Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Draft Hellyer for Liberal Leader Campaign - Update #1

Hmm... looks like the campaign is starting to gather steam, first on the "Calgary Grit" blog and now on the comment board at Andrew Coyne's very popular blog.

As of yet, however, no word from the heavyweights of Exopolitics. C'mon, fellas, what are you waiting for?

Hellyer? Hell Yeah!

Paul Kimball

Sunday, January 29, 2006

The Other Side of Truth - February 2006 Poll

I've decided to add a new monthly feature to The Other Side of Truth - a poll, with various questions related to ufology.

Here is the first question, to cover the month of February, 2006.

If you have any suggestions for future polls, just send me an e-mail and let me know.

Paul Kimball

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Randle on Strange Days... Indeed

A "must listen" episode of Strange Days... Indeed later this evening - Kevin Randle will be discussing the state of ufology. You can listen to it here.

Kevin is one of the most thoughtful, and articulate, ufologists around today. He is a critic of exopolitics, cattle mutilations, alien abductions, but a proponent of the Extraterrestrial hypothesis!

He's also got a wicked sense of humour.

Should be fun!

Paul Kimball

Draft Paul Hellyer for Liberal Leader - Part 2

The campaign to get Paul Hellyer to run for the Liberal leadership will continue... at my latest blog, Paul Hellyer for Liberal Leader

Remember to visit, and visit often!

Paul Kimball

Draft Paul Hellyer for Liberal Leader - Part 1

Okay, I've made up my mind. The serious study of the UFO phenomenon will survive a run by Paul Hellyer for the Liberal Party leadership on an exopolitical platform. It's survived worse over the years (nothing pops to mind at the moment, but I'm sure there's something).

Accordingly, I am now officially initiating The Other Side of Truth's "Draft Paul Hellyer for Liberal Leader" campaign.

First step - all of you Canadians who are exopolitical supporters must join the Liberal Party, if you're not already members.

Go directly to the Liberal Party's "Join the Liberal Party" webpage - do not pass "go", do not collect $200 (the Liberals will probably give you money once you join, based on past "practice"). Here are the "requirements", which do not include, apparently, the payment of any membership fee:

"Join the Liberal team and help us make our party even better. By becoming a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, you can make your voice heard in developing new policy initiatives and garnering support for the candidates in your community and across the country.

Joining is easy! If you’re a Canadian resident, 14 years or older, and do not belong to another federal political party, simply fill out this form to get started.

The information you provide will be forwarded to your provincial or territorial association. They will contact you directly to welcome you to the party.

We look forward to you becoming part of the Liberal family."

FYI - I would suggest that you don't tell them why you're joining - no need to ruin the... er, surprise. Besides, if Hellyer and the exopols are right, then at least some Liberals are probably "in" on the big alien - government cover-up, so best to keep a low profile until he has enough official members behind him to launch his bid.

Consider yourselves fifth columnists for truth, justice and... well, whatever else you want. But join now - and encourage your friends to join as well. The more the merrier.

It's time to get serious, exopols. Stand up for what you believe in! The Liberal Party of Canada needs you!!

Hehehehe...

Paul Kimball

Alfred Lehmberg Update

My Dad taught me that if I couldn't say something nice about someone, it was probably best to not say anything at all. Like most of his advice, it was pretty sound.

Accordingly, I won't say a word about Alfred Lehmberg and UFOs, or ufology.

However, I will say this...

I like Mr. Lehmberg's music.

Honest.

You can check it out here.

My favourite is "Tomorrow". I'm listening to it right now.

I could even see some of his stuff being used by someone as soundtrack music in a film someday.

Now, Mr. Lehmberg won't be appearing on the Top 40 charts anytime soon, but neither will I (although I'm still toying with the idea of releasing a solo album, or getting my old band Julia's Rain back for one last, proper send-off project). Besides, have you listened to the Top 40 lately? Who would want to be there?? Ick!

But that's beside the point, which is this - his music is worth a listen. It is, dare I say it, good.

Paul Kimball

Friday, January 27, 2006

Paul Hellyer... For Prime Minister??

Paul Hellyer is back in the news. Apparently, there is a "movement" afoot to draft Hellyer as the next Liberal leader in Canada (somewhere, Frank McKenna is saying, "Paul who?").

You can read all about it here.

Maybe Hellyer should run - it would put a nice bookend on his "eclectic" career.

Of course, it's a joke (and a pretty amusing one, at that), but don't be surprised to see Alfred Webre and the exopolitics crowd trumpeting this somewhere as if it's a real possibility.

On the other hand, they may just be nutty enough, and gather enough signatures, to get Hellyer on the ballot. And from their warped perspective, why not? Skip the dull Senate hearings (hahahaha - Senate hearings - hahahaha) - go straight to the masses (or at least the Liberal ones).

Oh dear God!

If you thought the media was making fun of ufology before, wait until you see what happens if the exopols ran Hellyer for leader of the Liberal Party!

Now, before you say it could never happen, remember this: anti-free trade left-winger David Orchard made a pretty big splash in the old Progressive Conservative Party a couple of years ago, and came close to pulling off a hostile coup! Surely, the exopols could at least get Hellyer on the ballot? Perhaps Steven Bassett could run his campaign!!

I'm torn. Truly torn. As a proponent of the serious scientific study of the UFO phenomenon, this would be about the worst thing that could happen. Then again, as a Conservative, seeing Hellyer make a laughing-stock of the Liberal leadership race would pretty much guarantee that Stephen Harper will be Prime Minister for a decade - at least.

Hmm...

Paul Kimball

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Schreyer, Garneau defeated

Two candidates in yesterday's Canadian election who were of at least passing interest to ufologists (particularly those of the more serious type, as opposed to those who still see Paul Hellyer as a big deal) have been defeated.

Former Canadian Governor General and NDP candidate Ed Schreyer lost his race in the Manitoba riding of Selkirk - Interlake to the Tory incumbent James Bezan, 21,659 votes to 16,358 (the Liberal polled 4,431, and the Green Party candidate received 1,337 votes).

In Quebec, former astronaut Marc Garneau lost in the riding of Vaudreuil - Solanges to Meili Faille, the candidate for the separtist Bloc Quebecois, by a count of 27,012 to 17,768 (the Tory candidate, Stephane Bourgon, finished a respectable third, with 11,889 votes).

Full results for all ridings can be found here.

As for Canada, we now have a Conservative minority government (a smaller win than I had hoped for, but a win nonetheless), which, with the resignation of outgoing Prime Minister and Liberal leader Paul Martin, should hold for at least 18 months. My take on this and other political issues / development, for those who are interested, can be found at my blog Paulitics 101.

Paul Kimball

Monday, January 23, 2006

Exopolitics vs. Ufology - Volume I

Many seem to think that exopolitics is simply part of ufology. Annoying, perhaps, but ultimately harmless.

Newsflash:

The key exopolitics proponents do not agree with you. They have a different agenda than the continuation of ufology as currently constituted. It is an agenda to which all of their public pronouncements, appearances, and writings are ultimately directed.

Here is what Dr. Michael Salla had to say earlier this month (you can find the original here):

"Here is a fascinating article on the word'exopolitics' as a contender for new word of the year. That's quite a development and shows how far the exopolitics concept has come into vernacular usage. I recall when 'exopolitics' first made it to theWikipedia Encyclopedia it was dropped due to critics objections, but now it seems to be catching on. That's a welcome development since the concept of 'Ufology' is inherently self limiting. How can one truly know anything about UFOs since by definition they are unidentified? In my view, the UFO concept was contrived by the Air Force intelligence community to keep the 'flying saucer' phenomenon under wraps by a clever word play. Those in the loop could truthfully state that UFOs don't exist since they had already been identified as interplanetary vehicles. The increased recognition of exopolitics in popular usage is a welcome development since the language we use truly does shape our reality. Exopolitics directs attention to the political processes surrounding the extraterrestrial hypothesis which is where our attention needs to be." [Emphasis added - PK]

Hmm.. looks like all of you "ufologists" have been duped for a very long time.

I would with Dr. Salla on one thing - the language that we use does indeed reflect, and often shape, our reality, and people's perceptions of that reality.

Which is why exopolitics is a bad thing, and threatens to turn the serious study of the UFO phenomenon (oops... must remember to not use the term "UFO", lest I was continue to be a pawn of the PTB, aka Powers That Be) into a complete laughingstock.

Paul Kimball

A Great Day for Canada

Later today, we Canadians will have the good, common sense to turf out the corrupt and tired Liberal administration of Paul Martin, and elect a new, Conservative government led by our next Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. I'll be casting my vote with pride sometime around 6:00 pm AST, and then hunkering down in front of the television to watch the returns, and see if it's a minority government (delaying the inevitable Tory landslide for a year or so), or a small majority.

Either way, here's a note to Stephen Bassett, who speculated last night, without understanding a thing about Canadian politics, that Harper's election will mean that President Bush is more likely to move forward with disclosure (you had to hear it to believe it - of course, Victor Viggiani also speculated that a war with Iran is imminent, and will really just be a distraction to draw attention away from the UFO question, and disclosure. Again, you had to hear it to believe it - these guys really do view everything through the Exopolitics prism):

Dear Mr. Bassett:

Thank you for expressing an interest in Canadian politics on the radio the other night, uniformed though it may have been - at one point, you confused Stephen Harper and Paul Martin, which is a bit like confusing George Bush and John Kerry, but we Canadians are used to our southern cousins (and good friends) being a bit fuzzy as to the details up here. No hard feelings. We're just happy to get noticed every once in a while for something other than William Shatner (you're welcome) and Celine Dion (we're sorry, and please don't send her back)!

However, when Canadians vote later today, the issues first and foremost on our minds (and second-most, and third-most, and... well, you get the picture) will be things like taxes, national unity, the environment, health care, the military, social programs, and so forth - or, perhaps, as relates to our dealings with your country, softwood lumber. Others will vote because they like a particular local candidate, regardless of party affiliation (this factor will allow some Liberals to win in certain ridings where the candidate is far more popular than the party). Almost no-one will vote with UFOs on their mind (there are always exceptions that prove the rule).

What's more, the results will make no difference to "disclosure", because there isn't a single politician of any significance in this country who gives a flying rat's behind about your pre-millenarian ufological "agenda" (which is, of course, different than saying that there aren't any politicians who find the UFO phenomenon interesting).

Proper thing.

Regards, etc.

Paul Kimball

Sunday, January 22, 2006

A Debate Over Exopolitics

Alfred Lehmberg, on Strange Days... Indeed last night, suggested that there be an on-air (i.e. radio) debate about exopolitics, between a proponent of exopolitics, and an opponent. While I usually ignore Mr. Lehmberg, I find myself agreeing with him - sort of - on this one.

Of course, as with anything that comes from Mr. Lehmberg, appearances are deceiving. His agenda is not quite what it appears to be.

First, he wants Victor Viggiani to be the "neutral" moderator of any such debate. The problem here is that Mr. Viggiani is an exopolitics supporter (he is a member of the advisory board of Michael Salla's "Exopolitics Institute", and organized the exopolitics conference in Toronto last September). He is not neutral on the issue, by any stretch of the imagination.

Second, Mr. Lehmberg wants to be one of the on-air judges of who won the debate. Like Mr. Viggiani, he is hardly neutral on this issue (indeed, he suggested last night that my call to give exopolitics the "cold shoulder" was akin to book burning, missing my point entirely, and, I suspect, on purpose).

Most important, however, is that he wants the debate to be between Stephen Bassett and yours truly. Now, I agree that Mr. Bassett, as a defender of all things exopolitical, is a good choice (although Michael Salla or Alfred Webre, as the most vocal proponents, would be better). But me as the opponent? Why?

Simple - the reason Mr. Lehmberg wants me to be the face of opposition to exopolitics is because I'm easy to attack. It doesn't require him, or others of like mind, to think about the actual issues - they dislike me from the get-go (neo-klasskurtzian, rampant narcissist, rapacious net weasel, Christo-fascist book burner that I am, at least according to Mr. Lehmberg). I'm the perfect straw-man to set up for such a debate. It makes it easy for them to support the exopolitical side if I'm the opponent, just as it was easy to support the ETH when you trotted out Phil Klass as your opponent (as opposed, say, to a ufologist like Brad Sparks who does not accept that the ETH is the ETFact)

While I love debating, and have more than my fair share of experience (I would prefer a cross-examination format, FYI), there are better opponents out there, with greater stature, and decades of UFO research experience behind them. They would be a lot more difficult for the likes of Mr. Lehmberg to easily dismiss. They would confound his comfort zone - and that, in and of itself, would be fun to watch.

But, like I said, the principle of Mr. Lehmberg's idea is sound. So here's my counter-proposal:

1. Make it happen, but pick a truly neutral moderator. No offense to Mr. Viggiani, but he isn't that person. He has, as Kevin Randle has been known to say, a "dog in the hunt".

2. Make the debate about the "methodology" that exopolitics employs, the "ideas" that underpin it, and the increasingly belligerent tactics of its proponents when confronting anyone who disagrees with them, i.e. the use of the loaded "codeword" debunker to describe people like Stan, Brad, and Kevin, which was the "crossing of the Rubicon" to which I alluded, not Dr. Salla's views on Corso, or whomever (a point that seemed to be lost on some people).

3. Let the listeners themselves judge who "won" or "lost".

4. Get one of the following opponents of exopolitics (or the "debunkers", as they've recently been labelled by people - including, just yesterday, Paola Harris, all without a peep of protest from Mr. Lehmberg et al) to take the "con" side - Stan Friedman, Brad Sparks, Kevin Randle, Dick Hall.

That would really be a debate worth listening to - Stephen Bassett, or Michael Salla, versus Stan Friedman, or Kevin Randle. Or maybe Steven Greer versus Dick Hall. Or Alfred Webre versus Brad Sparks.

It would require people to make a choice - they would have to answer the question Billy Bragg once posed: "which side are you on, boys, which side are you on".

Given the choice between Messrs. Bassett, Greer, Salla, and Webre on the one hand (buttressed by the ghosts of the contactee movement), and Messrs. Hall, Sparks, Randle and Friedman on the other (buttressed by the ghosts of Hynek and MacDonald), I know which side I'm on (and yes, folks, sometimes it is about picking sides - there are times when there is no room for squishy relativism).

I think it would be the end of exopolitics, and would return ufology back to what I see as its proper course - serious research about a serious question (about which reasonable people can reasonably disagree).

And that would be a good thing.

Paul Kimball

The Colours of Exile

Another non-UFO documentary has just gotten the greenlight for us. This time, it's a film by my friend Tarek "J-Rod" Abouamin (that's him in the center in the photo at left, with yours truly and our colleague, producer / director John "Roswell" Rosborough), who I think is the best young filmmaker in Halifax today. He worked with me on both seasons of The Classical Now as a camera operator, and was the Director of Photography for my documentaries Do You Believe in Majic and Aztec: 1948, and my indie feature film MacBeth (still in post-production).

CBC Maritimes has just agreed to license his film proposal, The Colours of Exile, which he'll be writing and directing, and I'll be producing. It will tell the story of Palestinian artist Amin Shammout. Tarek and I have been working, on and off, for three years now to get this project off the ground. When we received the news from CBC Maritimes, it was one of those "it's all paid off" kind of moments.

This is an intensely personal film for Tarek, who has remained true to his vision of what the film should be about from the beginning, even though it might have been an easier concept to get picked up if it had been a little less challenging. But that's Tarek - 100% integrity as a filmmaker, and a storyteller. Kudos to Ron Crocker and Mary-Elizabeth Luka at CBC Maritimes for supporting Tarek's vision.

Here is Tarek's short synopsis of the film:

"Through the brush strokes of hope and memory, the story of the refugee is narrated through the colours and canvasses of one Canadian / Palestinian whose work represents the collective dreams of his people. For nearly sixty years, the Palestinian people, expelled from their homeland, scattered around the world, and caught in the midst of a bloody conflict that has claimed the lives of thousands of Palestinians and Israelis, have struggled to find a voice. Amin Shammout's art not only documents the plight of his people, but also speaks for the families of those lost on both sides of this conflict, and who pray for a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine."

I'm looking forward to helping Tarek make what I think will be a breakthrough film for him, and in the process tell this very important story.

Paul Kimball

Friday, January 20, 2006

Stan on Exopolitics

Stan Friedman e-mailed me yesterday to thank me for my "Salla Crosses the Rubicon" column. He was also kind enough to forward me a copy of his upcoming MUFON Journal column, which deals specifically with exopolitics. I asked him if I could print a few excerpts, and he said "sure". Here are some of my favourites (for the rest, check out the Mufon Journal).

Paul Kimball

Exopolitics
by Stan Friedman

Exopolitics (extraterrestrial plus politics) is a word that has received a lot of attention over the past few years...

Dr. Michael Salla [has] participated in several conferences and seems to believe every whistle blower and contactee story ever told. His excuse for accepting the tales without evidence to support them, and in face of evidence that they are baloney, is that since the government covers up things about UFOs, they would, of course, also make it impossible to verify claims of the whistleblowers and, therefore, the claims must be true. So he is a big fan of Robert Lazar, all of Dr. Steve Greer’s sources, Colonel Corso, Sergeant Clifford Stone, 'Dr.' Michael Wolf Kruvant etc...

... Another major practitioner on the exopolitics scene is Steve Bassett who even ran quite unsuccessfully for the US Congress, on an exopolitical ticket. He has spoken at a number of conferences and hosted two of his own in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He has made an effort to raise funds for the movement, but has not been very successful so far, as a number of speakers at his last conference still haven’t been paid.

The third vocal supporter is Dr. Alfred Webre of Vancouver, British Columbia who was supposedly looking into extraterrestrial life for President Jimmy Carter until his program was cancelled. He is the author of Exopolitics: Politics, Government and Law in the Universe. To say the least, this is an ambitious effort. The book is a splendid example of research by proclamation. For example, he claims 'Universe civilizations function within our own interstellar Universe, as well as within other dimensions in the universe at large. Advanced civilizations exist in other dimensions parallel to our own'. I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. Of course, no evidence is provided...

... Salla and associates in January announced an “Extraterrestrial Civilizations & World Peace Conference” June 9-11, 2006, in Kona, Hawaii. The announcement says 'The conference will focus on compelling evidence to assist the peoples of Earth in establishing world peace, environmental protection, and spiritual upliftment….Extensive evidence supports testimony from a number of whistleblowers and contactees that some of these extraterrestrial civilizations specifically approached world governments to ask for an end to nuclear weapons development …and that they have acted to mitigate the most severe aspects of military conflict.' I believe he believes this, but can find no reason for me to."

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Salla Crosses the "Rubicon"

The attack dogs of ufology are usually pretty good at going after guys like me whenever we say or write anything that is even remotely skeptical. Fair is fair - if one is going to step into the public arena and hold forth on any subject, one can expect some criticism, even of the mean-spirited, personal attack variety.

However, I wonder whether these ufological pit bulls are going to go after Michael Salla just as quickly, and vehemently, for his most recent Exopolitics Journal column, wherein he labels ufologists Stan Friedman, Kevin Randle and Brad Sparks as "debunkers".

I would hope so, but I doubt it - "even-handed" and "fair-minded" are not two terms that I would associate with these people, although maybe this time they'll prove me wrong.

For those who missed it, here is what Salla, who will apparently go to any lengths in order to promote exopolitics fraud Philip Corso, wrote about Stan, Kevin and Brad:

"Some of Corso's critics have gone so far as publicly dismissing Col. Corso as a fraud and 'literary hoaxer'. Corso's strongest critics include veteran UFO researchers such as Stanton Friedman, Dr. Kevin Randle and Brad Sparks who collectively have expressed their skepticism. Many of the criticisms made against Corso cross the Rubicon dividing objective criticism and outright debunking. This invites speculation of the motivations of Corso's critics who undertake such a concerted debunking effort against a highly decorated whistleblower whose revelations do much to clarify the UFO phenomenon."

In other words, if you disagree with Michael Salla, no matter how much good, hard work you've put in over the years (decades!) researching and writing about the UFO phenomenon, and no matter how reasoned and well researched your critiques might be, then you are a "debunker" - no better than the dreaded Phil Klass (somewhere Klass is no doubt spinning in his grave)!

In case you weren't sure where Salla stands, however, here is what he wrote about Brad:

"Sparks' criticisms of Corso fail to be consistent. Sparks has been the most dismissive of all Corso's critics when it comes to Corso's background. This suggests to this author that he is motivated to disparage Corso regardless of the documentary evidence supporting Corso's claims."

This is ludicrous, as anyone who has read Brad's detailed rebuttals of Salla's Corso hooey over the past year is aware. He's waded through more UFO-related documents, and talked to more genuine insiders, than most of the rest of us, including Salla, will ever see or talk to in a lifetime. Brad is motivated to get at the truth of the matter, even when it requires him to reconsider his own previously held positions in light of new evidence. To suggest otherwise is shameful.

What about Stan and Kevin?

Salla writes:

"In the case of Friedman and Dr. Randle, both try to disparage Corso by emphasizing his alleged claim in his affidavit of having served on the NSC itself. They ignore Corso's repeated statements, made earlier, to having been a staffer assigned to the NSC. They put great emphasis on what is obviously an oversight on Corso's part that can be attributed to his deteriorating health. They ignore previous interviews and writing which consistently claim that Corso had served on the NSC staff. This suggests both Friedman and Randle are intentionally posturing to disparage the significance of Corso's testimony by over emphasizing inconsistencies in his testimony."

Newsflash for Salla - Kevin, and especially Stan, have been two of the most vocal proponents of the ETH, crashed saucers, government conspiracies (they created the terms "Conspiracy of Silence" and "Cosmic Watergate", for Pete's sake) and covert groups (MJ-12 for Stan, the "Unholy 13" for Kevin) for decades now. If they don't buy Corso's story, that should tell you something!

Salla then concludes:

"The failure of Randle, Sparks and Friedman to consider alternative explanations for inconsistencies in Corso's testimony; their overblown emphasis on the significance of the inconsistencies; and their lack of effort to reach a balanced conclusion over the pros and cons of Corso's testimony, suggests they have crossed the Rubicon from objective criticism into debunking."

Wow.

Here's the truth, folks.

Stan, Kevin and Brad have all responded as politely and patiently as possible to Dr. Salla's "theories" over the past year - Kevin, at his blog "A Different Perspective", even printed, without comment, a rebuttal by Salla to something that Kevin had written.

It has been Salla that won't look at the evidence objectively. It has been Salla who has taken the low road, with his ad hominem attacks and his petty posturing. It is Salla that has crossed the "Rubicon" of reasoned discourse.

I'm sure Stan, Kevin and Brad will be a bit more diplomatic than I'm about to be, but I've had it. Salla has really gone too far this time. Besides, they're elder statesmen - I'm just the new guy, the "New Thug", the "klasskurtzian". People seem to expect me to "go after" people.

Fine - when people deserve to have someone "go after them", like Salla does, I aim to please.

So here it is...

Michael Salla's Phd isn't worth the paper it's printed on, not because it isn't from an accredited institution of higher learning, but because Salla has disgraced himself, and brought disrepute on his chosen field of study (ufology), through:

(a) his actions and statements;

(b) his lack of academic comity with his fellow researchers, and;

(c) his failure to apply even the most minimal standards of academic and intellectual rigour.

In other words, he (and his goofy fellow travellers) are a blight on the serious study of the UFO phenomenon.

It's time for ufology to give them the collective heave-ho.

Don't appear at their conferences.

Boycott any radio programs or conferences that have them on.

Ban them from Internet groups and lists.

Give them the cold shoulder from this point forward.

They deserve nothing more, and the serious study of the UFO phenomenon demands nothing less.

Paul Kimball

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

The Big Picture

As of late I've been pre-occupied with work, and politics. But, as Brad Sparks pointed out to me today, it's a big universe out there. It's important to remember that as we go about our day to day lives.

This helps keep things in perspective. It reminds us all that, in the words of Stan Friedman, "space is the place" - or, as Captain Kirk said, "Space... the final frontier".

The future is ours for the taking, if only we have the vision, and the courage. I have no idea what we'll find "out there" - but I know that it's where humanity will fulfill its destiny.

That's the big picture.

Paul Kimball

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Paulitics 101

As Canadian readers are no doubt aware (at least I hope you are), there is an election going on here in the Great White North. Being the political junkie that I am (and a former political operative, of sorts), my limited spare time over the next week and a half, until polling day, will be directed towards my new blog, Paulitics 101.

Accordingly, posts here during that period may be a bit more infrequent than usual, although I'll try to keep up. Still, there are things more important than UFOs (sorry, ET believers and UFO junkies in general, but it's true), and the future of my country is one of them, so until election day (January 23rd) I'll be busy making my own contribution to that debate, in my own way.

Paul Kimball

P.S. The latest poll shows Ed Schreyer in second place in his riding, running about 10 points behind the Tory incumbent.

Latest Saucer Smear is Out

The latest issue of Saucer Smear can be found here.

As always, it is an interesting and enlightening read.

May the Space Gods continue to bless Jim Moseley!

Paul Kimball

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

The Return of... Rich Reynolds - continued

Yup, it appears they are back... sort of.

Apparently my secret password and decoder ring were lost in the mail.

I'm crushed.

Paul Kimball

Fields of Fear - Teaser #3

And now, for something completely different...

Fields of Fear will feature some very nifty animation by Halifax animation gurus Wingit Digital, as well as some artwork by Halifax artist Jason Goodyear (who did the artwork that was featured in Aztec 1948, including a wonderful sketch of a scheming Leo Gebauer and Silas Newton taking in the unwitting Frank Scully). This will mark the first time that I've used animation in a documentary, so it will be a nice change of pace.

At left is a mock-up (or moo-up) of one of our animated characters, Carol the Cow (so named in honour of a frequent contributor at UFO Planet), who will come into contact with a certain coyote named Keara (so named in honour of my sister's dog, who is a cutie), and a pro-mute ufologist type that shall remain nameless. They will "discuss" the animal mutilation phenomenon.

Sure beats another 2 minutes of talking heads (although I am a big David Byrne fan)!

Paul Kimball

Monday, January 09, 2006

2006 Aztec UFO Conference

While I am convinced that the so-called "Aztec Incident" was a con job, that doesn't mean that the people of Aztec, New Mexico, don't put on a good UFO conference.

Their 2006 event is slated for March. You can find all the details here.

The money raised by the conference goes to help build / fund the town library, which, as far as UFO conferences go, is about as worthy an end goal as you can find. Aztec is a lovely little town, nestled in the often overlooked Four Corners area of northwestern New Mexico, and the people are about as friendly as you'll find anywhere.

If you're in the neighbourhood, and want to attend a UFO event, it's worth the trip.

Paul Kimball

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Getting Hyped About Hyperdrive

There's been a fair bit of discussion within certain ufological circles over the past few days about "hyperdrive."

Why?

Because of the following article.

"Take a leap into hyperspace
05 January 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Haiko Lietz

EVERY year, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics awards prizes for the best papers presented at its annual conference. Last year's winner in the nuclear and future flight category went to a paper calling for experimental tests of an astonishing new type of engine. According to the paper, this hyperdrive motor would propel a craft through another dimension at enormous speeds. It could leave Earth at lunchtime and get to the moon in time for dinner. There's just one catch: the idea relies on an obscure and largely unrecognised kind of physics. Can they possibly be serious?

The AIAA is certainly not embarrassed. What's more, the US military has begun to cast its eyes over the hyperdrive concept, and a space propulsion researcher at the US Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories has said he would be interested in putting the idea to the test. And despite the bafflement of most physicists at the theory that supposedly underpins it, Pavlos Mikellides, an aerospace engineer at the Arizona State University in Tempe who reviewed the winning paper, stands by the committee's choice. "Even though such features have been explored before, this particular approach is quite unique," he says.

Unique it certainly is. If the experiment gets the go-ahead and works, it could reveal new interactions between the fundamental forces of nature that would change the future of space travel. Forget spending six months or more holed up in a rocket on the way to Mars, a round trip on the hyperdrive could take as little as 5 hours. All our worries about astronauts' muscles wasting away or their DNA being irreparably damaged by cosmic radiation would disappear overnight. What's more the device would put travel to the stars within reach for the first time. But can the hyperdrive really get off the ground?"

The rest of the article can be found here.

Exciting stuff? Well, maybe, but there are some caveats.

First, it's just a theory. There are a lot of theories running around these days.

Second, the theory has not been subjected to any meaningful peer review.

Third, as the article points out, "The general consensus seems to be that Dröscher and Häuser's theory is incomplete at best, and certainly extremely difficult to follow."

Further, as the article also points out, "In its present design, Dröscher and Häuser's experiment requires a magnetic coil several metres in diameter capable of sustaining an enormous current density. Most engineers say that this is not feasible with existing materials and technology..."

But...

"... Roger Lenard, a space propulsion researcher at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico thinks it might just be possible. Sandia runs an X-ray generator known as the Z machine which 'could probably generate the necessary field intensities and gradients'.

For now, though, Lenard considers the theory too shaky to justify the use of the Z machine. 'I would be very interested in getting Sandia interested if we could get a more perspicacious introduction to the mathematics behind the proposed experiment,' he says. 'Even if the results are negative, that, in my mind, is a successful experiment.'"

Hmm...

Hyperdrive - Incomplete. Improbable.

And also Intriguing.

Paul Kimball

Canadian Veterinary Journal article on Animal Mutilations

Here is the article I referenced in Fields of Fear - Teaser #2 from the Canadian Veterinary Journal, Volume 30, September 1989, pp. 742 - 747.

Paul Kimball

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Who is Stephen Lovekin?

One of Michael Salla's favourite "whistleblowers" is a guy named Stephen Lovekin. Lovekin was one of Steven Greer's Disclosure witnesses, and will be appearing at Salla's June 2006 Extraterrestrial Civilization & World Peace Conference. Here is what Salla says about Lovekin:

"Brig. General Stephen Lovekin who testified in the Disclosure Project also had important things to share about the Eisenhower administration's loss of control over ET affairs."

So - is Stephen Lovekin an important whistleblower (i.e. a former Brigadier General who had the ear of President Eisenhower and claims to have heard about ET matters while in the White House), or is he just another Corso-esque phoney).

Kevin Randle has looked into this question, and concluded that Lovekin is just another Corso. After looking into Lovekin's military background, Kevin states:

"There is no corroboration of his many claims of military service as a high-ranking officer, no verification of his positions in the White House and little reason to believe he was witness to the things he claims. Like so many of the other whistle blowers, he should be removed from our lists."

If for some reason that I cannot fathom you are thinking of attending Salla's conference, you might want to check out Kevin's research on Lovekin.

It will be interesting to see what the response is from the exopolitics crowd, and whether they can provide solid support for Lovekin's claims, which have clearly been called into question.

Paul Kimball

Friday, January 06, 2006

Fields of Fear - Teaser #2

At left is a photo from "Maggots, Mutilations and myth: Patterns of postmortem scavenging of the bovine carcass" by P. Nick Nation (Animal Health Division, Alberta Agriculture) and Elisabeth S. Williams (Wyoming State Veterinary laboratory, University of Wyoming), Canadian Veterinary Journal, Volume 30, September 1989, pp. 742 - 747. The article, and the conclusions of the authors, is referenced in the film.

Here's a quote from the article, which is a must-read for anyone who is interested in the subject:

"A characteristic of coyote feeding is the careful and clean manner in which the hide of a carcass is peeled from the meat, leaving a white patch of subcutaneous tissue. The skin is left virtually intact and there is very little tearing or shredding. Similarly, there is a very neat appearance to the skin wound produced by coyotes during their feeding. In contrast, they leave ragged edges on the underlying muscle and tendons. Coyotes pull off mouthfuls of food without bracing their feet against the carcass."

The authors conclusions?

"The parts reported missing from mutilated cattle are the same as those known to be removed by scavengers, primarily coyotes and birds, in the early stages of scavenging a carcass."

It is a conclusion, based on rigourous scientific research, that the mutologists rarely, if ever, reference.

Paul Kimball

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Synchronicity on Bravo

I received great news a couple of weeks ago (an early Christmas present). Bravo has given the green-light to a new documentary proposal, a film with the working title of Synchronicity. After wrapping up Fields of Fear, and then Best Evidence: Top 10 UFO Cases, I'll be leaving the UFO world for a while to go back to classical music (previous classical music projects include the documentary Denise Djokic: Seven Days Seven Nights, and two seasons of the performing arts series The Classical Now, all for Bravo).

Now, I love working with guys like Nick Redfern, Stan Friedman, Kevin Randle, Karl Pflock, Brad Sparks, Orlando Pla, Fern Belzil, and Scott Ramsey - all fine fellas - but it will be nice to get away from ufology, at least in the film sense, and work with Heather Schmidt and Shauna Rolston, two of the best classical musicians in the world today, and the subjects of Synchronicity.

Synchronicity will follow Heather as she composes a new piece for Shauna. The film will explore the relationship between composer and performer, and composition and performance. These are subjects that Heather touched upon briefly when she appeared on season 2 of The Classical Now. It will be great to work with her again, and to get a chance to work with Shauna, and take a look at the creative process from start to finish (the premiere performance of the new piece) through the eyes of the creators.

I'm very excited about this project!

For those who may not be familiar with Heather and Shauna, here are excerpts from their bios -their full bios, and all sorts of other information, can be found at their websites.

I do love my "job". :-)

Paul Kimball

Heather Schmidt - Heather Schmidt, pianist and composer, has emerged as one of the most talented, exciting and versatile musicians of her generation.

She has received national and international recognition through performances, broadcasts, commissions and awards in Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, England, Finland, Iceland, Mexico, and Brazil.

Originally from Calgary, Alberta, she is currently based in the United States. Heather received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Indiana University with double majors in composition and piano performance.

In 1996, at the age of 21, she became the youngest student to ever receive a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana.

Shauna Rolston - Having been named "Young Artist to Watch" by Musical America, celebrated cellist Shauna Rolston is considered to be one of the most compelling musicians of her generation.

Described as impressive, fearless, and provocative - her work powerful, intimate and pure- Shauna Rolston has been captivating audiences with her passion for music since the age of two.

Following her formative studies at the renowned Banff Centre, Shauna earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Yale
University and a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of
Music.

In addition to her busy concert and recording career, Shauna is a passionate and devoted educator. Much in demand as a guest master class instructor, Shauna is also a Professor of Cello and Co-Head of the String Department at the University of Toronto and a Visiting Artist for the Music and Sound Programs at The Banff Centre.

The Latest UFO Review is Top Notch

Check out the latest issue of Stuart Miller's on-line mag, UFO Review. Stuart always puts together an interesting read, but in this issue he's really hit the mark. There's an excellent, no-holds barred interview with UFO Updates / Strange Days... Indeed guru Errol Bruce-Knapp (more on that in a moment), as well as good interviews with the marvelously sexy paranormalist vixen supreme Kitty Klaw, and Joe McGonagle, owner and moderator of the "ufologyinuk" mailing list.

As an added bonus, for those of us that like lists and awards, Stuart provides his "The UFO Review Biggest Pile of Ufological Crap in 2005 Awards".

The interview with EBK is the best feature this month. Stuart goes all the way back to EBK's youth, and gives us an idea of the man, and the experiences he's had over the years that have brought him to the point he is at today. And Errol lets fly on some well-known figures in ufology, particularly the exopolitics crowd. An excerpt:

"SM: Why don’t you care for [Steven Greer]?

EBK: Because he’s a loose-cannon. The man is erratic and he can’t focus and UFOs is what we’re focussed on and this whole Star Dreams initiative, Star Wars Defence initiative, Steven Greer, the lying shysters and all of the other nonsense this man is spouting just gets in the way and up here in Canada we have one chance. Just like Greer had the one chance at the possibility of getting Senate Hearings in the United States and he blew it. He showed up at the press conference with all of these witnesses without having checked them all out and you got the Warrens and the Clifford Stones and a couple of other people there, all ready to swear on their lives, and lying shysters, some of them.

So what we have now going on is an absorption of Alfred Webre and Steven Greer and all his nonsense and Michael Salla and this is a combination that ain’t gonna work. And as I’ve said to Victor [Viggiani], my concern for Victor is that he’s going to get dragged down and tarred with the same brush as all of these other people. Exopolitics ain’t going to work. They have one run at it here and they’re going to blow it. Shall I tell you what I really think now?

SM: Why are you so confident that it won’t work?

EBK: The problem is, and it was the same thing with the potential for hearings in the United States, one or two bad apples in the barrel screws the whole barrel. You gotta toss ‘em all out. So all they have to do is investigate any one of these people and their claims, like Clifford Stone, who is a shinning example of an Exopolitics witness, and look into his background, and it turns out that very little of it is true, and its goodbye. You throw the baby out with the bath water, and that’s what concerns me.

Let’s focus on UFOs. Let’s not bother with free energy and Star Wars Defence initiatives and all of that stuff. Focus on UFOs. Why is Webre there? What does he contribute?

SM: He’s a futurist.

EBK: (Audible sigh). OK."

On this point, I couldn't agree with Errol more.

Good work, Stuart!

Paul Kimball

Fields of Fear - Teaser #1

Speaking of Kevin Randle (in uniform during his recent tour of duty in Iraq, at left), here is an excerpt from an interview with him in my upcoming documentary Fields of Fear, about the animal mutilation phenomenon:

"This idea that alien beings cross interstellar distances and mutilate cattle is absolutely ridiculous, and yet you can't convince people that it's ridiculous. When you look at the whole thing, and you look at study after study after study, when you look at the Rommel Report, you look at what's going on, that conclusion is absurd. It's easy - it's basically predators, with some other little things thrown in, [such as] farmers doing it for insurance money. I know of one case where hunters mutilated a cow for a joke that they were playing on their friends. They found a dead animal and they cut it up. They thought it was hilarious when they read the report in the newspaper. There's some of that going on, but for the most part what you've got is an event which is completely natural, that was understood 50 years ago, and now, suddenly, we have a dead animal, we have some damage to the carcass - well, obviously it's a cattle mutilation."

Kevin comes at the subject as someone who investigated animal mutes for APRO in the 1970s, and drew the conclusion that... well, see the quote above, AND who is an ETH proponent. An interesting perspective, to say the least.

The film will premiere on Space: The Imagination Station, sometime in spring 2006 (when the network notifies me of the exact date, I'll post it here).

Stay tuned for further "teasers".

Paul Kimball

Kevin Randle on Witnesses and the "Truth"

The following comes from Kevin Randle. It was posted at UFO Updates yesterday. As usual, Kevin is right on the mark.

Fans of the Wilbert Smith story in particular should take note - especially of the final paragraph. Everything Kevin is saying about Spitsbergen, and Arneson, applies to Smith, and probably Robert Sarbacher as well.

Paul Kimball

"So, I'm finishing up the work on the so-called BG Lovekin andI'm reading one of the Disclosure Project's documents. There I learn that Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Dwynne Arneson told Greer or one of his minions, "I was a top-secret control officer. I happened to see a classified message go through my com center which said, 'A UFO has crashed on the Island of Spitsbergen , Norway, and a team of scientists are coming toinvestigate it.'"

I have no real doubt that Dwynne Arneson was an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel or that he was a top-secret control officer. In fact, I have no doubt he saw the document he claimed to have seen because I have seen similar documents. That is, I have seen the once classified documents that related to the Spitsbergen crash.

But, as most of us know, the Spitsbergen crash, which can befound in the Project Blue Book files, is a hoax. It did appear in the German newspaper, the Berliner Volksblatt on July 9, 1952 and suggested that the crashed craft was of Soviet manufacture.

In later tellings of the story, the fact it was suspected ofbeing Russian because of the symbols on the craft andinstruments has been lost.

Other evidence suggests the story first appeared in anotherGerman publication Saarbrucker Zeitung on June 28. This article,too, suggested the craft was of Russian origin.

Later the information made it into UFO books without the references to Russian markings but a suggestion that this was an extraterrestrial craft. Researchers who have carefully reviewed the information believe the story to be a hoax, which ironically, agrees with the Blue Book assessment.

The point here, however, is that we have a witness who might be telling the truth about what he had seen, in fact probably is, but it's about a story that was a hoax. Too bad those involved with Project Disclosure couldn't take the time to research the case before releasing their information."

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Aliens or Celebrities - Who is More Real?

A Guest Column by Commander Zorgrot

A few news items that I noticed on AOL today should remind all of you Eathpeople that you don't really need we aliens to land on earth in order to see lifeforms that live in another world - that's what you have celebrities for!

Reading stuff like this, one can only marvel at those Earthpeople who think that having an interest in UFOs is weird.

Believe me, we ETs have nothing on these people in the weirdness department (and we don't crash our spaceships nearly as often as Lindsay Lohan crashes her car).

Zorgrot,
Commander

CHICAGO (KP International) - What do you do when you've got three dogs but would rather not have to clean up after them? If you're Oprah Winfrey, you leave the dirty work to someone else by hiring a doggy nanny. The 51-year-old multimedia icon last year adopted three golden retriever puppies - named Gracie, Luke and Layla - and was determined to take care of them on her own. But, according to Winfrey's best pal, Gayle King, too many sleepless nights spent attending to the three little handfuls' needs and one very messy evening during which the furry trio turned ill prompted a cranky Winfrey to seek out professional help.

LONDON (KP International) - When you pony up 3.5 million for a London mansion, it comes with everything you could possibly think of, including ghosts. Such, it seems, is the case with the Belsize Park estate purchased by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and his Oscar-winning wife, Gwyneth Paltrow. So, Paltrow sought advice from her pal Madonna, who pointed the 33-year-old film star in the direction of the London Kabbalah Centre. On the recommendation of Centre officials, Paltrow and Martin plan to have their home exorcised of what they've deemed its "bad energy." Apparently, the process will involve 10 male Kabbalah followers who will read a series of psalms and then blow a ram's horn. Paltrow is rumoured to be expecting the couple's second child and there has been speculation that the mansion's unwelcome, otherworldly guests have caused her pregnancy to be a difficult one.

NEW YORK (KP International) - A bizarre and seemingly ludicrous website posting insinuates actress Katie Holmes, currently betrothed to superstar Tom Cruise and carrying his baby, could be the reincarnation of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's gay son. According to "New York Post" scribes Richard Johnson and Philip Recchia, the site is accessible only to individuals who have relinquished their connection to the Church of Scientology.The strange proposition might have been posted by current Scientologists, the theory being that if the odd story spread it would discredit those who have left the fold. Scientologists accept that after death believers are "born again into the flesh of another body." Quentin Hubbard died in Las Vegas in 1976 under mysterious circumstances. (Holmes was born in 1978). The 22-year-old Quentin was discovered in a coma inside a car with its engine running.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

The Blog Evangelist

Like anyone recently converted to "something", I have become an evangelist for that "something" - in this case, blogging. It's as easy as 1-2-3, as evidenced by the fact that I have mastered the basic technical requirements to get up and running, and then keep on bloggin'. I tell all my pals to give it a go. I've been working on Stan Friedman to give it a try (I think his would be a very popular blog), but no luck yet, which is odd, given that "arch-rival" Kevin Randle has had a UFO blog up and running for some time now, and I've never known Stan to take a back-seat to Kevin on anything. C'mon, Stan - join the blogosphere!!

Of course, not all blogs are UFO-related (it just seems that way to me sometimes). My latest convert is my friend, Halifax actress Veronica Reynolds, who will be hosting the upcoming Best Evidence: Top 10 UFO Cases documentary, as well as providing some voice-over work for Fields of Fear. She has just started a blog called Am I There Yet.... Hurrah!

As for the rest of you, no time like the present to get the bloggin' bug!

For example, I'm waiting for my pal Ignatius T. Pig (aka Indiana Ig) to start one called I hate Liberals, especially liberals.

My old buddy Zeus T. Pig (formerly known as the Control Monkey) could start one called The B.B. Fortress, wherein he could post his "deep thoughts." Or maybe Sunken Costs.

My fiance Linda could start one called A House Full of Bears, or maybe just Stuffed.

My niece Emily could start one called Uncle Paul: Stinky No More.

My parents could start one called We Should Have Quit While We Were Ahead, about the idea of only having had one child, as opposed to three.

And so on.

I'm sure they would all make for riveting reading!

Paul Kimball

Monday, January 02, 2006

The Return of... Rich Reynolds?

Having gone to ground over the past couple of months, is it possible that the much-maligned Rich Reynolds and his RRR Group cohorts have decided to return to active blogging?

If so, looks like he's found religion!

Paul Kimball

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Start 2006 With a Laugh

I think it's always important to start the New Year with a chuckle or two. I've also always believed that the best humour is that which contains a kernel (or a bushel) of truth.

Keeping the above in mind, you might want to read this, which is both (a) funny, and (b) not completely inaccurate!

Of course, died-in-the-wool ETHers should probably not read click on the link - especially if you have high blood pressure.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Happy New Year!

Paul Kimball