Russian sky and space weirdness continues. We've had the Blue Spiral ("failed Russian missile"), pyramid UFOs over the Kremlin, and now this: news from Russia's space agency that it plans to:

knock a large asteroid off course and reduce the chances of earth impact, even though U.S. scientists say such a scenario is unlikely.

The asteroid is Apophis; 885 foot (give or take I'm sure) object that isn't worrying US scientists much:

NASA had put the chances that Apophis could hit Earth in 2036 as 1-in-45,000. In October, after researchers recalculated the asteroid's path, the agency changed its estimate to 1-in-250,000.
NASA said another close encounter in 2068 will involve a 1-in-330,000 chance of impact.

"It wasn't anything to worry about before. Now it's even less so," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Russia sees things differently:

Without mentioning NASA's conclusions, Perminov said that he heard from a scientist that Apophis is getting closer and may hit the planet. "I don't remember exactly, but it seems to me it could hit the Earth by 2032," Perminov said.

"People's lives are at stake. We should pay several hundred million dollars and build a system that would allow us to prevent a collision, rather than sit and wait for it to happen and kill hundreds of thousands of people," Perminov said.

Russia's space agency feels confident they can build what they need to build in time, and successfully complete their mission. But this last statement, by the Institute of Astronomy Director Boris Shustov, is cryptic:

"Apophis is just a symbolic example, there are many other dangerous objects we know little about"

The juicy invitation to speculate that this comment hands us is too interesting to ignore ... UFOs? Disclosure? War? Political posturing? Staged events: religious, alien, etc?
"Apophis" is the Egyptian:

demon serpent of darkness whom Ra, as sun god, destroys every morning at dawn

What we can't do with that fun fact of esoteric imagery! (Remember the recent BVM apparition in Egypt earlier this month.)  In the context of the already mentioned Russian displays, the plans to plan to plan an attack on Apophis, combined with Shustov's comment, we can expect more Fortean and generally weird things to come surrouding Russia.

Notes

Russia may send spacecraft to knock away asteroid
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_russia_ast...

Infoplease
http://dictionary.infoplease.com/apophis

Apophis, Enemy of Re 
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/...

The BVM made an appearence in Egypt this month:Virgin Mary appearing in Egypt? Video

Hundreds, if not thousands, have been lining up for hours every night at the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church in a Cairo neighborhood just off the Nile. Many of them claim that a mysterious light hovering above the church's domes is an apparition of the Virgin Mary who will bring Christian Copts prosperity and relief in a time of national and religious struggle.

The crowds began appearing Thursday evening when a number of residents spotted a flickering light. No one was sure where the illumination was coming from, and word quickly spread that the light took the shape of the Virgin Mary wearing a blue gown and standing in the sky between the church's two high crosses.

There is a video clip at the above link on Beliefnet.com, with a link to the following clip on YouTube:

The image shown reminded me of the BVM's appearence in Zeitun, Egypt, from 1968 to 1971. Similar white, cut-out type figure, and pigeons. Pigeons are mentioned in the recent BVM apparition as well:

The scene on Saturday was huge when we saw the lightning and white pigeons flying around us. White pigeons always accompany apparitions like these," one Copt told The Times.

Watching the clip shown here, an orange light can be seen flickering off towards the end of the clip, as if the image of Mary was being projected from that source.

Coming in on the heels of other recent weirdness in the world, this BVM apparition doesn't seem to be a paranormal event, but part of the staging I refered to in my earlier post on UFO Mary, Red Hooded Woman Attacks Pope As Part of Global Staging. Signs in the skies: UFOs for the saucer heads (Kremlin, etc.) blue spirals in Norway for the skeptics and rational, the BVM for the religious. And to keep us on our toes, failed Nigerian bombers and attacks on Italian authorities; the Pope, again performed for the religious, the Prime Minister for the rest of us.

Control, fear and wonder all at once. All are distractions, seemingly without connection to each other. Year end strangeness; it appears to be a bit much.

Saucer Sightings is such a predictable and bore of a title that I though surely someone had taken it long ago, but according to blogger it's available. I told myself I wouldn't create another blog after Women Of Esoterica, and I really came down on myself after UFO-Mary, but then I went ahead and created Saucer Sightings. I'm not listening to myself very well. (and notice how I smoothly got in some shameless self promotion there.) The reason why I started Saucer Sightings was to have one place where all of my UFO and related, strange, Fortean, paranormal sightings/experiences can be found. I got tired of rewriting and retelling some of my UFO sightings, etc. so I put them all in one place.
http://saucersightings.blogspot.com

I showed my husband the images of the holes on Mars. Being the irrepressible amateur psyhcis/engineer/astro-sci guy he is, he was astounded. Why hadn’t he heard of this, he demanded in excitement. Well dear, I love you, but that’s what you get for being the unique computer impaired individual you are. (He still doesn't’ quite get the whole how to look up a blog or do your own e-mail thing. He’s a genius, but a quirky one. He uses the computer for his art; that’s it. E-mail? What e-mail? He doesn’t have a clue how to get to my blog, set up e-mail, or go to Netflix. Like the cliché absent minded professor for, he’ll spend hours on the computer working on his creative designs. But send someone an e-mail? Hasn’t a clue, and doesn’t want one. That’s okay, he puts air in my tires for me, I do the e-mails.)

So he was very excited about the holes, and immediately began theorizing. He’s doubtful they’re natural, and noticed right away the holes are in pairs; meaning, close to together; approximately 150 feet apart, and each roughly the size of a football field. He went from there to speculating each pair contains an entrance, and an exit. One for craft to go in, one to come out.

I must say, there are some days -- most days -- when it does seem obvious there’s all kinds of stuff going on up there. The alien scenario on Mars is too easy; the FACE, the pyramids, the holes, the chalky spindly buggers with the black protective lenses; all adds up beings living underground on Mars. The information is there hiding in plain sight.

Richard Hoagland talks way too much, goes off on tangents, and has been subjected to so much, he’s lost it a bit, but he’s the man who brought it all to our attention years ago. Mac Tonnies does very good work about Mars on The Cydonian Imperative site, and there are others.

We don’t know if the holes are the work of extraterrestrials, or natural formations of course. But the FACE, I’m sticking to it; it’s there all right.

(Now, why can’t I get from there to the idea that “alien abductions” are literally happening, as I’ve commented recently on the Book of Thoth thread. If I can believe the FACE is real, and that it’s possible aliens are living within Mars, what’s stopping me from accepting the next logical step in the progression, that aliens from Mars are abducting us? Well, that’s a whole other story, I guess.)

Notes
Book of Thoth thread: Invisible, Intelligent Aliens:
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/ftopict-122...

I’m indulging myself in a huge speculative what if. This news item is the inspiration: Dark Caverns Discovered on Mars.

This isn’t up to the minute news. This has been out for awhile. As a visitor to Mac Tonnies blog Post Human Blues noted, (where I found the link to the item) it’s surprising this hasn’t received more attention from UFO bloggers. (Mac Tonnies has done quite a lot of thinking about Mars; see After the Martian Apocalypse.)

I skimmed past the item when it came out; I remember reading the headline but didn’t stop to look. As I’ve commented recently, too many things to keep up on in UFO Land.

There has been some commentary. Greg Bishop, of UFO Mystic, wrote an entry about the holes. Large, Deep Caves Confirmed on Mars. And before that, Nick Redfern also of UFO Mystic, had a notice about the holes. Caves on Mars?

But this is big news. Very interesting indeed. There is not just one hole, but seven. Seven holes on Mars, leading to . . . where? What is their purpose, what is the cause? This naturally leads to some Richard Hoagland like speculation as to the purposes of the holes. Do they lead to tunnels? Underground caverns where the grays dwell? That explains their huge black never ending wrap around eyes. Maybe their real eyes are barely there, and what we see when we are hypnotized by those black eyes are some kind of protection against the light when they’re outside their tunnels. Come to think of it, didn’t Hoagland say something about this on C2C a year or so ago? No, I think it was someone else. I do remember a male guest going on about beings living underground on Mars. Maybe it was a remote viewer. I tend to get them mixed up; that’s what happens when I listen to C2C as I fall asleep.

Maybe the holes were made by us. We’ve been up there for some time, doing god knows what. Probably all kinds of juicy Dr. Evil Illuminati stuff. Or it could be the Nazis. That’s where they’re keeping all those UFOs.

The evidence doessupport the extraterrestrial theory; whether they’re no longer here, being a once but ancient species, or are quite well and alive up there at this moment. Either way, it seems very probable they’re up there. I think they’re up there right now. But that’s my opinon.

Silliness aside, these holes are truly interesting, and remind us that Mars is a highly intriguing planet, with or without extraterrestrials.

I know I’ve written about this before, but a recent blog posting has me going.

I am as intrigued by those that study (and pretend to study) UFOs as I am the UFOs themselves. And so, I ask once more: what is it about the honest and genuine pursuit of the “UFO question” that just bugs the flippin’ crap out of some people?

They complain, frequently (and often rudely) that the exploration of UFOs is a time waster. And often they spend the same amount of time complaining about this as the so-called UFO time waster who’s wasting time. And anyway, it’s not theirtime, so who cares? As far as I’m concerned, a lot of people waste a lot of time on things, but I don’t waste my time telling them. (And no, thinking it’s ironic that I’m commenting on time wasters is not correct. They started it, and it’s my experience (s).)

It’s a waste of time for different reasons: no answers yet, not after thousands of years, lights in the sky, big whoop, the study of UFOs hasn’t “contributed” anything of merit to culture, society, scientific and academic institutions. That’s subjective, and I naturally disagree with that opinion, but, everyone’s entitled to their opinion. But I’m baffled as to why their incessant need to remind the rest of us of their highly subjective and tunnel visioned views every few weeks? Even with those last two aside (subjectiviy and narrow mindness) the question remains: why the persistant ire over those of us that ask, seek, wonder, explore, study, and research?

I suppose one of the things that amazes me about this view is that the critics of UFO studies don’t stop to ask the experiencer. Or witness, Contactees, abductee, whatever term you prefer. They’ll snidely give all kinds of pop culture psychological pontifications on a particular witness or researcher, but it’s often as far as it goes. They don’t seem to stop and think about one obvious thing: a really weird thing happened, and there are a lot of people who want to find out what that really weird thing was. During that process of finding out, a lot of interesting things happen along the way. Often, it is not so much about “the answer” as the journey itself. Or, the personal answers one finds is just that: personal and therefore highly individual.

Why is this so difficult to comprehend?

Yes, these things (UFOs) have been seen in the skies since forever. Along with all kinds of paranormal/supernatural experiences, UFOs have been with humanity a very, very long time. Have we gotten any closer to the “answer?” Maybe that’s the wrong question. It’s possible seeking one size fits all, magical answer is the wrong objective.

My journey has taken me a lot of places, personally, spiritually, and socially. Sometimes it is merely on the same level as a quilting bee. So what? Often times it’s much deeper. That is for me to judge, no one else.

Look, if you’ve experienced episodes of missing time, seen several UFOs, had psychic communication with others in the context of UFOs, with the UFOs themselves, and entities, I’d suspect you’d be “wasting time” trying to find out what the hell happened, just like I’m doing.

And if you’re not, that’s your choice too. (Alhtough, really, I am very curious as to know why you’re not.)

The point is, a lot of us have experienced some very weird things, and/or are fascinated by the phenomena. The reasons for this interest vary, but I suspect that somewhere in there, is included a process to bring us closer to something. A spirituality, perhaps? Maybe. A psychological, creative understanding of self, and our relation to others? Very probably. What’s wrong with that? Not a damn thing.

Then, too, there’s some of what all this UFO research reveals on the dark side: conspiracies, cover-ups, factual and historical doings of our government. (And others.) MK Ultra, for example. Not pretty.

We gain insights into our society, culture, different religions, the “folk,” mythologies, creativity, spiritually, and so much more studying UFOs.

No, it hasn’t cured cancer, stopped wars, ended world wide suffering in any way. Should it? Why do some expectit to? I don’t, and I never have.

It’s not people like myself, who are usually considered the kooks, who are guilty of magical thinking. I don’t expect UFOs to fix the ills of the world. I expect us -- you and me -- to fix them.

In the meantime, those who choose to study UFOs are hardly harming anyone, and often are bringing change in various and small ways. What are the critics doing? Nothing, except complaining about, and insulting, others.

A lot of “pro UFO” pundits as well as the usual: chronic skeptics, etc. attack exopolitics. I’ve attacked exopolitics. But I’m not sure why.

I take that back. I suspect much of it has to do with those that get all “New Agey” over all the varieties of ET and the whole higher love vibration buzz. I’ve been to meetings and read on-line and after awhile, it gets kind of numbing. The naiveté gets to me as well. ET or no (and I’m of the opinion aliens from space -- or at least, aliens of some kind -- are here) we still live in the “real” world, whatever the hell that is. We still have real issues to deal with and sometimes, when I get home from work, and my feet -- my whole damn body is killing me, and I’m exhausted, and I bills to pay, and all that other crap, the last thing I want to hear about is some dewey eyed ramblings about ET. Screw you! I want to scream. But then they’d just tell me I’m “hanging onto negativity” and it won’t be until I “get past my baggage” and relax and follow the love beam will I be “happy.” As I said, dahlings -- screw you, and bring me another glass of wine.

Some of these types are very condescending. Some are living in some happy dippy fantasy land. Some have read just enough books, but not enough, and their pompous little pontifications about the universe and ET and “baggage” want to me make me thump them over the head with a stuffed bunny. (toy bunny, not real bunny. Preferably with a pancake on its head.)

Exopolitics is speculation. It’s even, as Kyle King the UFO blogger wrote awhile back (and whatever happened to him? Anyone know?) arrogant. It’s arrogant because none of us know what ET, or the ETS, are up to or what their agenda is.

Believing in, or working diligently towards full disclosure is naive, at best. Does anyone really, truly, seriously believe the government -- any government? -- is going to just tell us the truth in this context?
And even if an ET in some form; Reptilian, grey, tall Nordic, blue robed hooded dwarf, or preying mantis, appeared to someone and told them “the truth” -- how do you know it’s the truth? Just because some being from somewhere told you so? (er, isn’t that how religions started?)

But. All that aside, leave them alone. Because (with the given of the obvious hucksters) they mean well. Their intentions, even as wrapped up in ego as they may be at times, are good. They may be all warm and fuzzy and even silly. Or frustratingly pompous. But they want love, they want peace, they think no evil.

So give them a break, and lighten up. They’re just trying to get at the truth. That’s what we’re all trying to do, isn’t it? And their only “agenda” is love and peace.

And the way things are going now, that is not at all a bad thing.

More insights into pathological skepticism, or “chronic, cultural” skepticism, to use Colin Bennett’s terms. (See Bennett’s article Scepticism as Mystique, December UFO magazine, December 2006.)

This is from author Michael Prescott’s blog and his recent article
Bully for skepticism!

“Item: After the publishing house Macmillan announces acquisition of Immanuel Velikovsky's book Worlds in Collision, which makes unorthodox claims about the origins and history of the solar system, famed astronomer Harlow Shapley lobbies the publisher to prevent the book's publication. He fails. According to philosopher David Stove, Shapley then arranges for "denunciations of the book, still before its appearance, by an astronomer, a geologist, and an archaeologist," none of whom have read it. Other reviews by "professors who boasted of never having read the book" follow, and Velikovsky is "rigorously excluded from access to learned journals for his replies." The anti-Velikovsky forces then compel the firing of the long-time Macmillan senior editor who bought the book, even though it has become a bestseller. They also get the Hayden Planetarium's director fired "because he proposed to take Velikovsky seriously enough to mount a display about the theory." Under intense and continuing pressure, Macmillan eventually transfers the book to rival Doubleday, "which, as it has no textbook division, is not susceptible to professorial blackmail."

As the above shows, the tactics of these chronic skeptics are unethical, though sadly typical. Why the Pelicanists, etc. seem to prefer to behave like Bette Davis on her best flamboyant drama queen melodrama days is an intriguing sociological question to ponder.

I’ve given up on the pondering part long ago; I’ll leave that to others who study the sociology of scientism. Still, I enjoy, and believe it’s a worthy act, to point out the actions that range from amusing to outrageous, of the “skeptoids.”

No matter how many times those of us who point out these behaviors and tactics state that it is the actions, not mere skepticism itself, that is the issue, it falls on deaf ears. Prescott writes:

“I’m not endorsing the validity of all the unconventional theories mentioned above. In particular, I think Velikosky and Reich are unlikely to have been correct. All that interests me, in citing these instances (and there are many others that could be added to the list), is this question: What are the powers of establishment science so afraid of? Why would people who are genuinely confident that they have reason on their side resort to character assassination, ostracism, threats, and even police action to enforce their opinions?

In other words, why do the self-styled defenders of reason, science, progress, and civilization so often act like bullies and thugs?

Excellent questions.

Irrational rationalists also resort to hyperbole and thin skinned, over the top silliness, as in comparing being called a “thug,” or a “skeptoid” to being called a racial or ethnic slur, as I wrote this September (The Usual Purple Tinged Hyperbole About UFOs

Rabid skepticism abhors the UFO-abduction phenomena of course, and doesn’t hold back when it comes to television. I found an interesting post at UFO Updates from 2001. Posted by John Velez, it discusses the PBS NOVA program on UFOs and abductions as written about by Terry Hansen in his excellent book, The Missing Times.

There are endless examples of course: The Amazing Randi and his on-going battles with Uri Geller, the sTarbaby scandal, Phillip Klass, etc.

Thuggish and dishonest tactics, as well as disingenuousness, have always been a part of scientism in general (they are scientism) as well as UFOlogy. No doubt much of it is intentional disinformation, the rest, picked up by the individual rabid skeptic, and, unaware he/she is being used, happily passes along such behaviors.

While this campaign of disinformation and witless acceptance by unsuspecting individuals can be said of many a UFOlogist, that’s another article for another day.

The other day on my blog The Orange Orb I wrote an article ( My Cat's Name is Roswell: UFOlogical Integration ) on the alien like graffiti by an artist who calls himself U.F.O. These images are appearing all over the world everywhere you expect to see graffiti. As I wrote the other day, there is the question of appropriation in all this alien symbolism and “UFO integration.” And there's another question as well; that of appropriatio.

There’s the appropriation of the artist by others; the authors of the book U.F.O., those promoters of events connected to the book, UFO people, etc.

And then there’s the issue of the image itself, purportedly stolen, or appropriated, or inspired, depending on your perspective and cultural politics. The image is of Wandjina, an Aboriginal image of their creator.

In Anger as graffiti of Aboriginal god spreads to city journalist Kate Thomas writes about the mixed emotions of Aborigines to the sudden appearance of their god in out of context places. The graffiti appearances of Wandjiina (“wandering Wandjinna”) in Perth has upset many in the Aboriginal community.

There's something to be said for this reaction; of feeling once again marginalized by the domninant, and different, culture. I was involved in a presentation of Native American symbols and images, in the context of stereotypes and appropriation; among other things, we held up a plush, polka dotted
Kokepeli. The presenter asked the young audience what would they think if someone did this about Jesus? Shocked gasps, denials , and insistence that ‘this is different.” We’ve seen the same thing with Kachina “dolls” and other sacred images.

From the sacred and powerful, the intimate, to the commercial and trivial. There’s a parallel here to the use of the alien/ET from the very personal experiences of UFO witnesses to the commercial. From
liminal experiences that bewilder, alter, and sometimes puts the witness in a spiritual context/experience, to the green fuzzy toys and glowing white candy wrappers.

(I am not suggesting these two issues are the same, merely pointing out a juxtaposition.)

In the book The Trickster and the Paranormal, (George P. Hansen) Hansen writes about folklorist Barre Tolken, who had his own severe encounters with Navajo entities. (The debate about proper use of, --or any use at all --indigenous people’s culture continues in such disciplines as folklore, anthropology, etc. One should not be too glib about such things, as Tolkien’s experiences reminds us.)

I remember a folklore conference I attended some years ago; present were well known authors in the field. I literally thought a fist fight was going to break out; there were boos and yells and cat calls, chairs shoved back; all over the issue of releasing tribal songs out of context and out of season. Some (who should know better, in my opinion) insisted they now belonged to all of us, that the ends justified the means. They believed the material was now ours to use as we wished; to archive, to discuss, to analyze. Others believed we should respect and honor the context of the culture and its people.

We're all guilty (and at times we might suggest that that is too strong a word to use) in using imagery and symbols from another. Does intent count? Purpose?

And is there a much bigger picture; a Grand Manipulator behind it all, or, above it all, enjoying the show as we scramble and fight, disrespect and misuse, misunderstand and misinterpret?

More parallels: to the UFO community and UFO studies. All of these aspects are connected to UFOlogy, and Forteana, and we would do ourselves a service if we acknowledge that.

Our awareness would be expanded, and we might just begin to make out more of that giant glittering quilt we call 'the UFO quesiton."

Colin Bennett is a Fortean writer I’ve long admired. And possibly it’s just my imagination, but it seems to me Bennett, in typical Fortean manner, is both known and respected even while, at the same time, utterly ignored.

His article Scepticism as Mystique in the current issue of UFO Magazine is astounding. Amazing. Right on. It seems to me it hasn’t received much comment, at least not on any of the UFO and Fortean blogs and usual places.

Although this is what George P. Hansen, author of the equally brilliant The Trickster and the Paranormal, has to say about the article:

"Scepticism as Mystique is fabulous, and radical. It's easily the best essay I've read on sceptics in many, many years. It could be a bolt of lightening for those far outside the Fortean community" George Hansen, author of The Trickster and the Paranormal.

 
And the Anomalist noted:

In Scepticism as Mystique Colin Bennett has penned what may just become the ultimate treatise against ufology and Forteana's worst enemy, a mindset that he labels "cultural skepticism".

You can catch up with Bennett on his blog/website The Combat Diaries.