I want to thank everyone who donated to my annual fundraising campaign. As always, I am humbled and honored that so many of you feel that my website and blog are worthy of your support. If any of you would still like to contribute, the donation and Patreon links are on the sidebar of my blog. With the Christmas holiday now behind us, the last few days of the year bring thoughts of the past and the future. At the end of this week, I’ll post my annual year in review going over some of the lowlights from 2017 in fringe history and ancient astronautics. But in the meantime, I thought I would discuss a couple of sidelights that emerged this past week in regard to the recent media reports detailing Sen. Harry Reid’s appropriation of $22 million in taxpayer money to fund a Pentagon office dedicated to giving money to billionaire Robert Bigelow to study UFOs. The first comes to us from the New York Times, one of the three publications to break the story earlier this month. In a column published this weekend, conservative pundit Ross Douthat discussed Erich von Däniken and Jacques Vallée in what must be one of the first times that the paper of record has treated the ancient astronaut theory as a serious inquiry into the human imagination. Douthat doubts von Däniken, but he is quite taken with Vallée’s claim (not particularly original to him) that UFOs are a modern manifestation of the same human imaginary world that created fairies and other supernatural beings. … Which is not, of course, to say that they reflect the genuine existence of some fifth-dimensional fairyland, from whence morally ambiguous beings emerge to play tricks upon our race. Certainly for most sensible secular scientific-minded people, to say that our era’s close encounters are of the same type as encounters with the unseelie court of faerie is to say that they are all equally imaginary, proceeding from internalized fancies and hallucinatory substances and late-night wrong turns, plus some common evolved subconscious that fears shape-shifting tricksters in modern Nevada no less than in the mists around Ben Bulben. Douthat is too kind to Vallée, glossing over the latter’s claims about interdimensional beings and a vast conspiracy of “messengers of deception” to control your thoughts. But Douthat agrees with me that the ancient astronaut theory is one form of a culture-wide search for a new form of religion that can restore something that was lost over the past centuries. Where we disagree is that Douthat, a Christian of rather orthodox faith, finds Christianity and the Christian God to be the true answer to the vaguely demonic, untrustworthy UFO religion: “So the glamour of U.F.O.s, like the glamour of faerie, is an understandable object of curiosity but a dangerous object for any kind of faith.” The second sidelight comes to us from George Knapp’s interview with Harry Reid. George Knapp is the Las Vegas journalist who worked for Robert Bigelow for years and sparked Reid’s interest in UFOs by giving him a book about his investigation of the paranormal at Bigelow’s Skinwalker Ranch. In an interview with Reid, Knapp says that he heard from Pentagon officials that the UFO program was canceled in part due to “fear based on religious beliefs of those who felt UFOs might be satanic.” Knapp then asked Reid if that was true: KNAPP: Did you ever hear that? Opposition that maybe this is something evil? We have come a long way from the 1950s, when UFOs were considered proof of angels flying by in divine chariots. Now the Christian UFO view is dominated by the allegation that space aliens are really demons trying to deceive us away from the Christian God by casting doubt on the supernatural and the divine. I can’t decide whether it is more upsetting that evangelical Christians would rather believe that demons drive flying saucers because they can’t fathom either that aliens could be real or, more logically, that UFOs are not in fact flying ships piloted by strange beings, or that evangelical Christian extremists have so penetrated the military that their illogical prejudices determine government policy.
This weekend Nick Redfern interpreted the above as a sidelong reference to the almost certainly fictitious Collins Elite demon-hunting UFO research group that he has consistently promoted for the better part of the last decade without providing evidence of its existence. Redfern believes that the Pentagon is studying demon-aliens (or, in his parlance, “nonhuman entities”) to learn how they plan to steal our souls. If Reid in any way endorses this nonsense, it is a good thing he is out of office.
72 Comments
Mary C Baker
12/26/2017 10:08:01 am
I applaud your kind review of Douthat's article. Too many crusaders against fringe beliefs regard traditional Christians (and other people of faith) as fringe believers. Fringe believers are clearly looking for something to believe in, in an increasingly secular world.
Reply
12/26/2017 11:41:11 am
Jason:
Reply
Joe Scales
12/26/2017 01:17:01 pm
Serious question. Having seen some your antics on television, I have to ask: Are you a purposeful fraud, profiting on fantastic non sequitur, or simply an imbecile?
Reply
12/26/2017 01:25:10 pm
I'm neither. I'm just someone who has a lot of controversial and weird beliefs and who airs those beliefs from time to time. PS: fuck u
Joe Scales
12/26/2017 03:54:01 pm
Oh, so it's both then. Well, here's something for you to ponder. There is no life after death; only death after life.
Nick Redfern
12/26/2017 04:14:51 pm
Having controversial beliefs and theories and airing them does not make someone a fraud.
Americanegro
12/26/2017 06:26:03 pm
Dear Doonesbury character:
Nick Redfern
12/26/2017 06:31:01 pm
Not a chance.
Nick Redfern
12/26/2017 06:36:05 pm
If Jason doesn't like my approach and he wants to ban me, that's his right. It is, after all, his blog. But, I am who I am and people can take it or leave it. I don't give a shit either way.
Wim Van der Straeten
12/26/2017 03:12:50 pm
Maybe it's difficult for the group to get government funding because they're involved in nonsensical activities. Do you believe everything that people tell you?
Reply
Nick Redfern
12/26/2017 03:21:17 pm
No, of course I don't fucking believe everything I hear. I follow up to try and validate and corroborate and see where it leads. If it leads nowhere, then I move on to something else. In this case, it led to a lot.
An Over-Educated Grunt
12/26/2017 04:07:47 pm
Oh, well, there we go, it's obviously real because Nick Redfern says it is without providing any evidence that can actually be tested, out of respect for their anonymity, a delicate condition he respected so much that he made money off of them. That clears everything up, Nick Redfern told us they were real, and Nick Redfern is such an honorable man that he profits off what others have told him in confidence. We are fortunate to be graced with such a pillar of honesty as Nick Redfern, who by his mere assertion can prove or disprove whatever he chooses!
Reply
Nick Redfern
12/26/2017 04:42:17 pm
Huh??? Look, everyone in the book (Final Events, which tells the story of the Collins Elite) is named. What "anonymity" are you talking about???
An Over-Educated Grunt
12/26/2017 05:31:20 pm
I must say, I've never seen Morton's Fork with so many tines.
Nick Redfern
12/26/2017 05:34:28 pm
Wrong. And it's very revealing that you won't answer my issues concerning who I used without permission etc etc.
An Over-Educated Grunt
12/26/2017 05:46:28 pm
Okay, Nick. So let's start with this: this is a blog post, where you are a commentator. This is not one of your published works. Here, you refer to"a few people," how you are "not the only ones," and people with "deep personal interests." Do these people have names, Nick? Or, let's count the tines on Morton's Fork, more likely, you're a fabulist, a conscious liar, or just willing to inflate what you've been told, knowing that "a few people" cannot be back-checked, and that if pressed you'll tell us you double pinkie swore not to name them, but you're perfectly willing to cash I'm on what they said.
Nick Redfern
12/26/2017 06:25:35 pm
Yes, they do have names and they are names well known in Ufology and other aspects of the paranormal. Some of them worked for the government. Others, in the 1970s, worked on contracted programs and then continued that work after the government angle came to an end. They absolutely met with people from the Collins Elite. 12/26/2017 09:12:19 pm
It sounds to me that if there is anything at all to this "Collins Elite" it is probably closer akin to the informal Evangelical groups that operate in various government departments. Such a group wouldn't surprise me since there are so many cases of Evangelicals trying to colonize the military. But even if there were a club of religious kooks who think UFOs are demon chariots, it says nothing about the reality of UFOs.
Nick Redfern
12/26/2017 11:43:55 pm
Jason: Well, yes, that's exactly what they were. I note all that in the book!
Terry Melanson
12/26/2017 11:47:16 am
The satanic angle stems from the so-called "Contactees" who were quoted in various accounts. Their message to the world - claimed to be from the aliens themselves - was thoroughly new age and anti-christian in intent. Evangelicals took notice right away; their reaction was predictable.
Reply
Bob Jase
12/26/2017 12:16:15 pm
"some fifth-dimensional fairyland, from whence morally ambiguous beings emerge to play tricks upon our race"
Reply
Only Me
12/26/2017 01:30:49 pm
Let's ask Quisp or Bat-Mite. I'm sure they would know. :)
Reply
Wim Van der Straeten
12/26/2017 03:10:47 pm
The comment of Douthat sounds like something that Lovecraft could have written.
Reply
Kal
12/26/2017 04:02:56 pm
NR had a good point until he lapsed eventually into cursing the f bomb at online comments, to which someone snarked back, and which he replied in kind.
Reply
Nick Redfern
12/26/2017 05:08:10 pm
I curse because that's how I talk anyway when I get mad. If people attack me then, what, I'm supposed to be all polite etc??? I don't think so!!
Reply
V
12/26/2017 11:56:26 pm
1. It's called "not sinking to their level."
Nick Redfern
12/27/2017 12:06:14 am
V: Not sinking to their level?
Joe Scales
12/27/2017 10:24:00 am
"If I'm called an imbecile or a liar, of course I am going to hit back hard! What kind of person wouldn't hit back??? "
Nick Redfern
12/27/2017 10:31:26 am
Wrong. This thread is about the Collins Elite and my Final Events book. Where is the credibility issue? Everyone in the book is named (there are no "Mr. X" type sources), including the members of the group! All of the dates of the interviews (recorded) are listed. And everyone in the book had to provide the publisher with release forms.
Joe Scales
12/27/2017 01:07:48 pm
Dude, you're a ghostbuster. Fraud is of its very essence.
Nick Redfern
12/27/2017 01:53:49 pm
There are frauds in all sorts of paranormal phenomena, whether it's UFOs, ghost-hunting, cryptozoology, etc.
Joe Scales
12/27/2017 09:05:57 pm
Again. Half as long...
Mike in NH
12/28/2017 01:09:28 am
"And, i should remind you of something I said earlier in this thread, most publishers are very careful - even strict - about ensuring they don't print fabricated material."
Nick Redfern
12/28/2017 10:25:31 am
Mike in NH:
Joe Scales
12/28/2017 10:39:36 am
argumentum ad nauseam
Nick Redfern
12/28/2017 10:51:00 am
Scales:
Joe Scales
12/29/2017 10:30:56 am
Fine. Go all you want. You are still a fraud and an imbecile. There are no words you can manage to plaster upon this site that will ever change that reality. So dance monkey. Dance.
Nick Redfern
12/29/2017 10:33:38 am
Nope, you are wrong on every level.
Joe Scales
12/29/2017 01:04:53 pm
And here it is being the holiday season, I'd have figured you had ghosts to chase; or at least three of them, plus Marley. You fraudulent imbecile.
Nick Redfern
12/29/2017 01:10:50 pm
Christmas is for other kinds of spirits, the liquor-based ones which get you loaded.
Joe Scales
12/29/2017 09:39:58 pm
My condolences then. You and your spirits, alone for the holidays once again.
Americanegro
12/29/2017 10:15:46 pm
"Wrong. This thread is about the Collins Elite and my Final Events book. Where is the credibility issue? Everyone in the book is named (there are no "Mr. X" type sources), including the members of the group! All of the dates of the interviews (recorded) are listed. And everyone in the book had to provide the publisher with release forms."
Americanegro
12/26/2017 06:40:33 pm
But without addressing particular words because I've been cautioned, you do talk like a baby-raper Mr. Doonesbury.
Reply
Nick Redfern
12/26/2017 06:44:19 pm
No, I talk like someone who grew up in England, which is what I am.
Reply
I OBJECT TO NICK'S LANGUAGE
12/26/2017 07:44:46 pm
This comment is currently being held for moderation awaiting approval.
Reply
12/26/2017 09:06:15 pm
I don't hold any comments for moderation on purpose. The automatic spam filter might, however. It is rather random in what it flags but manages to catch most of the advertisements.
Reply
Seed of Bismuth
12/27/2017 11:43:17 am
Did the title of Jason's post remind Anyone else of the completely fictional story <i>The Demons at Rainbow Bridge</i>?
Reply
Ray Boeche
12/27/2017 04:51:12 pm
I am always amazed and astounded at the attacks on my friend Nick Redfern when the "Collins Elite" matter arises.
Reply
Nick Redfern
12/27/2017 04:54:27 pm
Thanks, Ray!
Reply
Mike Morgan
12/27/2017 09:35:50 pm
Whoa! Anyone else experiencing deja vu? Rev. Phil/Wolter?
Reply
sides have split open laughing
12/28/2017 10:02:52 am
Wow. Jason certainly got a response from this blog entry!
Reply
Clete
12/28/2017 11:12:28 am
You should look up some of the other posts on this blog when Nick Redfern is mentioned. He practically buries this post with his inane and self-serving comments. When called on them, his reaction will usually end with "F...off or F...you.
Reply
Nick Redfern
12/28/2017 11:57:14 am
Clete:
Americanegro
12/28/2017 03:26:00 pm
Nick, Nickster, The Man of Nickstinia, The Nickinator, Nickadopopolisbettybettyboomboom:
Nick Redfern
12/28/2017 03:48:53 pm
Correct: no one is attacking my book. Also correct: they are attacking me .
Reply
Nick Redfern
12/28/2017 04:29:36 pm
I don't need to fight a Nazi sympathizer who practically shit himself in the lecture room and who never showed his face again. But admittedly it would have been fun.
Reply
Americanegro
12/28/2017 05:32:41 pm
I don't need to narrowly avoid a "fist fight" at a Renaissance Faire to prove I'm a "hard man" like you do. I avoid fights every day by not being a douche to people.
Reply
Nick Redfern
12/28/2017 05:58:28 pm
No, I really am not a liar, despite what people here state. Do I believe in, and promote, a lot of off the wall and extremely weird shit? Hell, yes. But that's because I truly do believe it.
Reply
Nick Redfern
12/28/2017 06:06:05 pm
My "incredible doucheyness," as you word it, is only a result of people publicly calling me a liar.
Reply
Nick Redfern
12/28/2017 06:29:47 pm
Here's an example of how things COULD go, and very occasionally DO go here at Jason's blog.
Reply
Americanegro
12/28/2017 08:19:15 pm
So about 35 minutes of multiple posts about how you're not a liar and trying to explain that you're not really a douche who talks tough about a "fist fight" that never happened at a Renaissance Faire.
Reply
Nick Redfern
12/28/2017 08:54:56 pm
Nope, I know exactly where things are at with the horse and cart.
Reply
Midlands Express
12/28/2017 08:56:11 pm
Good stuff Nick, don't take any guff from these goons!
Reply
Nick Redfern
12/29/2017 02:46:30 pm
BTW: That "Nick Redfern" who just posted the "Sycophants" comment at 02:42 is not me. If Jason will give me the guy's email address I'll take things to the next step.
Reply
12/29/2017 03:20:44 pm
Why do you need his email? So you can invite him to a Renaissance Faire and not have a fistfight? A simple "fuck you" here would probably suffice.
Reply
Nick Redfern
12/29/2017 03:24:32 pm
Why do I need his email? Why not??? 12/29/2017 04:27:43 pm
I don't know the email of the guy who posted that, but it's the same person who spams this blog with a variety of comments under fake names, including mine. I keep banning his IP, but he keeps getting a new IP to circumvent it. I removed the comment.
Reply
Joe Scales
12/29/2017 09:47:15 pm
What about that Ray guy? Was he not you too?
Reply
Bob Jase
12/29/2017 02:51:40 pm
We are all Nick Redfern now.
Reply
Eric Von Lichenschpfinchter
1/1/2018 03:42:30 pm
I think Nic is playing Jason's blog for free publicity! I have a secret cabal of individuals who have all the truth. I'll even tell you who they are! bonus. Must mean they are telling the truth. Maybe, just maybe one of us will buy a copy of Nic's book. Not.
Reply
Clete
1/1/2018 09:54:40 pm
I cannot imagine anyone with an I.Q. above that of a carrot would even consider paying good money for one of Nick Redfern's books. I do think, however, I would purchase one of his books, but that depends on the price of toilet paper.
Reply
Americanegro
1/2/2018 02:35:03 pm
As an old American Negro said to me on my first dishwashing job "The good Lord gave you two hands, didn't he?" Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI am an author and researcher focusing on pop culture, science, and history. Bylines: New Republic, Esquire, Slate, etc. There's more about me in the About Jason tab. Newsletters
Enter your email below to subscribe to my newsletter for updates on my latest projects, blog posts, and activities, and subscribe to Culture & Curiosities, my Substack newsletter.
Categories
All
Terms & ConditionsPlease read all applicable terms and conditions before posting a comment on this blog. Posting a comment constitutes your agreement to abide by the terms and conditions linked herein.
Archives
December 2024
|