In the Meantime . . .
Come See Us At The Awesmic City Expo!!!
Anomaly Archives at the KOOP Radio Booth: F-65 on ROW-F
SMiles Lewis’ Lecture, Sunday the 17th @1pm: Awesmic Talks ROW-A
Anomaly Archives at Awesmic City Expo
Visit us at the Anomaly Archives Booth this weekend in Booth F-65 at the …
4th Annual – ACE-2017
AWESMIC CITY EXPO
Palmer Events Center Exhibit Hall No. 2
December 16th & 17th, 2017
Entrance Fee is $5, or FREE when you bring can good donations or toy donations to our KOOP 91.7 food or toy drop located inside the ACE 2017 Palmer Event Exhibit Hall 2, Dec. 16-17, 2017.
Thanks to the Community Group Member Organizations of KOOP 91.7 Radio!
– SMiles Lewis Anomaly Archives Founder & INACS Board Member
The Super Natural A New Vision of the Unexplained by Whitley Strieber & Jeffrey J. Kripal
From C. M. Mayo’s review…
“[i]f we, as scholars of religion, cannot take this text seriously, if we cannot interpret it in some satisfying fashion, if we cannot make some sense of this man’s honest descriptions of his traumatic, transcendent experiences, then we have no business trying to understand his spiritual ancestors in the historical record. We either put up here, or we shut up there. I decided to put up.”
Now to the Kantian cut. It is to distinguish between the appearances of things and what may actually lie behind them. In making that cut, we recognize that while our physical senses provide us with essential survival-oriented information, in no way do they even begin to convey to our consciousness awareness the totality of reality. As Kripal writes, this cut “is a very reasonable and appropriate response to our actual situation in the cosmos.” Furthermore, “Once one makes such a cut, one can, in principle, take any religious experience or mythical world seriously and sympathetically without adopting any particular interpretation of it, much as one suspends disbelief to enjoy a good novel or watch a science-fiction movie.”
In other words, we don’t need to accept nor reject Strieber’s reports of UFOs and “the visitors”— yes, we can keep the lids on our coconuts while adopting the stance of radical empiricism in considering large-scale quantum phenomena!
Put yet another way: if we can simply look at such experiences as Strieber’s, sit with them, consider them “seriously and sympathetically, without adopting any particular interpretation”—we can then, to quote Kripal again, “begin to study their patterns, histories, narrative structures, sexual dimensions, and philosophical implications.” The Kantian cut thus gives us the power to then spiral up to a broader, richer view. It is an astonishing power.
. . .
Many people know Strieber as “that guy who wrote about being abducted by extraterrestrials.” In fact, Strieber reports his perceptions of his experiences, but as to what they actually are, he says, “I am a wanderer, lost in a forest of hypotheses.” Strieber also echoes Kripal in arguing that, “it is not necessary to believe in such things as flying saucers, aliens, ghosts, and other unexplained phenomena in order to study them.”
But to study such things without puckerlips, and all brain cells firing, one must make that Kantian cut—and one needs courage to persist, for that Kantian cut must be made again and again in the face of our inclination towards easy polarities, to either believe or, more commonly, reject, bristling with hostility or scornful laughter.
As Kripal puts it, one must “learn to live with paradox, to sit with the question.”
SOURCE: Literal Magazine – C. M. Mayo “A thought-provoking, intelligent reconceptualization of supernatural events.”
Since 2009, the archive and lending library of the 501c3 Scientific Anomaly Institute has shared a space in North West Austin with the like-minded INACS (Institute for Neuroscience And Consciousness Studies).
After months of searching, we are close to announcing our new location.
“During the dreaming state of sleep, we experience the different levels of consciousness and receive input from the different realms of the spirit world. Through dreaming, we have special access to our spirit within. According to the Cayce readings, there is not a question we can ask which cannot be answered from the depths of our inner consciousness when the proper attunement is made.
A dream may be of a physical, mental, or spiritual nature and may deal with all manner of psychic manifestations. These include telepathy, clairvoyance, prophetic visions, out of body traveling, remembrance of past lives, communication with beings in other realms including deceased friends and relatives, spirit guides, angels, Christ, and even the voice of God. Dreams can also give invaluable information on the status of the body.
All subconscious minds are in contact with one another. Through the subconscious, dreams may place us in attunement with those in the physical realm or those in the spiritual realm. We may be visited in the night by discarnate entities for many reasons: they may seek to give us assurance about their well-being in other realms of existence; they may come seeking our aid through prayer; they may come to bring us information which may be very helpful or limited; or they may come to influence us with their own desires or perspectives, which may be helpful or harmful. For example, there are dream reports of deceased relatives appearing and giving instructions about where to find a will or a lost object.
The events we experience in the third-dimension are, as it were, a “past condition” because this dimension is simply a projection or a reflection of what is being built at another higher level. Therefore, when we tune into these higher levels, as we may in dreams, we become aware of what is being built, and what may be projected into the physical in the future. Nothing of importance happens to us that is not foreshadowed in our dreams. Which is not to say that all dreams are precognitive or that the exact detail of everything we experience is given earlier in dreams. However, the word “foreshadowed” suggests that we may glimpse and be warned of what we are building now which may come into manifestation later. We call these dreams “precognitive” or “prophetic.”
Just as the angels spoke to people in dreams in the times of the Bible, the spirit world still speaks to people to this day. Some people came to Cayce with dreams of Christ. None was told that it was simply his imagination, but all were assured they were indeed in touch with him.
There is no dimension of human life, whether social, financial, emotional or physical, mental or spiritual with which the dream may not on occasion deal. Dreams may encourage or reprimand, instruct or deceive, inspire or seduce, guide or confuse. The potential for an immense array of experiences in consciousness is always there. What we actually receive depends upon our attitudes, motivations, the measure of our attunement, and the extent to which we have made applicable what was received in earlier dreams and in waking experiences.
One of the easiest ways to support the Anomaly Archives is to do you online shopping through our AmazonSmile portal. When you purchase eligible items via Amazon.com through that portal, Amazon rewards our 501(c)3 non-profit with proceeds that cost-you-nothing!
Back in January / February of 2016, I experienced a strange auditory phenomena on-and-off for about 26 days. Was it the notorious Worldwide Mystery Hum phenomenon? Upon mentioning it to my good friend and PsiOp-Radio co-host Mack White, I discovered that he too had a strange auditory experience last year in October. Though we are geographically distant (I in Austin and he in Fort Worth) we compare notes and discuss this puzzling phenomenon.
– BOOK OF THE WEEK
We’ve got another international classic in this week’s installment.
Black Elk Speaks is a 1932 book by John G. Neihardt, an American poet and writer, who relates the story of Black Elk, an Oglala Lakotamedicine man. Black Elk spoke in Lakota and Black Elk’s son, Ben Black Elk, who was present during the talks, translated his father’s words into English.[1] Neihardt made notes during these talks which he later used as the basis for his book.[2]
The prominent psychologist Carl Jung read the book in the 1930s and urged its translation into German; in 1955, it was published as Ich rufe mein Volk (I Call My People).[3]
Reprinted in the US in 1961, with a 1988 edition named Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, as told through John G. Neihardt (Flaming Rainbow) and a State University of New York Press 2008 Premier Edition annotated by Lakota scholar Raymond DeMallie, the book has found an international audience. However, the book has come under fire for what critics describe as inaccurate representations of Lakota culture and beliefs.
In the summer of 1930, as part of his research into the Native American perspective on the Ghost Dance movement, the poet and writer John G. Neihardt, already the Nebraska poet laureate, received the necessary permission from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to go to the Pine Ridge Reservation. Accompanied by his two daughters, he went to meet an Oglala holy man named Black Elk. His intention was to talk to someone who had participated in the Ghost Dance. For the most part, the reservations were not then open to visitors.[4] At age 13, Black Elk had also been part of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and he survived the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre.
So here’s another installment of the “weekly” newsletter. Tons of news links worth exploring to satisfy your cravings for weird articles and information.
Some of the many news items on my radar that I think you should definitely take a look at include…
There are a ton of links dealing with the early release of the thousands of documents related to the assassination of JFK – with more scheduled for probable release in October:
This week’s “Book of the Week” is another UFO anthology; this one is from the early 1990s and has a concluding essay which (much to my surprise) also delves into the relevance of Virtual Reality as a helpful metaphor for the UFO contact phenomenon like my own essay in the Reframing the Debate anthology.
One of the easiest ways to support the Anomaly Archives is to do you online shopping through our AmazonSmile portal. When you purchase eligible items via Amazon.com through that portal, Amazon rewards our 501(c)3 non-profit with proceeds that cost-you-nothing!
UFOs The Final Answer? Ufology for the 21st Century
Edited by David Barclay & Therese Marie Barclay Featuring: Arthur Tomlinson, K.W.C. Phillips, Robert Moore, Roger Ford, Joseph Dormer, Charlotte A. O’Connor and David & Therese Marie Barclay
From EHE.org – The Exceptional Human Experience website…
“Anthology on aspects of UFOs with the emphasis on hypotheses. The editors review a number of views on UFOs in the first chapter. Arthur Tomlinson surveys historical sightings of UFOs in ancient Egypt, Biblical, and classical times through the 19th century. K.W.C. Phillips deals with “the psychosociology of UFOlogy,” emphasizing that what we are actually studying are reports (texts), not first-hand data. He emphasizes the religious, historic, and folkloric dimensions of UFOs and notes the presence of a strong psi factor. Robert Moore, in “Science v. Saucery,” tries to provide a traditionally scientific exploration of UFOs. His chapter is a good survey of the “normal” counterhypotheses, both objective and subjective, which could explain 85% of all sightings. For the rest, he sets forth the “Mundane-Synthesistic Hypothesis,” in which synthesistic is “defined as many separate factors cumulating into a single result” (p. 92). Roger Ford describes what appear to be cases of the government spreading “deliberate disinformation” (p. 106) about seeming UFOs. Therese M. Barclay describes some of the best sightings she and others have investigated and concludes that UFOs are real but do not make sense within our accepted worldview: “It might be that they are real in a way our present-day cosmologies can’t conceive” (p. 113). Joseph Dormer argues that “the origins of UFOs, and their alien occupants, probably lies within us” (p. 152). Charlotte A. O’Connor sets forth a “racial dream hypothesis” to explain UFOs, especially UFO abductions. In the concluding chapter, David Barclay points out that “ufology as it presently stands [is] a loosely interconnected series of belief systems from which anyone can choose on the basis of personal preference alone” (p. 172). He also feels that skepticism is the least defensible choice and the most counterproductive. He proposes a holographic virtual reality model as the source of UFOs. Taken together, the viewpoints expressed offer an up-to-date survey of UFO explanations and counterhypotheses that is both quite comprehensive, and in some instances, presented in some depth.”
This week marks the 70th anniversaries of the two most seminal events in the birthing of the modern UFO era’s major myths: Kenneth Arnold’s sighting of a shimmering squadron of delta shaped objects over Mount Rainier, Washington and the crash of a mysterious ‘whatsit’ outside Roswell, New Mexico with alleged alien bodies recovered by the military. Both events occurred in the Summer of 1947, with the Arnold sighting cited as kicking off the American Flying Saucer craze and the Roswell newsflash only coming to prominence with the publication of The Roswell Incident (by Charles Berlitz and William Moore) in 1980.
I grew up believing in the classic myth of Roswell representing crashed saucers and pickled aliens scooped up and covered up by the US government but have since come to lean heavily towards the research documented by Nick Redfern in his two books: Body Snatchers in the Desert in 2005 and its recent follow-up, The Roswell UFO Conspiracy (May 2017). Both books detail a probable American project melding nefarious human experimentation with advanced avionics / nuclear radiation research. A sort of Project Paperclip (American importation of German Nazi scientists) meets Unit-731 (the Japanese version of Germany’s Dr. Mengele horrors) combining Fugo-balloons, unwitting human subjects (both Japanese and American), and Nazi Horten-brother flying-wing technologies. It’s a lot to take-in and no one wants to believe it but given the facts that we already know regarding each area of research (not to mention the CIA’s MK-Ultra sub-projects) it becomes all too plausible. Well, Nick Redfern is among the illustrious list of speakers presenting at one of two different UFO conferences being held in Roswell this year.
“Challenges to ET” conference organizer Guy Malone.
Given the sad state of UFOlogy this year (see our previous issue and this issue’s news headlines) it will be interesting to see what new information is presented at the two conferences being held. I will be attending the “Challenges to ET” conference hosted by Guy Malone that features Nick Redfern, Jack Brewer, Greg Bishop, Michael Heiser, and Joseph Jordan. I’ll also likely catch a speech or two at the Roswell Incident conference that is presented by the Roswell Daily Record newspaper which is set to feature presentations from Richard Dolan, Linda Howe, Nick Pope, Chase Kloetzke, Chuck Zukowski, Debbie Ziegelmeyer, Race Hobbs, David Marler, Marc D’Antonio, Alejandro Rojas, Courtney Brown, and Josh Gates.
So, if you are going to be in Roswell from June 29th to July 2nd, drop me a line at SMiles@AnomalyArchives.org and maybe we can have some interesting conversations-over-saucers!
Meanwhile…
Stop UFOlogical Cultural Appropriation &
Exploitation of Ancient Human Remains!
You have undoubtedly come across news items alleging the discovery of a new mysterious body from Peru being touted as a mummified, possibly alien, body. Blogger and researcher Curt Collins (Blue Blurry Lines) writes:
“The remains of the dead should not be used as props for UFO promoters and entertainers like Maussan and Gaia. We’ve had the Star Child, Greer’s Sirius “Atacama Humanoid,” and when challenged about the BeWitness Slides, Maussan offered a bounty for the child’s body itself. Forensic Anthropologists should be in charge of this kind of thing. Once the science is done, if there’s anything valid, share it with the world. Until then, let the dead rest in peace. Don’t support the exploitation.”
I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Collins on this issue. You’d think folks would have learned by now, especially after the Roswell “Alien” Slides debacle promoted by Jaime Maussan and others fell apart in May of 2015. Yet the human will to believe continues, with many UFOlks looking for the next Smoking-Gun / Holy-Grail to prove their beliefs in ExtraTerrestrial visitation. For a more probable, down-to-earth explanation, see this Peruvian website’s investigation of this and other likely “manipulated artifacts.” (Hat tip to Sharon Hill of Doubtful News)
Check out the other great news links in our headlines section below.
The Close Encounters Man How One Man Made the World Believe in UFOs
by Mark O’Connell
‘The Close Encounters Man’ tells the unlikely story of how the government’s astrophysicist debunker became the phenomenon’s most expert defender.
“If you’re jonesing for an extraterrestrial, you should check out The Close Encounters Man by Mark O’Connell. O’Connell, a writer for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and founder of the UFO blog High Strangeness, set out to write “a UFO book people wouldn’t need to hide from other people.” He found his ideal subject in J. Allen Hynek, the astronomer hired by the United States Air Force in 1948 to debunk the reports of strange objects in the sky flooding in from across the country. Eventually Hynek broke with his handlers and became the first scientist to lend credence to the UFO phenomenon. The author of 1972’s The UFO Experience: A Scientific Study, he would go on to found the Center for UFO Studies in 1973, present a speech on flying saucers to the United Nations in 1978, and develop the “close encounter” scale that would inspire Steven Spielberg’s popular Close Encounters of the Third Kind (“a huge boon to his work,” O’Connell told me. “They shot a scene where the little aliens grab Hynek’s pipe from him and stick it up their noses, but it was cut down to a six-second cameo.”)
In telling the life story of Hynek, the “astro-beatnik,” O’Connell winds up with a stunning panorama of the UFO movement—from fringe conspiracy theorists to amateur astronomers to agnostic scientists—as well as its colossal impact on pop culture and modern science. I recently spoke with O’Connell over the phone about Hynek’s unique story of skeptic turned believer, the scientific study of the inexplicable, and what makes a good UFO witness.”
“Mark O’Connell, formerly an active MUFON investigator but also an open-minded critic of the organization has severed his ties with them over this series of incidents: UFO Fever.”
“So, the other day I did a webcast with noted UFO authority and all-around nice guy Kevin Randle (you can listen to it here), in which we discussed the Roswell Debate I had recently with Don Schmitt. The debate, for those of you new to the story, took place at the Milwaukee Paranormal Conference earlier this fall. It was sponsored by well-known UFO and paranormal media outlet KGRA Radio, but after webcasting the debate live, KGRA has decided for reasons known only to them to reneg on their promise to post the debate on their website.”
So much of what is characterized as “Fake News” often has roots in reality despite the folkloric / mythic embellishments and deliberately manipulated misinformation efforts of those utilizing such perception management strategems for socio-cultural control campaigns waged across news networks and social media communities.
Also in this installment of the Anomaly Headline News section we have links to articles about “Archives, Anonymity & Animosity Online” … there’s good news and bad news within the Archival and Ufological worlds. Some amazing strides are being made by online UFO researchers and preservationists; some by anonymous individuals. Unfortunately, the vitriolic nature of much internet enabled “discourse” has caused a number of recent flame war flaps that ultimately leave both believers and skeptics reeling.
Just as anonymous hackers and leakers of insider information have played a leading role in recent electoral drama flashpoints, similarly, issues surrounding anonymity in the UFO research community created a firestorm of flame wars online when Ted Roe (of NARCAP & IAUAPR) and others criticized the citing of research by anonymous researchers; specifically Isaac Koi. You can read Isaac‘s (PDF), Curt Collins‘ and other accounts of the occurrence at the links provided.
Isaac Koi is the pseudonymous UFO researcher who is legendary for the legal (ie – permissions-based) liberation of numerous volumes of print UFO research materials through their digitization and public internet-based dissemination of the resulting scanned archives. He began this independently but had increasingly partnered with the Archives For the Unexplained (AFU) in Sweden:
“Isaac Koi, of AFU’s International Advisory Board, is making an herculean effort to trace down editors and publishers of journals and newsletters to ask them for the rights to scan the contents of old volumes and to make them available as PDFs. AFU has established a work group to continuously work with Isaac in this effort.”
Sadly, it seems humanity hasn’t quite yet mastered how to successfully navigate the benefits and hazards of social-media-tech-enabled community. The incident of Isaac’s self-enforced retirement is a particularly frustrating example of the victimization that occurs on all sides when our social-media-masks are donned, often resulting in the release of the worst animosity pouring out of us through the keyboard-enabled persona of our internet masks. Isaac was not a part of that stye of communication but such childish and demoralizing “communication” has dogged participants on both sides of the “debates” and has swirled around many of the most recent flash-in-the-pan cases from the Roswell Slides saga to the Aguadilla, Puerto Rico Coast Guard infrared video case and even the most recent military infrared video case involving the Chilean Navy. Skeptics and believers on all sides of these and other cases report the deplorable nature of the too often heated social-media-enabled commentary: some of those commenting on such allegedly disrespectful diatribes include Erica Lukes (regarding the Roswell Slides debate, Isaac Koi incident, and harassment both online and in-person at conferences), Sharon Hill (regarding the Turkey UFO Attack hoax video and paranormal online discourse in general), and Leslie Kean (regarding the Chilean Navy infrared video case).
While I advocate for civility and empathy, a study published in Frontiers in Psychology last year called “Changing Conspiracy Beliefs through Rationality and Ridiculing” seems to indicate that empathy is not as effective as rationality and ridicule in the combating of “conspiracy theories.” Rationality should always be encouraged but I still prefer civility and empathy over ridicule, and think both are just rewards for those who wish to receive the same level of respect from others.
. . .
There are a LOT more news links below. And that’s NOT all of them. Find all of them and more at our Flipboard page: Anomaly Archives Flipboard.
The UFO Enigma: A New Review of the Physical Evidence
By Peter A. Sturrock (Study Director)
Review of Peter Sturrock’s The UFO Engima by John Alexander
“In late September 1997 a multidisciplinary group of scientists convened at the picturesque Pocantico Conference Center near Tarrytown, New York to attempt to reevaluate the evidence pertaining to UFOs. Financially supported by Laurance Rockefeller, it was the author, Peter Sturrock, who brought the two disparate groups of scientists together. As president of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Sturrock had support from an organization dedicated to rigorously researching controversial issues. One group attending this meeting had been involved in research regarding the sensitive topic of aerial phenomena. The other group was comprised of individuals with esteemed scientific credentials but who had limited exposure to the UFO topic. They came agreeing to listen to the evidence with an open mind. This book describes in detail both the process by which they made their evaluation and the evidence supporting the case for further scientific study of UFOs.
While relying primarily on fairly well known UFO reports, this book constitutes an important contribution to a popular field infested with misinformation, misunderstandings, and tripe. The UFO Enigma will become one of the few books that scholars searching for more information about a controversial subject can turn to for reliable information.
The book represents a reasonable overview of the core topic — the physical realities of UFOs. It is not encumbered by the equally popular but more controversial aspects of phenomena, such as alien abductions, that may or may not be related to UFOs. Given the group of scientists they were attempting to influence, Sturrock and his cohorts were well advised to stick to the primary subject.”
– Review of Peter Sturrock’s The UFO Engima by John Alexander, Ph.D.
National Institute for Discovery Science Las Vegas, NV
Podcast Episode #14 of the French language “Enquêter sur le Paranormal : les Diapositives de Roswell” – Now available with English subtitles on YouTube – Investigating the Paranormal: Roswell’s Slides
Our recent event featuring former military remote viewer Paul Smith was a tremendous success. We had a full-house and as always, Paul delivered a wealth of information to begin one’s search regarding the weird and wild world where UFOs and Remote Viewing cross-paths. Paul Smith Alerts Attendees to the Upcoming Remote Viewing Conference.
If you were unable to attend the lecture, a video of Paul’s presentation shoud be available soon thanks to Chuck Robison of what if it really works dot com – for now though, you can listen to this rough audio edition of the lecture (this MP3 link will be up for a limited time, so check it out while you can).
I’m not going to have time to post all of the amazing news article links like I usually do but you can find all of them at our Flipboard page. Check em out at the Anomaly Archives Flipboard.
See you in the next installment of our email newsletter!
Book of the Week… Communion A True Story
By Whitley Strieber
“The cover painting of an alien was rendered by Ted Seth Jacobs. The painting is considered one of the most widely recognized popular culture images of alleged “grey” aliens. “The Communion cover,” Jacobs recounts,
“was painted in my small apartment on East 83rd St, in New York City. Whitley sat with me first for a drawing of the Alien. As I sketched, he would indicate how to change the portrait so that it would more match what he saw. It was, I believe, the process used by police sketch artists. Every last detail was corrected according to his instructions. At one point, he said the image corresponded exactly to what he had seen. With Whitley beside me for the subsequent session, I began to paint the image on a wooden prepared panel, going through the same process as for the drawing, until Whitley finally said the image was exact. … As to the gender of the Alien image, to tell the truth, the subject didn’t come up. I don’t even know if the ‘greys’ have gender as we understand it. Whitley corrected the developing image to have a certain fragility, a vulnerability. I suppose we Earthlings usually associate these qualities with femininity.”[2] “
NAWAC Podcast Teaser 2: The hosts – The hosts of the new North American Wood Ape Conservancy podcast, Brian Brown and Brandon Lentz, introduce themselves – Nawac.podbean.com
“Using one mystery to try to explain another: That’s what seems to be happening in the perpetual interplay between remote viewing (RV) and unidentified aerial phenomena–popularly known as UFOs–space aliens, and everything connected to them in the popular culture. This confluence of RV and UFOs goes back almost to the beginning of remote viewing itself, and not just the notorious, but some of the most prominent and respected members of the remote viewing community have indulged. Impossible to fully capture in one evening discussion, I nonetheless introduce you to the general outlines of the controversy, sketch for you the interrelationships of some of the main figures and their claims, show you some of the more provocative and interesting results, and explain the advantages and shortfalls of employing remote viewing to ferret out the truth of extraterrestrial visitation.” Listen to the rough audio edition of the lecture (MP3)
It’s been a couple of weeks since the last issue… the newsletter will likely continue along in the near future in irregularly scheduled installments.
Successful anomalous events organized by and/or featuring friends and acquaintances have recently occurred across North America – sadly, I wasn’t able to attend any of them. These ranged from the Cryptozoological Dogman Symposium organized by Ken Gerhard (and featuring Nick Redfern, Lyle Blackburn and others) to the East Coast Paracon (featuring friends Greg Bishop, Paul Kimball, Aaron Gulyas, Tim Binnall, and others) and down here in Texas, theEdinburg “Out of this World” UFO Festival (organized by Noe Torres and featuring David Hatcher Childress, Nick Redfern, Ben Hansen, Lynne Kitei, and Stephen Andrasko).
Sadly, the field of UFO inquiry has lost another great seeker… Errol Bruce-Knapp. Many in the field of (what passes for) UFO “research” won’t know who he is but they should. I came to know of him through his moderation of one of the oldest and most important UFO email lists, UFO UpDates (Archives 1996-2013). You can learn more about him (including his involvement in off-shore Pirate Radio DJ years) and his important contributions facilitating communication and hosting a community of UFO truth seekers by listening to these interviews here (on the Spectrum Radio Network), and here (with fellow Canadian Paul Kimball). He hosted several terrestrial radio shows and transitioned to internet streaming and podcasting his Strange Days… Indeed (and Mind Shift) programs. I was honored to be a guest on his show back on September 11th, 2007 (MP3). Good luck finding all of his wonderful interviews of some of the best UFO researchers. Here you can listen to him talk with legendary Area-51 researcher Glen Campbell(MP3), who hosted Errol’s UFO UpDates list site (and maintains the Archives).
“It’s alive… ALIVE!!” Austin Mufon has been resurrected as MUFON-ATX.
A couple of weeks ago I was surprised to learn that the local MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) chapter had been re-launched and begun monthly meetings held way up in the furthest reaches of North West Austin. I was involved in Austin Mufon from about 1990 until 2012 when its chain of leadership was finally broken. I led the group from about 1999 – 2002.
Above: Robert Powell “shares about cases from Georgia, England, Utah, Iowa, New York, and Canada as well as information on the process of UFO investigations.”
I was excited to learn of these new monthly meetings and attended the second such meeting held on July 31st. The meetings are at 7pm on the last Sunday of each month at Palm Beach Vapors. July’s meeting featured Austinite and Mufon’s Director of Research / Founder & Leader of Mufon’s Science Review Board. Also present were Texas Mufon leaders Steve Hudgeons (Director of Investigations & former State Director of Texas) and Teresa Turner (State Director of Texas – and State Section Director). There were about a dozen attendees from around Austin and outside the Central Texas metro area. The highlight of the meeting was getting a sneak peak of Robert Powell’s upcoming presentation for the annualMufon Symposium 2016 – Orlando, FL – August 25th-28th whose theme is “UFOs From Our Oceans to Outer Space.” Robert’s presentation is MUFON’s Top 10 UFO Cases for 2015. You can watch this sneak preview thanks to another attendee I was glad to meet, Daniel Jones of the Vortexas Network, whom I’d briefly met a few months ago in Dallas at the ParaMania event.
For this installment of the Book-of-the-Week we feel it appropriate to highlight the aforementioned Robert Powell’s contribution to the printed knowledge-base of UFO history. Robert was kind enough to speak about that history to our Anomaly Archives audience in his Lecture in 2014 (Video).
Our Monthly Public Meetings Are Changing! We Need Your Help! Why Not Volunteer? We’re transitioning our monthly public meetings into volunteerism opportunities. I’ll be up at the Anomaly Archives Saturday, August 27th from 1-3pm to train new volunteers on various on-going processes as well as upcoming special volunteer projects.
The Anomaly Archives holds Monthly Meetings on the Fourth Saturday of Each Month. Contact SMiles Lewis via email for updates. The meetings are held from 1-3pm at the INACS / Anomaly Archives headquarters located in North West Austin.
Coming up in September, the Anomaly Archives will be holding its annual Free Lecture Event. This year’s talk will be presented by former military Remote Viewer Paul Smith. Details Coming Soon!
“MUFON Director of Research Robert Powell gives a presentation on Top Cases for 2015 during a MUFON meeting in Austin, Texas on Sunday, July 31, 2016. Robert shares about cases from Georgia, England, Utah, Iowa, New York, and Canada as well as information on the process of UFO investigations.”
UFOs and Government: A Historical Inquiry
By Michael D. Swords and Robert PowellWith contributions from Clas Svahn, Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos, Bill Chalker, Barry Greenwood, Richard Thieme, Jan Aldrich, Steve Purcell
“Governments have been concerned about UFO sighting reports since WWII, but historians have never made a concerted attempt to understand their often contradictory responses to the phenomenon. How could something of such potential technological and national security consequence have left no visible trace in the history books? Whether it’s a conspiracy or not, the subject has been marginalized to such an extent that it’s as if the military never acted with alarm on the heels of a UFO sighting, as if the intelligence community never took up the issue behind closed doors, as if government research and development efforts never attempted to duplicate the phenomenon. But they have. Robert Powell will discuss how governments, especially the U.S. government, have dealt with the UFO phenomenon and will provide a hypothesis as to why the phenomenon took its roots during WWII.”
FLASHBACK 1976: Planet X! We’re Waiting for You! Texas Monthly, Stephen Harrigan, When the flying saucers land, Ray Stanford and his space cadets will be there. February 1976
Evaluating the Evidence for Paranormal Phenomena (PDF) – A Review of Parapsychology: A Handbook for the 21st Century by Etzel Cardeña, John Palmer, and David Marcusson-Clavertz (Eds.) – PsycCRITIQUES May 30, 2016, Vol. 61, No. 22
I’ve been reading a variety of print books lately, including Jacques Vallée’s latest published journals (Volume 3: 1980-1989), some rare writings of the late Bob Girard, as well as Whitley Strieber & Jeff Kripal’s latest effort. All of which (and more on my mind) get me thinking about fundamentals of UFO research and some of the earliest attempts at grappling with the mystery. Jacques Vallée’s first attempt is our Book-of-the-Week.
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This is a classic work by a well known investigator / scientist / researcher that has been around for years. It represents the ‘old school’ if I may, style of Ufology, which is sorely lacking nowadays. Those were the days that a light in the sky (LIT) would be reason for me to run outside and mount a night long skywatch. No hints of implants, abductions, Roswell, Area 51, etc. I truly recommend this work for anyone who is just starting to learn about this forbidden subject (UFOs) and then take it from there, it will be worth the effort.
Cryptid Culture magazine #3, July 2016 – A collection of art, writing, and all things cryptid – Featuring Wakinyan and the Trickster by Steven Mizrach, In Search of Strange Beasts by Lyle Blackburn, Legend Tripping, Thylacine Research Unit, Mothman Festival, CryptoFiction and More (PREVIEW) – CryptidCulture.com
[NOTE: Inclusion of news & event info is purely informational
and does not indicate endorsement.]
Membership Drive 2016
Would you like to check-out books from the Anomaly Archives lending library? Do you want to help preserve the history of UFO (and related anomalous) research?
We need your help to make the Anomaly Archives the Best Anomalies Research Resource in North America. Our goal is to become a significant repository of anomalistic research materials.
Below you’ll find our Book-of-the-Week which is one of many Spanish language titles from the Girard Collection. This one is about the infamous Ica Stones of Peru, considered by most to be an admitted hoax by farmer / artist / conman Basilio Uschuya who “said he produced a patina by baking the stone in cow dung.” The stones depict creationist type artworks featuring humans and dinosaurs living and working together as well as advanced technology implying ancient astronaut themes. Several of the stones depict highly sexual content.
As usual we have a smattering of UFO, Parapsyhology, Mysterious Phenomena (like the Worldwide Hum) and Deep State / Parapolitical news links in ourAnomalous Headlines section.
We’re still trying to increase our membership so please consider joining theAnomaly Archives as a Dues-Paying Member. Even if you can’t access our local collections you can support our mission and goals:
Preservation and dissemination of scientific research into anomalous phenomena.
Research and analysis of accumulated collections.
Education of the public regarding scientific investigations into these phenomena.
Managing and developing an archive and library for documents and literature with regards to a multi-disciplinary approach to anomalous phenomena.
Supporting, promoting and pursuing research to obtain increased knowledge about anomalous phenomena.
Pursuing and stimulating a critical, scientific discussion of anomalous phenomena, and providing a forum for information, support, and sharing among researchers.
Functioning as the archives and library for like-minded organizations, and other groups in the community that have similar interests.
Also, we recently mentioned an exciting conference happening on the Big Island of Hawaii later this year. The organizers of this Living Mystery Symposium, whose theme is Super Nature, have recently updated the event date to December 10th & 11th and lineup to Whitley Strieber, Jeff Kripal, Dennis McKenna, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, & Host Jeremy Vaeni. See the event website for details.
“In the vicinity of the village of Ocucaje and Ica, in Peru, a collection of rounded stones . . . has been amassed by Dr. Javier Cabrera….The people are shown hunting or struggling with a variety of monsters that resemble BRONTOSAURS, TRICERATOPS, STEGOSAURS, AND PTERODACTYLS . . . human beings are portrayed as having domesticated animals that appear to be DINOSAURS and are using them for transportation and warfare. People are shown using telescopes, looking at the stars, and performing surgery”
Philosophers Examine Near-death Experiences: Researchers with The Immortality Project publish book that offers naturalistic explanation of NDEs – Bettye Miller, UCR Today (University of California, Riverside)
