US Navy: 'We're not saying its aliens but...'

[Cerys]

If you were attacked by a giant polo on your way home from the pub and you told your mates they would laugh in your face and say you're full of shit but then you would say, nah, look, I got CCTV footage from a nearby garage and you show them the video and they'd go yes mate whatever.

They'd have reason to doubt you.  Everyone knows that giant polos are non-violent.

[Sherringford Hovis]

It's a Trebor mint that'll hand you your own arse. They're Extra Strong.

[Sony Walkman Prophecies]

I paid nowhere near £300, that's just some pratt wanting to make some profit on a rarish book. I did pay over a hundred but then again, it's had a small print run, it's also a heavy and large double book you can't order direct from the publisher outside of the US so it's no wonder it's the price it is. I think there is an ebook version, but I always prefer the real thing with books I'm very keen on owning.

Glad to hear there are cheaper copies available; I'll try to seek out a copy next time I'm in North America. I prefer having physical copies as well.

He used to have a column in Fortean Times each month a few years back that almost always had a very negative attitude to the UFO question. I'm glad they got rid in the end as his column was basically 'UFO's are crap' and brought absolutely nothing to the table. His best comment (not long before they got rid) was 'there isn't actually any evidence for any fortean phenomenon' which appart from being absolute bollocks must have pissed off the editors no end, I mean why the fuck did he keep doing articles for the magazine then.

Forteana attracts some strange people, perhaps unsurprisingly. I went to a Fortean meeting in central London once - everyone I met was perfectly polite and intelligent, but I couldn't find a single person who believed in anything remotely paranormal. Perhaps I got in with the wrong crowd, but I did come away thinking - what exactly do these people get out of it all? Another mystery to be untangled.

On the wider topic of UFO research, I was very impressed by the work Steven Greer was doing a decade or so ago. I'm just not sure where he stands within the wider ufo community given that he's monetised a great deal of his content. I seem to recall Chand arguing with me back in the day that all his research was tainted because of this. I wouldn't go quite that far, but I could see where he was coming from.

[earl_sleek]

It seems to me Forteana is more interesting if you don't believe it has a paranormal origin, because that suggests that nature still possesses huge vistas of possibility that we can explore. It's boring if everytime something weird happens it's a ghost or alien dun it.

[Sony Walkman Prophecies]

True, though the Forteans I'm talking about weren't even open to cryptozoology. *shrug

[Mr_Simnock]

Glad to hear there are cheaper copies available; I'll try to seek out a copy next time I'm in North America. I prefer having physical copies as well.

Forteana attracts some strange people, perhaps unsurprisingly. I went to a Fortean meeting in central London once - everyone I met was perfectly polite and intelligent, but I couldn't find a single person who believed in anything remotely paranormal. Perhaps I got in with the wrong crowd, but I did come away thinking - what exactly do these people get out of it all? Another mystery to be untangled.

On the wider topic of UFO research, I was very impressed by the work Steven Greer was doing a decade or so ago. I'm just not sure where he stands within the wider ufo community given that he's monetised a great deal of his content. I seem to recall Chand arguing with me back in the day that all his research was tainted because of this. I wouldn't go quite that far, but I could see where he was coming from.

Well that turned into a right debacle with the idiots at Amazon. I only ever got half the encyclopedia (A-N) and thus contacted amazon to sort it out. 2 hours later and my wife is still trying to explain how the encyclopedia comes in 2 books not one, the absolute dunces couldn't get that into their heads, why the fuck would anyone release an encyclopedia that ends at N, nope too much to take on board. So in the end I sent it back and got a refund, that reminds me I have to leave a negative rating of the book spelling out the idiocy of amazon and for others to be aware of the issue. I have no idea how I'm going to get hold of a copy but I want one. The actual publisher doesn't take orders form outside the US so unless an america dwelling CaB member can help me out I'm a bit stuck. What I did read when I had it was excellent though, well worth the money basically a concise but detailed history of modern Ufology.

[Sony Walkman Prophecies]

I assume you've checked abebooks? Nothing on eBay as far as I can tell. Hope you manage to find a (full!) set.

[Blinder Data]

Last year (weirdly enough after coming down from a trip) I suddenly realised that the explanation for UFOs was very simple.

They're almost certainly either our government testing new technology or foreign governments spying on us. In both cases it is in the authorities' interests to deny everything and remain extremely secretive.

Doesn't explain the reported abductions though...

[Mr_Simnock]

Last year (weirdly enough after coming down from a trip) I suddenly realised that the explanation for UFOs was very simple.

They're almost certainly either our government testing new technology or foreign governments spying on us. In both cases it is in the authorities' interests to deny everything and remain extremely secretive.

Doesn't explain the reported abductions though...

That theory is about 60 years old (first popped up in the early 1960's) and does cover a lot of sightings yes, there are others apart from the abductions though that it doesn't cover. One main issue of it all is that Ufology covers a very wide range of stuff all lumped under one banner, I've never believed there is one overarching theory that explains the lot but I have read a few that do cover a lot of them. What interest me is that small percent (1-2%) that constantly defy any current explanation.