2019-08-04 Bad UFOs: Skepticism, UFOs, and The Universe: A Skeptic at MUFON's 50th Anniversary Symposium, Part 1

https://badufos.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-skeptic-at-mufons-50th-anniversary.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR2rzmn2O7mqw6HjrSO6PnropSUo_3BWBkEhiyN78-9V… 1/6

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ReflectionsonUFOs,skepticism,andpracticallyanythingelsebyRobertSheaffer,authorofthebook"BadUFOs,"plusthe"PsychicVibrations"columninTheSkepticalInquirer).

BadUFOs:Skepticism,UFOs,andTheUniverse

Wednesday,July31,2019

ASkepticatMUFON's50thAnniversarySymposium,Part1

This year'sMUFONSymposium returned to southernCalifornia, in Irvine, so I signed up.Otherthan it beingMUFON's 50th anniversary, there was no over-arching UFOlogical theme, like themuch-derided"SecretSpaceProgram"themein2017(althoughtheideaof"timetravel"seemedtocomeupalotinthetalks).Ididn'tattendtheFridayeveningbanquetwithlongtimeMUFONdirectorJohnSchuessler,whosethemewas"MUFONatFifty-AFantasticJourney."

The first speakeronSaturdaymorningwasJimPenniston,whose talkwas titled "Rendlesham -DaysofFuturePast." Penniston's story of encountering a landed craft in thewoods outside theU.S. Air Force base at Rendlesham, U.K. in 1980 is well-known in UFOlogy. This case issometimes referred toas the "BritishRoswell."TheBritishskeptic IanRidpathprovides thebestsummaryandanalysisofthisextremelycomplicatedcase.

PennistonopenedbyaskinghowmanypeoplehadheardabouttheRendleshamcase?Practicallyeverybody."HalfofwhatyouknowaboutRendleshamiswrong!,"heclaimed.This isobviouslyaswipe at certain other individuals enjoying the Rendlesham spotlight, and whose tales areincompatiblewithhis.Forexample,JohnBurroughssaysthatheandPennistonwereabductedbyaliens in the forest, and Larry Warren claims to have seen aliens scampering out of the craft.Penniston related a tale about chasing "the airman" (presumably Burroughs) over a fence andacrossafarmer'sfield,forreasonsthatescapeme.

Pennistonclaimsthathesawalandedcraftinthewoodsthatnight.Hepacedoffitssize,itwas9feet longand itwasabout71/2 feet tall..Heshowedpages fromhis "real-time responsenotes"supposedly describing the incident. (Unfortunately, that supposedly "real-time" notebook didn'tsurfaceuntilmanyyearsaftertheincident.)Whenheapproachedthecraftandplacedhishandon

JimPennistonspinshisTalesfromtheRendleshamWoods.

2019-08-04 Bad UFOs: Skepticism, UFOs, and The Universe: A Skeptic at MUFON's 50th Anniversary Symposium, Part 1

https://badufos.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-skeptic-at-mufons-50th-anniversary.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR2rzmn2O7mqw6HjrSO6PnropSUo_3BWBkEhiyN78-9V… 2/6

it,heperceivedablindingwhitelight,"andIbegantoseeonesandzeroes."Laterhewroteabout16pagesofthebinarycodeinhiswonderfulnotebook.Thecraftsupposedlyliftedoffsilently,anddisappeared.Pennistonclaims tohavebeen required toattenddebriefingsandspecialmeetingsfor"containment"ofthestory,andfor"witnesscontrol."That'stheUFOcover-up,youunderstand.

Pennistonwasnotaveryinspiringspeaker,andtherewasmuchfumblingwithA/Vissues.Hesaidthat thescribblingsofbinary inhisnotebookhavebeenanalyzed,andsupposedly represent thelocationsofvariousUFO-relatedandmysticalsitesaroundtheworld.Heconcludedhistalkwiththeideathatthebeingsinthecraftarenotextraterrestrials,butsomehowareourfutureselves(whomustactuallybequitesmalltofitintothedimensionsthathegaveofthecraft,unlesslikeDr.Who'stime-travelingTARDIS,"it'sbiggerontheinside").

ThenextspeakerwastheSwedishresearcherandarchivistClasSvahn,whohasbeenstudyingUFOssincethelate1960s(ashaveI).Hehasinvestigatedover1,500UFOcases(hereishisveryinterestinginterviewofBettyHill),andhaspublished30books.Histalkwastitled"TheRealX-FilesandtheMysteryoftheGhostRockets."

The first part of the title refers to the vast UFO and Fortean-related archive Svahn and hiscolleagues have long been assembling, the Archives for the Unexplained (AFU). It contain fourseparatelibraries,has20,000UFOreportsfromSweden,andfilesfrommanycountries,inadditiontobooks,papers,newsclippings,microfilms,films,DVDs,andUFO-relatedtoys(theyevenhaveastoresellingsurplusmaterials from theircollections).Hissoon-to-bepublishedbookwill illustratethecontentsofthearchives.

The second part of the title refers to the legendary "GhostRockets" reportedly seen inSwedenbeginning in 1946, the year before Kenneth Arnold's famous sighting. A Ghost Rocket sightingbeginswithanobjectintheskythatlookslikearocket.Itmightflyaroundandchangedirections,butthenitalwayscrashesintoalake,anddisappears.TheSwedishmilitaryhasinvestigatedover1,000 reports ofGhostRockets, yet despite numerous searches of lakes involving divers,metaldetectors, and sonar, nobody has ever recovered a single artifact from any supposed "ghostrocket."Hence the name - like all ghosts, ghost rockets simply disappear. Svahn showed somephotosofanexpeditionhewentontoaveryremote,difficult-to-reachlakeinSweden,intowhichaghost rocket hadbeen reliablywitnessed to plunge.Theyhad towalkmiles carrying their tents,supplies,andequipment.Theirfirstfewattemptsdidn'tfindanyfragments,buttheyplantogobackagainwithbetterequipment.Iftheyfindanystrangemetamaterials,theycanalwayssendthemto"ToTheStars"forexpertanalysis!

ClasSvahn

2019-08-04 Bad UFOs: Skepticism, UFOs, and The Universe: A Skeptic at MUFON's 50th Anniversary Symposium, Part 1

https://badufos.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-skeptic-at-mufons-50th-anniversary.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR2rzmn2O7mqw6HjrSO6PnropSUo_3BWBkEhiyN78-9V… 3/6

Next tospeakwas theBrazilian researcherA.J.Geveard,whose titlewas "UFOs inBrazil -AnOfficialMatter."Hehasbeenafull-timeUFOlogistsince1985.HesaidthatBrazil'sgovernmenthasanofficialUFOinvestigationprogram,allofwhosedocumentsareunclassifiedandavailabletothepublic. Argentina also has government-run UFO investigations, but it is run by skeptics. This isdisgraceful,hesays!

InBrazil,UFOsseemtowanttoattackpeople.Someofthecraftswould"suckbloodandenergy"frompeople.Theonlyplacepeopleweresafewasinthechurch;apparentlythealiensrecognizethe ancient principle of religious Sanctuary. The most dramatic incidents occurred in Varginha,whereat least twocreatureswerecapturedwhilestillalive.TheMilitaryPolicemanwhocapturedoneofthecreaturescarrieditonhislaptothehospital.Hediedthreeweekslaterattheageof23.ThedeadcreaturesweretakentoCampinasUniversity,presumablytohaveanalienautopsy.Thearmyandthegovernment,ofcourse,stilldenythatanythinghappenedatVarginha,butGeveardinsiststhatVarginhawas"tentimesbetterthanRoswell."

NexttospeakwasPaulStonehill,whowasbornintheSovietUnion,on"TheTurbulentHistoryofAlienVisitorstoRussiaandtheUSSR."HetoldofnumerousencountersbetweentheRussianandSovietmilitary,andaliens.Indeed,UFOshaveshotdownmilitaryjets.IhadheardStonehillspeakbefore,attheUFOCongressin2013,andthissoundedmuchlikethatsametalk:

Heexplained that therewereallkindsofUFOs in theRussian territories,ancientandmodern. UFOs are depicted in ancient rock carvings, and there are "out of place"artifacts inancientrockstrata.TheKGBwasvery interestedinUFOsandparanormalphenomena, but Stalin had the records destroyed. Later there was an official SovietmilitaryprogramforrecordingandstudyingUFOreports.In1982,aUFOalmoststartedWorldWar III by initiatinganuclearmissile's launchsequence for15minutes.UnlikeUFOs in theU.S.,whichare reported tobepeacefuland try to interferewithnuclear-tipped ICBMs, in the USSR UFOs apparently are warlike, and try to launch suchmissiles.

UFOartistandviolinistserenadestheSymposiumattendees

A.J.Geveard.

2019-08-04 Bad UFOs: Skepticism, UFOs, and The Universe: A Skeptic at MUFON's 50th Anniversary Symposium, Part 1

https://badufos.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-skeptic-at-mufons-50th-anniversary.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR2rzmn2O7mqw6HjrSO6PnropSUo_3BWBkEhiyN78-9V… 4/6

RobertSheafferat10:01PM

StonehillalsotalkedquiteabitaboutUSOs-UnidentifiedSubmersibleObjects.Sovietdivers have found themselves next to underwater humanoids working on recoveringsomething,wearingnobreathingapparatus.

The final speaker of the afternoonwas anthropologistMichael P.Masters, PhD, who lectured on "A Multidisciplinary ScientificApproachtotheUFOPhenomenon."Heissellingnotjustabook,butT-shirtsandsuchforhis"Multidisciplinary"approach,soIguessitmustbevery important.Hestartedout talkingaboutbipedalismand how significant that was in human evolutionary history. Itinitiated the brain/behavior feedback loop, he said. This is rareamongmammals,andis likelyevenrareronearthlikeexoplanets.Bipedal animals are constantly fighting gravity, he explained, andsince earth is [reportedly] small compared to known exoplanets,which would have stronger gravity, he suggests that bipedalism

would be unlikely to develop. And hence intelligent life. Of course, it's likely that many smallerearth-sizedexoplanetsexist,butwedon'tseethembecause it'seasier todetect the largerones.Also, a creaturewith sixor eight limbswouldn't need toworryaboutbecomingbipedal.Masterstriestodeducealiens'evolutionaryhistoryfromwitnessdescriptions,suggestingthathetakessuchaccountsfartooliterally.

Can you travel backwards in time? Masters thinks that you can. Rotation, he says, createsrelativistic frame dragging,warping spacetime. This can ultimately cause light cones to tip over,enablingonetotraveltothepast.Thismight,hesuggests,giveriseto"timetourism"surroundingmajor historical events. Noting the serious problems with the extraterrestrial hypothesis - theextreme distances between stars, and the supposed difficulty in evolving bipedalism, Masterssuggests (likePenniston) that thebeings inUFOsarenotaliens,butour futureselves.Hecallsthem"extratempestrials."

[Moretofollow]

MichaelP.Masters

Inthevendors'room:theEarthisn'tflat-it'sHollow!!

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2019-08-04 Bad UFOs: Skepticism, UFOs, and The Universe: A Skeptic at MUFON's 50th Anniversary Symposium, Part 1

https://badufos.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-skeptic-at-mufons-50th-anniversary.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR2rzmn2O7mqw6HjrSO6PnropSUo_3BWBkEhiyN78-9V… 5/6

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Keepyourcommentsrelevant,andkeepthemcivil!Thatmeansnopersonalattackswillbeallowed,byanyone,onanyone.Commentersarewelcometodisagreewithme,orwithothercomments,butstateyourargumentsusinglogic,

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ClasSvahn July31,2019at11:37PM

Itwasgoodtomeetyou,Robert!Andthankyouforyourbook!

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RobertSheaffer August1,2019at3:14PM

Goodtomeetyou,too,Clas.Wewillstayintouch!

Ness August1,2019at5:31AM

Isthissillyorwhat?NomaturetalksonanyNEWUFOsightings(arethereany?).Thepresentersarealwaystalkingaboutthe'oldiesbutgoodies'cases!Sothisispresentdayufology?Wecan'talwaysdependonallthoseoldcases,canwe?

Reply

hurtken August1,2019at7:17AM

LMAOOOO,theusualCharlatanssellingtheirsnakeoil,andsomeevengethighontheirownsupply!

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ClasSvahn August1,2019at3:03PM

Well,callingmeacharlatandoesnotreallysoundlikeanintelligentcomment.InwhatwayamIacharlatan?Didyouhearmytalk?

2019-08-04 Bad UFOs: Skepticism, UFOs, and The Universe: A Skeptic at MUFON's 50th Anniversary Symposium, Part 1

https://badufos.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-skeptic-at-mufons-50th-anniversary.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR2rzmn2O7mqw6HjrSO6PnropSUo_3BWBkEhiyN78-9V… 6/6

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RobertSheaffer

RobertSheafferisawriterwithalifelonginterestinastronomyandthequestionoflifeonotherworlds.HeisoneoftheleadingskepticalinvestigatorsofUFOs,andwrotethe"PsychicVibrations"columninTheSkepticalInquirerforalmost40years.HisbookPsychicVibrations

reprintssomeofthosecolumns.HismostrecentbookisBadUFOs(2016),whichisalsothenameofhisBlogthatcastsaskepticaleyeonclaimsaboutUFOs.Heisalsotheauthorof"UFOSightings"(1998),andhasappearedonmanyradioandTVprograms.HiswritingsandreviewshaveappearedinsuchdiversepublicationsasOMNI,ScientificAmerican,Spaceflight,Astronomy,TheHumanist,FreeInquiry,Reason,andothers.HeisalsoafoundingdirectorandpastChairmanoftheBayAreaSkeptics,alocalskeptics'groupintheSanFranciscoBayarea.Mr.SheafferlivesnearSanDiego,California.HehasworkedasadatacommunicationsengineerintheSiliconValley,andsingsinprofessionaloperaproductions.

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