Apollo Astronaut Mitchell Says Aliens Have Visited Earth
Written by Nancy Atkinson
Apollo 14 Astronaut Edgar Mitchell. Credit: NASA
This story has been spreading like wildfire across the internet, as well as other news sources, which is not surprising given the topic. In a radio interview in the UK, and in a subsequent article in the Daily Register, former Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell said he believes there is life on other planets. OK, that's not much of a bombshell. But then he went on to say that aliens have visited Earth, and our governments have been covering it up. That was the shocker. Mitchell said he was “privileged enough to be in on the fact that we’ve been visited on this planet and the U.F.O. phenomena is real.†While he didn't offer any real facts or say that he has actually seen aliens, he said big organizations will soon be offering full disclosure. NASA officials responded to Mitchell's comments fairly politely with this comment: "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe. Dr. Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinions on this issue."
Mitchell was a member of Apollo 14, and was the sixth man to walk on the moon. While he didn't offer any real proof of his claims, he does seemingly have credentials. However, he alone among the Apollo astronauts makes these types of claims, and has been saying things like this for quite some time. He said on the way home from the moon he had a "transformational, transcendental experience." After his flight he started the Institute of Noetic Sciences, which "conducts and sponsors leading-edge research into the potentials and powers of consciousness."
There was another interesting statement by Mitchell during this interview: "There's more nonsense out there about this than there is real knowledge."
Of course, the UFO folks have glommed onto these latest statements by Mitchell, but here's what some of the more reputable news sites have been saying:
New York Times Blog: "While Mr. Mitchell, 77, is certainly entitled to his own views on the issue, the rest of us may need to wait for something more convincing."
Huffington Post: "Mitchell, a member of the Apollo 14 team, has long held these beliefs despite the fact that he himself has never seen neither an alien or a U.F.O."
NASA Watch's Keith Cowing: "I assume you have proof to back up your extraterrestrial conspiracy mongering, Ed."
Robert Pearlman, the editor of CollectSpace, wrote the following on an online forum:
Based on the nine minute call, it (a) doesn’t seem to be anything tremendously different from prior comments and writings by Dr. Mitchell, and (b) he isn’t actually claiming first-hand knowledge but rather repeating what he was told by others. It is no secret that Dr. Mitchell’s Noetic Science Institute attracts those that believe in extraterrestrials and that he has attended numerous conferences where they have been on the agenda for discussion, thus what he says here is of little surprise (and some might argue, consequence).
Irene Klotz from Discovery interviewed Mitchell after his UK radio interview and here's an excerpt:
Irene Klotz: I wanted to ask you if there was anything about the radio interview you did that was different from what you've said in the past.
Edgar Mitchell: No, there's nothing different. Several of (the reports of the interview) that I've seen come around have some flaws in them. Some of the reports pushed it or spun it incorrectly. NASA had nothing to do with anything I've done. I wasn't briefed by NASA. There haven't been any sightings as a result of my flight service there, so if that part of it comes out on anything you've seen it is just totally wrong.
In this Discovery interview, and in previous interviews, Mitchell has not offered any definite proof of his claims, and said he's only been "told by people who were utterly sworn to secrecy" about alien visits to Earth. Mitchell grew up in Roswell, New Mexico.
All in all, unless Mitchell can offer definitive proof, his claims will have to be put in the same class as anyone else that makes similar claims, despite his background. Even with the prevalence of cameras and video cameras among the general public and with an abundance of investigative news reporters out there (all wanting to break the news story of the millenium) still, no one has been able to produce credible proof of aliens visiting Earth.
As the Bad Astronomer Phil Plait has said repeatedly, the people constantly looking at the skies, professional and amatuer astronomers, have made no claims of UFO's or aliens visiting Earth. They know what they are looking at in the sky.
For a dose of reality, please see Phil's take on UFO's.
Filed under: Astronomy
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July 25th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Interesting story, and I like your addition of the BA's comments. I am curious as to what has convinced Mitchell of Alien visitations.
July 25th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Thanks a lot. It's hard enough generating interest in a serious book about the potential cover-up of microbial life on Mars by some moralistic scientists at the height of the Cold War…..now I have to deal with an X-astronaut claiming aliens visited earth, because somebody told him. Anyway, the serious book is "Imminent Discovery"….available at Lulu.com. I think it's way more interesting than this garbage….but then I might be biased.
July 25th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Klaatu barada nikto
July 25th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
People keep making these claims, yet none EVER presents solid evidence. I'm really getting tired of it.
July 25th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Note to NASA: Increase radiation screening and/or air filtering of rock storage on future moon missions to guard against transformational, transcendental experiences.
July 25th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
STS-180 on youtube and you tell me maybe there isnt something to what he's saying….
July 25th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
While there isn't a smoking gun to all of this, it just amazes me how many credible people have come forward and how it continues to be ridiculed. They've found water on Mars and other bodies in the solar system, which most felt was a huge component for the possiblity of life. Yet people remain dismissive of the fact that there could very well be life other than our own out in the universe. Unless we see one independence day style, where they don't fly away, we're unlikely to ever get an answer on this in the near future, regardless of how many people come forward.
July 25th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
This might be of worth to some people:
http://www.netro.ca/disclosure/npccmenu.htm
It's still entertaining even if you don't believe.
July 25th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Why does there always have to be a cover up when the word "alien" is mentioned? Space is big with lots of stars. Some of those stars have planets. Some of them might have aliens. Maybe the aliens travel and maybe they have/will visit Earth. So what. Why is that so shocking? If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would re-think my game plan and focus on actual riddles or puzzles, like the fact that NO ONE has EVER determined how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop.
July 25th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Ed Mitchell's background lends him credibilty.
A NASA Langley scientist, Paul Hill, did claim sightings (with other witnesses) and wrote a book about the required characteristics of the propulsion of the vehicles he saw.
Their intelligence and reputations, and the testimony of other credible witnesses, should give the skeptics (I among them) pause.
As an aside, the LM pilots tended to have a more profound psychological effect from the flights than the Commanders or CM pilots.
Irwin and Duke went on to become evangelists. No one asked them for physical evidence of a hereafter or supreme being ;^).
July 25th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
As Carl Sagan said: "extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." Even if a person of Mitchell's dignity says these things he still needs to come up with a bit more tangible evidence than his personal conviction for it to be accepted as a fact.
As for the religious beliefs of Irwin and Duke there is a qualitative difference. God is a spiritual being which (by definition) can not be sampled or measured while the aliens that we are talking about here are presumably quite material and thus physical evidence would be appropriate.
Kind regards,
/Adam
July 25th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
[Emm... oops... it seems that it was Marcello Truzzi that coined the saying about the extraordinary claims. /Adam]
July 25th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I too will not ridicule the man.. however… I will only give him as much credence as anyone else who makes such a claim. If he would have said that he actually saw extraterrestrial beings or even something 'unusual' on his mission, then maybe I would be intrigued.. But he didn't say that… He is a 'believer'… Nothing more. There is nothing wrong with believing. And if one believes something strong enough, they want to share it with the world.. Even if they don't have a shred of proof. I can give more than five billion examples.. To me, this is a non-story. Nothing new here..
I think it would be awesome if we have been (are) visited by intelligent alien beings.. I think it would bring us (humans) all closer… But we need unquestionable, irrefutable proof…. So far, we haven't even gotten questionable or refutable proof..
July 25th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I think there the kinds of proofs we expect, but with something that would be so new to humanity's experience, I'm not sure we'd necessarily recognize the evidence as such if we saw it.
I'm thinking of the way that perceptions are shaped by what we expect to see. I don't know how true it is or not, but I've heard that indigenous populations didn't see European ships off their coasts as such because they knew nothing of the sort existed. I can imagine that we might have to learn how to perceive alien artifacts, and that some people will be bound to see them before others.
If someone person whom I think is stable says they've had an encounter, I can't accept without what I think of as evidence, but I don't discount the possibility that others see things that I might not.
July 25th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I saw a UFO. It might have been alien, but I'm sure it was probably U.S. military. I like looking at the topography below when I'm flying. In the middle of the day, flying from Huntsville to Newark, I saw another passenger plane flying in the opposite direction below us. About a plane length behind it, to the right, and a little above it was an orange-reddish colored disc, perhaps 30 feet across keeping pace. I moved my head from side to side to make sure it wasn't something on the window. The lack of a parallax effect and my keen depth perception ruled that out. It couldn't have been something moving on the ground at 500 mph. It was too solid to be a reflection, and it for damn sure was not swamp gas. I wish I had asked the pilot about it when we landed in Newark. In any case, I hope it's U.S. military.
July 25th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
its amazing how social programming has penetrated our society. its never good enough who comes out and actually tries to expose the conspiracy, no matter what credentials the person has. pilots, astronauts, military, etc are labeled ufo nuts and conspiracy theorist where they would be trusted on anything else. unless its on the main stream brainwashing media , it can't be real. yep move on sheep, there is nothing to see here.
July 25th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
rogue –
It doesn't matter the source… It matters the evidence.. If Einstein or Darwin or Newton or any others that some may have high regard for said they saw aliens is not important.. or credible… If they can't prove it.. I'm not calling anybody a "nut".. It's possible that God exists.. It's possible Jesus was the son of "God".. It's possible that NASA wants to turn Saturn into a new sun… It's possible that planet X will kill us all in 2012…. It's possible that we are the cause of accelerating global warming on our planet.. It's possible that we have been visited by alien beings…. Yes… It's all possible… just… Yes….. just…… Prove it… That is all I ask.. I will believe anything if I am given proof.. Is that so much to ask for?
July 25th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
It's a sobering experience to discover that we are not being visited by aliens, until you realize the the cost of a human spaceflight is directly proportional to the distances being traveled. Space travel isn't cheap, and neither is energy. An advanced civilization would have no interest in our society technologically or ecconomically besides what they could possibly mine, plunder, eat, or hoard. That's just the morality that space civilizations would most likely take on due to the psychological fact of being more wasteful than we are. That is, if a civilization consumes all of the energy of one star system and has to travel to the next star system to survive. On the other hand, a refugee civilization might be more happy to see us and would be extremely happy to see us.
July 25th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Disregaurd that wookie!s Quantum's du\rngk.
July 25th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Al Hall
my response is awaiting moderation. where is that moderator anyway.
July 25th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
here is some proof
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKzzsM-__sg
July 25th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
and here is some more
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRvWRrf__XA&feature=related
July 25th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
the 2nd video is from a military jet and the ufos were only visible in IR. there is tons of physical evidence from landings also. what you won't get is a dead alien body or pieces of a ship because the government is very good at covering it up & silencing people. why you ask? a number of reasons but one big one is this manufactured oil energy crisis. If they come out and disclose the ufo info, then they have to explain why they have been sitting on technology for over 60 years that can potentially give us free energy. the military industrial complex has too much to lose by disclosure because they make lots of money waging wars and keeping us dependent on fossil fuels which puts lots of money in the gov. pocket. so its in their best interest to suppress new technologies and keep a lid on this whole thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdrGKwkmxAU&feature=related
youtube Stan Meyer
July 25th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Well since speculation is the name of the game and it's always a titillating exercise to imagine what sort of things might occupy the minds of those much smarter than yourself, I thought I might throw in my two cents worth.
Life exists on this planet and within those life forms exists one at least that has taken a keen interest in studying other life forms for sake of understanding how they work. We call such people Biologists.
*If* Aliens have visited and *if* they are interested in us for the same reason an extremely intelligent person might spend his life studying a creature as simple as a bacterium, then it makes sense that the Aliens would not want to alter the course of our development and at this point, making their presence known, would most certainly alter it.
Additionally, if you consider the repercussions introducing sophisticated technology to unsophisticated civilizations has had on earth, why in the world would an Alien want to provide us with any knowledge we haven't rightfully earned, when we may very well do something as uniquely asinine and devotedly human as turning that technology against the Aliens because in our society, it's not the strongest nor the smartest that lead, it's those most addicted to power.
As preposterous as it sounds and as damaging as it might seem to my credibility, I drew all of these conclusions in a surprisingly lucid dream.
I don't doubt that Aliens exist and are aware of our presence, I don't they came to Earth in a Ship of any kind since space travel is cumbersome, dangerous and time consuming, and I doubt that we will possess the ability to detect their presence until we have achieved significant understanding of the universe or they have decided that we are a race that is worth communicating with.
If they check internet forums, I doubt they will ever come to that decision so we would do well to focus not just on technological advancement but on social evolution as well.
July 25th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
rogue-
Yes, those are interesting videos and I suppose if their origins aren't explained, that will make them Unidentified Flying Objects.. Doesn't mean they are alien, though… Just unidentified.. Nothing more.. Prove the origin, please..
As for your beliefs that energy companies are suppressing better technologies just to make profits from oil doesn't make sense to me. If they could corner the market on it, they would do it. Capitalism isn't about the good of the people or providing jobs, it's about profit. If a company can be first with a new technology, they will do it…. and in a Democratic society, the government can't stop them (if they wanted to).. I can tell you right now that all of the oil companies know that they are perceived as evil and they also know that the only way they will survive is if they diversify. I think that within 10 years there won't be any more "oil" companies… They will all be "energy" companies.. Of course they will still pump oil, but..They will (have been) invest a few of those billions of dollars into alternate means of energy… and they will survive because of our demand..
Just my thoughts..
July 25th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Silver Thread-
I have no response to that….
July 25th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Al Hall
If you watch the Stan Meyer videos on youtube you will get a glimpse of the big picture. When Nikola Tesla was about to give the world FREE energy, J P Morgan shut him down because he couldn't put a meter on it. The powers that be know that as long as they control energy and food, they control the sheeple. Thats why we are in a food & energy crisis right now. The course of human history has reached a fork, one road ends in a conso1idation of power via food & energy wars resulting in the New World Order and the other ends in the liberation of all mankind, true freedom.
good talk Al
July 25th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
We need to be able to defend our solar system real-estate so that space aliens don't consume all of our energy before we get to Jupiter or Mars.
July 25th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
rogue – Same here.. Good talk with ya… Although I am not as cynical or suspicious of humans as you seem to be, I understand where you are coming from. I am always interested in hearing from as many points of view as possible. It gives clarity….
quantum_flux – I still have no response to that..
July 26th, 2008 at 12:44 am
While I do think that there is a vast amount of evidence that there is something non-human that interacts with us from time to time, I don't think that Dr. Mitchell or anyone else has yet presented any evidence for this that would hold up to public and scientific scrutiny.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Read 'A Man On The Moon', by Andrew Chaikin. He has Ed Mitchell's story in there.
He is a very intense guy and also one that has a mind more opened to possibilities than most other "professional" people.
As for myself, I seriously doubt any civilization can master interstellar travel. I'm not saying that it can't be done, but humankind has a LONG way to go.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:57 am
Also, while I respect Plait's commentary and credentials, he should look things up before making an unequivocal statement.
From wikipedia:
Jacques F. Vallée, Ph.D., (September 24, 1939) is a French-born venture capitalist, computer scientist, ufologist and former astronomer.
In May 1955, Vallée first sighted an unidentified flying object over his Pontoise home. Six years later in 1961, while working on the staff of the French Space Committee, Vallée witnessed the destruction of the tracking tapes of unknown objects orbiting the earth. These events contributed to Vallée's long-standing interest in the UFO phenomenon.
July 26th, 2008 at 3:06 am
i knew it all along. aliens are visiting us. however this mitchell guy, at his 77 years, has gone looney and wants a little bit of attention before he dies.
July 26th, 2008 at 4:05 am
I believe in these “Grays†like people believe they breath air. Its not even a question, It is a fact. People are always saying that the “Grays†are planning to exterminate us.. I don’t believe that, not even a little. If they truly wanted us dead they would have done this along time ago. Think about it.. They are more intelligent then us. Obviously if they are more intelligent then us they have more powerful weapons. So if they have more powerful weapons then us tiny weak humans don’t you think it would be easy enough to kill us all? Exactly my point, they obviously aren’t trying to hurt us. I mean other then the once in a while abductions where they experiments on humans, But I don’t think they experiment on us to be cruel. I think they just want to know how we work and how we mate. Cause I know if I had the opportunity to see how they work and mate I would take it, Mostly for science. I can see where they are coming from.. Not literally. I believe they are waiting for us to stop all the raises ways. Even today in our societies there is raises people and ways. I think once this all goes away they will not be afraid to show them selves as they are. I think they are already on earth watching us waiting for us to come to our scenes. I truly believe they are waiting for us because they want to make a better future for their children, and make a home for all of them. It is told that they live in a star, I cant recall the stars name but if they live in a star they must live in their space crafts because stars are made of gas. So I do believe they are waiting for us so they can have a home too. I also believe they are protecting us from others out there who want to hurt us. Maybe another kind want to hurt us cause our home is something to envy. Earth is like no other planet in out orbit and it may be the only plant out there that has life on it and plants and stuff needed for living. Maybe others out there (not the “Graysâ€) envy us in ways that nothing should envy.. Maybe enough envy to want exterminate us all. So if there are others out there beside the “Grays†that envy us to that point and the “Grays†are protecting us well it just seems like god sent the earth some guarding angles.. don’t cha think? Well anyways anyone can believe what they want but me i know of them as a fact. I know this with all the faith in my body and i will not believe anything else
July 26th, 2008 at 4:42 am
There were virtually no reports of UFO's before about 100 years ago. Sure comets and nova were reported and documented – but its only since the concept of aliens entered our collective conciousness that so many people belive that they are really here.
Its sad that there are so many paranoid uninformed folk who belive this nonsense, we're living in an age of enlightenment and discovery.
July 26th, 2008 at 5:52 am
I'm sure there's something out there somewhere, but Earth is awfully small to be seen,and our sun is small,just arrogance again thinking that someone to find cause were so important or our keepers checking on their experiment and seeing it went wrong,just food for thought.
July 26th, 2008 at 7:41 am
It is still a violation of the Copernican Principle. We are not the center of the universe and our swelled up egos like to think that the whole universe wishes to pay attention to us.
Rogue, plots do exist but they do not govern the world. All us plot just as you did to put up your post and I did to put up this response. If oil companies and governments were that paranoid as you like to think than your own postings would have been deleted and Youtube would have been shut down before it aired your so-called proof. i would take up optical science if I were you and investigate matters more closely. It seems that the only coverup is the one conspiracists are hiding from themselves.
The word "proof" has changed since Aristotle's time. Human eyes and their cameras are very limited to one narrow spectrum. Secondly, since the quantum sciences have come along proof now requires a billion trials with 99.999% of the ourcomes agreeing with calculated predictions before discovery (proof) can be claimed. Your sampling is likely birds in the one video and internal reflections in the other off of water molecules. Any spectrograph aimed in that direction at at the time? How do you explain why no amateur astronomers were able to detect incoming craft of such a number considering how many of us are looking at all times and spanning more angular coverage than all of the pros combined? Our own egos and empty wallets would have been desperate enough to scream that we saw it first and would have photos by the hundreds to back it up and make a claim to fame and $$$.
July 26th, 2008 at 7:49 am
One other item I thought worthy of putting up here. While profit motive does exist it is the circulation of wealth that made capitalism prosper and circulation that makes it considerate of others. Feudalism provided a basis for people to hold onto what they owned and the poor often wish to buy a home to live in and pass on to their offspring, often creating fire hazzards. Captialism provided a basis to buy the home and get it ready for resale. So making it look pretty and providing a perfect operating and repair-free commodity for resale resulted in a lower chance of a fire hazzard or pigsty. The intention might be greed on the part of the home buyer-turned- seller but the collective outcome is not.
July 26th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Sonora Boy is essentially correct. This is not the world of the "War of the Worlds' radio broadcast (which not only involved a hostile ET invasion, but at a time when war was clearly coming in Europe). There probably isn't a *better* time for aliens to show up openly, as long as they're careful not to do anything to set off the relatively parinoid locals…
And as some aquaintences of mine have suggested, only slightly toung-in-cheek (and I'm inclined to agree), appearing at a science fiction convention might get them the most sympathetic audience.
And what's the worst that can happen? We get stupid, they leave.
After all, it's not clear when we'll even return to the *Moon.* We obviously have zero cabailty to follow them home, even if they're from as close as Alpha Centauri.
But to Silver Thread:
"space travel is cumbersome, dangerous and time consuming"
That's very much a function of your tecnology, isin't it?
July 26th, 2008 at 9:01 am
I have extensively tracked the Mitchell media coverage and read it all. If Nancy Atkinson thinks the New York Times Blog, Hffington Post and NASA Watch's Keith Cowing are the most reputable coverage, then she has demonstrated she knows about as much about the extraterrestrial presence issue as Phil Plait – which is nothing.
The reign of the science buffoons headed by Phil Plait, Seth Shostak, Jill Tarter and Bill Nye "the science guy" (as Maximus Decimus Meridius might put it) will soon end.
One hopes these pin headed crashing bores will eventually slip away into obscurity without comment.
But if they choose to stick around, they should know that every simple minded utterance on video and audio they have made on the UFO/ET question is archived and ready to be displayed in all their glory in the post-disclosure world they have work so diligently to put off in service to the State and its propaganda driven surreality.
July 26th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Mr.Michell has reason and I agree with him:we don't need to see for been sure that's alive.Not only that we have been visited,but I am sure that they watch us actually…on our planet…inside our nations…Be carefull with the environnement…!
July 26th, 2008 at 11:04 am
of course there were no reports of "UFOs" prior to about 100 years ago, just a bunch of "legends" and "myths" about angels, spirits and gods…..
July 26th, 2008 at 11:19 am
For those who wish to peruse the proof, visit http://www.theyfly.com. Please read the retraction by the skeptic and the quote from Uncharted Territory, winner of the Academy Award for Independence Day (special effects).
The latest skeptic to fall by the wayside is none other than..James Randi, whose spokesman also just retracted his claim that Meier used models.
If no models were used, and no computers and PhotoShop were available, just how did the man take the 1,200 clear, daytime UFO photos, the films, video, sound recordings, etc.?
Play fair, provide proof for contrary claims.
July 26th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
"It is still a violation of the Copernican Principle. We are not the center of the universe and our swelled up egos like to think that the whole universe wishes to pay attention to us."
This is why the Fermi Paradox isn't a paradox at all. If intelligent life exists out there it DOES NOT follow that it should be here already. We're really not all that important. In fact if I were from a race that had conquered the stars I think I would look down on the human race and try to quarantine them to protect the rest of the galaxy. Finding Earth would have happened by pure bad luck.
"Rogue, plots do exist but they do not govern the world. All us plot just as you did to put up your post and I did to put up this response."
Yes, they do govern the world. Every government that has ever existed has been focused on one goal : power.
And the more power they get, the more it is abused, because absolute power corrupts absolutely. And the most insidious thing about this fascist group which rules the world through corporations that treat their employees and customers like serfs, is that they do it all IN PLAIN SIGHT.
They don't need to censor anyone. Most people are too stupid to understand the basic concept of a totalitarian state without borders, ruling through greed/capitalism, that it doesn't matter if the rare oddball like me talks about it. Alex Jones has it all wrong – there is no way to "wake up" the public. They've been brainwashed and made stupider since they day they were born. Shouting about shadow governments and evil cabals is not going to accomplish anything.
July 26th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
For Emily, whenever I may find her,
We may have come here on different ships, but we are all in the same boat now.
Rev. ML King
You are not alone. I too am waiting for us to change our ways. Just keep a steady hand on the rudder girl and I'll keep on a rowin'. We'll get to that star with no name together.
July 26th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
hehe… this will only get interesting when Edgar Mitchell will claim that the moon landings were faked, and promptly disappear in a cloud of illogic.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
"While there isn't a smoking gun to all of this, it just amazes me how many credible people have come forward and how it continues to be ridiculed."
Exactly. If people would take the time to look into the UFO phenomena with an open mind, they would see that there are large bodies of evidence available.
People want "empirical" evidence. Empirical is defined as: "based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic"
There have been countless experiences and observations of UFO that cannot be explained away. Many of these observations are by trained persons such as pilots and even astronauts. These experiences have occurred on every continent on the globe.
Sure, it makes some people uncomfortable, but something it going on that credible people are seeing and photographing. Odd things get tracked on radar all the time.
Last year Aurigny Airlines captain Ray Bowyer in the UK spotted two objects he believed to be each a mile wide.
It goes on and on. Now reasonable people will realize the difficulties in another civilization traveling the mind numbingly vast distances between the closest stars and our own. Yet, we have human records of odd things in the skies, and odd beings coming from the skies as long as there has been humans writing or painting such experiences.
That doesn't make sense of course. Why wound alien beings be coming here for thousands of years? And where would they get the resources to do so? So the most probable answer is they aren't coming from the vast reaches of space. And this is a part we don't yet understand.
The idea of alien abductions ruffles even more feathers, an yet once again, there's a lot of people having these experiences, on every continent of the globe. Credible researches, like the late John Mack, MD, felt these people experiencing these things are sane, and something is indeed going on. Dr. Rick Strassman did research into the drug DMT, and was shocked to find half of his test subjects had interactions with large eyed insect looking intelligent beings. Some said they left their bodies and went to a "space craft" where these beings were.
Dr. Strassman had no prior interest in UFOs or alien abductions, and didn't even see the correlation until writing a book years later, and looking through his notes. Now indeed his subjects never left the hospital bed, and these people also never had any experiences with, or in UFO's, but had these classic abductions phenomena while in a hospital bed until the influence of DMT, a drug present in our brain, and in most living things on this planet. This same drug also mimics the near death experience had by many people.
What does it all mean? Are we pre wired to sometimes be able to experience another dimension or something else as far fetched that we have yet to understand, that is a normal part of our reality?
We have to stop being hung up on only what we can measure, since we can't measure something we don't know about.
Dr. Mitchell isn't the only astronaut to believe in UFO's. There are enough stories of things that Armstrong and Aldrin have told people. There's also some interesting transcriptions of conversations between Apollo astronauts and Houston about things there were seeing on the moon, and a lot of odd code words being used, like "here's Barbara!"
We have to stop waiting for a "smoking gun".. there isn't going to be one. Not from the US. But other countries are posting all their UFO files online.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Sorry for the typos…
July 27th, 2008 at 12:16 am
"We are not the center of the universe and our swelled up egos like to think that the whole universe wishes to pay attention to us."
If you actually read some of the better literature on the subject, and I'd guess you haven't, there's a very strange common thread amongst alien abductees. A lot of the minutiae is not publicized to stop copy cats, but yet time after time people report the same odd details.
To make matters even more befuddled, Dr. Rick Strassman had his test subjects tell his things that were told to them by the being they had contact with while under DMT, and once again, the same stories keep coming up, and that also match alien abduction reports.
These odd things don't make much sense to us, but taken from the viewpoint of an alien culture, who knows.
One of the repeating, yet mostly overlooked experiences involves some obsession with our emotions. Apparently abductees, and Dr. Strassman's patients, have been told by these being that they no longer feel emotions, and are studying us. That's not something dozens of people would make up. I think people would come up with a better story!
So, yeah, we aren't all that special… To us. But who knows?
"How do you explain why no amateur astronomers were able to detect incoming craft of such a number…"
Because they aren't incoming. There are some good video clips from the shuttles that get explained away as ice. And there have been stories of things tracked on global radars, even NORAD.
But look how hard it is using a telescope to see a satellite. They go by the rather narrow field of view to quickly.
But there are a lot of good photographs and even video of UFOs.
I've been studying this since I was a kid, and I'm 51 this year, and I no longer thing UFO's come from another star system out there… I think it's something else we don't have any knowledge of. They are often seen to just "blink" out, or just appear. So we have to abandon that whole notion of them flying though space in vast numbers. They are witnessed to just show up out of nowhere. Even on radar they are seen to just disappear. So either they don't travel in a linear fashion, or they can make themselves undetectable. Why not? We have stealth aircraft. And we still travel using controlled explosions!
We have to stop ridiculing people who see these things, or no real truth will ever come out. But that's how it's done. How many here know that the tabloid the National Enquirer has a history of publishing more factual UFO sightings than any other paper? But look what they do, they mix it in with obvious nonsense.
And who founding the Enquirer? Gene Pope. He listed in his Who's Who biography that he worked for the CIA as an intelligence officer in 1951, and elsewhere described his work as being connected to "psychological warfare." In 1952, Pope purchased the New York Enquirer. He allegedly received financing for this from mobster Frank Costello, who was well connected within the intelligence community, having worked for the Office of Strategic Services and the Office of Naval Intelligence during World War II.
Pope was also supported by powerful sources within the US government. When the Winn-Dixie grocery chain refused to carry the National Enquirer, chain executives were entertained by Defense Secretary Melvin Laird and treated to a half-hour meeting with President Richard Nixon, both meetings arranged by Pope. The chain has carried the Enquirer ever since. When Gene Pope died in 1988, Melvin Laird delivered the eulogy at his funeral.
You just can't make this stuff up! But there is is, all on public record. A perfect smear campaign to get people to not take UFO's seriously. And it's still like this today.
July 27th, 2008 at 12:28 am
Kevin F, what to you is solid evidence? Photographs no good? Physical marks left on the ground no good? Leaked papers and/or from the Free of Information act no good? Many of those FIA papers released have almost the entire thing censored out, yet the gov says there was nothing of interest on them.
There's been a few ex military offers that came out and said we really had crashed saucers at Roswell. Why would they risk their reputation to do this?
For the time being we have to believe people like Dr. Mitchell. He has nothing to gain by telling what he has been told, and obviously he thinks it's important. Buzz was going to do it on Larry King.. he told Stanton Freidman he was going to tell what he saw, but he chickened out at the last minute. Pity.
So you have to do a bit of your own digging, and you will hit a lot of pay dirt.
July 27th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Great speech David, very interesting reading, its nice to see some 1 take such an apparently informed approach to a subject that so many profess to know so much about with no real intelligence on the matter.
thankyou!
July 27th, 2008 at 9:32 am
From the Wiki, "On June 3, 1965, Gemini-4 was launched into orbit 150 miles above the Earth's surface. Rookie astronauts McDivitt and White were headed for the USA's first long-duration flight, the first to attempt extensive visual observations and photography. On the second day, over Hawaii, the 35-year-old McDivitt reported seeing an object — "like a beer can with an arm sticking out" — which NASA officials later announced had been identified by Air Force space radars as the thousand-mile-distant Pegasus-2 (but that range was too great, it turned out, for McDivitt's object to have been the winged Pegasus satellite). Together with a mysterious "tadpole" photo, the McDivitt report has achieved UFO superstardom and has been firmly enshrined in UFO literature and lore.
Gordon Cooper wrote in his memoirs that as far as he knows, it is the only officially reported account of a UFO in any of the Mercury, Gemini or Apollo missions."
I just don't know. I guess until Kerellan decides we are ready, we will not know (Kerellan is the Overlord leader in Arthur C. Clarke's, "Childhood's End", reported to be fictional.)
July 27th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Wow, lots of posts
I just think it's easy to believe in something that makes you money. Very easy. The Noetic Science Institute makes money by / with and from believers.
That's not to say it's wrong, but personally, if you send me cash, I'll believe just about anything ..
July 27th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
I don't see how people having UFO encounters is making anyone money.
Just do some reading. There's something undeniable going on.
A lot of researchers who could be getting good grant money are doing UFO research pretty much for free, because no one is going to sponsor that.
Some of us are just interested in knowing what the governments know, especially the US government. There's too many former military people coming out and saying things, many of them with not much longer to live, and no reason for saying these things, except they truly believe people have a right to know what's going on.
We have been so conditioned by sci-fi movies, that the whole idea that there are beings not from here, and we are talking about more than one race of aliens, seems way too far fetched. Why don't they make them selves public? We are too violent, plus it seems they have an alterer motive. possibly not in our best interests, and purely for them selves.
Crazy talk? Yep, sounds like the ranting of a lunatic … but I didn't make any of this up, and I'm as shocked as anyone might be learning these things. I'm waiting as many are to find out if any of this is true, but have seen enough to not be able to ignore it. Even though we are all conditioned to not accept any of it. It sounds like our sci-fi, and why do we make up stories like this, over and over again?
A good book on the subject… The Gods of Eden by William Bramley.
From some reviews:
"Attorney William Bramley … spent seven years trying to understand the root causes of war before finally disclosing his startling conclusions in The Gods of Eden.
Bramley was not interested, and didn't believe in UFOs when he started researching the origins of human warfare. However, his research eventually led him to what he shares in this book: evidence that alien visitors have conspired to dominate humankind through violence and chaos since the beginning of time."
'UFOs have been lurking in the shadows of history for centuries,' he says. 'Surprisingly, they may be a key to unravelling the human puzzle.'
though Bramley's book concerns UFOs, he says that he did not set out to write a book about UFOs but rather about the origins of war. He says:
There are few subjects today as full of false information, deceit, and madness as "flying saucers." Many earnest people who attempt to study the subject are driven around in circles by a terrific amount of dishonesty from a small number of people who, for the sake of a fleeting moment of notoriety or with the deliberate intention to obfuscate, have clouded the field with false reports, untenable "explanations," and fraudulent evidence. Suffice it to say that behind this smokescreen there is ample evidence of extraterrestrial visitations to Earth. This is too bad. An in-depth study of the UFO phenomenon reveals that it does not offer a happy little romp through the titillating unknown. The UFO appears more and more to be one of the grimmest realities ever confronted by the human race. — The Gods of Eden, pp.8-9.
After the Declaration of Independence was signed, Virginia statesman John Page wrote to Thomas Jefferson: '… Do you not think an Angel rides in the Whirlwind and directs this Storm?' … [Bush:] This work continues. This story goes on. And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm. — George W. Bush, Inaugural Address, 2001-01-20 [These words probably put into Bush's mouth by his principal speech-writer, evangelical Christian Michael Gerson.]
July 28th, 2008 at 5:26 am
How can anyone say there isn't life outside of the Earth? We have sent probes, landers, rovers and satalites all over and you don't think that there is some hitchhikers?! We are spreading microbes all over the solar system!
July 28th, 2008 at 7:03 am
Funny how the conspiracy theorists never seem to be intelligent enough to write grammatically correct English without glaring spelling mistakes that any twelve year old would pick up on.
I assume this is because they are of low intelligence.
Or perhaps, in the words of 'David S'; "they have an alterer motive" and are doing it "purely for them selves"
July 28th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
The "Disrespectful Labeling "of those who march to the tune of a different drummer or who "think outside of the box" always points back and puts the spot light on the labler .. its good to have a scapegoat sometimes and this is a cowardly but unfortunately quite common reaction to creative thinking and thinkers…
Probably Leonardo Davinci encountered this when expressing his creative and open ideas.
Those labler types never travel to the Moon and make the final cut as Apollo Astronaut Mitchell has.
The understanding of the ultra complex universe requires the repectful consideration of concepts such as String Theory ,multiple universes ,BRANES and possibly the human BRAIN is not powerful enough to reach the bedrock understanding of it all ….so we can never know the "Mind of God as Stephen Hawkings stated.
Who are you to scoff at psychic phenomena, worm holes , multiple dimensions , meditation and UFO'S …?
You pounce too quickly on Dr. Mitchell because he considers and is associated with some of the ideas not yet proven by the human mind..
this is a cowardly thing to do.
Its sort of like labeling someone "not a real man" because he wears a colorful shirt or wears shorts as was the case in the not too distant past back in the 50's.
This type behavior of the "LABLER" always points a finger back 180 degrees to him and his or her own character flaws.
Those lablers usually don't accomplish much.
Anouther example is the non acceptance of Kurt Godel's Incompleteness Theorem in 1932 by the famous Philosopher Wittingstein in Austria because the proof was so weird and complex and not really "down to earth"
The Pure Mathematician Dr. Hilbert had spent years trying to prove the opposite along with Whitehead abd Russel , but at least they admited and accepted the truth and proof of it.
Godel's proof may have an analogy in the field of Cosmology and Particle Physics.
The problem with you would be applied engineers and scientists is that you demand rigorous proofs which you can understand only with the inferior mental tools God or nature gave you and so , you scoff at a speculation which is not respectful in your way of thinking , partly beacause of your enlarged egos and INCOMPLETE mental capability to allow your mind to wander "out of the box".
So your failure to understand Kurt Godel's Incompleteness Theorem really makes you unfit to question or JUDGE the musings and and speculations and conjectures of the mental giants like him and his close friend Einstein like him and so keeps you "earthbound" …
Dr Mitchell was and is not "Earthbound" in the physical or the mental world.
Former Pres Carter , former Senator Goldwater from Arizona , many pilots and other educated people have reported this phenomena.
DavidM babbles on at his own low level and labels the UFO group as using poor english grammar and low intelligence , whereas David S presents a constructive argument.
What does a little poor grammar have to do with it …
How many languages do you speak Mr. DavidM ? I speak three but my grammar is not perfect.
I was in the white flint mall in Bethesda where many languages are heard and occasionally comments like "Why don't they speak proper English "
Now this points 180 deg back to the commenters. People are now looking at them for character flaws …labeling of them as possible rednecks or stupid people .. so it
is a vicious game and circle … maybe its really best to not be a labler of lablers even ?
maybe to live and let live and respect all ideas mo matter how "out of the box" they may seem.
July 28th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
The governments of the world are not nearly smart enough to cover anything up for long.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Governments in the past have been smart enough …
The UFO conspiracy would be quite possible if UFOS would deem a threat to our goverments control over us … any buraucracy gets nervous if it feels threatened as its main goal sometimes becomes its own self perpetuation and its original goal is discarded…..
like protecting the veterans or the Native American Indians by their designated agencies.
Consider the exposure to radiation of us servicemen in the nuclear and other tests.
Conspiracies have occurred in the past .
Consider the demise of the "Electric Car" and the recent papers about it .
If you follow the Money it inicates this .
Oil companies and automobile dealers killed the Electric Car.
Pharmaceutical Companies trashed possible Amazon cures for a birth control pill to be derived from a "different root " that would only need to be taken once a year because they are making a fortune on selling pills that have to be taken once a day.
What about the tobacco industry conspiracy to mislead on cancer issues?
What about the Agent Orange conspiracy to cover up the effects of it ?
Some said the biggest enemy of the Veteran is the Veteran's Administration and the biggest enemy of the American Indian is the dept of Indian Affairs.
What about the past effort to coceal the truth about cures for debilitating diseases by means of fasting and a diet of vegetables, fish , nuts and seeds, whole grains ,fruits, olive oil,garlic and avoiding red meat and anything white including …potatoes,bread,pasta.
Doctors used to deny its merits but finally they to were forced to admit the merits of the new food pyramid.
What about the possible conspiracy between the pharma. companies and the medical establishment to prolong life with pills and more pills and also with Mcdonalds to complete the circle and cycle of making you sick with improper food so Mcdonnalds gets rich Doctors get rich and the pharma. companies get rich. They need us patients to complete the circle…of make em sick , give em pills make em better make em sick etc… until finallly the funeral parlors get the last out of our flesh … we are sort of like slaves and are needed for them to make money from our bodies.
Then there is david ickes idea as a conspiracy starting way back in ancient times by extra terrestrials to enslave the human race by creating wars, diseases etc to keep us in bondage and make use and profit from our bodies
What about the conspiracy mentioned in zeitgeist ?
I don't believe some of them but I can't say 100% they are all false.
July 28th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Let me ask a question to everyone is so down on governmental coverup:
What would you do if you were in power, and aliens contacted you?
Imagine for a moment that an alien race has come to Earth and contacts you, the President of the United States, to hash out a treaty.
First and foremost the alien leader tells you that under no circumstances is their presence to be publicly revealed.
Furthermore, your government and military must turn a blind eye on their experiments on humans and allow them free passage anywhere on Earth.
If you comply with their demand for secrecy, they will reward you with advanced technology. If you refuse and reveal the truth to the public, they will invade and kill countless millions of people.
Are you really going to tell me that you'd choose to tell the public? Is the truth more important than human lives?
Things are not always so cut and dry as they appear. I'm all for ending the coverup, but there well be morally justifiable reasons for the continuing silence.
July 28th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
last line should read "but there may well be"
July 28th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Believe anything hard enough and it becomes reality to you. If the media covers what you believe in so hard, others too might pick up that belief. After a while, a measurable amount of people might believe the same as you, those things that you picked up from the popular media, from entertainment, from books and magazines, movies about gray men… hell, people BELIEVE in the force, in elves, in pagan gods. Anything that melds well with your persona… after all, belief doesn't require anything more than ideas to hold on to, be they abstract, easily changed, never measured or scrutinized. Belief makes gives you "transformational, transcendental experiences." However, this doesn't change anything, it reveals nothing, and is essentially meaningless in any quantitative range. Don't believe… Doubt, question, measure and disrupt.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:18 am
Its amazing the amount of disclosure by many famous and reputed people but the masses continue to believe there is no cover up.
But yes, there is. There are alien visitations. I almost don't have any doubt by now. Furthermore, I am a astronomer for many years and I have seen one disk-shaped UFO flying 100 meters in front of me, once. That was enough of proof. And these news just add more. I am not a fool.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
"Its amazing the amount of disclosure by many famous and reputed people but the masses continue to believe there is no cover up."
This is a running joke in the Doctor Who series. The Earth is continually invaded by Daleks, and Cybermen, and lions and tigers and bears, all out in the open where everyone can see them and their ships – but still nobody believes in aliens. It's hilarious.
July 30th, 2008 at 5:24 am
As people have been pointing both seriously and in comedy routines why do aliens only ever appear to guys called Bubba in a swamp or some back road in the US wilderness? When one lands in Downing Street or on the White House lawn then I'll start to believe.
July 30th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
65 posts and counting… Lot's of believers out there. For those who say that we have been visited by aliens, please at least don't say it is a fact unless you can prove it. A lot of us aren't interested in "he said…", "she said…", "I saw…", etc…. We don't want "first-hand" accounts by somebody or video of lights in the sky… A lot of of us would be content if we had live video of a ship on the ground and aliens exiting it (then interviewed by CNN and all of the others..), then hanging around and showing us how great they are. Why can't we have that? As someone posted here (and was 'refuted'): Governments would be unable to keep a secret of that magnitude for too long. I tend to agree.. Unless this is a recent occurrence. Who knows…? Maybe there is a cover up… For those who believe that, go get the proof, will ya??? I am dying to see them!!
July 30th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Now that the comments slow down, rogue:
Your point about the human fork… just my view. Hugs from the other side of the planet.
August 1st, 2008 at 4:44 pm
"Proof" in the form of solid scientific evidence of exactly how cigarette smoking caused lung cancer wasn't found until 1996. And in all the time before that proof, cigarettes were still causing lung cancer before the proof was in, but much of the evidence was anecdotal, without the kind of smoking gun that skeptics like Phil Plaitt demand for the hypothesis of ET visitations.
Proof does not make something real. It only convinces you that it is real. If it is real, it is real even if you have no proof at all.
Many smokers who died of lung cancer when the suspicion of a link was still young can testify to that. If they weren't dead, that is.
So while we hear about the dangers of uncritical belief, let's also consider the dangers of dogmatic skepticism. Science is slow, and sometimes people have to move faster than science can tolerate.
http://www.thekeyhoereport.com/home
August 5th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Science may be 'slow' but the basis of science rests on repeatable experiments that PROVE a theory or an idea. Aliens may well exist in the galaxy, in fact the galaxy and the rest of the universe almost certainly teem with life both humble and complex. I believe life is out there but for the Earth to be constantly visited in secret by benevolent or exploitative aliens is almost certainly balderdash. As I posted earlier why do they visit 'uncle Bubba' and not Gordon Brown or George Bush? That's the proof that we want. Just because one belives in something doesn't make it true q.v. any religion you care to name.
Paul.