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The Anomalist



May 16

Michael E. Zimmerman’s book-review-and-more examines how two antithetical Christian views about Non-Human Intelligence may impact our general knowledge about Just What's Going On with UFOs. Next: The Archives of the Impossible has published the proceedings from its third conference, held April 3-5, 2025 at Rice University. "The UFO and the Impossible" event description notes the roles whistleblowers are playing in media and government discourse. We look forward to reviewing some of its nearly-twenty sessions next week, while encouraging you to plumb these serious depths on your own. In UFO Appears To Evade Camera in Unseen Video, Whistleblower Claims NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas reviews, with Jeremy Corbell’s help, points from the three-part Weaponized series Corbell and George Knapp conducted with Matthew Brown. Corbell says some of Brown's stories aren't new to himself and George. Another "whistleblower" and his patron getting "news time" figure in Chris Melore's Never-before-seen Footage of UFO Dubbed The Cigar Soaring Over US Border. Former Border Patrol agent Bob Thompson's imagery was extensively covered by Ross Coulthart in a series of presentations and conversations, as Ross makes a "dereliction of duty" case against that agency and the Government generally regarding informing the American public. And Late Breaking: UAP Dark Week Turns Light As Dr. Eric Davis Briefs UAP Caucus Members In a SCIF. Psiactivo Podcast host Pavel Ibarra Meda follows Ask A Pol reporter Matt Laslo's peregrinations across Washington DC between the Davis SCIF briefing in the O'Neal Office Building and an FBI briefing for House Caucus members at the FBI HQ, where the politicians apparently got "different material than AARO." Not many specifics will likely come out of these rendezvouses. (WM)

The Home Haunts Us The Observer
Blake Collier muses on the idea of a haunted house, exploring the void behind the wall, the basement, the disused attic, and other overlooked spaces in our homes. Disused, often concealed, and ignored these spaces in our dwellings, besides the amassed detritus, may hold other more animate objects. Perhaps home to uninvited guests, lurking, stealing out at night to nibble at leftovers in the refrigerator. Collier argues these are liminal spaces, between, at the periphery. Affecting our normality through those easily dismissed auditory intimations we hear at night, and troubling the minds of those that enter. Is that creak in the middle of the night the natural heave of the house as it cools, the sound of someone waiting in the dark, or something else…? In other ghostly news, Bulawayo 24 News reports on a haunted bus in the Chitungwiza suburb of Harare in Zimbabwe: Mystery Surrounds 'Haunted' Bus. Locals have observed the disused bus’ headlights turn on their own at 6 am and 6 pm, and mysterious figures have been observed in and around the bus. Rumor suggests the unfortunate former owner was crushed to death while working underneath it, his spirit now haunts the vehicle. The current owner is skeptical: people are seeing the lights come on automatically in response to changing light levels at dawn and dusk, and the mysterious passengers are just mechanics from a nearby garage on a break. (JS)

A new video has gone viral online, featuring what looks to be an enormous anaconda in a river in the Ecuadorian rain forest. But Red Pill Junkie reminds us not to get too excited because the video has several indicators of being faked. Next, was this a Glitch in the Matrix Captured by Swiss Traffic Camera? It seems seven years ago a duck triggered the camera and now, seven years later it triggered it again "under the exact same circumstances." Not sure if it's believed to be the same duck, or if it's the same traffic cam, but someone is paying attention and keeping very detailed records. (CM)

May 15

Disclosure seems currently the "bridge" between UFOs (whatever they are) and humans. In this Sol Foundation Policy Paper, retired Colonel Karl E. Nell marshals various rationales for reinvigorating prior attempts at a "UAP Disclosure Act," with special emphasis on the knotty problem of eminent domain over materials of Non-Human-Intelligence origin. In It's All Fiction Now Billy Cox reminds us of the relationship between "Disclosure" initiatives such as Nell's and political reality, as Billy is not echoing Bonnie Tyler's Holding Out for a Hero given his own view of the prospects. And speaking for the Skeptical side, Jason Colavito sardonically reacts to the last three words one of those who've just come forward spoke in a concluding Weaponized episode on the "D/d-word" with Whistleblower "Reveals" Ultimate UFO Secret: "God Is Real". Jason senses an "underlying spiritual project behind ufology's search for superior alien species." Danny Sheehan has interesting information on the late President Carter's UFO-related efforts and his own role towards contacting the Vatican at that particular time. And in Pope Leo Could Be Key to UFO Disclosure, Ex-Vatican Adviser Says, Sheehan thinks Pope Leo XIV will be "The Disclosure Pope" while we'll have a US disclosure of its UFO-knowledge "in the next handful of years." (WM)

On New Year's Day, 2023 actor Jeremy Renner almost left this world. Suffering horrific injuries from being run over by a snowplow, he underwent a Near Death Experience. Renner's experience was all the more astounding because he was entirely unfamiliar with the concept of NDEs and yet, as he studied the phenomenon during and after his recovery, he found countless parallels between his experience and those already documented and written about. For some fascinating dialogue regarding NDEs, checkout Oprah's podcast, where Oprah and a Doctor Explore What Near Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond, with guest Dr. Bruce Greyson, a leading expert in the field. They speak to a number of near death experiencers, including Jeremy Renner, and discuss how their views have been transformed by a glimpse of what comes after this life.  (CM)

"Don't shoot the messenger here," pleads Patrick Scott Armstrong, as he repeats something "spreading like wildfire in the UFO Community." Armstrong's comments about that dysfunctional "Community" are worth considering. Psicoactivo Podcast's Pavel has some very interesting information as Representative Burlison Confirms David Grusch's SCIF Briefing with AARO & Defends Lue Elizondo. We also get more insight into some of the faults residing within the "Community." And Burlison reaffirms "this is UAP week," and apparently things are happening today (Thursday) in particular. Whatever is going on in the UFOs and Government arena and the UFO-interested, the business world may be a primary driver in UFO/UAP studies. That's per Keith Basterfield's piece on Dr. Anna Brady-Estevez: Her Interest in UAP. And in Cystic Detective Update #4 Tanner F. Boyle's commentary on recent events is quite interesting and, as usual, well-referenced. (WM)

May 14

"What I have learned is that we live in a dream, a carefully constructed reality. We make use of a science that is tightly controlled and suppressed and distorted. I think we are left behind...We live in the Matrix. It's just much more boring than the movie." Thus, "whistleblower" Matthew Brown, in the third of his interview series with George Knapp and Jeremy Corbell about what he discovered about a secret set of U.S. programs studying—even reverse-engineering—UFOs. Brown recounts the process through which he brought some of his years of research to the public, and what he learned during that effort, at considerable personal cost. There's tantalizingly little about the ultimate "What/Who/Why" behind what Brown considers a role by "Others" in most of recorded history, but he provides some observations and speculation about how the U.S. and other countries have reacted to the situation. A very "dark" quality gradually pervades the discussion. There's apparently not only another species involved, perhaps more, and/or factions within a different species, all impelled by some kind of "need" for us. Also involved is an international human cabal, with even nations participating in a secrecy maintained by greed and/or fear. And the general public is massively indifferent to how news sources and even science are being manipulated. Brown appeals for more military and intelligence people to come forth, while Knapp and Corbell aver they are so doing. Many of the "revelations" have long been part and parcel amongst the UFO world—and the interview does not avoid making dramatic points. It's intriguing and powerful. (WM)

There's apparently more on a peculiar "UFO landing" that Tim Binnall at Coast to Coast covered with a Strange Silver Orb Filmed Landing in Colombia and we highlighted in April. Now scientists have examined the peculiar object and have released x-ray images. Tim expressed some misgivings about the original story, and this extension seems to "grow" and get weirder with each sentence, with "symbols that the team compared to ancient scripts, including runes, Ogham and Mesopotamian writing systems," AI assistance with an interpretation, and Jaime Maussan's team apparently producing this data. The AARO website has just published its own puzzler in its "UAP Imagery" section at Unresolved UAP Report: Middle East 2023. At times even "tic-tac-shaped," the object's antics and even existence are uncertain without more data. A public organization trying to explain mysteries like these has caught the attention of "Out There Colorado's" Spencer McKee, who writes of a Long-standing UFO Group Set To Host 'Photo Analysis Boot Camp' In Historic Mountain Town. Colorado MUFON is the group, helping investigators hone various skills while analyzing real cases. The parent Mutual UFO Network organization will host its annual International meeting on July 17-20 in Covington, KY (see MUFON Symposium 2025 Hidden Truths: A Modern Analysis of Lost Research). (WM)

Pop Cryptid Spectator 16 Sharon A. Hill: Strange Claims Adjuster
It can be argued that the perception of cryptids has evolved as more and more information has become available online. Sharon Hill calls this "Pop Cryptid mainstreamification,” and it seems now that any Thing we don't understand can potentially be classified as a cryptid. She believes "zoological-based cryptozoology doesn’t make sense anymore," but some experts in the field, such as Loren Coleman, would no doubt dispute this assumption. But there are elements of Cryptid mainstreamification that make sense to everyone. Cryptid festivals are abundant (Ohio hosts 9 of them, just as one example) and are becoming a somewhat common means of bolstering local tourism. Cryptid Cafes combine the best of both worlds—coffee and snacks and strange, unidentified creatures—and are becoming a more commonplace feature in towns embracing their cryptids. As long as we don't lose the essence of what constitutes a cryptid, as long as the fascination and desire to learn more about these creatures remain, then bring on the mainstreamification. (CM)

May 13

Our UFOs and government news coverage shifts temporarily to the allied drone dilemma, as Ron Vitiello suggests perhaps cartels have "technology that we're not used to seeing in the drone space." Maybe so, but the "Rubber Duck" and "La Bruja" behaviors shown in Michael Ramsey's article seem inconsistent with the first and more-than-cutting-edge in the second example. 60 Minutes reprises some of its drone and UFO/UAP videos with Unexplained Drones, UFOs and the State of the Navy. Bill Whitaker and Norah O'Donnell report on a problem we reviewed from The War Zone monitory articles some years ago. Sobering. We segue from one primary theme to another and informant Bob Thompson to Matthew Brown in UAP Whistleblower Did 'Everything Right' But Did Not Get Support: Jeremy Corbell. Corbell avers that Brown and "an army of people are coming forward" but require more protection that they're getting. And what was to be a "Big Week" for UFOs in Congress seems to have fizzled, per Pavel Ibarra Meda's rather salty Ineptitude of UAP Caucus Members Exposed After UFO Congress Hearing Cancellation. Ask a Pol's Matt Lazlo's efforts and findings are chronicled, and Pavel speculates on just what is going on. (WM)

Censoring William James Forbidden Histories
Andreas Sommer asks, “Does it matter that that some eminent scientists and intellectuals have firmly believed in ‘psychic’ phenomena”? In one sense, the answer to the question is clearly a “no”. An ‘appeal to authority’ is a well-known logical fallacy. What is important is the specific grounds for belief, rather than who believes them. At the same time, Sommer notes a propensity in academic discourse to misrepresent the beliefs of such historical figures when they do not accord with the dominant scientific paradigm (Issac Newton anybody?). The case in point is recent academic research misrepresenting William James as having ‘found no evidence for psychic phenomena’.  A contention that Sommer maintains, as a scholar of James, is patently false. It seems, even amongst the most empirically rigorous of materialist scientists, the rhetorical value of an ad hominem argument is still appreciated, evidence be damned. In a follow-up article, Sommer looks at the widely divergent views amongst historically important scientific figures on the evidence for paranormal phenomena  Clash of the Titans: William James vs. Alfred Russel Wallace. Sommer notes a fundamental disagreement between Darwin and Wallace, the co-founders of modern evolutionary theory, on the veracity of psychic phenomena. Sommer also covers the disagreement on the empirical evidence for mediumship between James and Wallace. Wallace was a wholehearted believer in spiritualism. Much to James chagrin, Wallace ignored all other potential explanations for seeming psychic phenomena and considerations of scientific rigor in his empirical observations. (JS)

Invoking a Star Trek: Voyager episode, Klas Häger makes an eloquent plea for revering the past—and its inhabitants. Miguel ("Red Pill Junkie") Romero utilizes Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny to show that new findings Challenging the Antikythera Mechanism just "seem to deepen the mystery and leave us with more questions than answers." A commendable "deep dive" into primary sources by Jason Colavito examines André Thevet and the "Evidence" for Atlantis in America. Jason sheds light upon the tendencies of Western explorers/colonizers to interpret the stories of native populations in terms of their own beliefs. Too bad Jason's commenters seem to spend more time preening themselves than considering Jason's work. And Sascha Pare considers El Cono: The Mysterious Sacred 'Pyramid' Hidden Deep in the Amazon Rainforest. Whatever its origins, "Cone Hill" "holds spiritual significance for indigenous people." But efforts to preserve the location from outside depredations, including "illegal deforestation and wildlife poaching," are threatened. (WM)

May 12

This past weekend Ross Coulthart and NewsNation seized UFO headlines with a series featuring a new whistleblower. This "teasing" installment promotes the notion that a secret government program associated with very advanced craft—possibly even non-human—is transpiring in southern Arizona. NewsNation Presents 'Hunting UFOs: The Desert Sky Mystery' touts the inscrutable 2019 "Rubber Duck" UAP video intensively studied by the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies. The episode's focus is former Border Patrol agent Bob Thompson, who was behind getting key Border Patrol videos made public. UFOs At The Border: Whistleblower's New Video has an in-depth interview with Thompson and a return to the SCU "Rubber Duck" study. There's context to the surprising government release on August 9, 2023, of a quantity of videos and communications on this matter, and Ross delves into aspects concerning Congressional oversight of secretive programs. Bob Thompson comes across as a careful, solid, and courageous witness. And Hunting UFOs: On the Ground At Famous Sighting Spots features Coulthart, Bob Thompson, Bob's friend and helper UFO investigator Andy Marcial, and Australian ground-penetrating radar scanner operator Paul Duggan. Thompson and Marcial explain how they freed the videos and connected with SCU, and discuss why they believe a video called "The Apache" isn't just birds. At the general area the "Rubber Duck" video object was circling, Duggan's scanner and observations indicate an interesting, if inconclusive, outcome worthy of further investigation. Phoenix will be Ross' next destination, and we're wondering whether the June 6-8 SCU Annual Conference will add this sensation to its usual very strong program (see SCU 2025 Conference). (WM)

New York University librarian and author Gabriel Mckee tells a passing-strange story adapted from his new book The Saucerian: UFOs, Men in Black, and the Unbelievable Life of Gray Barker. A one-of-a-kind ufological author, fanzine publisher, and prankster, Barker influenced both a developing ufology and conspiracy thinking. From Barker's strange made-up personages "The Recorder" and "The Interpreter" we go to The Observer and another highly influential ufological figure, former Official UFO magazine editor Bernie O'Connor, who offers Veronica's Books: Where Weird is Welcome. Bernie chats with owner Veronica Link about their (and mine, and I suspect many others') shared passion, congratulating her upon her silver anniversary in business. One of the most-discussed books ever published on the subject gets Kevin Randle's notice in the Condon Report of the Unknown Natural Phenomenon. Kevin's "Different Perspective" on the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects counters the common "mainstream" thinking that the tome effectively proved UFOs weren't worth bothering about. Kevin: "nearly a quarter of the reports cited by the Colorado study were found to be unknown." Point well made. And speaking about hard-to-get important UFO-related published material, try George Knapp's Las Vegas Hosted the World's Largest UFO Database—Until It Vanished. The second element in the UFO-Human connection is often as mysterious as the UFOs themselves. (WM)

A fellow in California was recently camping when he experienced the sensation of being watched. He grabbed his phone and began filming his surroundings to see if there was anything there—and there was. When he looked at the recording of the wooded area later, his daughter noticed there was a very large, hairy figure moving about that suddenly pulled itself up into a tree. Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Organization was notified. On a lighter note, Idaho City Unveils Bigfoot 'Influencer', the Pocatello Bigfoot. "He has been hiding in the mountains and forests for so long, but ever since Pocatello has received him with open arms, he is making strides into the public eye." The hairy influencer is doing his utmost to increase tourism to the city in Idaho. It's a partnership made in heaven: Pocatello gets visitors and the "faux Bigfoot" gets the attention it so desperately craves. (CM)

May 9

End of week commentary on UFO topics to ponder. As somewhat of an "insider" in this history, Alejandro Rojas analyses faults in the "original" December 2017 UFO program revelation, which have affected the discussion ever since. More efforts to set a record straight come from Kevin Randle, who with Brad Sparks' help has The Truth About the Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit. Basically, it's that the unit never existed. Looking towards the future, Avi Loeb has A Vision for a UAP-Manhattan Project. Setting his stage with a remark about "The tendency to tell stories rather than do the hard work of collecting evidence," Loeb rather sideswipes others' testimony at the May 1st Washington D.C. "Understanding UAP: Science, National Security & Innovation" briefing by the "UAP Disclosure Fund," and hosted by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Loeb finds faults in NASA spending $10-billion looking "for microbes on distant exoplanets" and with AARO's "brainpower," and summarizes his own lead presentation at the May affair. And the UFO Talker's Michael Ryan and Christine Scott analyze the late Harald Malmgren's whistleblower claims at Did Harald Malmgren Just Kick the UFO Secrecy Door Down? They discuss Jesse Michels' nearly four-hour "I Touched a UFO!" Malmgren interview. Click the "more" link in the Michels video's description for more helpful, brief information. (WM)

Between 1887 and 1899, Orkney locals believed their community to be troubled by a mythical being, with descriptions over its 12-year reign consistent with "mermaid." Still, no one was able to positively identify it as anything other than a siren, try as they might. Check out "Boggart & Banshee: A Supernatural Podcast" for a more in depth treatment of "one of the best-attested zoological anomalies in British history." Next we Meet the Bonnacon: Medieval Europe's Explosive Diarrhea-Spraying Mythical Beast. Medieval bestiaries describe the Bonnacon as having the head and body of a bull, but the maned neck of a horse. However its horns curled back on themselves, making them a useless weapon. But nature never leaves a creature without options, and the mythological Bonnacon was no exception. When threatened it could spray explosive, corrosive diarrhea over its enemies, putting any predators at a disadvantage. A great many amusing (albeit a tad nauseating) images are available online should anyone doubt the effectiveness of this weapon. (CM)

If you remember the TV show Breaking The Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed, you'll have some idea of what captivates "practising magician [and] psychologist" Gustav Kuhn. He's working to understand how "expectation seems to control our perception of reality" and how this affects decision-making. His work is part of a wider and growing interest in the study of "predictive processing" which theorizes that human "experience of reality is dictated by ... mental models." In our current world where reality is under constant threat, this research is certainly relevant. And brain function provides an old adage for The Debrief's piece, I Think, Therefore I Am: Study Pitting Top Theories of Consciousness Against Each Other Reveals Its Findings. In short, boffins from the Allen Institute are trying to figure out "the nature and origin of human consciousness," though they have yet to find a one-size-fits-all explanation. (LP)

May 8

In more news from the Jezero Crater on Mars, Sharmila Kuthunur reports on the finding of another set of unusual rocks by NASA’s Perseverance rover. The rover has been looking for geological clues to the past climate on Mars. The unusual dark rock formation (Skull Hill) differs in appearance from the surrounding sedimentary rocks. Instrumentation on the rover has indicated that the rocks are not likely to be meteoritic in origin and may be the result of volcanic activity. One wonders, do the media savvy guys at NASA decide on the naming of Martian features with an eye to the headlines they might generate? Keith Cooper reports on the possible discovery of a ninth planet in our solar system in  Evidence of Controversial Planet 9 Uncovered in Sky Surveys Taken 23 Years Apart. A team lead by Terry Long Phan of the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan has discovered evidence of a ninth planet through the comparison of infrared sky surveys conducted in 1983 and 2006. The possible ninth planet in the solar system is estimated to be 700 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun away or 65 billion miles and thought to be around the same size as Neptune. But the jury is still out, and the hypothesis will need to be confirmed through other observations. (JS)

A quartet of recent UFO reports, courtesy of Tim Binnall. There's no actual photograph/film in this first offering, but a named pair of viewers took the time to look for corroborative witnesses, and provided a remarkable description of the object. The National UFO Reporting Center got this report as well as that of a Pulsating Hexagonal UFO Filmed in California. The witness said the "whatsit" "began to take on a more circular shape" and a viewer might wonder whether the "hexagonal" appearance could be a lens artifact from the strikingly-bright light source. In the "too good to be true" category, Tim questions a Remarkably Clear Picture of Flying Saucer Snapped by Photographer in Mexico? Sammy Robles' UFO is even better than the title of Tim's article! And Tim's Glowing Flying Saucer Photographed in Argentina wasn't noticed by the farm workers at the time but only after looking at the pictures. While I was wondering about the "strikingly-bright light source" here as in the California footage, a much-smarter individual than I commented "reflection" regarding the "UFO." (WM)

In 1904 a  New Jersey man was struck by lightning. Rather than ending his life, the strike was a new beginning for Abbott Parker, whose back received burn marks forming a detailed image of the crucifixion—an image described as so detailed it could have been painted. Initially thought to be the result of an old tattoo, a theory quickly disproven, the image came to be considered miraculous. This brings us to the next story, where a Journalist Discovers the Truth About Miracles in New Film 'Investigating The Supernatural'. "CBN News investigative journalist Billy Hallowell believes in miracles." To paraphrase his purpose in making the film, sometimes we have to be prepared for God to make us uncomfortable. Miracles don't fit into our day to day paradigms, and that's why we have such hard time accepting them. For this film he travelled around the US pulling together stories and drawing conclusions about miracles "that may surprise you." (CM)


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