Be honest with yourself. Are you a UFO skeptic, a true believer, or an enthusiast? Listen to the video and take a look at youself where do you fit?
Budd Hopkins is the researcher’s researcher. He’s not a perfect guy, not arrogant…just real. Hopkins even inspired a Pulitzer Prize winning Harvard professor to look at UFO abduction because of the quality of the hard data his research produced. When John Mack examined Budd Hopkins’s excellent research and then changed his views on UFO abductions, Hopkins showed us all --skeptics, true believers, and everybody else who bothers to pay attention-- the real power of good data.
So, thanks to the legacy of Budd Hopkins and Dr. John Mack, we can see how important it is to ask ourselves the toughest question of all: have UFO researchers and witnesses learned from past mistakes? Are the most educated and the most opinionated among us willing to look at ourselves and rethink what we mean by belief vs. truth and opinion vs. fact…and observation vs. conclusion?
We all claim to have an open mind, right? If you think yours is, give this clip a listen.
DVD: Budd Hopkins Skeptics & True believers. 2008 International UFO Congress:
Do you ever find yourself doing what I do, when something really bizarre, or outrageous surfaces in conversation or on your favorite website… simply checking in and asking yourself:
Could what I’m thinking here actually be what I’ve decided to believe
--rather what I’m likely to conclude from examining the available facts?
How do I decide what constitutes independent, verifiable data?
Who has the authority to establish --or demolish-- the testimony of direct witnesses?
Our beliefs are important, they define us. But what happens when we make it impossible for truth to even sneak up on us, because we’ve forgotten the art of being absolutely honest with ourselves --honest and aware enough to call a belief a belief, and not presume it’s an absolute truth?
Should we be surprised that the casual type of self-dishonesty we indulge in is used very effectively by others, and not in a good way? I suspect it’s used across the board --by us and against us-- when it comes to thinking about, researching, and even experiencing UFOs.
So I’d like to move just for a minute from belief about verifiable facts, to spirituality. The spiritual life without honest self-examination is what I call “getting high on God”, and I define that as a place where you may feel, safe and accepted, but it’s also a place were you can lose yourself. Some UFO witnesses and experiences look to us for help and the truth. Shouldn’t we provide that help based on the truth of what we know, and separate what we know from what we believe?
Most crucially, we must continue to ask this: Do we really know the entities of the abduction phenomenon are good?
The intelligence on the other side of this knows its own reasons.
We don’t have any real way of knowing if they, the representatives of that intelligence, lie and manipulate…we can only believe and hope they have good reasons for being here.
But that’s our hope, our belief. Not ground truth. Not intelligent conclusions based on decades of facts.
In an article in Fate Magazine [May 2008] about a famous African Healer who claims he was abducted, “Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa and the Alien Agenda” author Louis Proud reports:
"Credo is recognized by many as one of the most distinguished African traditional healers of the 20th century…He is, in fact, the spiritual leader of the sanusis and sangomas of South Africa. …Credo claims to have been abducted by beings his people, the Zulus, call the mantindane. Even more surprising is the fact that these creatures look and act exactly like what we in the West call the “grays”…The late John E. Mack was among one of the first UFO researchers in the West to interview Credo…an expert [John Mack, Ed.] on the alien abduction phenomenon, found difficult not to take seriously. "
Listen to what Zulu elder Credo Mutwa claims about the grays:
“Some of these beings, says Credo, have covertly and profoundly influenced all human cultures and civilizations for millennia…As regards different types of alien beings, the mantindane are apparently the most important to Africans, who fear them greatly. The word mantindane, by the way, translates as “the tormentors.” Credo described these entities to Mack as troublesome and “parasitic,” claiming that they “instill superstition, sow discord, and may even cause disease.”
This Zulu spiritual leader describes ET behavior in a way that fits my conclusion that they are very intelligent and manipulate the human race from the shadows and, through displays and mythology. Others, of course, say ETs are wonderful and good.
Fate:
http://www.fatemag.com/issues/2000s/2008-05article2.html
In the final analysis we don’t know the real agenda behind the UFO abduction phenomenon, or behind any of the many other UFO phenomenon.
Not knowing--and admitting we don’t know-- can be a healthy position, especially when it’s is the truth.
Joseph Capp
UFO Media Matters
Non-Commercial Blog
Very good article Joe. I'm glad to see Bud speak out on that subject such as he did. My aggravations regarding the same thing sound like his.
ReplyDeleteMore recently I've been putting notes together for an article in my blog that will be titled The Worst Evidence. We have all seen the best evidence so we know what that is. The worst evidence is actually the actions and words of those who hurt the rest of us in our trek for attempting to enlighten others with the truth and no nonsense.
I'm usually not one to go for the throat so I keep deleting parts and then put it on the back burner, which is where it is now. lol
Dear Alien Contacted,
ReplyDeleteThere are people out there who are having experiences and looking for meaning. We all come under the banner of people who know about UFOs. We need to be honest about what we do know as fact and what we only believe.
I think The 10 worst is a great idea for a blog post, write it but remember it important to educate not just to point out flaws. There may be people who are innocently involved in seeking information through these fridge and quasi religious groups.
Joseph Capp
UFO Media Matters
Non-Commercial Blog
"There are people out there who are having experiences and looking for meaning."
ReplyDeleteI remember, I was one of them once certainly.
"We need to be honest about what we do know as fact and what we only believe."
Sure we do but I go a little further than that actually and try to show an individual that they should never believe anything but their own experiences. It's all there to be put in the back of the mind but not in that little filing cabinet in the brain labeled 'fact'.
I remember when I was green. I was blown away while reading the explanations of others, which were pretty much hearsay and not even their own experiences. Of course I've since realized that there is an awful lot of that. Much of it even appears as if it isn't hearsay.
"I think The 10 worst is a great idea for a blog post."
It's not people necessarily. Just off the top of my head, the Worst Evidence can be anything from dramatization within a website, someone solely in the business of promoting a book, someone portraying something similar to what the grocery store rags present, how hearsay is treated of course, etc., etc.
In regard to people that would be those who claim to have solid proof regarding the aliens rather than speculation, sending people out in left field with wild conspiracy theories, etc., etc.
"Educate not just to point out flaws. There may be people who are innocently involved in seeking information through these fridge and quasi religious groups"
Too true. First and foremost, I sincerely believe that everyone, especially the newbies to the scene should concern themselves with fact and theory. Many of them don't understand that both exist so instead form beliefs. I've got three departments in my brain. They are fact, theory and faith. Facts are my personal experiences only, theories are the experiences of others and I'm pretty much a mess from what the aliens have done to my daughter and myself in the past so the faith department is pretty much empty. lol
See that last sentence I just wrote. I would never write such a thing elsewhere. Look at how I could influence someone's beliefs with that one small sentence. That's another Worst Evidence - writers who know how to write. They scare me because good writers are also good influencer's.
I may have mentioned this previously but after working for BJ at the UFO Casebook for a few years, I literally saw personality changes in members. I saw them go from happy go lucky to a borderline paranoid mess. After a year or so I would find them avidly posting in the Conspiracy Theory section.
I had a point of stating to all of the members frequently that you can wear this stuff after a while and it won't come off. Because of that, you need to step away for two to three weeks. There were young ones in there of course and they're not going to listen so I watched them get pretty dark about the time I left. There was another moderator who had to quit posting for about a month or so because his job sent him off to another country without his computer. He couldn't believe the difference he said when he got back. He felt like a new person again. He said he got his old self back. It happened to me too, which is why I stated such in there.
The majority (believe it or not) aren't surfing websites more than they are posting in forums these days. The forums are doing a real number on impressionable kids. Forum members don't know how to use the words, "I think" or "possibly". Instead they state, "I believe". That's scary because the newbies that don't know better do too. They end up leaving and believing I call it, just to return the next day to swallow more junk whole. lol
So it's not so much about people than it is 'other'.
Personally, I've got a list a mile long with names of individuals that I no longer read anything they have to say. If I see their name in an article of someone else's, I click out and that 'someone else' is now on my list. I've seen so much garbage over the years I get angry because there's nothing really I can do about it.
More importantly, and my reasoning for the Worst Evidence is because we as a whole lose credence out there due to the muckity muck that others are pushing for whatever reason they have.
First you write: "Hopkins showed us all --skeptics, true believers, and everybody else who bothers to pay attention-- the real power of good data."
ReplyDeleteThen you write: "Listen to what Zulu elder Credo Mutwa claims about the grays:
Some of these beings, says Credo, have covertly and profoundly influenced all human cultures and civilizations for millennia…As regards different types of alien beings, the mantindane are apparently the most important to Africans, who fear them greatly. The word mantindane, by the way, translates as “the tormentors.” Credo described these entities to Mack as troublesome and “parasitic,” claiming that they “instill superstition, sow discord, and may even cause disease.”
I would like to know what his data is? A quote only proves what one person believes. Why does Mutwa believe this? You offer no explanation. Did the greys tell him all these things during an abduction, or is he just repeating superstition?
Aren't sowing discord and instilling supersitition purely human reactions to the unexplained and unpleasant? Is it right to think this is part of the greys plan?
That the greys influence human development is consistent with other researchers findings. For example Fowler. If we look at the development of human society over the millenia we see improvements in human rights, medicine, life expectancy, and agriculture, etc etc. I'd prefer to live a simpler life but when it comes right down to it I don't want to give up central heating, supermarkets and dental medicine. Isn't this evidence that if the greys are controling human development they are doing good?
Individuals may not like how the greys work when it effects them personally, but the overall consequences may be good for humanity as a whole.
Dear AC,
ReplyDeleteYou have covered all the bases. If it wasn't for the UFO Witnesses who keep coming forward like O'Hare and Stephenville the UFO story would be dead. This is why I started my blog... Witnesses are people...experiencer's are people...like those who sought religious answers in the 60 & 70 they may end up being exploited by people who really are in it for every reason except the good ones. I hope you write that post soon and I will be waiting to read it.
Joseph Capp
UFO Media Matters
Non-Commercial Blog
Dear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry if you got that impression. I was not trying to claim this was hard data, and your right it is not. I should have made it clearer. Basically I was trying to say even abductees have independent explanations for what and who ET are.
He had also claimed they were here always.
So these quasi religious groups inside our community discount the reports of investigated abductees that do not fit there bill. I am going right now to put the link on so you can read the whole article. I meant to do it.
Thanks
Joe Capp
UFO Media Matters
Fun Stuff! This is off-topic and then again on-topic but I wanted to bring your attention to something that's going on right now in the History Channel forum. If you've got a little time on your hands, James Oberg is in there spouting off as usual. I thought some of you might enjoy a looksee. This started after episode 13 (NASA FILES) on Wednesday and it's ongoing.
ReplyDeleteYou'll need to register in order to access the 6 threads he's posting in. His page and the History Channel page are posted here below.
He's ragging on Birnes pretty good and even some of the astronauts. If anything you'll get a good laugh. The Oberg profile takes you directly to his latest posts.
HISTORY CHANNEL UFO FORUM
JAMES OBERG PROFILE
You laud the "quality of hard data" collected by Budd Hopkins and his excellent research data as being key to his success and to influencing John Mack's entry into the field. Are you aware that the "hard data" that inspired John was being handed a stack of unopened letters from people who had written to Budd? Intriguing information, yes, but I'd hardly call a stack of uninvestigated letters "research data." What this field needs is more scientific discipline and a lot less credulous acceptance of whatever comes over the transom. This is how myths get started......
ReplyDeleteDear AC,
ReplyDeleteI mentioned him in some of my blogs. I call him Jumping James Oberg. James uses the try and true method. Try to muddle the subject or be true to the idea of minimizing and or attacking the persons character. James never gave a dame about truth, only Jaime's versions of the truth. You really want to have fun. Bring a pad with you and try to guess what he is going to say next...if you know James you'll guess because he uses the same arguments over and over again. Thousand of reports but James will cherry pick reports till his hands are numb. Good old Jumping JIM
Joe Capp
UFO Media Matters.
Dear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteMy point is that when he went to Budd there was the data. The tapes the research of the families. The letters certainly peeked his curiosity it was Budd research that started him on his way. I don't like the way people minimize Budd Hopkins, who is not out there trying to make a buck. Many people in these groups are resistant to Budd's conclusion abdutions may not be good. His research certainly change a great deal of thinking on this subject. He influence David Jacob's who's tenure at Temple, was challenged yet defeated. We all know what happened to John.
Doing quality research is the only way to go with subject. If it wasn't for Budd there would be no Mack presenceor research by him.
Joseph Capp
UFO Media Matters
Yes Joe, lol - he did exactly that. His forté has always been to mince words while intimidating his prey. I used to read his muck in Virtually Strange years ago. Nothing changes with Jim and he did exactly what you said he would do.
ReplyDeleteI hung in there though and kept the upper hand. He's a lousy skeptic and does not follow the rules of skepticism. In a big way he's a Shermer. You can visualize him standing over you with a loud tone attempting intimidation. His words get lofty, so much so that you didn't understand the sentence. lol
Some things never change.
When the O'Hare incident occurred he was on television parroting the weather as the answer. I think weather may be the intelligence behind UFOs, never thought of that. Thanks Jumping Jim./
ReplyDeleteJoe Capp
UFO media Matters
As is in this realm we often ponder the situation of our world and it's people. Why then did this event happen, we sometimes ask.
ReplyDeleteThe same applies to the alien subject and their meaning here on this planet. This will progess until we have a meeting of the minds, so to speak. And once we see their true agenda we must open our spiritual eyes and confirm what we are experiencing....it is not good, it is not bad, it merely is what it is. And by all the machinations of mankind nothing can alter the plan of the Supreme Consciousness.
I agree! It is time to end human centric thinking when it comes to the creator. It is time for scientist to agree that others may have achieve space flight and may be here. It is time to realize that they will pick the time and the place. It is time for ET to make an public appearance before humans make the earth unfit. Will they do that and will it be a good thing. Like you said it is what it is.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Joseph Capp
UFO Media Matters.
i seriously adore your own writing way, very exciting,
ReplyDeletedon't quit and also keep creating as a result it just simply truly worth to look through it,
impatient to look over alot more of your own content articles, thankx!
Mantindane does not mean 'the tormentors'. The word refers to a witch's familiar. I sometimes wonder if old credo is even Zulu at all.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking time out of your busy days to stop by.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Joe
UFO Media Matters