23 - The Fringe
On May 5, 1999, I received a pair of emails indicating
 that alien UFOs would attack the Earth on October 3 of
 that year. Obviously that didn’t happen, and the emails
 themselves contain many elements of a hoax. You
 may read them yourself here and here.




Is there really
something to all this
UFO/alien business?
How can one tell?
Eyewitness Accounts & Memory

What we “see” is often not really there (Lowell’s “canals”)
People can be convinced during questioning to
“remember” things that did not happen (many recent
sexual abuse allegations)
People lie
People like to play tricks
People tend to “want to believe”
People don’t like to change their minds
People don’t like to admit when they are wrong
People make up things when they do not understand*
PEOPLE ARE HUMAN
Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs)

           Most people equate UFO with alien craft
           The term “unidentified” actually means unidentified
           Reports of UFOs go back centuries

Prior to invention of airplanes, UFOs tended to look
like zeppelins
“Flying Disks” reported by Kenneth Arnold in 1945
while flying airplane near Mt. Rainier - this is where
the “modern era” began - aliens now operate flying
saucers, not flying cigars!


What aliens “looked like” also varies from culture to
culture and one era to another.
Global mass communication has changed this….             The “Greys” (Close
                                                         Encounters of the 3rd Kind)
Project Blue Book - 1965

Because some UFOs might actually be aircraft belonging to hostile countries
(read: USSR), the US Air Force launched a study to try to identify all such
sightings as best as they could. The breakdown:

   Identification       Number of Sightings          Percentage of Total

Astronomical events                245                       26.7%
Aircraft                           210                       23.7%
Satellites                         152                       17.1%
Hoaxes, Imagination, etc.          126                       14.2%
Insufficient Data                   85                        9.6%
Weather Balloons                    36                        4.1%
(still being processed)             17                        1.9%
UNIDENTIFIED                16                        1.8%

         The 16 unidentified cases are just that - unidentified
Gulf Breeze

Ed Walter, a native of Gulf Breeze, Florida, presents Polaroid photographs of
   UFOs/saucers to the people and press the town. He also reports:

        1.  being frozen by a beam of blue light from the craft while taking
            the pictures
         2. he was mysteriously lifted off the ground by a strange force
            during the event
         3. received telepathic messages from the aliens
         4. faced an alien eye-to-eye
(this one was widely publicizes on TV at the time)

The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), a pro-UFO group, investigates & suspects fraud

June 1990 - Pensacola News Journal:
Person who bought Ed Walter's home discovered a model "saucer" in the garage attic,
Youth in the town admitted that he and a friend helped Ed Walter fake the pictures.
Alien Abductions

            The book that started the modern “craze”

          Some individuals estimate that 10% of the
          population has been abducted
          Given a population of ~ 2 million (greater Cinti)
          and average lifetime of 80 yrs ⇒ 5-10/night!

Q: Why do we not witness 5-10 people being taken away
every night?
A: “They have mastered the art of becoming invisible”
Q: Why then do we “see” their “spacecraft” if they can
become invisible?
A:
Roswell
 Object crashes in June 1947 on
    Brazel’s ranch
 Debris collected & brought to nearby
    Army Air Corps Base
 Base press officer releases report of
    “crashed discs”
  Legend grows of alien bodies set to
      Wright Field in Dayton
   Recently, at the request of Congressman H. Shiff (R-NM), the US
   General Accounting Office released all records relating to Roswell.
   They indicate:
   1. no evidence for a cover-up
   2. no evidence for a UFO
   3. no evidence for alien bodies
Crash debris identified by Columbia & NYU as theirs
- part of Project Mogul (now declassified) - balloon-
borne microphones to listen for Soviet nuclear tests.
The Alien Autopsy Film

First aired by Fox as a true documentary in 1995. But:
2. Autopsy not carried out using methods of the profession
3. Examiner does not handle instruments properly
4. Anticontamination suits are bogus
5. Injuries inconsistent with crash
6. Warning signs used did not exist until 20 years later (OSHA)

7. Organs have no connective tissue!!    Etc.

Kent Jeffrey, co-founder of the International Roswell Initiative, along
   with many other UFO supporters, claim that the film is a hoax.
1998 - Fox “reveals” the film as a hoax in subsequent airing!
Taken from a “Pro-UFO” Site




                “Click On Me!”

“August 6, 1997, Mexico. Much controversy has
followed this almost unbelievable film of a UFO taken
downtown Mexico City in broad daylight. Shown on
countless television stations, and still-framed in many
magazines and books, it is alleged that over 100
people watched this event as it was filmed. The film
did stand up to analysis for quite some time. It is now
considered by most to be an ingenious hoax.”
Ancient Astronauts
1960s-1970’s, Erik von Dainiken publishes “Chariots of the Gods” books
(the first one while serving time in a Swiss prison for fraud, supposedly)
Claim:
Many ancient cultures similarly helped by ETs (Example: Egyptians
could not have built pyramids without help from them)
TODAY:
Many examples of people showing how it
could be done


King Pacal of Palenque: Ancient Astronaut?
Most experts on Mayan culture suggest this
Depicts Pacal’s journy to the underworld
(Xibalba) at the time of his death
Some claim to see UFOs in artwork




                    Flying Saucer or a
                    common motif ??
Aliens in Spacecraft?




                                        Actually depict the
                                        Sun & Moon

Want to learn more?
Lenticular
clouds
Crop Circles


These patterns of crushed grass began to appear in England in the 1980's. Since then,
they have been seen on other places, and the patterns have become more complex.
Explanations given:

         •Alien landing sites - it was 'impossible" for any human to do this
         •Wind vortices (totally absurd for the complex patterns seen)
         •Hoaxes

In 1991 David Bower and Dave Chorley claimed responsibility for starting the crop
circle craze. They demonstrated live on BBC TV exactly how they did it. Since then,
others have been caught in the act.
Apparently aliens have force fields &
invisibility (i.e. the motion picture Signs),
travel interstellar distances and/or cross
“dimensions” but have to navigate by
making drawings in corn fields??
Crop circles have become a form of art…




See http://www.circlemakers.org/
The “Face” on Mars
                 Richard C. Hoagland The monuments of Mars: A City on
                 the Edge of Forever (1987) claims the feature is artificial




Viking vs. MGS




                 “Happy Face” on Mars!
So what? Does
  believing in this
stuff harm anyone?
1997 - 39 Members of Heaven’s
     Gate Cult Commit Mass Suicide
     over a Simple Camera Artifact!




“Saturn-Like
Object” - a UFO
that would take HG
members to heaven
after death?
                     Actually just the star SAO 141894
Art Bell (radio host who has a lot of such stuff on this
 show) & Whitley Streiber (“Communion”) post FAKED
 image of UFO following Hale-Bopp. For a more
 complete description go here and here .




Original photo by Dave           Doctored photo spread
Tholen, U Hawaii                 by Bell & Streiber
In April 2006, a number of web sites world-wide carried the
prediction by Eric Julien that fragments of Comet
Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 would strike the Earth on
May 25 of that year.
Apparently from a psychic dream, he interpreted the
“Missing Earth” crop circle as a sign from aliens that parts
of SW3 would hit the earth. He “proved it” using NASA
software.
It didn’t happen. Because web pages are ephemeral, I list
them in PDF to be preserved for posterity. Enjoy.
              US Newswire Web Page: pdf
              Julien’s Web Page: (as of today): pdf
              Disclaimer: pdf
Summary - My Own Earth vs. the Flying
                      Saucers - (1956)
        Assessment
Bring me a living alien, or a piece of his
  spacecraft. Is that too much to ask?




           Mars Attacks! (1996)

23 the fringe-alt

  • 1.
    23 - TheFringe
  • 2.
    On May 5,1999, I received a pair of emails indicating that alien UFOs would attack the Earth on October 3 of that year. Obviously that didn’t happen, and the emails themselves contain many elements of a hoax. You may read them yourself here and here. Is there really something to all this UFO/alien business? How can one tell?
  • 3.
    Eyewitness Accounts &Memory What we “see” is often not really there (Lowell’s “canals”) People can be convinced during questioning to “remember” things that did not happen (many recent sexual abuse allegations) People lie People like to play tricks People tend to “want to believe” People don’t like to change their minds People don’t like to admit when they are wrong People make up things when they do not understand* PEOPLE ARE HUMAN
  • 4.
    Unidentified Flying Objects(UFOs) Most people equate UFO with alien craft The term “unidentified” actually means unidentified Reports of UFOs go back centuries Prior to invention of airplanes, UFOs tended to look like zeppelins “Flying Disks” reported by Kenneth Arnold in 1945 while flying airplane near Mt. Rainier - this is where the “modern era” began - aliens now operate flying saucers, not flying cigars! What aliens “looked like” also varies from culture to culture and one era to another. Global mass communication has changed this…. The “Greys” (Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind)
  • 5.
    Project Blue Book- 1965 Because some UFOs might actually be aircraft belonging to hostile countries (read: USSR), the US Air Force launched a study to try to identify all such sightings as best as they could. The breakdown: Identification Number of Sightings Percentage of Total Astronomical events 245 26.7% Aircraft 210 23.7% Satellites 152 17.1% Hoaxes, Imagination, etc. 126 14.2% Insufficient Data 85 9.6% Weather Balloons 36 4.1% (still being processed) 17 1.9% UNIDENTIFIED 16 1.8% The 16 unidentified cases are just that - unidentified
  • 6.
    Gulf Breeze Ed Walter,a native of Gulf Breeze, Florida, presents Polaroid photographs of UFOs/saucers to the people and press the town. He also reports: 1. being frozen by a beam of blue light from the craft while taking the pictures 2. he was mysteriously lifted off the ground by a strange force during the event 3. received telepathic messages from the aliens 4. faced an alien eye-to-eye (this one was widely publicizes on TV at the time) The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), a pro-UFO group, investigates & suspects fraud June 1990 - Pensacola News Journal: Person who bought Ed Walter's home discovered a model "saucer" in the garage attic, Youth in the town admitted that he and a friend helped Ed Walter fake the pictures.
  • 7.
    Alien Abductions The book that started the modern “craze” Some individuals estimate that 10% of the population has been abducted Given a population of ~ 2 million (greater Cinti) and average lifetime of 80 yrs ⇒ 5-10/night! Q: Why do we not witness 5-10 people being taken away every night? A: “They have mastered the art of becoming invisible” Q: Why then do we “see” their “spacecraft” if they can become invisible? A:
  • 8.
    Roswell Object crashesin June 1947 on Brazel’s ranch Debris collected & brought to nearby Army Air Corps Base Base press officer releases report of “crashed discs” Legend grows of alien bodies set to Wright Field in Dayton Recently, at the request of Congressman H. Shiff (R-NM), the US General Accounting Office released all records relating to Roswell. They indicate: 1. no evidence for a cover-up 2. no evidence for a UFO 3. no evidence for alien bodies Crash debris identified by Columbia & NYU as theirs - part of Project Mogul (now declassified) - balloon- borne microphones to listen for Soviet nuclear tests.
  • 9.
    The Alien AutopsyFilm First aired by Fox as a true documentary in 1995. But: 2. Autopsy not carried out using methods of the profession 3. Examiner does not handle instruments properly 4. Anticontamination suits are bogus 5. Injuries inconsistent with crash 6. Warning signs used did not exist until 20 years later (OSHA) 7. Organs have no connective tissue!! Etc. Kent Jeffrey, co-founder of the International Roswell Initiative, along with many other UFO supporters, claim that the film is a hoax. 1998 - Fox “reveals” the film as a hoax in subsequent airing!
  • 10.
    Taken from a“Pro-UFO” Site “Click On Me!” “August 6, 1997, Mexico. Much controversy has followed this almost unbelievable film of a UFO taken downtown Mexico City in broad daylight. Shown on countless television stations, and still-framed in many magazines and books, it is alleged that over 100 people watched this event as it was filmed. The film did stand up to analysis for quite some time. It is now considered by most to be an ingenious hoax.”
  • 11.
    Ancient Astronauts 1960s-1970’s, Erikvon Dainiken publishes “Chariots of the Gods” books (the first one while serving time in a Swiss prison for fraud, supposedly) Claim: Many ancient cultures similarly helped by ETs (Example: Egyptians could not have built pyramids without help from them) TODAY: Many examples of people showing how it could be done King Pacal of Palenque: Ancient Astronaut? Most experts on Mayan culture suggest this Depicts Pacal’s journy to the underworld (Xibalba) at the time of his death
  • 12.
    Some claim tosee UFOs in artwork Flying Saucer or a common motif ??
  • 13.
    Aliens in Spacecraft? Actually depict the Sun & Moon Want to learn more?
  • 14.
  • 15.
    Crop Circles These patternsof crushed grass began to appear in England in the 1980's. Since then, they have been seen on other places, and the patterns have become more complex. Explanations given: •Alien landing sites - it was 'impossible" for any human to do this •Wind vortices (totally absurd for the complex patterns seen) •Hoaxes In 1991 David Bower and Dave Chorley claimed responsibility for starting the crop circle craze. They demonstrated live on BBC TV exactly how they did it. Since then, others have been caught in the act. Apparently aliens have force fields & invisibility (i.e. the motion picture Signs), travel interstellar distances and/or cross “dimensions” but have to navigate by making drawings in corn fields??
  • 16.
    Crop circles havebecome a form of art… See http://www.circlemakers.org/
  • 17.
    The “Face” onMars Richard C. Hoagland The monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever (1987) claims the feature is artificial Viking vs. MGS “Happy Face” on Mars!
  • 18.
    So what? Does believing in this stuff harm anyone?
  • 19.
    1997 - 39Members of Heaven’s Gate Cult Commit Mass Suicide over a Simple Camera Artifact! “Saturn-Like Object” - a UFO that would take HG members to heaven after death? Actually just the star SAO 141894
  • 20.
    Art Bell (radiohost who has a lot of such stuff on this show) & Whitley Streiber (“Communion”) post FAKED image of UFO following Hale-Bopp. For a more complete description go here and here . Original photo by Dave Doctored photo spread Tholen, U Hawaii by Bell & Streiber
  • 21.
    In April 2006,a number of web sites world-wide carried the prediction by Eric Julien that fragments of Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 would strike the Earth on May 25 of that year. Apparently from a psychic dream, he interpreted the “Missing Earth” crop circle as a sign from aliens that parts of SW3 would hit the earth. He “proved it” using NASA software. It didn’t happen. Because web pages are ephemeral, I list them in PDF to be preserved for posterity. Enjoy. US Newswire Web Page: pdf Julien’s Web Page: (as of today): pdf Disclaimer: pdf
  • 22.
    Summary - MyOwn Earth vs. the Flying Saucers - (1956) Assessment Bring me a living alien, or a piece of his spacecraft. Is that too much to ask? Mars Attacks! (1996)