I can't say that I really agree with Chris on this. Ufology has always had it's hoaxes and crazies, but as long as there are a few people still doing real research Ufology isn't dead. Actually, Chris is one of the good ones.
Ufology Research: The demise of ufology
7 comments:
I don't agree either. So called "ufology" is shifting, like all systems are doing.
People who say they take UFOs seriously have to broaden their definitions and ideas about UFOs.
UFOlogy has always had its crazies -- and its disinfo agents. Nothing new, nothing different.
Actually it's all a good thing, the internet, the shifts... I see it as positive.
If I may, I'm not sure if I agree or disagree w/ him, but I do understand his underlying frustration. It seems that the folks in my local UFO group & the local MUFON group have lost any power of discernment. Some guy puts a theory out on C2C, which is fine, but suddenly, w/out thinking it over, it is gospel to many of my friends. If I point out flaws in the idea, or explain why such & such is a hoax, it's like talking to a brick wall, or, worse, a broken record - "That's just disinfo", "That's the gov't talking". I've been seriously considering saving what's left of my patience and just getting out.
I don't know if this is the death of ufology, maybe it is just shifting, & hopefully it is shifting for the better. But from what I see, I have my doubts.
I guess I should also mention that I don't remember them being like that even a year ago. So, really, the question could be, who's changing, them or me?
Interesting to see all the usual suspects come out of the fearful woodwork to celebrate what they feel they can take as a reason to stop all regard of the UFO as some terrifying intelligence apart from ourselves, and unspeakable, therefore, for that. ...Reassert their mawkish and overweening secular humanism as bereft of humility as they are devoid of imagination... reestablish their supposed place as the default jewel in creation's crown. This earns a sneer all by itself.
Sorry, fellow pilgrims, I shan't allow the intellectually turgid affectations of the artlessly slandering Rich Reynolds —forgetting the equally artless murder of retro-steppers he controls, RRR Group— spin CR's essay into anything other than it was: a reflection on accelerating change in a venue remaining extant and reasserting itself to thousands periodically and entirely apart from the incessant whining, indolent complaint, and rank intellectual cowardice from those unwilling to embrace a looming and inexorable future.
Ufological regard "dead," Richey? Don't get your hopes up. Forgetting the UFO won't stand for it itself, as history seems to illustrate, Rutkowski doesn't bear out _your_ hoped for, or errantly projected, conclusions, either. Return to the clue queue. Look somewhere else for support of your irrelevant, invalidated, and irredeemable personal philosophies. It's not here.
To see that serious research on UFO phenomena hasn't died, it just isn't sexy enough for the average Web surfer who wants a daily dose of orbs and alleged abductions, please visit this site . . . http://www.narcap.org/
These guys know their stuff and take a no-nonsense, empirical approach to UFO research. Yeah, they actually DO research, not just bash each other online.
The name "UFOLOGY" has the same negative connotations in society as "ALCHEMY" had a few century ago. Those alchemists that wanted to continue their research seriously and honestly despite widespread criticism for alchemy changed the name of their profession, and so "CHEMISTRY" was born in our modern sense. The same should happen with serious ufologists: They should become "EXOBIOLOGISTS" and continue their work in the realm of the science of exobiology. That's the way in which science shares the concept of possible life outside Earth, and it is an opportunity to embrace.
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