“But if you study the logistics / And heuristics of the mystics / You will find that their minds rarely move in a line” – Brian Eno, Backwater, Before & After Science
Greg runs RadioMisterioso.com (“In-depth conversations on the paranormal alternating with weird music. Occasionally live on Sundays 6-8 or 8-10 PM Pacific”), has authored books, including: PROJECT BETA: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth; IT DEFIES LANGUAGE; & WEIRD CALIFORNIA. Like lots of our chats, this is a non-linear “cafe convo” that winds all over the place, but I think we get some basic definitions down of #CharlesFort, #JohnKeel, & #JacquesVallee — key influences in a wider & more nuanced view of the UFO phenom. Somewhere along the way, #CryptoTerrestrials may have come up, but I’m not sure we pinned down their actual hiding spot!
More detailed show notes: Electric Skateboards. The Excluded Middle. Radical Skepticism. RAW Robert Anton Wilson. Maybe Logic. Reality Tunnel. Brian Aldiss / Barefoot in the Head Charles Fort “we are somebody’s farm animals” and/or social commentary re Following the Herd. What is a Fortean? JFK Assassination. Who needs to be right, anyway? Systematic skepticism. Pursuit of anomalies. Fortean philosophy vs Fortean interest. “Weird stuff.” “Take everything, believe nothing, stay interested.” Raining fish. * RAW: “The Segregating Whirlwind.” Keeping the question open. * Moving rocks in Death Valley – that got figured out, it wasn’t aliens or magic rocks. As for Bigfoot… * Explanations quickly run up against data that runs away from the explanation very quickly. Twist – Esp for UFOs! * John Keel – Mothman Prophecies. UFOs Operation Trojan Horse. Super Spectrum. “No walls in weird stuff.” Keel & Vallee refused to track the phenomena into one idea, changeable as new data became available. Excluded Middle – the mag. Vallee at Contact in the Desert. Alleged traces. “Gimme your UFO goop”. * Vallee – is that a salon owner? Who was JV anyways? Passport to Magonia. Faerie Faith. UFO sighting at BurningMan on mushrooms. Tricksters. “There’s weird shit in the sky.” * Stigma * Nextgen UFOlogists: Michael Masters Evol Biologist PhD for example. They are networking. Kuhn. Structure of Scientific Revolutions. UFOMystic. DailyGrail. Weird California. * Trevor Constable, Plasmoid Critters. They Live in the Sky. Cor’s sighting. Greg’s sighting in Death Valley. Shadow. Synchronicity. MUFON investigator Earl. “If there’s not something that doesn’t make sense in somebody’s story, I believe it less.” When UFOlogy “just goes away” — when people w brains & equipment just study data. San Diego sightings. UAPs? USOs! Navy talking about it. TTSA etc. “conduit of info, Capital D DISCLOSURE!!!” Nope. Happens every few years.
Men may torture themselves… soon to be cassoulet. He always drove with one wheel… — Brian Aldiss random excerpt from Barefoot in the Head
