Tag: Robert Sheaffer

Are the Aliens Us? UFOs May be Piloted by Time-Traveling Humans

 

Article by Leonard David                         January 20, 2020                           (space.com)

• UFOs have captured the public’s attention for decades and the discovery of new exoplanets is on the rise. Could reports of people coming into contact with alien beings actually be our own human descendants returning from the future to study their own evolutionary past? Michael Masters, a professor of biological anthropology at Montana Technological University in Butte (pictured above), has advanced this theory in his book, Identified Flying Objects: A Multidisciplinary Scientific Approach to the UFO Phenomenon.

• Reasoning why aliens are likely humans in the distant future, Masters notes that contactees typically describe extraterrestrial visitors as bipedal, human-like beings with the ability to communicate with us in our own languages. They possess advanced technology that is clearly built upon today’s technological prowess. Unlike an alien traveling vast distances across the galaxy to happen upon us, our descendants would already know that humans are on this Earth at this time. Says Masters, “I think the simplest explanation, innately, is that it is us.”

• Masters observes how much more we could learned about our own evolutionary history if we possessed the technology to visit the past. “The alleged abduction accounts are mostly scientific in nature,” says Masters. “It’s probably future anthropologists, historians, linguists that are coming back to get information in a way that we currently can’t without access to that technology.” Masters thinks that some are simply space tourists. “Undoubtedly in the future, there are those that will pay a lot of money to have the opportunity to go back and observe their favorite period in history.”

• Jan Harzan, executive director of the Mutual UFO Network, or ‘MUFON’, agrees with Masters. “[W]e know for sure is that we are not alone,” Harzan says. “Now the question becomes, ‘Who are they?’ And Masters makes a great case for the time-traveler hypothesis.”

• UFO skeptic Robert Sheaffer responds, “There is nothing (here) to take seriously, as it depends on the belief that ‘time travel’ is not only possible, but real.” “This is a highly dubious claim.” Sheaffer notes that Masters tries to deduce aliens’ evolutionary history from witness descriptions. “[H]e takes such accounts far too literally,” says Sheaffer.

• British astronomer and writer David Darling argues that there’s precious little credible evidence that big-brained aliens exist at all. He says that one of the least likely explanations for UFOs is that they are not of this world. So it’s just as reasonable to suppose that they might be time machines from our own future. But neither explanation is realistic, so “there’s really no need for such a thesis in the first place.” It’s all a myth.

• Larry Lemke, a retired NASA aerospace engineer, finds the prospect of time-travelling visitors from the future intriguing. “[T]hese (UFOs) don’t seem to be obeying the usual laws of aerodynamics and Newtonian mechanics,” said Lemke. Considering reports of ‘missing time’ and the consequences of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, some UFOs do demonstrate the effects of general relativity. The idea that somebody has figured out how to manipulate space-time, on a local scale with a low-energy approach, would explain a lot of things about the UFO phenomenon, including those baffling Tic-Tac-shaped objects reported by jet-fighter pilots and radar operators.

 

Unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have captured the public’s attention over the decades. As exoplanet detection is on the rise, why not consider that star-hopping visitors from afar might be buzzing through our friendly skies by taking an interstellar off-ramp to Earth?

On the other hand, could those piloting UFOs be us — our future progeny that have mastered the landscape of time and space? Perhaps those

          Jan Harzan of MUFON
  skeptic Robert Sheaffer

reports of people coming into contact with strange beings represent our distant human descendants, returning from the future to study us in their own evolutionary past.

The idea of us being them has been advanced before. But a recent book, “Identified Flying Objects: A Multidisciplinary Scientific Approach to the UFO Phenomenon” (Masters Creative LLC, 2019), takes a fresh look at this prospect, offering some thought-provoking proposals.

Multidisciplinary approach

The book was written by Michael Masters, a professor of biological anthropology at Montana Technological University in Butte. Masters thinks that – given the accelerating pace of change in science, technology, and engineering – it is likely that humans of the distant future could develop the knowledge and machinery necessary to return to the past.

The objective of the book, Masters said, is to spur a new and more informed discussion among believers and skeptics alike.

“I took a multidisciplinary approach in order to try and understand the oddities of this phenomenon,” Masters told Space.com. “Our job as scientists is

        UFO-denier David Darling

to be asking big questions and try to find answers to unknown questions. There’s something going on here, and we should be having a conversation about this. We should be at the forefront of trying to find out what it is.”

Human evolution

Dubbing these purported visitors “extratempestrials,” Masters notes that close-encounter accounts typically describe UFO tenants as bipedal, hairless, human-like beings with large brains, large eyes, small noses and small mouths. Further, the creatures are often said to have the ability to communicate with us in our own languages and possess technology advanced beyond, but clearly built upon, today’s technological prowess.

Masters believes that through a comprehensive analysis of consistent patterns of long-term biocultural change throughout human evolution — as well as recent advances in our understanding of time and time travel — we may begin to consider this future possibility in the context of a currently unexplained phenomenon.

“The book ties together those known aspects of our evolutionary history with what is still an unproven, unverified aspect of UFOs and aliens,” he said.

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UFOs Remain Elusive Despite Decades of Study

Listen to “E49 8-01-19 UFOs Remain Elusive Despite Decades of Study” on Spreaker.
by Leonard David                      June 27, 2019                     (livescience.com)

• The Mutual UFO Network, or ‘MUFON’, celebrates 50 years of UFO investigation and research. Based in Irvine, California, the all-volunteer, nonprofit organization has endeavored since 1969 to be the ‘refuge seeking answers to that most ancient question, are we alone in the universe?’ The answer, very simply, is no.

• Jan Harzan has been the executive director for MUFON since August 2013. “I’ve seen these craft. I know they are real,” he told Space.com. “I can’t tell you where they’re from. …But they are advanced technology.” Harzan continues, “We have over 100,000 UFO cases in our files … and it’s growing. We currently have worldwide over 500 certified MUFON field investigators that go out and look at each one of these cases.”

• A MUFON Science Review Board consists of scientists with degrees in physics, chemistry, geology and electrical engineering. Their work experience includes NASA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and France’s national space program, CNES. The MUFON Board reviews the best cases and strongest cases that cannot be identified as any known object.

• Nearly 34% of reports coming into MUFON can be identified, be they aircraft, rocket launches, satellites, drones, astronomical events, or even Chinese lanterns. For example, Google’s Project Loon uses high-flying balloons to bring Wi-Fi internet to rural areas. It has repeatedly prompted UFO reports. “But on the other hand,” says Harzan, “when you read some of the reports – we call it the 5% – one out of twenty – that are incredible observations by very articulate and credible people, you get about 5% of cases that are so rock solid.”

• Harzan says that these extraterrestrial beings have advanced physics that we don’t yet understand, and which our current science is incapable of understanding. “I personally believe,” says Harzan, “once we do, we’ll be out there doing the same thing that they are doing. We’re probably 20 to 30 years away from being the aliens.”

• Former UFO investigator for the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence, Nick Pope compares the UFO community, and the MUFON subset, to a “broad church” – a group of people who have a range of different views, yet bound together by a common interest. As in the UFO community, MUFON has had its disputes and feuds. Pope maintains that “None of this detracts from the fact that [MUFON] provides a valuable service to UFO witnesses, with field investigators looking into the sightings, sometimes turning up a conventional explanation and other times simply giving perplexed witnesses someone with whom to engage.”

• “MUFON is clearly at a disadvantage,” Pope says, “given that most of their members are nonscientists.” But he doesn’t think this is necessarily a problem. MUFON provides the necessary day-to-day business of investigating UFOs, with interviews, evidence gathering, tracking down leads, and double checking facts. “Scientific advice should be sought when necessary – for instance, if a soil sample needs to be checked for radioactivity,” Pope said. “I don’t think we should get too hung up on whether or not MUFON as a whole is sufficiently scientific.”

• It is becoming harder to weed out and identify “real” UFOs, Harzan admitted. In 1987, MUFON fired two investigators who labeled some MUFON-endorsed Gulf Breeze photos as a hoax and disavowed their report. This caused a stir in the organization. In 2017, MUFON lost a number of experienced investigators when they invited proponents of the breakaway “secret space program” to participate in its symposium panels in Las Vegas. Robert Sheaffer, a leading UFO skeptic says, “MUFON proclaims its dedication to the scientific method in UFO investigations, but it seldom lives up to that ideal.”

• Sheaffer also points to MUFON providing cases for the producers of the TV series “Hangar 1”, which premiered in 2014 on The History Channel, which was “almost universally panned by serious UFO investigators for its sensationalist approach. “However, it too has been extremely successful in bringing people into MUFON,” said Sheaffer.

• [Editor’s Note]   I like this Jan Harzan. Harzan says that no, we are not alone. He isn’t afraid of allowing for an extraterrestrial explanation. He reports that “nearly 34% of reports coming into MUFON can be identified”, therefore 66% are not identified. And that “5% – one out of twenty – are “incredible observations by very articulate and credible people.” “Rock solid.” I agree that MUFON is no less a valid UFO organization than the “scientific” organizations such as SETI, or academic institutions such as Harvard, Oxford and the Smithsonian Museum. In fact, I prefer these citizen investigations and tend to trust their reports. These are people who are motivated by getting to the truth, and they are not likely to be bought off or influenced by Deep State agents. On the other hand, the aforementioned organizations and institutions are an obvious front for the Deep State, predisposed to refute and deny any existence of extraterrestrial UFOs at all.

 

In July, the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) celebrates 50 years of investigating and promoting research on the unidentified flying object phenomenon. The all-volunteer, nonprofit, science-based organization has endeavored since 1969 to hunt down answers about baffling vehicles of unknown origin.

Based in Irvine, California, MUFON makes its credo clear-cut on its website: “Our goal is to be the inquisitive minds’ refuge seeking answers to that most ancient question, ‘Are we alone in the universe?’ The answer, very simply, is no. Whether you have UFO reports to share, armchair UFO investigator aspirations, or want to train and join our investigation team, MUFON is here for you. Won’t you please join us in our quest to discover the truth?”

After five decades, has there been any scientific pay dirt in studying UFOs? Are we inching closer to the truth that is perhaps out there?

Share the data

Jan Harzan is MUFON’s executive director, manning that post since August 2013.

“I’ve seen these craft. I know they are real,” he told Space.com. “I can’t tell you where they’re from. I don’t know if they are ours or belong to somebody else or whatever. But they are advanced technology.”

The world needs to understand UFOs, Harzan said. “This is real. We’ve got to put the data out there and share it. We have over 100,000 UFO cases in our files … and it’s growing. We currently have worldwide over 500 certified MUFON field investigators that go out and look at each one of these cases,” he said.

A MUFON Science Review Board (SRB) consists of scientists with degrees in physics, chemistry, geology and electrical engineering. Their work experience includes NASA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and France’s national space program, CNES. The SRB reviews the best cases from the year to identify the strongest cases that cannot be identified as any known object.

Big leap

Assuming that weirdness in the sky represents an alien visitation is a big leap. But who knows?

Nearly 34% of reports coming into MUFON can be identified, be they aircraft, rocket launches, satellites, astronomical happenings — even Chinese lanterns (small hot air balloons made of paper) or the proliferating number of military, police and citizen-run drones of all shapes and sizes. For example, Google’s Project Loon, which uses high-flying balloons to bring Wi-Fi internet to rural areas, has repeatedly stirred up UFO reports.

It is becoming harder to weed out and identify “real” UFOs, Harzan admitted.

“But on the other hand, when you read some of the reports — we call it the 5%, one out of 20 — that are incredible observations by very articulate and credible people,” he said, “you get about 5% of cases that are so rock solid.”

Old beliefs

Harzan said that the No. 1 stumbling block to advancement as a civilization is holding on to old beliefs. Is our science even capable of understanding what UFOs truly represent?

“We have to be able to let go of some old beliefs, because maybe the way we think the universe works isn’t how it really works,” Harzan said. “I personally believe that these are extraterrestrial beings that have advanced physics that we don’t yet understand. And once we do, we’ll be out there doing the same thing that they are doing. We’re probably 20 to 30 years away from being the aliens.”

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The UFO Sightings That Launched ‘Men in Black’ Mythology

by Justin Sablich                    July 20, 2018                    (history.com)

• On June 27, 1947, Harold Dahl was boating on the Puget Sound near the eastern shore of Washington’s Maury Island when he saw six donut-shaped objects hovering about a half a mile above his boat. Suddenly, one of them fell nearly 1,500 feet raining metallic debris, some of which hit Dahl’s son, Charles, on his arm, as well as the family dog who didn’t survive. Dahl was able to take some pictures of the UFO with his camera which he later showed to his supervisor, Fred Crisman. A skeptical Crisman went back to the scene to look for himself and saw a strange aircraft with his own eyes.

• The following morning, Dahl was visited by a man in a black suit. At a local diner the man was able to recount in extraordinary detail what Dahl had just experienced. “What I have said is proof to you that I know a great deal more about this experience of yours than you will want to believe,” the man said, according to author Gray Barker’s 1956 book They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers. Dahl was told not to speak of the incident, or else bad things would happen.

• Dahl and Crisman called Kenneth Arnold, a pilot who had his own UFO encounter on June 24, 1947 near Mt. Rainier, Washington, three days after the Maury Island incident. This touched off the ‘flying saucer’ sensation.

• The mention of the man in the black suit would evolve into a key obsession for UFO enthusiasts and spread into American popular culture, thanks to a comic-book series and a blockbuster movie trilogy on the ‘Men in Black’. MIBs typically show up to muzzle witnesses of paranormal phenomena. They almost always wear black suits and hats with dark sunglasses, drive black cars and arrive in groups of two or three. Sometimes the MIB will have supernatural features like glowing eyes and strange complexions.

• Dahl and Crisman reached out to a Chicago magazine in an attempt to sell their story. The magazine editor contacted Arnold, hoping he could help verify their account. Arnold summoned two Army A-2 Intelligence officers to aid in the investigation of Dahl and Crisman’s claim. Afterward, the intelligence officers left aboard a B-25 plane. The plane caught fire and crashed, killing both officers.

• In 1956, author Grey Barker wrote a book on the Maury Island incident and mentioned that, just as a man in a black suit met with Harold Dahl after the incident, three men in black suits also met with another UFO enthusiast named Albert K. Bender in 1953. This sparked the ‘Men In Black’ lore. Barker described Bender’s visitors as, “Three men in black suits with threatening expressions on their faces. Three men who walk in on you and make certain demands. Three men who know that you know what the saucers really are!”

• In 1962, Bender wrote his own book and described the MIB as follows: “They floated about a foot off the floor… They looked like clergymen, but wore hats similar to Homburg style. The faces were not clearly discernible, for the hats partly hid and shaded them… The eyes of all three figures suddenly lit up like flashlight bulbs… They seemed to burn into my very soul as the pains above my eyes became almost unbearable.” But Barker’s motives were questioned. UFO researcher Robert Sheaffer corresponded with Barker and found that Barker “did not take the MIB… very seriously.”

• Nevertheless, countless MIB encounters have been reported over the past 60 years, not to mention books and motion pictures on the topic.

 

It’s possible that the story of the Men in Black, the mysterious figures that would become the subject of fascination in UFO conspiracy circles and eventually break into mainstream popular culture, can be traced back to one day: June 27, 1947. It’s quite possible that it all started with a man, a boy and a dog on a boat.

               Harold Dahl

As the story goes, Harold Dahl was on a conservation mission on the Puget Sound near the eastern shore of Washington’s Maury Island, gathering logs, when he saw six donut-shaped obstacles hovering about a half a mile above his boat. Before long, one of them fell nearly 1,500 feet, followed by raining, metallic debris, some of which hit Dahl’s son, Charles, on his arm, as well as the family dog, who didn’t survive the ordeal. Dahl was able to take some pictures of the aircraft with his camera, which he later showed to his supervisor, Fred Crisman. A skeptical Crisman went back to the scene to look for himself and saw a strange aircraft with his own eyes.

The following morning, Dahl was visited by a man in a black suit. They end up at a local diner, where the man was able to recount in extraordinary detail what Dahl had just experienced. “What I have said is proof to you that I know a great deal more about this experience of yours than you will want to believe,” the man said, according to author Gray Barker’s 1956 book They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers.

Dahl was told not to speak of the incident. If he did, bad things would happen.

The supposed events of Maury Island have continued to fuel conspiracy theories to this day, even though a U.S. government investigation deemed it a hoax after Dahl and Crimson later admitted as much. In particular, the mention of the man in the black suit would evolve into a key obsession for UFO enthusiasts and spread into American popular culture, thanks to a comic-book series and a blockbuster movie trilogy.

                    Kenneth Arnold

In all of their different incarnations, the Men in Black (MIB) usually have one main purpose: to muzzle witnesses of strange, paranormal phenomena. They almost always wear black suits and hats with dark sunglasses, drive black cars and arrive in groups of two or three. Some describe them as one would an FBI agent, while others recall the MIB as having strange appearances, sometimes with supernatural features like glowing eyes and strange complexions.

So how did we get from Harold Dahl to Will Smith?

“The transformation of the story from a first press report to a folkloric tale to a comic book and now to a film illustrates how the myth is transformed,” wrote Phil Patton in The New York Times around the time the first Men in Black movie was released in 1997. “That process is not unlike the children’s game of ‘telephone’ or what the literary critic Harold Bloom calls ‘innovation by misinterpretation.’ ”

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