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Showing posts with label paranormal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paranormal. Show all posts

Sunday, December 5, 2010

TCI Featured `Writers' - December Feature

Hello All Fans Of The C Influence - Welcome Back especially to our fans who have marked us a favorite (why not do that yourself if you haven't yet). Today I begin a once a month feature that TCI will be doing - and that will be to feature some of the primary websites and postings that TCI writers have done recently. Please bookmark and return to The C Influence - http://thecinfluenceblog.blogspot.com/ .

Today - I begin with http://psychonauticus.blogspot.com/ one of Erich Kuersten main webpages.
Dec 1st - The Cheshire Cat Style ......What is the difference between hallucinations and waking life? Are dreams the third eye vision of alternate realities?

Take the Cheshire Cat for example which exists with 'just a smile' now there are many ways to interpet this, some very literally, like the EXORCIST: THE VERSION YOU'VE NEVER SEEN, some less so.
What about the audio?
I've had episodes where my own thoughts were spoken to me by the crazed horns in Mingus’ Saint and the Sinner Lady album. The repeating squawks now becoming a human voice, my voice, our voice, The Voice, for it has always only been one voice.....
Want more?http://psychonauticus.blogspot.com/2010/12/cheshire-cat-style.html
Novemeber 7th - http://psychonauticus.blogspot.com/2010/11/100-year-long-mp3.html
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Bruceleeeowe's site - http://weirdsciences.net/ - almost daily explores the outer reaches of the science side of the near impossible.

Bruce's most recent offering was on Dec. 3rd - http://weirdsciences.net/2010/12/03/growing-crops-on-other-planets/ -- beginning with these words ..... Science fiction lovers aren’t the only ones captivated by the possibility of colonizing another planet. Scientists are engaging in numerous research projects that focus on determining how habitable other planets are for life. Mars, for example, is revealing more and more evidence that it probably once had liquid water on its surface, and could one day become a home away from home for humans.

“The spur of colonizing new lands is intrinsic in man,” said Giacomo Certini, a researcher at the Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Science (DiPSA) at the University of Florence, Italy. “Hence expanding our horizon to other worlds must not be judged strange at all. Moving people and producing food there could be necessary in the future.”
Humans traveling to Mars, to visit or to colonize, will likely have to make use of resources on the planet rather than take everything they need with them on a spaceship. This means farming their own food on a planet that has a very different ecosystem than Earth’s. Certini and his colleague Riccardo Scalenghe from the University of Palermo, Italy, recently published a study in Planetary and Space Science that makes some encouraging claims. They say the surfaces of Venus, Mars and the Moon appear suitable for agriculture.....

On Dec 2nd - Bruce did this - GJ 1214b: Probing the Atmospheres of Super Earths - http://weirdsciences.net/2010/12/02/gj-1214b-probing-the-atmospheres-of-super-earths/


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Bruce Duensing's website - http://materialintangible.blogspot.com/ provides a wealth of material that challenges the outer limits of brain intelligence.


Bruce's most recent offering - http://materialintangible.blogspot.com/2010/12/biochemical-fire-of-unknown-origin.html begins in this manner:
A few days ago, I published the following; "After posting three short essays on the unknown experiential and non linguistic language that seems to thread behind what appears on the screen, in a variety of settings within the paranormal spectrum, which culminated in a very anomalous series of polyphonic tones coming from a electronic device, there is another layer to this, which I had ( up until this morning), dismissed as a fluke or some unknown glitch, whose origin escapes me, that is ( once again) my telephone answering machine. Some of you may recall the two previous strange encounters with odd electronic voices interacting with my family, warning of something or someone as "nefarious", which then led to a e-mail correspondence with George Hansen and Mark Macy. In the past week, and in particular this morning there have been a semi-regular series of inbound calls that:

1. Triggered the answering machine
2. Have left no identifying numbers of origin
3. The recordings have been the sound of a warning tone, and a message,
" the number you have reached is no longer in service"
4. A disconnect "click" is heard.

On Nov. 27th - Bruce did this post -
http://materialintangible.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-if-you-knew-everything-you-know.html
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Regan Lee's Website - http://orangeorb.blogspot.com/ - her latest post Dec. 4th - her topic, `implants' in Soldiers - This chilling story brings up so many obvious things, including the idea that much of the alien abduction scenarios are created by governments: MILABS, etc. One vet suing the CIA found, via an MRI, a chip implanted by way of his sinuses....http://orangeorb.blogspot.com/2010/12/cia-implanted-electrodes-in-brains-of.html

This was Regan's Nov. 26th posting - http://orangeorb.blogspot.com/2010/11/oregon-coast-bird-omens-sky-weirdness.html
==============================

Lon Strickler's Daily Phantom and Monsters site - latest probes into the unknown - http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/ - Included these features - Strange Encounter / Abduction Attempt - Morrison, Colorado - 12/3/2010 on Dec. 4th - http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2010/12/strange-encounter-abduction-attempt.html -- this from Dec. 3rd - Alien Gods: Anu, Lord of the Great Above - http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2010/12/alien-gods-anu-lord-of-great-above.html - and this from Dec. 2nd (I think) http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2010/12/fortean-oddball-news-alien-faces-pre.html
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Lesley Gunter's Daily `The Debris Field' can be found here - http://thedebrisfield.blogspot.com/ - daily, 10-25 stories are covered by Lesley many with short introductions.
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John Carlson's Website - http://www.theparanomalist.com/ - has been covering Cryptozoology with some infield reports this one from Nov. 22nd http://www.theparanomalist.com/2926/adam-davies-returns-from-india/ - Adam Davies returned Saturday, November 20th from his expedition in search of India’s famed apeman, the Mande Burung (Wild Jungle People). After two weeks in the jungles of the West Garo Hills district of the state of Meghalaya, Adam and his team of researchers came away with some very compelling evidence of the creature’s existence. Having just returned, Adam was understandably jet-lagged and exhausted, but he was kind enough to send me a brief email in which he offered to allow me to reprint some of the initial notes he made on his blog concerning his findings. I hope to speak with Adam soon (once he’s rested and recovered) to gather some further information about this latest expedition, but in the meanwhile, here is what he has to say:...
Needless to say, a REAL interesting read - and this post from the 13th of November - http://www.theparanomalist.com/2889/xyz-files-intro/
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Rick Phillips has been covering - http://ufodisclosurecountdownclock.blogspot.com/2010/12/remembering-barack-obama-inaugural-ufo.html on Dec. 5th - and posted this on The Heavy Stuff on Nov. 30th - http://theheavystuff.com/?p=88 - The Possible Phenomenology of Fortean Events and Anomalous Realities - Part One
=========================
Poet and Thinker - J.S. Flower - has reported via phone to working out his thoughts on some of Buckminster Fuller's Geometery - look for him to strike out any minute.
===== In Fact - Here's Flower From May 23, 2007:
Yo R.,



Non-portable water being ported...yes indeed...
Contrails entered my "dream -space", was with this woman and her 11 year
old daugher
"Look at that X in the sky Mommie"....
In "real-space" at the gas station the other day the attendant was noticing
how much dust was on the register, he said:" I just cleaned it !"...I was
on my way out and said "Its from all the spraying they are doing!" A
quizical look at me was mustered....


So we persist in the race of rats and wonder along the way


The only goal is to witness and observe what is, remember to not identify
and be...
Long Hollow impact but a memory
Conkles shared gazing of streaming light packets
Nodescribe the 10 to others, only experience will do {its still
there, but who will find it or attempt it???}


Perhaps what we learn is only part of the aboriginal dreamtime gathered
then forgotten...


Hopewellian rambles on


JF
======================
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Saturday, October 9, 2010

SP9: Regan’s Comments

Government Disclosure Won't Happen
The Disclosure movement means well, and disclosure proponents don’t bother me; however, I happen to think they’re naive. The government will never come clean, simply because it can’t. It’s a system that is its own entity which, regardless of original intents, ends up defending and protecting only itself. That’s the nature of all bureaucracies. It’s naive to think that the government would come forward in complete openness in regards to anything, let alone UFOs. My opinion doesn't not mean -- and it certainly doesn’t prove -- that UFOs don’t  exist, or that the government doesn't know a hell of a lot more than it’s telling. I don’t trust authority; it’s that simple. The government isn't in the truth business, so I don’t expect the government to be forthcoming. If there’s an agenda that will be satisfied by the government’s disclose concerning UFOs then they will give us “the truth” though no doubt that “truth” will be only some of the truth concerning UFOs.  There’s always a back room, which the rest of us in the front room will never get to see. The government doesn’t want to lose control over us, and it doesn’t want to admit it doesn’t know what to do about UFOs. That, and the need for self-protection, ensures that a completely authentic disclosure will never happen.

We need to focus on ourselves in regards to the UFO phenomena.

Definitions, Interpretations, Minutiae, Disclosures
UFOs exist, and that’s that. We need to get over the self-defeating cycle of engaging in the argument of whether they exist or not, and in pointless rounds of  defining “UFO.” UFOs exist; what they are, is something else. For those of us with direct experience with non-human beings and weird objects in the skies, we beg to differ when it comes to these now pointless time wasting arguments about existence. We don’t know with an absolute that the government has information concerning UFOs, although it’s a solid and rational thing to think that the government has plenty to disclose. It’s a safe and a rational assumption to make; that the government knows far more than it pretends when it comes to UFOs. No harm in asking, and for that reason, I just don’t have much of a disagreement with Disclosure people. I don’t think they’ll get anywhere, and I think it borders on the ridiculous to believe the government -- any government -- will reveal all, but it’s nice they’re trying. Little bits get revealed here and there, and that’s something. It all gets added to the vast, complex puzzle.

Even for us that have experienced such things as aliens and flying saucers and all the rest,  I can’t say they’re from outer space. They very well may be; or they could be inner earth dwelling creatures, or... combinations we haven’t even thought of. They are real, they are here. That is the reality. The rest is interpretation.

As Erich pointed out in his post,  many countries did “disclose”, in a sense. But it’s not true Disclosure until the alien is let out of the space ship on CNN. As to Project Bluebook, that was no attempt at disclosure, but a show to placate. Valuable data, thanks to the continued efforts of diligent researchers, but the intent? Appeasement and distraction.

Significance
It’s not a contest; this idea of disclosure concerning UFOs with other types of disclosure. The horrors of this world are real, and the idea that, because one has either experienced UFOs in some way in their life or has an interest in them is then uninvolved or disinterested and non-compassionate is another distraction. Interest in subject A does not negate interest -- or compassion and activism -- in subjects B, C and D. . .

The UFO phenomena is significant; and, if disclosure ever does take place, that will become even more evident. The fact that both myself and my spouse have experienced missing time in connection with UFOs on at least two occasions is very significant. And if the government was responsible for that, (a MILAB type event, for example) that’s damn well significant, because it means the government was doing things, obviously, it had no business doing. If it was aliens, that’s certainly significant.  Other possibilities, sure, but really, far less likely. No thank you very much, we are not mentally ill, or suffering from shared delusions, and I won’t dignify that argument with any more energy than this.

If one holds the view that such things don’t exist, or only exist in one context, how can it then be decided that that thing is significant or not?

It may be the aliens arrive, everyone nods and says, “Yeah, we kind of thought so,” and it’s business as usual. No major cures, wars continue, the human race isn’t saved from ourselves, the aliens don’t seem much to care. They’re here for sight seeing, or resources. They could not care less about us or the planet. Or, maybe they’re benign and loving and things will be groovy forever. I have no idea. That’s assuming  there’s just one race of alien. For all we know, there are several vying for power and control. Or, not. Point is; we don’t know.

Processing and Individuation
I accept that I’ve had experiences, and I’m trying to process them. But before we can get to some kind of individuation, as Erich refers to, we have to complete the processing, and that is different for everyone, including UFO Police, disclosure activists, and everyone else.

Is is so important we have some kind of individuation in UFOlogy? We don't know what we’re dealing with in the first place; labeling our responses to an unknown is expected -- how else do we make it so we can productively work towards understanding unless we break it down somewhat -- but we need to be aware we haven’t solved anything, simply because we stuck a label on it.

The assumption that it has to be aliens in the flying saucers, because what else could it be, is just that: an assumption. But it’s not a ridiculous assumption, nor is it irrational. It’s wrong headed to state, as a fact, that they’re aliens from outer space, but not so wrong headed to seriously consider that speculation.

It could be the UFO phenomena, including its entities, is a “mythic” journey, or some kind of “psi” event. Its responses to us  --  or what we see as in response to us -- ours to it, etc. --- our pursuit of “the answer” a hero’s journey. Into the underworld. Crossing liminal thresholds. Metaphors for an Other.  It could also be that that’s just a part of it, or that it seems that way to us, merely because of technology. As Budd Hopkins and Carol Rainey pointed out in their book Sight Unseen: Science, UFO Invisibility and Transgenic Beings , much of what the UFOs and aliens do seem “magical” to us because their technology is so beyond ours we aren’t able to perceive as simply manifestations of engineering and science. To us, it’s magic, or paranormal.

Levels of Disclosure
There’s personal disclosure, such as the encounters the individual experiences. Murky, confusing, for myself, no real anything other than the life long experiences. Very Zen like. No answers, no cures, just. .. UFOs and vague entities and weird moments over fifty plus years.  That’s pretty cool actually, and yes, significant, but as to answers: not much. Who they are, what they are, where they’re from, what they want.. nope. I can’t tell you. They just . . . are.

Then there’s the Disclosure humans. Activists who push the governments of the world to come clean. As noted, they’re naive and will never get any government to come clean. Even if an alien is shown inside a UFO on the news, and official government pronouncements are made that “they’re here,” -- how could we know they’re telling the truth? How can we be sure, really positive, that the alien isn’t a cleverly created puppet, or worse, some horrible science experiment involving hybrid animals; who knows what Dr. Evil madness lurks?



Finally, there’s the Oh My God Disclosure: “them.” They don’t need -- we don’t, won’t need -- any government to do anything. The aliens themselves have done it for us. They simply arrive in hundreds of mother ships, land, and, there you have it. They’re here. Like an episode of V, except real, a lot less cheesy, and, hopefully, not creepy human flesh eating reptilians.


Interpretations, The Djinn, Angels and Demons. . .
Some cultures accept these things as everyday realities as “normal” and expected as everything else. The mundane and the sacred are not so separate. Researchers Farah Yurdozu, Phillip Imbrogno, Rosemary Ellen Guiley (The Vengeful Djinn Unveiling the Hidden Agenda of Genies) among others, refer us to Turkish perceptions of these UFOs and beings; they call them Djinn, and accept that these entities cross into our dimension. Some Christians in our culture and elsewhere frame these experiences in a demon/angel dichotomy. While I have problems with that dogma the idea isn’t so far off. What came first, the demon/angel/god motif, or the alien from Mars?



Whatever they are, they are, and there are many paths on this very significant journey to discovery.

Friday, October 8, 2010

SP9: Strickler Responds to Disclosure

For decades, campaigning politicians worldwide have promised that full disclosure was imminent until, of course, they won the election, assumed office and realized that there was no way the general public was going to be told the truth for one simple reason - fear is power.

I'm amused when I think back to a quote made 25 years ago:“...when you stop to think that we’re all God’s children, wherever we may live in the world, I couldn’t help but say to him, just think how easy his task and mine might be in these meetings that we held if suddenly there was a threat to this world from some other species from another planet outside in the universe. We’d forget all the little local differences that we have between our countries and we would find out once and for all that we really are all human beings here on this earth together...” - U.S. President Ronald Reagan on December 4, 1985 referencing a conversation during nuclear weapons negotiations with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. This statement of solidarity may happen one day though, reality may be a bit different than the actual intent of the quote.

Wernher von Braun once revealed to Dr. Carol Rosin, his former spokesperson, that there was substantial proof that conspiratorial plans where in place by world governments and elites that justified using weapons in space and would also involve an intentional hoax of a 'false flag' extraterrestrial invasion. He referred to this as 'the last card' and it would be used to create order out of chaos. In a nutshell, the use of knowledge and technology to create fear and ultimate total control.

For all intents and purposes, actual UFO and extraterrestrial disclosure has been underway since the first human aircraft pilots reported strange lights in the sky. The extraterrestrials already reside in defined areas of this planet and have directly influenced human life since the end of World War II. Those citizens and researchers who read and examine the evidence know this to be true. The people who desire full disclosure from our governments need to be careful what they wish for...they may receive it.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

SP-8 Phillips Moderates Lake Monster Illusion Posts

Welcome to The C Influence Blog - TCI - thanks for visiting today. TCI is a new idea in blogging in that the writers on TCI take one seed idea - and each do a post about the idea and the other writers posts on the idea (we are still working on that part - lol). The idea is to have a discussion of ideas that will be a pleasure to read; - and that we do have a TCI.

TCI your ONE stop for the best paranormal bloggers doing what they do best - blogging about paranormal ideas.

The latest seed idea was Lake Monsters by Bruceleeeowe http://thecinfluenceblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/lake-monster-illusion.html. Bruce brought forth several logical reasons why `monsters' might be seen from `people’s anticipations' to the vast unknowns of the sea of Earth. He also sited this interesting case:
`in Rotterdam in 1978. A small panda had escaped from a zoo, whereupon officials had issued a media alert. Soon panda sightings—around one hundred in all—were reported across the Netherlands. However, a single animal could not have been in so many places in so short a time; in fact, no one had seen the panda, because it had been killed by a train when it reached railroad tracks near the zoo.' - Bruce also pointed out some flaws in science trying to find sea cryptids.

Duensing then responded with  http://thecinfluenceblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/aberrant-attraction-of-sea-monsters.html - his usual flair - expanding the topic with his precise generalizations (if that is possible) - for example:
`As far as the oceanic realm, Cryptozoology veers along swerving test course between mythology, witness accounts and cases of mistaken identity. Sound familiar? However, in this case, there are monsters of the deep, that more appear to be victims of decidedly human tastes in form and function, which tie back to the aforementioned instinctual drives that create both genocidal and reactive behaviors in us as well as the accompanying and often imaginary fear that rationalizes all this' then leaping with a flourish such as `This is the tale of the Gnostic who loathes the Whore of the natural systems of Earth. Perfumed Scorpions and Sea Monsters have perhaps in the end, a relative value from afar. In this, according to the Sufi, is the subtle reality of an individual, the “I.” As opposed to the spirit (rūḥ) or to the intellect (‘aql), the nafs appears in a negative aspect, because it is made up of the sum of individual or egocentric tendencies.'

Ouellet was next up with http://thecinfluenceblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/sp-8-ouellet-commenting-on-lake.html his perspective which focuses on `elusiveness' :
The Lake Monsters phenomenon is another example of what unifies the so-called paranormal, namely elusiveness. UFOs, ghosts, Big Foot and psi effects leave, if any, only feeble traces that invariably fail to confirm the witnesses’ account. Furthermore, every time someone takes the means to have a substantive confirmation of the phenomenon, it also invariably fails to show-up, or if it does it is a hoax. This is elusiveness, which is described by the parapsychologist Walter von Loucadou as follow: “the phenomenon will behave ‘as it pleases’ as long as it is not observed attentively”.

Then, Strickler offered up first hand experience about Lake Monsters - and - their benefit to `local businesses' - he provides a great case example:
http://thecinfluenceblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/sp-8-lon-strickler-responding-to-lake.html
in 2008 I was asked by a LakesTV representative to publish the screen captures from the original video on my blog. The video was located on the LakesTV website at the time. I asked if I could use the video and was denied access. The representative informed me that they wanted to 'market the video and it would be copyrighted' - discover which case within the link.

Not to be outdone - Lee then offered a top of the line post - http://thecinfluenceblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/random-responses-to-water-monsters.html - called - Random Responses to Water Monsters, Clowns,Cannibals and Noticing - and the first thing Lee did was directly comment (this is what it is about, commenting on the other ideas too) about what Duensing said:Bruce  begins his post with the question:"What makes a creature monstrous to us?" I found it interesting Bruce used, among the many images he used in his post, a photo of a clown face. To my mind, a disturbing, creepy, unwholesome, garish and violent-vibe emitting image. and as Lee's post goes on - she comments on nearly every post of the Lake Monster seed. What an excellent example of what TCI is trying to be - strong esoteric stuff.

Please make sure to look around our sidebar before you go today - and - thanks for visiting.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Seed Post 4 - Influences - Regan Lee

I’ll start off with a general comment about my overall perspective on approaches to studying paranormal and UFO events. All my life, I’ve had paranormal and UFO experiences, and I continue to experience these things. My activism, I guess you could call it, -- encouraging others to tell their stories, sharing my own -- came about roughly fifteen years ago, when I returned to college.

I studied folklore, and focused on paranormal and UFO narratives. Folklore was one of the few area where I could get away with indulging my fascination with these topics. As soon as it became known I was interested in hearing from to others with supernatural, Fortean and especially UFO experiences, I had all kinds of people contacting me, eager to share their stories. Many of them told me they hadn’t shared their stories, or only with a few others. Often they hadn’t even told their spouses or significant others, or children -- they kept these experiences to themselves. Knowing they had someone who would listen to them without judgment, keep their confidence if they requested that, and had my own strange experiences gave these witnesses the space to share.

I loved the academic realm of folklore as a discipline, but, had a few major problems with it at the same time. I am not an academic, and , when in college, decided to not follow that path. I’m simply not wired that way; can’t deal with authorities, politics, 9 to 5 job milieu. . . but that aside, I found a huge problem in folklore studies -- as an academic pursuit - that seemed ironically contradictory. On the one hand, collecting stories while remaining nonjudgmental was encouraged. At the same time, it seemed to me folklore couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. Professors wanted conclusions, they wanted a psychological analysis. Well, I’d say, I’m not a psychologist, I’m not a psychology student, I’m not even taking any psychology classes. While I could give a sort of every-woman’s, educated take on, say, UFO narratives using psychology (Jung, etc.) it wouldn’t really be worth much. If not psychology, sociology, if not that, science, they wanted something. Pointing out that folklore, while utilizing those areas in some ways, is not those things, -- well, we just went around.

At the same time, self-reflexivity was encouraged, depending on the professor. I liked that; we are not objective beings. In dealing with stories of UFOs, abductions, aliens encounters, hauntings, high strangeness, Bigfoot sightings and all manner of Fortean, supernatural events, the standard, neat little explanations of psychology science etc. do not apply. Especially if the interviewer/researcher herself has had her own experiences.

Because of my own experiences, which caused me to research, which gave me information that I could share with witnesses (or “informants” as we called them which always struck me as an odd term) I asked myself: what am I? Researcher? Experiencer? Witness? Where do I come in, when do I step out?

It’s a dance, a partnership, a journey: “researcher” and witness. Bigfoot researcher Autumn Williams has brought this issue forward with her recent book Enoch. A great book in my opinion; what Williams has to say about Bigfoot research can be applied to all anomalous research. Respect for the witness, certainly. Listening to the witness. Just . . . listening. Respect for the witness, allowing the witness to determine time lines and how things will go, or at least, recognize the researcher/witness relationship is an equal endeavor, not a power one of Researcher vs. witness. Her book has caused quite a controversy within Bigfoot research, but, maybe that’s a good thing. It’s shaken things up, that’s for sure. Maybe her words will cause researchers to take a look at their expectations of what they want from research, from “finding Bigfoot,” to what they expect and want from witnesses.

(Speaking of the roles of witnesses and researchers, I remember a folklore conference I attended years ago. Big time folklorists were present, revered academics, published authors; it was great. And a fist fight almost broke out! There was one well known folklorist, who insisted the wishes of the indigenous culture he had been researching for years be respected -- their stories not told out of season, for example -- while another equally well known folklorist insisted no such consideration should be held; the stories were too important, the research too important, to withhold the stories from the rest of us. I personally found the disregard and lack of respect for the culture being discussed shocking, and amazed that this academic authority could get away with such behavior. I know;I was naive!)

UFO research, for example, sees this; researchers arguing about who controls data and information, release of findings vs. witness confidentiality, etc.

I had many professors tell me that just compiling stories wasn't enough; what about them? I agree with that to a point, after all, anyone can collect a bunch of stories, however, that "so what" is very valuable; that bunch of stories is data. Aside from the usual folklore stuff: tracing cultural origins, comparisons and contrasts with other groups, group dynamics, etc. well, what about them indeed? They’re there; and with, say, UFO stories, I don’t know the answers any more than anyone else does.

My frustration reached its peak when I was working on my final project (akin to a thesis) in folklore. My paper was on UFO narratives that included animals. From the behavior of the family pet in the face of a UFO landing, to animals and creatures appearing as guides to liminal experiences, I had a nifty collection, naturally organized into categories, of animal tales in a UFO context. But what was my analysis? What was my take on all this? What angle was I operating from? A Jungian one? Freudian? etc.

The following is from an article I wrote for the UFO Folklore site a good ten years ago. It was written when I was just beginning to get involved in this field on-line. The article is titled Defining Folklore; I wrote:
There is a common misconception among many people that the term "folklore" implies "something that is not true." Nothing can be further from the truth. Folklore means the "lore" (stories) of the "folk," whatever that lore might be, true or not.
... For some, the fact that a comparison can be made is "proof" that the current UFO stories are "lies." A folklorist merely points out the interesting pattern, but acknowledges it is not "proof" of anything. .. Conspiracy theories, animal behavior and imagery, abduction tales, the role of popular culture, telepathic communications, and more, are all part of the lore that is examined by folklorists. It may be true, it may not be true. It is not the role or objective of a folklorist to make an absolute statement one way or the other.

For myself, I am concerned with the process of UFO stories. How do they change, how are they the same? What are the "extensions" of UFO tales? (conspiracy tales, ancient astronaut theories, etc.) What can we learn about each other, ourselves, and the world -both seen, and unseen?

In exploring the UFO stories in all the complex and varied lore that exists, much can be learned, on several levels, about the human psyche. That's only part of the exploration. We can also come closer to the "truth," whatever that might be.

The folklore of the people is where we will find it.
The main point of all this: as interesting as all these stories, narratives, cross-cultural expressions and so on were, the assumption was that it wasn’t real. Some other explanation is needed: psychological, religious, social, scientific, cultural. Anything but the idea that witnesses were describing exactly what they saw, what they experienced, and anything but exploring those events for what they were, rather than ignoring the elephant in the room; the elephant being the alien, UFO, ghost, etc. reported by the witness.

Influences
I still love folklore, and please don't misunderstand, I have respect for the field and many folklorists. I retain what I see as a core element of a folkloric approach. Which is: listening. Observing. Finding themes, comparisons, contrasts, connections but. . . listening. And allowing myself to be a part of the journey, as opposed to setting myself apart.

A recent Coast to Coast episode had author Jeff Belanger on as a guest, who discussed legend tripping and paranormal, Fortean stories from a folklore perspective. Belanger doesn’t consider himself a folklorist, not in an academic sense, but he really had a grasp of what folklore lore is, and how it operates within paranormal events:
"A legend is a living entity," he declared, noting that such stories are born, grow, 'marry' or merge with other tales, clone themselves, travel, and even die if the story ceases to be told. To that end, he described 'legend tripping' as "getting out there and putting yourself into the story," thus experiencing, first-hand, the locations where sightings of anomalies like Bigfoot, ghosts, and UFOs have occurred.

And our responses to those sites, our own experiences, if we’re lucky to have them, are a part of that research.
Influences
Jacque Vallee, while not a folklorist, used folklore brilliantly in his book Passport to Magonia, a book that remains a huge influence, as does George P. Hansen's The Trickster and the Paranormal, and Patrick Harpur’s Damonic Reality. Thomas Bullard's work, who is a folklorist, was very influential, was just about the only folklorist at the time who openly delved into UFO narratives as a serious area of study.

All this isn’t to suggest there aren’t academic folklorists out there who are so stodgy. And I’ve been away from the academic world for a very long time. As I said, I am not a folklorist or an academic.

I’ll end with this YouTube clip of researcher David Hufford, another influence and author of The Terror That Comes in the Night: An Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions, speaking about academia’s perspectives on, and responses to anomalous experiences:

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

TCI - SP3 - Lee Actualizes Discussion on Harmonics

Bruce has said it all, and as usual very beautifully. Robin’s comments add to the wonderful ideas brought forth. I can’t really add anything, except to say a little bit in general, including my own experiences.



Bruce’s eloquent thoughts on harmonics and the symbiotic dance/play/relationship between us and anomalous events reminds us of the obvious, cliché yet taken for granted fact that our particular culture continues to separate mind/heart/consciousness, rejecting the idea of an “other” even existing at all. As Bruce and Robin, in her/his comments, have pointed out, our emotions, our “pre-existing emotional tenor” (Robin) is part of our perceptions of mystical, paranormal, etc. events. Many cultures recognize this and induce these states through sounds, and movement (chanting, music, dance) as has been pointed out by Robin and Bruce. Energies are both physical and emotional. I had this experience with a healer who used sound; singing bowls and her own unique, weird “singing” almost a kind of yowling... that literally shifted things in my body. Paranormal experiences contain these responses to “unseen” energies we call ghosts, spirits, psychic insights -- and in cases of UFOs, at times, aliens? -- the physical, strong electrical feelings felt in my body when in the presence of these kinds of phenomena.


(And as to the heart: even my husband’s cardiologist, a mainstream Western doctor (but who does seem open a bit to alternative ideas) mentioned to us the self-repairing/creating abilities of the heart, and the power of intent and positive energy focused on the heart.)




Energy, seen, unseen. Physical, always, regardless. Shifted, moved, manipulated by sound, movement. And, others? Are the Djinn, aliens, spirits, aware of this as well -- more so? -- and move the energy waves around us, as well as within us, to create what they want to create, for either our benefit, their benefit, or some combination of both?


I think it depends on the quality and type of anomalous thing present.


We’ve been talking about paranormal, UFO, esoteric phenomena and how this all relates ... I see a reminder here that this idea of harmonics, of shifting, moving, connecting with energy is applicable to everyday life, waking life, as well.


One more example of shifting energies, which is somewhat related to this idea of harmonics and energy but it's a bit off topic. I know it sounds very off the wall but here it is, this happened a couple of years ago: I had been working very strongly with intent, a lot of work on focusing, energy --- and had the following experience, which sounds both downright silly, as well as trivial. But even in this trivial, mundane every day setting, the powerful illustration of energy-shifting was evident.


I was in line at the bank. Woman ahead of me was just... bothering me, for some reason. I couldn't even see her face, so why was she bothering me? She wasn't doing anything, just standing there. But I was getting the strongest, most uncomfortable -- and electrical -- feeling from her, "vibes," in short, that were physically affecting me. I decided I wanted her to move. Move away, move ahead. I focused/thought very intently and suddenly, I heard a lot snap/pop in my head that was accompanied by a flash of bright white light, and she, at the same time, not only moved, but kind of lunged ahead, as if someone had pushed her. She kind of looked around a little, like she had tripped, or couldn't figure out what happened. That was the only time I have ever experienced anything like that.