Wednesday Roundup: Tsoukalos Condemns Area 51 "Invasion", DeLonge Raises Cash

Moving has turned out to be a much bigger time-sink than I had anticipated, and I have found myself way behind on paperwork. Today’s post is a bit short to give me time to watch next week’s America Unearthed today, assuming Travel Channel makes it available as they have done with previous episodes.
 
It turns out that Giorgio Tsoukalos is a voice of reason in what passes for the UFO community. A satirical petition asking readers to travel to Area 51 in the hope that a mass “invasion” of UFO believers could overwhelm Air Force security and reveal government UFO secrets led to more than a million people digitally signing their names, and the Air Force issued a warning to potential participants not to cross into the restricted air field. Tsoukalos posted on Twitter yesterday that he did not endorse the effort.

I do not condone anarchy. "Storming" something "to get answers" is not the way to do it. And Area 51, really? Area 51 is like a magic trick. When the magician asks you to look at their right hand, look at their left! Area 51 isn't the place. Assembling peacefully works too, btw.

— Giorgio A. Tsoukalos (@Tsoukalos) July 16, 2019

​On the other hand, I’m not sure that Tsoukalos knows much about “getting answers.” He’s allegedly been looking for ancient astronauts since the 1990s and hasn’t found one yet.
 
Meanwhile, Tom DeLonge announced the start of another round of stock sales for To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science, this one potentially bringing in up to $30,000,000 if all stock is fully sold. The first round of funding brought in just $1.3 million. To tease the sale, DeLonge posted a message on Facebook in which he made this disingenuous claim:

A lot of people wonder why I chose to pursue my company over a life on the stage. The truth is, To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science is a culmination of everything I’ve been passionate about my entire life. It’s the opportunity to shed light on unexplained phenomena in the universe and a chance to enhance human knowledge and capability.

​No, it isn’t. The company has been in operation for nearly two years now, and if they had something to share, they could bloody well have done it. Instead, they simply tease and tease like the Great and Powerful Oz using smoke and mirrors to distract us from the nothing behind the curtain. If DeLonge really has something to share, it’s past time that he actually do so rather than hawking stock and making deals for TV shows that contain nothing but more teasing.