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![]() September 21 Courtney Bower and Elizabeth Redmond reference current AARO profiling, a recent Marik von Rennenkampff article we reviewed on past anomalies fitting this "target package," and a major 1968 RAND study. Their purpose? Evaluating whether "some portions of the truly anonymous UAP sightings could be produced by stealth-driven extraterrestrial probes imbued with artificial intelligence (AI) and a complex camouflage system." This exemplary, readable literature-search assists the authors' consideration of three major questions that arise. By extrapolating from state-of-the-art earthly capabilities, while recognizing the necessary limitations of our Terran "Sample of One," Bower and Redmond have produced one of the most useful articles we have seen this year. For their part, Marek N. Posard and Caitlin McCulloch argue that UFO Research Is Only Harmed by Antigovernment Rhetoric. In a Scientific American opinion piece, these two RAND Corporation authors make worthwhile points about problems stemming from such discourse. (WM) Some new old news out of Northern California, where back in 2001 a youth group made a recording of what appears to be a Bigfoot near an area where a potential shelter was discovered. The recording was released to the public 10 years later where it made quite the stir as the longest Bigfoot recording ever made. Also in Northern California, in Willow Creek, is—or rather was—Bigfoot Books, an open stock used bookstore for all your Bigfoot reading needs and wants. But on September 1, flames tore through the building housing the business. Bigfoot Books Burns: Total Loss. A GoFundMe has been set up to help the owner of the bookstore get back on his feet. And on a lighter note we should mention a fun new interview with Avrel Seale, the author of Monster Hike: A 100-Mile Inquiry Into the Sasquatch Mystery (Anomalist Books). His new book The River Nuts: Down the Nueces with One Stroke has just been published by TCU Press. (CM) 'This is Complete Nonsense' Scientists Rail against 'Alien' Bodies Shown before Mexican Congress Live Science
Journalist Jaime Maussan's demonstration at a Mexican congressional meeting has stirred up several different camps. Here Owen Jarus gives the views of the archaeological set. Maussan is said to have told Live Science these are the corpses that made the news in 2017 and 2018, and that since then, more testing has shown they aren't human, but "We never said they are extraterrestrial." Legal concerns raised here are amplified in Adam Barnhardt's Mexico Congress Alien Stunt Dubbed "Possibly Criminal" in New Report. Barnhardt's article with the insertion "[extraterrestrial life]" doesn't echo that "Maussonian" quote. Maussan doesn't seem fazed by the confusion and possible legal implications (lying under oath; participating in stolen Peruvian patrimony). Anders Anglesey says the 'Alien Bodies' Ufologist Dismisses, Analysis, Legal Threat--'I'm Not Worried'. But Peruvian and Mexican scientists aver otherwise. Seems Maussan is doubling down, per Mummified 'Alien Corpses' Are from Single Skeletons and Were Not Assembled, Mexican Doctors Claim. There are no specific doctors' names behind the mummies' Monday tests, but Maussan's rather cagey statements are quoted. It's pretty clear Professor Tim Murithi took Barnhardt's "alien" meaning, per Murithi's Mexico's Extraterrestrial Revelations. Murithi does call for independent further analysis, and scores points, sometimes in very passionate terms, in the rest of his article. But his initial gaffe seems another example of a brilliant individual with much to contribute to the field, coming into the UFO realm without sufficient familiarity about its wild and woolly ways. (WM) September 20 Unidentified, Unforgettable: A Coast Guard's Encounter with the Unknown Intelligent Disclosure
Remarkable historical cases featuring the impacts upon the witnesses. Richard Dolan digs out a 1973 Atlantic Ocean case that apparently involved "deliberate suppression of evidence" the government currently maintains is lacking from such past encounters. And the means of concealment involved "Men in Black" and other "intimidation of the witnesses." Further East, but long ago, In Medieval Ireland, Ships Sailed across the Sky. In the vein of 9th-century Carolingian Renaissance archbishop Agobard of Lyon's famous airship story, Amelia Soth describes a 13th-century Irish tale involving a sky-ship dropping an anchor, which caught on the Clonmacnoise church during a service. The original Irish story seems to stem from the early 700s; it and a complementary "inversion of the airship lore" make fascinating reading and insights into the wonder with which our predecessors invested their surroundings. Some of that same sense of awe comes through more modern cases in A History of UFOs over Mexico. "UFO fever" at times gripped the country, with mass sightings of mass aerial phenomena not unusual. Even ground-based events—though considered to have been caused by landings of UFOs—puzzled Kiwi locals, per 'Blown up from the Inside Out'-the 1969 Ngātea Crop Circle. Spurred by recent American events, Jim Birchall relates this puzzling and lesser-known case—including a rather disapproving response by the "Beehive" (N.Z. Government). (WM) The Connecting With Coincidence podcast interviews a woman who in 1988 was struck by lightning and died—and came back to tell the tale. Elizabeth Krohn describes her experience on the Other Side and ways in which synchronicities have changed her life since. Next we are Heartbroken to hear bad news from the Parapsychology Foundation (PF), which will run out of funding in October without viable means of obtaining more. The PF has always "held to trying to help further the science of parapsychology and find answers to the questions raised by psychic functioning and the question of survival after death." They have made an urgent plea for donations or endowments in the hopes of continuing the work that started when the non-profit foundation beginning operation almost 72 years ago. Please consider their request or pass it along to someone who may be interested in helping. (CM) NASA's UAP Independent Study Team Produces Its Report Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena-Scientific Research
Keith Basterfield does a great job summarizing the context to and findings of the September 14th NASA report. For "A Different Perspective" on The NASA Report: A Personal Commentary comes from long-time ufologist and government military serviceman Kevin Randle. He sees the report as "more of the same" on multiple levels, marshaling good arguments in support. John Greenewald says Newly Released Documents Shed Light on "UFO Whistleblower" David Grusch's DOPSR Review. While John admits his FOIA success "still leaves many questions unanswered due to significant redactions, it does provide a more comprehensive picture of how everything went down." And Adam Barnhardt suggests the US Government Might Be Trolling Everyone With New UFO Website. Barnhardt details some interesting things "internet sleuths" have discovered on the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office site in addition to that stock photo of "Alien technology in a metallic ball" that others have noted. (WM) September 19 Nick Robertson says Tim Burchett is mad the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) hasn't given him information it got from whistleblower David Grusch on UFO crash-retrievals. While the Department of Defense Inspector General got Grusch's original data, it seems the ICIG would have been provided with at least the outlines of those bombshell claims while handling Grusch's later complaint regarding retribution for his DoD IG complaint. Northeastern University's Brian Helmuth tells Why 'UFOs' Should be Tracked in the Water as Well as the Skies. Admitting UFOs are "way out of my area of expertise," the professor of marine and environmental science makes down-to-earth (or water?) observations towards giving more attention to the 70-plus percent of our world's surface covered by ocean. Plunging into the fun side of the news, many folks fear some kind of Independence Day scenario from ETs. For that, try Avi Loeb on Why Aliens (Probably) Don't Care About Humans. Podcast host Andrew Keen and Avi spend the first half of their dialogue distancing Loeb from traditional scientists whom he strongly feels have deviated from correct scientific procedure. It's often a humorous scolding of such thinking and thinkers, followed by Loeb's account of the expedition he believes is proving his points and sense of "mission." It's incidentally helping promote his newest book Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars. And The X-Files' David Duchovny Has An 'Alien Perverts' Theory You Won't Believe. Whatever "The Truth," at least David "Is Out There." (WM) Riderless ‘Ghost Bike’ Caught on Surveillance Video in England: ‘This Gives Us the Chills’ The Messenger
If you're a skeptic when it comes to spooks, these next two stories may make you soften your stance somewhat. The first features a riderless bicycle that somehow managed to propel itself down the street of a marketplace in Britain. Without seeing an actual video, it's hard to draw any conclusions but we bet the incident drew some puzzled glances from shoppers. The next story features video from when a Security Camera Films Ghost Wandering Around Welsh Backyard? It may well be that the camera needs a little maintenance, but it's hard to say from just this short snippet. Whatever the origin of the figure on camera, it does walk through a fence, which could be taken as evidence both for and against. It leaves us with more questions than answers, which is the perfect recipe for a good mystery. (CM) The Getting Spooked Reading List #1 Getting Spooked
The author of remarkable UFO-related investigative series including the "Gulf Breeze Six," the uber-strange Bosco Nedelcovic, and "That Charming Man" Indrid Cold lists some of the books that piqued his curiosity about "paranormalcy." First on the list is, we think appropriately, Charles Fort's The Book of the Damned. And speaking of Boyle's various fascinating, highly-researched, and provocative article series, we find it's Still Sunny: Continued Investigations into the Gulf Breeze Six, Pt. 3. Boyle explores connections between the "GB6" and Gulf Breeze's most controversial figure, Ed Walters. Tanner uncovers the most amazing "connection" between Frances Walters and Anna Foster—besides Foster sending her daughter to live with the Walters while she and the once-AWOL soldiers were being investigated. And Nedelcovic's saga gets an extension with Boyle's The Bosco in Brazil, Pt. 9. It's an important conversation with Bosco Nedelcovic's widow and daughter that rather "rounds out" the "human side" of another very enigmatic individual who may have labored in "the intersections between the paranormal and the parapolitical." (WM) September 18 A Shaky Start for NASA's UAP Office Life in Jonestown
Criticism regarding two recent UFO news events, which intersected at one very weird moment. Billy Cox considers NASA's failure to announce the new UAP Research director's name, which they later realized was a PR gaffe. All this against NASA's background and an underlying concern highlighted by the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies in its SCU Welcomes NASA's Historic UAP Report and Recommendations. NASA's consistent insistence on independence and transparency seems somewhat hollow, given its close ties to AARO leadership. The Verge's Elizabeth Lopatto seizes upon some of these points while arguing the NASA report is really about money, not aliens. Her If NASA Has to Keep Investigating UFO Claims, It Should Get More Budget for That concludes with "And you know what science always needs more of? Money." Kevin Randle has A Different Perspective on that "other event" in Jaime Maussan and Those Small Creatures, which was unveiled September 12th at a Mexican Congress session. Kevin implies "We've seen it all before," particularly from Maussan, and like Billy Cox says "We need more evidence." Miguel ("Red Pill Junkie") Romero has no doubts about the event as a hoax. In Step Right Up: The Latest Episode in Maussan's UFO Chronicle "RPJ" uses strong language against Maussan's career and this occasion, includes a video showing how "Peruvian mummies" were cobbled together, plus a 44-entry "List of Hoaxes Promoted by Jaime Maussan"! (WM) Two More Photographs From Loch Ness Loch Ness Mystery
In the time since The Quest to find the Loch Ness Monster ended, two photographs have been making the rounds on social media. The first shows a rounded, striped object on the surface of the water. Chances of it being a buoy are fairly strong. The second photo shows some very strong turbulence in the Loch, which unfortunately is a natural phenomenon given the currents and prevailing winds. The Loch isn't the only place where investigators are playing detective though. ‘Unusual’ Creature Found In Brazil Is World’s First Known Fox-Dog Hybrid, Study Says. The offspring of a pampas fox and a domestic dog, this "dogxim" is the first hybrid of its kind. Whether it is sterile like manmade hybrids or capable of reproducing still remains to be seen. (CM) Some positive coverage of recent UFO News. Micah Hanks gives main points from the NASA Independent Study Team report, most of which were "leaked" and/or predicted. The New York Times' Kenneth Chang seizes upon the transparency contradiction at the report's Thursday unveiling in NASA Introduces New U.F.O. Research Director. In the rest of the piece, Chang continues the now-standard NYT stance regarding UFOs. Motherboard's Becky Ferreira has some interesting results from Freedom of Information requests in The Truth Is Out There': The Emails NASA's UFO Investigators Got From Scientists and the Public. Ferreira gives a sampling covering the gamut of "non-threatening" emails, and links to the trove of documents at FOIA Files. Back to Micah Hanks for a look at The Sol Foundation: How a New Think Tank of Academics is Applying 'Cutting-edge Research' to the UAP Mystery. Hanks' article lays out at a very high level the goals of this "think-tank," also explaining the role David Grusch has played in its founding and since. Rather more detail is available at The Sol Foundation. And Kevin Randle has "A Different Perspective" about Roswell's International UFO Museum and Research Center. "The changes there have been extraordinary," Kevin says, and that "the Museum is now quite impressive" and "a trip to the museum is worth your time." (WM) September 17 Some people know who is calling them before they pick up the phone. Sure that's typical nowadays, but in the case of Helané Wahbeh, Cedric Cannard, Dean Radin, and Arnaud Delorme's study, the subjects don't need caller ID nor clever ringtones, just psi. But are these subjects merely "lucky," or cherry picking the intense moments where they were right, while discarding the scores of others where they weren't even close? They did the math, and boy howdy meta-analyses involve a lot, and the conclusions are provocative. Yet have they considered the size of a subject's social circle? How active they are within that circle? What about any instances where they knew the caller, but never met them before? As with all interesting science, many questions are raised and serve to test our assumptions. For better or worse. (CS) The physical basis for near-death experiences now has a stronger foundation based upon a new peer- reviewed study by Sam Parnia and friends. According to Sandee LaMotte, doctors have performed brain scans while attempting to resuscitate someone after a heart attack with surprising results. As typical, those results raise more questions so doctors can follow the data. But the account of a NDE that kicks off Sandee's piece certainly is compelling. There's more reading, courtesy of Theresa Tamkins, on this Study Of Cardiac Arrest Survivors Reveals Insights Into Near-Death Experiences and filling in a few more blanks. Aligning at oblique angles is Michael Grosso expounding upon The Healing Power Of The Mind. Except in the cases cited by Mike, they're about the incorruptibles and how they potentially avoid decomposition beyond mere physical circumstances. (CS) We would hope when a ghost urges someone to commit suicide that person will utilize their common sense. While the woman in question survived, writes Tim Binnall, her story is all the more chilling since she wasn't alone in seeing this spectre. (CS) September 16 Here's a brief video but what does one expect from a celebrity gossip site like TMZ, still their lede caught our attention. Who is Lisa Ling? A former host on The View and currently a news contributor for CBS. To be brief, humanity's relationship with other species hasn't been particularly benevolent. But if there are extraterrestrials, Peter Vickers and Sean McMahon lay out How To Prove You've Discovered Alien Life, distilled down from their paper published in the peer-reviewed Astrobiology. Yet their Bayesian approach isn't the only game in town, and they discuss the competition as well. On the other hand, Scientists Say You're Looking For Aliens All Wrong. Oh really, Ramin Skibba? What do these scientists say we should be using? Artificial intelligence? Algorithms? Computers? Oh. They are. Maybe they have a point since there are heaps of data waiting for the light of day and we'd never get to them. Just hoping there's a feature like "Aliens You May Know" to facilitate things. (CS) Did Humpbacks Try To Save A Seal From Orcas? See For Yourself National Geographic
Humpback whales, unlike H. sapiens, appear benevolent unless one happens to be krill while orcas maybe are the cetacean equivalents of ourselves. Jason Bittel thinks there's a practical example from footage taken in the antarctic where humpbacks interfere with an orca pod on the hunt. Beside the lede's question, there are many more we have yet to answer about potential motivations or if Jason intentionally recycled this story from July of 2022. Meanwhile on the other side of the globe, a Nessie Hunter Is Convinced She's Seen The Mythical Beast After Spotting Ripples In The Water in the seventh sighting of the year. No word if Nessie was actively trying to protect something from unknown predators, or if it was just a trick of the current, yet Matt Drake has the full story for your consideration. (CS) September 15 NASA Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team Report National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The "splashy" final report of NASA's UAP data study team is finally available. Its main thrust accords with previous indications and will likely be approved by scientists worldwide. Common mortals may find awesome the full-page color photography and glitzily-produced perfunctory sections, and there's the repetitiousness usual in such documents. Immediately following the "Introduction," page ten displays a weather balloon looking mightily like that average, "acceptable" image the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office touts. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson immediately began the 10 a.m. report briefing by addressing the 800-pound "ET gorilla-in-the-room." The briefing panelists gave the appropriate, expected remarks. They had measured responses to a series of sometimes dreadful questions from journalists. "The director of UAP Research" was not announced, but in NASA Says It'll Take on a Bigger Role in UFO Research Alan Boyle names Mark McInerney, links to the NASA press release containing that information, and includes the briefing video. Given its mission, the team overall did a decent job pointing the way to scientifically attacking the UFO/UAP problem. Vice's Becky Ferreira has a good summary in Here Is NASA's 36-Page Report Investigating UFOs. Popular Science's Andrew Paul splashes the weather balloon picture while headlining an interesting aspect to the report in NASA Wants to Use AI to Study Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon. And in NASA Didn't Find Aliens-but if You See Any UFOs, Holler Wired's Ramin Skibba provides more background to Thursday's report, while noting that "alien" only appears twice within it. (WM) Shadows on the Forest Floor The Observer
The Pukwudgies are the little goblin-like people of folklore who have quills running down their backs. Bernie O’Connor interviews writer and researcher Mason Winfield, who spoke to a standing room only crowd at his lecture on the "Little People and Pukwudgies in New York" in May of this year. It seems our best hope of encountering a Pukwudgie is by honoring the indigenous land we find ourselves upon, and investigating local folklore to uncover where they are most commonly seen. And of course, once we encounter one, to leave them alone; we bother a Pukwudgie at our own peril. From New York's Pukwudgies we go to Indiana’s Hidden Cryptids: The Legend of the Pukwudgies. The most likely place to encounter one of these diminutive cryptids is at Mound State Park in Anderson, Indiana. It is here that local Pukwudgie legends originate with the Indigenous peoples of the Delaware region. Just remember they are tricksters, so be respectful. (CM) The UAPs [sic] Thing UFO Conjectures
People presenting themselves as "expert" in something should at least know how to write/pronounce the term. One doesn't have to slave through ancient Latin and Greek courses to understand that there literally are no such things as "UAPs." Rich Reynolds' explanation should end such sloppy talk, along with that of "Phenomenons." (This reviewer nonetheless sometimes makes the "UAPs" mistake.) Rich also has Things To Say about The "Disclosure" Mess. He's mostly right here, though we wouldn't exactly call John Greenewald, Jr., a UFO "newb." Back in August Rich wrote We Have to Step Outside Our Everyday Reality. There he argued provocatively (and nearly lyrically) for a "real reality or a new version of reality"—for which UFOs are the key—that "is the one coming upon all of humanity, sooner than later I think." In the Media: National Reporters and News Organizations Rich himself now rather futilely bemoans "the slipshod gathering of important news or really interesting societal items." He makes a rather dire prediction, even if we survive being presently "on the brink of destruction." And the “alteration of humanity” forecast here might include that "new version of reality" Rich prophesied in his just-mentioned August post. (WM) Copyright
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