The Infamous Moore, Lear Et Al, Address MUFON Symposium of 1989

 The audio and video is bad but the best version preserved...so Bill Moore, Lear and more  disclose cover-up and more.

THE NEW POSTER CHILD OF DISINFORMATION AND DEBUNKING

In the past several earned this title for their ceaseless efforts to marginalize the interest in UFOs/UAPs through a process of ridicule, rants, lies, straw man arguments, and a tireless ability to knit pick and misquote. 

The field is currently wide open with some candidates in the field itself. Visions of the rumors surrounding the end of NICAP (and infiltration by the covert agency types) fill the air.

How to identify these people?

They seem to follow a similar talking points guide.

1. Ridicule, as in "some foil hat wearing members of the UFO community"..."crackpots"..."con artists".... The direct attack on the person or people instead of dealing with the issues.

2. "It's our government" becomes the pillar of the discussion. This is an old, musty even, argument. If the government had as many super duper craft and processes as these people have claimed - we would already be on Mars!  Global wars, conflicts, and hunger would have been alleviated.  

3. "Con Men"..."Money makers"...adds an additional pejorative label and distracts attention from where the name caller may be getting his check.  Since there are no large government grants to research UFOs/UAPs anyone wishing to do so has to ride his or her own bank balance or charge for speeches, books, and videos.  Are there less than honest, even shady, individuals out there? Yep! On both sides of the question. The old adage of "the buy beware" is still true and the intelligent person will evaluate the motives, amount of real information, and cost per aspect of presentation to judge is this a real, honest presentation or one designed to just make money?

4. "I'm not going to discuss this with you."  "We have differing views, so I am not going to engage."  These are often termed gaslighting phrases and have been uttered by well-known and highly qualified scientists as well as authors and promotors who might be seen as questionable. It should be remembered that science is in assembling a hypothesis, testing, and retesting.  A close-minded response to looking into new possibilities should never be the go-to answer for those claiming to be rooted in science. 

5. "We don't have enough data." The science types like this one. Used to funding and grants for data collection and analysis it seems to be their favorite response to new , potentially conflicting, information.  The problem with the UFO/UAP field is that the data exists, some for decades, and no one has truly worked with in an open and non-biased manner. The Condon Report closed the door to venturing into that field by new and eager academic scientists; Condon's summary told them not to waste their time. Yet, the huge body of reports contains more than one scientist suggesting, "hey, there is something here we need to be looking at more closely."  Few read those reports, most news and political types just swallowed the summary whole and digested the explanation as truth.  Various government bodies were studying the phenomenon for years (Blue Book, Military, others) ; large public groups (NICAP, APRO, MUFON, etc.) amassed huge numbers of reports with data. 

6. "I'll debate anyone with my facts!" Or some similar phrase that really means that I will rant, dismiss, and not even listen or consider any other views. They wrote a book (decades ago) and express how it was ignored, etc.  They play a sour grapes card while appealing to those who want to be regarded as intelligent and not like those "loonies."  They may or may not have scientific training.  Their debates are often nothing but derision, insults, dismissal of contrary or alternate facts, etc. 

So, keep an eye peeled for the next poster child of debunking.  The one using so many of these classic methods to control the discussion. 

MISDIRECTION : TOOLS OF DISINFORMATION

The stage magician uses a well-known technique to control how his or her motions are perceived. It is called "misdirection".  Simply put it is this method, or tool, allows magicians to control an audience's attention.  Deliberately guiding it away from their covert/secret actions and toward the magical effect/alternative explanation. 

From the earliest days this sleight of hand has been used by government, military, and academic debunkers in the area of discussions about unidentified flying objects. 

"Look over there!"

A good thing to remember when seeing the articles from various experts.

Tips For Identifying Things Seen in the Sky

A brief and easy-to-use guide for gaining understanding of things seen in the skies, both natural and manmade, and gaining skills in identifying objects that are potentially neither. 

Includes bibliography of helpful resources, and forms for tracking observations. UAPS are Unidentified Anomalous Objects - what used to be called "United Flying Objects."

 Many people are curious about what is in the skies and this guidebook provides some tips, methods, and general helps in developing skills in understand the natural objects, the human-made objects, as they traverse our planet's skies.

“UAP Spotting offers the volunteer observer some basic tools and information on how to contribute to the ongoing search for the answers to an old mystery.”

(Shown the Kindle cover; available in print and e-format/Kindle on Amazon)

Collecting Data: The Bottomless Pit of Ufology

 All too often the answer to all problems is believed to be found in funding. If we throw enough money at a problem, a circumstance, or a situation, the problem is solved.

The field of UAP and UFO research and investigations has its own version of this way of thinking.  "If we only had more data..." was a comment in the days following the first Congressional hearing on UAPs - said every scientist inclined to accept the idea such things deserve scientific study.

All through the years of Project Blue Book, data was collected.  Many complained about the quality of that data, but a system always does what it is designed to do, and the truth was the public reports and pages of graphs and numbers were not designed to discover anything but merely to speak to the simplistic query - is it known or unknown?  Every series scientist who examined them - and there were many - always pointed to the poor designs of the process. They collected data but there was no goal in mind and no real analysis of trends and common aspects.

Today, there is a wealth of data - stored in numerous databases and collections - but the problem is that no one is actually doing anything with that information.

Currently, there is no major scientific study into the commonalities, trends, and implications of the data already gathered. 

Questions such as:

• Are there common origins points for categories of sightings? 
• Are there specific times, seasons, and geographic locations that record clusters of events over a long period of time?
• Are there scientifically designed, measured, and compared studies in attempts to establish communications using technical and non-technical approaches?
• Are there scientifically designed and measured designs to merge various methods of data collection. analysis, and implementation of ideas?
• Are there widespread studies to correlate increased sightings and the presence of astronomical, electrical, environmental, geological, auditory, or other events?
• Are there widespread studies to correlate increased sightings and the activities of human aircraft, satellites, or surveillance activities?
• Are there multi-disciple studies of astronomical data as it relates to the possibilities of communication or contact with NHI?
  
  
  

One problem in the early work (as in Project Blue Book) was the issue of tunnel vision. Files were divided by place, date, and nation. There is little evidence available of any major work done in looking at the big picture.  For example, UAPs spotted over north America heading toward the Atlantic. Did they emerge over Europe, Africa or elsewhere?  Did they disappear over US soil (or whatever nation) and NOT appear anywhere else?

Over time there has been an attempt to create diversity when none was really needed. For example, the matter of perspective of visual sighting is seldom taken into account. An object from point A may appear to be a circle with small rings inside. From point B it may look like three lines stacked behind each other.  As a result of this there are dozens of "shapes" listed on many sightings reports found in common resources. The truth is that probably there should be categories of shape.  The Circle may include a sphere, etc.  An Ovoid may include an egg shape, a balloon shape, etc. A square may include the rectangle, the triangle, a diamond etc.  A Cigar shape may include the Tic-tac, pill, etc.  As a result, major categories are reduced with related subgroups organized beneath that label.

What Is the Future of UFO Research Groups?

Over the decades there have been numerous groups - large and small - that banded together in pursuit of answers to an enigma wrapped in a riddle - the UAP.

Some suffered from inability to unite behind a single explanation and the divisions broke them apart.

Some suffered from inter conflicts and power struggles and broke apart.

Some were intentionally divided through outside interference, and the structures could not hold.

Some simply failed to bring people together, failed to unite them in common purpose, failed to be collaborative and participatory and focused too much on a top- down power structure. They failed.

Some simply could not hold together and spun out like cotton candy into fluffy nothingness.

Few groups spent time doing strategic planning - they were like fans of a local sports team. It was the action that drew them - and when it went so too did the members. A serious group needs several elements.

A goal - What does the group wish to achieve? 

A plan  - How will the group achieve this goal? What steps, plans, processes, methods, will need to be engaged?

A feedback loop (to encourage and development member input and feedback) - A continuing process of assessment to improve efforts, address reoccurring issues, listen to the ideas and experiences of members to fine tune or improve.

Finally, realize that a solid volunteer-based organization is driven from the bottom and not the top. People will be engaged as long as they are positively engaged and experience ongoing positive reinforcement for their efforts.  The group leadership has to establish a NEED for each and every member. Not just for money to run the group, but ideas, good will, and word of mouth publicity. 

Utilize their collective experience, motivation, and interests. Give them a voice in operations. They are the walking billboard of promotion for the group as a whole. 

Overlapping Realities

One of the profound topics being discussed in relation to the UAP mystery is what are we really discussing?

Since the 1970's there has been a recurrent suggestion that what we see in the skies may not be nuts-and-bolts machines but projections or actual visitors slipping through an opening from one reality to another. 

This does blend well with a host of cultural traditions and ideas.  The Irish with the periods of sacred time when the "curtain" between worlds flutters in the winds of time.  The passage in the Old Testament where Elijah is surrounded by enemy soldiers and he reassures his companion by asking God to "open his eyes".  As a result, the prophet's companion sees "chariots of fire" circling them in a protective group that are invisible to the enemy. Examples could go on.

For over 500 years most of western civilization has stripped itself of any paranormal, extraordinary, or unexplainable events.  Rational thought and cold logic ruled the day. Anything else was emotional baggage from a savage past. Any who still held those beliefs was equally denigrated as savage, irrational, or mentally stunted.

In the 1970's the introduction of Eastern philosophies and recreational drug use lured people with claims of "awareness", "expanding conscience mind", " raising vibrations" and " enhancing auras".   These are skills developed through years of practice, discipline, and personal growth. Instead, they were the prize from a box of assorted party favors for people searching for instant gratification or the next new buzz.

The truth is more complex.  The human being requires both the rational and the extraordinary.  The natural mind appears to not have the either/or problems developed by centuries of rational brainwashing.

The natural human mind as a child accepts the reality of the magical realms, the impossible made real through imagination, the possibilities unrestricted by "laws" or "facts."   It is out of this realm that invention, innovation, and possibilities emerge.

One might image a person with two hands.  One for the imaginative, emotional, and extraordinary, The other hand for the cold facts, rational thought, and facts. The person needs both hands and needs them working together to achieve true potential. 

What would happen if, instead of opposing one another, the two viewpoints came together combining efforts, ideas, and learning from each other?