100 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
100 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: MUFON 1988 SYMPOSIUM RECAP FILE: UFO1406
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Some quick notes on the 1988 MUFON Symposium in Lincoln.
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The event was well-attended, with around 400 people registered. That
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compares favorably with last year's 450, at the "Woodstock of UFOlogy" in
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Washington. Some of the more notable attendees: Dr. Bruce Maccabee, Dr.
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David Jacobs, Dr. Michael Swords, Budd Hopkins, Marge Christensen, Walter
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Webb (primary investigator on the Betty and Barney Hill case), Phil Klass,
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Dr. James Deardorff, George Eberhard & Don Schmitt of CUFOS, George &
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Shirley Coyne, Dan Wright, and Walt Andrus as the Beaver. AND....Mr. Ed,
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the main witness in the Gulf Breeze case. He and his wife were there
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"incognito", but many of us guessed who he was. I spoke to him briefly,
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but didn't let on that I had guessed his identity.
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The big news on Gulf Breeze that came out of the conference seems to be
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that there is a lot more to the case than most people suspected. Dr.
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Maccabee's 3 hour presentation on his analysis work thus far was extremely
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impressive, and though highly technical at points, had us all fascinated.
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It is apparent now that, if this be hoax, it is one of an incredible
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magnitude. The stereoptical photos conclusively rule out a double-
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exposure, and show the craft to be approximately 18 feet in diameter. They
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also show, in one case, that the object was more than 150 feet from the
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photographer, OUT OVER THE WATER. Many of the objections to the case
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raised by CUFOS in their Bulletin were answered convincingly in the
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presentation, and Don Schmitt related to me afterwards that "there was a
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lot of information there we didn't have previously." Sadly, however, the
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photographs are only part of the evidence, and there are still so many
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factors pointing towards hoax that I cannot bring myself to raise the
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rating of the case: it remains S5/P2. One of the factors, never
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satisfactorily answered as yet, is why Ed would continue to use a Polaroid
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when he had access to a video camera. Certainly he must have been told by
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the investigators that video is much more convincing than stills....
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Everyone remarked at how mellow and
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understated Phil Klass behaved. I guess everyone expected him to repeat
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his performance of last year, shoving tape recorders at people and making
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dramatic (incorrect) statements from the audience. He asked one question
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of Maccabee, and actually complimented him on his work...Maccabee, after
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showing himself to be the true "Sherlock Holmes of Ufology," removed his
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jacket and shirt, revealing a t-shirt that read "Just Returned from the
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Twilight Zone." He put on a sporty set of shades and took answers from the
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audience in his new role as "The Saucer Dude." It was a complete departure
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from his reputation as a rather droll, straight-laced scientist.
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...Funniest moment: Alan Benz of Tucson, who was videotaping the entire
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proceedings for his Foundation for UFO Research, fell asleep during Walt
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Andrus' slide presentation on Gulf Breeze (as did many of us). The camera
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was trained on the screen at the time. When the lights came up, Andrus
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spoke for about 15 more minutes, but Benz was off in Z's-ville. Bear this
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in mind if you intend to purchase a copy of the tape...Budd Hopkins told
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of an encounter with Carl Sagan, at which Sagan promised to cooperate on
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an investigation of Budd's best case. He also answered Sagan's bromide of
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"Extraordinary Claims Demand Extraordinary Proof" with a quote that will
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be familiar to longtime ParaNet members: "Extraordinary Phenomena Demand
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Extraordinary Inquiry."...Bill Moore was scheduled to speak on MJ-12, but
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couldn't make it, and sent Jamie Shandera in his place. Shandera spoke
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extemporaneously for half an hour, giving a very dramatic performance but
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saying basically nothing new on the controversial "crashed saucer"
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documents. Your Esteemed Sysop asked Shandera to give us an approximate
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date by which everything should be out in the open. The answer: "Before
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Reagan leaves office." Thank goodness he didn't stick to the text prepared
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by Moore: as published in the Proceedings, it is the most vitriolic attack
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on Phil Klass ever. While it pretended to be an answer to Klass'
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objections to the authenticity of MJ-12, it was nothing more than the
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vicious outburst of a cornered animal. About every fifth paragraph
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actually contained an explanation of some inconsistency in the MJ-12
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scenario, none of which were convincing in the least; the rest was pure
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venom, enough to almost evoke sympathy for Klass...Conspicuous by his
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absence was John Lear, who will supposedly be hosting the '89 convention
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in Las Vegas. There is talk that that may change, however...All in all, an
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enjoyable, successful conference, attended by the highest percentage of
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intelligent, down-to-earth, non-woo-woos I've ever seen at such a
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couldn't make it, and sent Jamie Shandera in his place. Shandera spoke
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extemporaneously for half an hour, giving a very dramatic performance but
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saying basically nothing new on the controversial "crashed saucer"
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documents. Your Esteemed Sysop asked Shandera to give us an approximate
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date by which everything should be out in the open. The answer: "Before
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Reagan leaves office." Thank goodness he didn't stick to the text prepared
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by Moore: as published in the Proceedings, it is the most vitriolic attack
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on Phil Klass ever. While it pretended to be an answer to Klass'
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objections to the authenticity of MJ-12, it was nothing more than the
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vicious outburst of a cornered animal. About every fifth paragraph
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actually contained an explanation of some inconsistency in the MJ-12
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scenario, none of which were convincing in the least; the rest was pure
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venom, enough to almost evoke sympathy for Klass...Conspicuous by his
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absence was John Lear, who will supposedly be hosting the '89 convention
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in Las Vegas. There is talk that that may change, however...All in all, an
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enjoyable, successful conference, attended by the highest percentage of
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intelligent, down-to-earth, non-woo-woos I've ever seen at such a
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function. J. Allen Hynek's last wish for UFOlogy, as presented in the
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keynote address by Marge Christensen, was for all of us to get our act
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together, and many came away feeling that it just might be happening.
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--Jim Speiser
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**********************************************
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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********************************************** |