased away by a mysterious fleet of helicopters. In the steamy jungles of Brazil, Ryder and the team battle the elements to visit the scene of a suspected crash only to find the truth is far stranger than any of them would have imagined. With its combination of adventure, travel and hard-hitting science, this series offers a radical new spin on this unexplained phenomenon. Instead of just stories, Ryder, Ben and James are out to get evidence. And what they uncover could change what we know and believe about another intelligence among the stars. As a publicity stunt for the series, the National Geographic channel is crowd sourcing a greeting for any extraterrestrials who might be out there, listening, blasting those greetings into the wild black yonder. Actor Jorge Garcia (“Lost”) recorded his own video for this occasion. Done in a deadpan style, Garcia expresses his wants and desires in the face of a space alien invasion. It’s quite amusing. CONTINUE READING: nukethefridge.com/2012/06/21/national-geographics-chasing-ufos/
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Post by auntym on Jun 24, 2012 16:37:29 GMT -6
www.westlothiancourier.co.uk/2012/06/21/ufo-experts-to-make-film-62405-31224588/ UFO experts to make film[/color] Jun 21 2012 by Alistair Watson, West Lothian Courier THERE was a strange encounter at the Courier office this week as a film crew popped in for a flying visit to talk about UFOs. The team from Pioneer Productions were in West Lothian as part of a series they are filming for the National Geographic television channel which is examining famous UFO cases of the past few decades. Their quest has taken them to a series of countries across Europe and they came to the county to investigate its very own X-File. He didn’t see little green men exactly, but 33 years ago forester Bob Taylor had a remarkable encounter with a UFO at Dechmont Law in Livingston. Paranormal expert Malcolm Robinson, who interviewed Mr Taylor the day after the incident in 1979, went with the film crew to the site of the encounter. And the founder of Strange Phenominan Investigations, also came into the Courier’s King Street office in Bathgate to be filmed as he looked through archive copies of your favourite local newspaper to find articles on Mr Taylor’s encounter from 1979. Courier reporter Alistair Watson also got in on the act when he was interviewed by the crew about the paper’s coverage of the incident through the years and the impact the event had on West Lothian. The Livingston incident is one of the planet’s most intriguing UFO mysteries which remains unsolved and still fascinates UFO enthusiasts all over the world. The incident took place on November 9, 1979 when Mr Taylor came across a metallic spherical object around 12 feet high in a clearing. When Mr Taylor approached it, two smaller spheres around three feet in diameter that appeared to be covered in spikes emerged from the bottom of the large sphere and began rolling towards him. The small spheres grabbed his trousers and dragged him towards the large object, and he passed out. CONTINUE READING: www.westlothiancourier.co.uk/2012/06/21/ufo-experts-to-make-film-62405-31224588/
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Post by auntym on Jun 28, 2012 21:44:18 GMT -6
www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/27/chasing-ufos-national-geographic_n_1628943.htmlLee Speige lee.speigel@huffingtonpost.com 'Chasing UFOs,' New National Geographic Show, Reexamines Famous Flying Saucer Sightings (VIDEO)Posted: 06/28/2012 For most people, looking for UFOs is more of a hobby than an actual occupation. Not so for Erin Ryder, James Fox and Ben McGee, members of a dynamic team starring in the new television series, "Chasing UFOs," that premieres Friday on the National Geographic Channel. One can imagine the theme music of the old "X-Files" series playing in the heads of Ryder, Fox and McGee as they travel the country looking for the truth behind reported unexplained UFO encounters, alien abduction and military cover-ups. The three investigators bring different points of view as they chase UFOs. Ryder, a thrill-seeking adventurer who costars on the Syfy Channel's "Destination Truth" series and also the "Chasing UFOs" tech supervisor and lead researcher, calls herself the "skeliever" of the group -- sort of a half-skeptic, half-believer. "I couldn't find a word to best describe how I felt my stance was and I really am somewhere between a skeptic and a believer," she told The Huffington Post. "I've always had a fondness for the strange and unusual, and I go on the facts and base my findings from the evidence we collect and the testimonies we hear." Fox, who is often referred to as a UFOlogist and has produced two previous UFO documentaries, "Out of the Blue" and "I Know What I Saw," is the believer here. "My goal is to create something that is entertaining, yet very informative and also dispels the myth that there's nothing more to UFOs than swamp gas, misidentified aircraft and mass hallucinations," Fox told HuffPost. McGee, a geologist, field explorer and aerospace consultant, is the scientific skeptic of the group. "This material tends to be so toxic for scientists, so my first impulse was to run for the hills," McGee told HuffPost. "But I believe very strongly in education and science outreach, and I thought this would actually be a vehicle to help engage people in the conversation about our place in the universe and the possibility of extraterrestrial life." WATCH VIDEOS & CONTINUE READING: www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/27/chasing-ufos-national-geographic_n_1628943.html
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2012 15:29:09 GMT -6
Just a quick reminder for those interested in watching the show tonight on Natgeo 'Chasing UFO's' . Enjoy ! Cliff
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Post by swamprat on Jun 29, 2012 19:45:50 GMT -6
Ok, we had to make our grocery run. Anybody watch? Thoughts?
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Post by LindseySkywatcher on Jun 30, 2012 12:19:42 GMT -6
I'm sure most of you have heard of or tuned into the new series from Nat Geo...Chasing UFOs...what are your thoughts about the program??
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Post by skywalker on Jun 30, 2012 20:49:16 GMT -6
Unfortunately I did not get to see it because I had to work late that night. Bummer. I'm still waiting to hear what other people think about it. I've read a few posts on facebook and so far people do not sound very impressed.
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Post by swamprat on Jun 30, 2012 21:10:58 GMT -6
Sky, have you seen all of the posts on AJ's Facebook?!
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Post by swamprat on Jun 30, 2012 21:12:24 GMT -6
I caught the re-run. Not good, not good. Obviously James was not calling the shots.....
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Post by skywalker on Jun 30, 2012 21:23:10 GMT -6
I havent read them yet. There were like a hundred of them or something.
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Post by skywalker on Jun 30, 2012 21:44:10 GMT -6
That's what I've been hearing also. It will probably turn out to be like one of those silly ghost hunter shows where they try to manufacture phony evidence and constantly say, "OMG...Did you hear that?" just to try to make it exciting. The chick looks hot though.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2012 9:24:04 GMT -6
I wasn't very impressed with it either. Hopefully next week will be better.
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Post by auntym on Jul 1, 2012 10:27:46 GMT -6
theufobureau.com/the-latest-ufo-and-alien-news/wtf-natgeo-scienceblogs-blog WTF, NatGeo?[/color] Posted by PZ Myers July 1, 2012 Oh, it’s another crappy television show put on by a purported science-positive network that I completely missed. National Geographic ran a show called “Chasing UFOs” on Friday, and since about the only television I ever watch any more is commercial-free movies on Netflix, I wasn’t tuned in. Fortunately, Robert Sheaffer did, and found it “lurid and sensational”. A fellow named Kacey Simmons claimed to have seen UFOs in a particular forested area, so the UFO Chasers decide to go there to check it out. At night, of course. So they attach themselves to absurd-looking night vision equipment with long booms protruding from shoulder braces, looking very much like people with broken necks wandering about. We repeatedly hear one or another excitedly exclaim, “What the (bleep) was that?” They take a video of a light in the sky “changing sizes,” not realizing that is the operation of their camera’s auto focus function, trying to bring the light into focus. We hear coyotes howl in the distance, and they have an almost-encounter with a wild boar. Such are the hazards facing those who dare to pursue extraterrestrials. They photograph an aircraft with three lights, and wonder if it is from earth. Great. The ghosthunter tactic. I guess people tune in to these things, so it must be effective television for some segment of the population, but every time I’ve seen these horrible green screen/night vision videos with everyone running around with a camera on a boom pointed at their face, I think it’s television for people who want to laugh at how stupid and gullible other people are. Now why would National Geographic want to sully their good name with this tripe? Here’s a clue: they did a survey. 77% of Americans believe that there is evidence that aliens have visited the Earth, and 36% are sure that they have; 79% of Americans believe the X-Files was a documentary, and that the government has been covering up the Truth about the aliens. Another nugget of information: Rupert Murdoch owns a 2/3 stake of the National Geographic Channel. Much is explained. By the way, I know it’s in vogue in these parts to mock the old-school skeptics who track down Bigfoot and UFOs and other such weird phenomena, but I think the contempt is misplaced. As the survey shows and this series exploits, the gullibility of the population for these topics needs to be addressed. If serious organizations with good reputations like National Geographic are going to be pandering to idiocy, we need skeptics like Bob Sheaffer to counterbalance them. CONTINUE READING: theufobureau.com/the-latest-ufo-and-alien-news/wtf-natgeo-scienceblogs-blog
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Post by lois on Jul 1, 2012 22:50:46 GMT -6
I do not get this Channel. Guess I did not miss anything..
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Post by lois on Jul 1, 2012 22:59:40 GMT -6
[/color] Jun 21 2012 by Alistair Watson, West Lothian Courier THERE was a strange encounter at the Courier office this week as a film crew popped in for a flying visit to talk about UFOs. The team from Pioneer Productions were in West Lothian as part of a series they are filming for the National Geographic television channel which is examining famous UFO cases of the past few decades. Their quest has taken them to a series of countries across Europe and they came to the county to investigate its very own X-File. He didn’t see little green men exactly, but 33 years ago forester Bob Taylor had a remarkable encounter with a UFO at Dechmont Law in Livingston. Paranormal expert Malcolm Robinson, who interviewed Mr Taylor the day after the incident in 1979, went with the film crew to the site of the encounter. And the founder of Strange Phenominan Investigations, also came into the Courier’s King Street office in Bathgate to be filmed as he looked through archive copies of your favourite local newspaper to find articles on Mr Taylor’s encounter from 1979. Courier reporter Alistair Watson also got in on the act when he was interviewed by the crew about the paper’s coverage of the incident through the years and the impact the event had on West Lothian. The Livingston incident is one of the planet’s most intriguing UFO mysteries which remains unsolved and still fascinates UFO enthusiasts all over the world. The incident took place on November 9, 1979 when Mr Taylor came across a metallic spherical object around 12 feet high in a clearing. When Mr Taylor approached it, two smaller spheres around three feet in diameter that appeared to be covered in spikes emerged from the bottom of the large sphere and began rolling towards him. The small spheres grabbed his trousers and dragged him towards the large object, and he passed out. CONTINUE READING: www.westlothiancourier.co.uk/2012/06/21/ufo-experts-to-make-film-62405-31224588/[/quote]Auntym. I have Mr Taylor on film from a sightings TV series program. He tells it all and they go to this site. Sky want do another search on this like you did my house in Leroy? There is not hardly any ufo sighting in the past fifty year they did not touch on .. on that program. Back then the witnesses were alive. and one could hear it from them. I will never get rid of those tapes no matter how much my husband screams about too much junk and not enough room ;D ;D Thanks for posting, U tube carries video for this event . I have seen them but years ago.
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Post by skywalker on Jul 3, 2012 19:41:04 GMT -6
I'll see what I can find, Shami. I just got through reading several hundred comments on facebook about the National Geographic UFO show and I haven't heard anything positive about it at all other than the chick looks hot and she knows how to climb stuff. I didn't see the show so I have no idea what climbing they are talking about. Was this show really as bad as everybody says it was? It seems like all of the UFO-knowledgable people hate it...I wonder what people outside of the UFO community thought of it?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2012 20:05:39 GMT -6
I just saw this on TV (Fox News of course- a sister company of National Geographic). I found a youtube version of this advertisement and here it is:
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Post by skywalker on Jul 10, 2012 13:17:08 GMT -6
What the hell was that? I thought this was supposed to be a serious show, not some phony baloney plastic banana make believe fictional Hollywood nonsense. Do they act like that in the show? Did anybody watch the last one? What the heck?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2012 17:03:30 GMT -6
What the hell was that? I thought this was supposed to be a serious show, not some phony baloney plastic banana make believe fictional Hollywood nonsense. Do they act like that in the show? Did anybody watch the last one? What the heck? I tried watching it again but ,,,,,,, cough,,,uh,hmm . lol This is a good example of why I don't watch much t.v.
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Post by skywalker on Jul 10, 2012 19:10:01 GMT -6
It's no wonder we have such a bad reputation. Ufologists and ghost hunters need to stop pretending to be Fox Mulder and Rambo and get down to some serious research. If acting like a Hollywood action hero is what it takes to get on TV than it would better to not be on TV. We are supposed to be doing serious research not sci-fi entertainment.
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Post by paulette on Jul 10, 2012 19:38:56 GMT -6
Reality TV has spoiled reality. People don't just "happen" to have a film crew when they happen to see something in the sky and happen to have a gassed up car, pointed in the right direction, with roads that happen to not be private (or not there at all). Texas is (or was when I lived there) at least 80% privately owned. That means gates, even if open, that one has to open and then close behind one. Or met the rath of the terrestrial rancher.
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Post by skywalker on Jul 10, 2012 20:52:20 GMT -6
That's true. I carry a camera with me almost everywhere I go but the most amazing and unbelievably cool things I have ever experienced in my life happened either one of the few times when I did not have a camera or when I was so completely stunned with amazement that I totally forgot to take pictures. It will always be extremely difficult to make a successful paranormal reality show because ufos and ghosts don't show up on cue for the camera. You would just about have to have a film crew following you 24 hours a day recording everything and then edit out the 29 days of boredom to get the one hour of excitement.
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Post by lois on Jul 10, 2012 20:54:39 GMT -6
What the hell was that? I thought this was supposed to be a serious show, not some phony baloney plastic banana make believe fictional Hollywood nonsense. Do they act like that in the show? Did anybody watch the last one? What the heck? People just don't go out looking for ufo's and find them this easily. ;D ;D Most researchers will tell you they have never witness a ufo.. What was all that gear they were wearing. Maybe the are going to catch one throw a net over the entire craft. ;D ;D Sorry auntym .. but this is funny. Most people are not like us here. They know nothing about nothing. I watch what my husband has on the TV at night . Total nonsense .. I thought Harry Potter was so stuuuuuuuuuuuupid . Yet the whole media was out trying to get the next book. Yes this show will go over I'm sure with the public. Wonder who is writing this script?? Some lame brain.. ;D ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2012 21:20:12 GMT -6
I love the Harry Potter movies... the main reason is because it was written when I was in second grade believe it or not and I remember my second grade teacher reading it to us in school and how fascinated I was by it. Also, John Williams did the soundtrack for the Harry Potter Movies... he's the guy who did Star Wars you know... one of the greatest film composers of all time... But yea. I guess it's just aimed for people my age and under Lois. That whole Twilight thing though... I think I'm the only female under the age of 40 who hates it. One of my girlfriends tried to force me to watch it and I fell asleep after the first five minutes. She woke me up and I was like, "Have the vampires started killing people yet?" She said, "No... these are romantic vampires..." I was like, "I'm gonna go now... if I'm going to sleep I want to be in bed... good night ladies..."
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Post by swamprat on Jul 13, 2012 12:01:34 GMT -6
The UFO Chronicles
Nat Geo’s Chasing UFOs: Two of the Stars Say the Show was Hijacked By Robert Hastings www.ufohastings.com7-11-12 “I know how disappointed all of you are. I am too. It’s not the show that was sold to both myself and scientist Ben…[It] does get a bit better further down the road but not a lot.” —James Fox “James and I both had expectations and (for our own reasons) hopes of an ultimately serious product. We both saw the project heading in a different direction as time went on and were powerless to influence it.” —Dr. Ben McGee My last article on this website, Nat Geo’s Chasing UFOs: Investigation as Farce, roundly criticized the format and content of the new reality series currently being aired on the National Geographic channel. Having meticulously investigated UFO activity at nuclear weapons sites for 39 years—utilizing declassified U.S. government documents and the testimony of more than 130 military veterans—I was appalled by the ridiculous thrashing around in the dark and superficial-to-non-existent analysis by the trio of “investigators” offered up in the program’s first three episodes. I was/am concerned that public and scientific perceptions about the UFO phenomenon, and those who actually research it, will be very negatively impacted as a result of Chasing UFO’s pretend-investigation approach to the subject. God knows there already exists a pervasive perception, at least in some quarters, that there is no “there” there. Consequently, this crap was the last thing that I, or anyone who wishes to learn the facts about UFOs, needed to see on our TV screens. Out of a sense of fair play, upon posting the article I emailed one of the show’s stars, filmmaker James Fox—whose previous two UFO documentaries I loved—and notified him that I had just publicly trashed him and his current project. To his credit, he took my very harsh but accurate criticism in stride and, in response, subsequently offered some mostly-apologetic commentary on journalist and best-selling author Leslie Kean’s Facebook site: www.facebook.com/lesliekean(A new article by Robert Hastings on the “Chasing UFOs” disaster.) Shortly thereafter, a second member of the Chasing UFOs trio, Dr. Ben McGee, added his own input. Both comments appear below and, as of this moment, over 40 other individuals have added their views to the very influential blog. James Fox said: I know how disappointed all of you are. I am too. It's not the show that was sold to both myself and scientist Ben. Two months into it, we were off to a great start; good locations, solid witnesses and some opportunities for Ben to apply his field research as a geologist at some crash sites. Very exciting stuff. Unfortunately, when we actually got out in the field we began to realize that they were more interested in poking around a night than allocating the time necessary during the day as apparently (so we were told) Americans love watching others sneak around at night from the comfort of their couches. Ben and I reluctantly played along...and it wasn't always bad. We really set up field maps and surveillance at the Roswell crash site (with a slew of high tech gear) and ran out of daylight. As it was in the middle of nowhere we all decided to work through the night and did find something...there were other cases in the show where when witnesses claimed to see strange lights appear in certain areas and that too made some sense for us to go out at night...but for the most part it was gratuitous night time boloney. As far as the title, it was UFO Investigations until they switched it to Chasing UFOs after it was all shot and edited. So with a lack of control in the field and zero in post the show is what it is. Having said that, all my previous works are circulating Nat Geo headquarters and I've been influencing and establishing contacts in the mainstream (middle america mainstream) and will continue to do so and I will only return if I'm on as a producer all the way through to the end. Will it ever be I Know What I Saw or Leslie's great work...? No, but I'll do my best to make is a credible while entertaining as possible (as that's most important to Nat Geo). I promise I'll either quit or change my position within the show because at least I can make it all make some sense. The show does get a bit better further down the road but not a lot. Please bare with me a bit longer as I've jumped into the lions den to see what I could do from the inside. My credibility and reputation has, deservedly, taken a serious hit but know that I'm hoping to come out with an opportunity that otherwise wouldn't have presented itself. Fingers crossed. James Ben McGee said: Greetings, all - James asked me to chime in as well. When we were brought onboard, the project certainly had a much harder inclination than its final realization, and as a career scientist I was excited that NatGeo was at the helm (unaware of their desire for a major shift in programming flavor). Our intentions were very sincere, and the project working title was even more serious than James remembers: Sightings Investigated. For my own part, while personally unconvinced of any extraterrestrial visitation, I had plans to provide insightful context that I thought viewers of all stripes would appreciate and find engaging - examples of spaceflight technology, astronomy, planetary science - helping anchor the show and explain why the scientific establishment supports the possibility of extraterrestrial life yet is unconvinced of extraterrestrial visitation either now or in the distant past. We filmed much of this content, but as you no doubt noticed, the great majority was ultimately not included. Apparently, such is television. James and I both had expectations and (for our own reasons) hopes of an ultimately serious product. We both saw the project heading in a different direction as time went on and were powerless to influence it. Injecting science into mainstream media is also problematic, and I am suffering heat in my own circles for the lack thereof on the show. I will personally vouch that James's motives were true, and if anyone is interested in the science that we did perform, I’m keeping a blog on the NatGeo website (linked below). Cheers, Ben tvblogs.nationalgeographic.com/author/benmcgee END OF POSTS My own opinion, expressed in great detail in my first article on this subject, is that the fix was in from the get-go and neither Fox, McGee nor Erin Ryder (the trio’s third member) had any real chance of influencing or altering the ridiculous outcome. READ MORE: www.theufochronicles.com/2012/07/nat-geos-chasing-ufos-two-of-stars-say.html
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Post by skywalker on Jul 13, 2012 22:01:04 GMT -6
That seems to happen a lot with movie scripts also. Somebody comes up with a great idea and the writer turns out a good screenplay and the actors deliver a decent performance and the director does the best he can and then they turn it over to the editors and the special effects people and each person makes their own little changes along the way. By the time it gets finished it is totally different from what it originally started out to be.
This is why most authors hate movies that are made about their books. Travis Waltin disliked Fire in the Sky because it was so different from what really happened. That's just the way show business is I guess. It's very difficult to merge serious investigating and entertainment together without sacrificing a little of each of them. In the case of Chasing UFOs they went too far towards the entertainment aspect of it...and the serious UFO enthusiasts hate it.
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