55 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
55 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
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THE GREAT UFO DEBATE:
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INTRODUCTION
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In April of 1986, I attended the 10th Anniversary Convention and
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Banquet of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims
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of the Paranormal (CSICOP). There I sat next to a charming gentleman
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named Lucien Kemble, who told me to my surprise that he was a Fran-
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ciscan monk. Fr. Kemble and I talked and dined together often at the
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convention, and we have maintained a correspondence ever since. His
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skeptical attitude towards the paranormal stems from his desire not
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to see the true works of God and Christ get lost in a flurry of meta-
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magical fluff and nonsense. As an accomplished amateur star-gazer, he
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views the beautifully integrated mechanics of the universe itself as
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the one true "paranormal" occurrence.
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In our correspondence, I raised with him my disagreement with
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CSICOP's attitude on UFOs. "SOMETHING is going on up there," I told
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him, "and Science is missing the boat." Rather than sneering at me
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condescendingly, as others have, he very politely and with genuine
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curiosity asked me my reasons for believing thus. It was then that
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the idea of a public electronic debate on the subject occurred to me.
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The fortieth anniversary of the traditional beginning of the UFO
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era presents an appropriate time frame for a reasoned, objective dis-
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cussion of the UFO issue, specifically, whether UFOs represent a gen-
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uine opportunity to add significantly to our knowledge of the uni-
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verse, or are simply a figment of the collective imagination. As Para-
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Net is philosophically neutral territory, a sort of electronic "Hyde
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Park" of the paranormal, what better venue for such a discussion to
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take place.
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Here, therefore, begins the second ParaNet Debate: UFOs, 1987 -
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After 40 Years, Have We Got ANYTHING? I will begin the debate with a
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brief article, which will be posted here and submitted to Fr. Kemble
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for his reply. Copies of the submissions will be sent to various
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others in the field, skeptics and believers alike, for their perusal
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and possible response. In addition, all ParaNet users are invited to
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participate. You can submit a response by typing it on an ASCII word
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processor and uploading it to Section 1 - Ufology, or if it is less
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than 2000 characters, simply post it to the message base. Non-users
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can simply send a typewritten submission of up to 3000 words to:
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ParaNet, PO Box 17675, Fountain Hills, AZ, 85268. (If you happen to
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have access to IBM-formatted disks, you can submit in that manner as
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well.) As ParaNet is an eleemosynary entity, we regret that we cannot
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compensate anyone for a submission; we ask that you do this in the
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interest of public education. However, all copyrights will be honored
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and posted as requested.
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The fruits of the debate will be stored in the ParaNet Library for
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reference by future generations of Truth-seekers.
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And now, let the debate begin!
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--Jim Speiser
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