Weird and wonderful

Weird and wonderful

Oliver Hallen is an ufologist based in England. Having been involved with this subject for over 20 years, he has conducted many varied research projects which include running his own UFO newsletter Debris
Field Times, writing a monthly UFO column for the Congleton Chronicle newspaper for more than two years, acquiring assorted documentation from various sources, maintaining his database project and
contributing articles to such publications as UFO Encounter journal, Phenomena magazine, SUNlite and Anomaly magazine’s website.

 

Weird and wonderful

For all its history and complexities, ufology can be a very predictable field. There is a great amount of
repetition, ranging from everything from beliefs and sighting reports to ideas and theories, which show
us that the recurrence over the years of such components, well known or not, has no sign of changing
and is very much here to stay. For instance, when we look at the accumulation of eyewitness UFO
accounts where the provided description has been seen countless times before over the years, whether
fully explained or not, we know that they will almost for sure come around again like one of ufology’s
many known traditions. Even though it is expected that such factors will crop up time and again, the
responsibility should fall on to ufologists to better and rationally educate and inform those in and out
of the field about matters such as this, though of course, it is without doubt easier said than done. The
problems in communication that occur at various levels throughout the subject, and beyond, can be seen
all too clearly.
Everybody needs to understand that level-headedness and scepticism are in no way negative concepts,
and are certainly not the dirty words they have come to be known as over the years. Different areas
of the ufological populace and others have done a great disservice by stigmatising these perspectives
and showing those who employ them as some how damaging to the subject, as well as people not to be
trusted. It seems that the desire to solve ostensible ufological mysteries can be very much overridden
by the wanting to create new ones or carry on the old. When the solution to a ufological matter comes
about, there is a strong expectation to either ignore or attack it or have another ready to take its place.
There is a definite passion in the field to create mysteries where there should not really be any, with
it contributing to pulling the subject backward. It does show again the fascinating lengths to which
those who follow a professed believer’s path are willing to go to keep a mystery alive. You do find
yourself having to explain away areas in the field that have already been solved many times before.

Ufologists can have very selective memory’s, which causes many issues. So much time seems to be
used contemplating what can only be described rationally as the vague and so-called extraordinary, with
which we know nothing solid, have no good evidence and usually with little or no consideration for
what we actually do know and have done. Although it is understandable that esoteric theories should
never be completely disregarded, as a lot can be learnt from them, they should by no means be passed
off as the truth as they have been and continue to. At the end of the day, this will only serve to hold us
back.
Regrettably, the sensationalistic and conspiracy elements do have a strong grasp on the views of many,
with people fascinated and trusting of the numerous amazing and wild stories and ideas that are peddled
via a collection of different mediums. I think that the proponents of weird and unproven theories do
not realise how much of a problem they can actually cause, with everything from misunderstandings
to unfounded fear and paranoia being examples of such trouble. It is rather curious that ufological
conspiracy theorists do take a certain delight in apparently informing us of the clandestine works and
horrors that are, and have been, carried out over the years, unbeknownst to what they deem as the
clueless public. We should all hope that none of these dubious conspiracy claims are at all correct for the
sake of humanity.

Those who fight to expose a so-called cover up need to first soundly prove that there
is one. Simply throwing around outrageous accusations with no solid evidence and direction is doing
more to confuse and harm the subject than bring about some semblance of enlightenment in this area.
Looking at deaths in the field as an instance, it seems that many ufologists cannot accept that people
die everyday in tragic circumstances, ranging from road traffic accidents and shootings to fires. Always
assuming that just because a person involved or connected with ufology dies in such circumstances
instantly means that mysterious dark forces must have been involved is ludicrous. Such claims are not

only unfounded, but add more stories and speculation to the baseless conspiracy mythology. Reality
though, in all its despair and mundanity it seems, is not only the last thing on mind for such folk,
but a concept that can seem impossible or that they are unwilling to accept. Their idea of reality has
ominously become the irrationally mysterious. We must all remember that there is always a fine line
walked between sensible suspicion and outright paranoia.

However strong the evidence to the contrary, usually once paranormal susceptible people have accepted
a ufological experience or experiences as a life changing occurrence in which there world view has
been forever changed, there is little chance such an important event could possibly be explained away
as something commonplace, due to the importance and influence attached to it. The idea of them
being wrong is never really considered as a possibility. How could their perception of this inexplicable
happening and the affect it has had on them be in any way normal? The personal investment in all this is
too important to consider the prospect that there is a rational explanation. Such events can lead to other
supposed esoteric incidents, theories, patterns and views, and tenuous links found throughout the field
and beyond which both confirm and continue their growing and bizarre universal view.

It is interesting to wonder as to how much of the apparent weirdness throughout the field can be ascribed to witnesses,
researchers and others filling in the blanks in different ways. We have seen in this subject how one
event, such as a UFO sighting for example, can open the door to a host of other alleged paranormal
phenomena. The social and psychological affects alleged mysterious incidents can have need to always
be factored into your research.

Certainly curious is how the dismissive and narrow attitude of the true believers is very much the same
to that of the die hard sceptics. A point that is very interesting to make is how similar these two camps
are and how oblivious they can be to each other, both seeing themselves as the enlightened ones whilst
not realising the strict rules and boundaries that are set upon them. People in ufology, like in other
subjects, can sometimes define themselves as much through the negative or controversial attention they
receive for their work and views as much as the positive. The notion of enemies or opposition can be
used to help identify ones character, bringing about this us-and-them style of mentality. The strong
desire to be seen somehow as a rebel or outcast might make them believe that they will be considered by
others as being more hardcore. To me, if such actions are purely for the motives of ego, then this is more
than a little pathetic.

When discussion finds its way on to the population of ufology, it is without doubt a significantly
litigious matter which has caused a lot of heated debate, plenty of which that is less than friendly. It
is important to state that, at least in my opinion, there will always be more people in the field who
will have a negative affect on it in one way or another than a positive, but it is of course down to your
own viewpoint. For example, some people see Eduard (Billy) Meier as a true visionary, whilst others
perceive him as a complete fraud (I would put myself in the latter category rather than former regarding
this). It is constantly fascinating though to look at the multitude of different cases, theories, ideas and
inhabitants right through the subject regardless of whether you view them as truthful or not. However,
this is not to say that we should let definite or possible bad and incorrect aspects go unchallenged or
not question what is held as being gospel. Too little of this goes on I feel. We must decide for ourselves
what and who to trust through our own research and experience, with it being a complicated and difficult
process.

Thinking of different reports that divide opinion throughout the field, what I wanted to touch on here
was a contentious case which is fascinating for what can be viewed as its downright bizarreness and
absurdity, this being just one instance. A particular element or elements can really set a report apart
from the usual collection of the kind I was referring to at the beginning of this article. I must point out
however, that, like so much else in ufology, I am personally very sceptical and wary of what is presented below, but do encourage you to make up your own mind.

The event I am going to mention supposedly occurred in Hertfordshire, England, on 10th May, 2004,
lasting 9 minutes: “GLOBULAR ALIEN? One afternoon, hanging out my washing as per usual, I
decided to go and get some lunch from the sandwich shop next to my house. I exited my front door and
walked to the garden gate using seven steps. I walked to the sandwich shop and, halfway there, out of
the corner of my eye; I saw a fiery red flash up in the sky. Shocked at this anomaly, I peered up and
saw what looked like a globular material floating about 100 metres above in the sky. Three other people
came out of their houses and looked at the unknown object before it started to stretch itself and turned
into a face. It started spinning and split into six pieces of separate globular matter, spun once more and
disappeared. We were very shocked, but when we decided to call the police all of us just couldn’t do it,
because we felt there was some inner voice in our head telling us to keep this secret”.

Looking over this, we need to know more in-depth information regarding the incident not just from
the reporting observer, but such as like the exact details of the sighting by the other three witnesses,
witness names, ages, background and precise location as what is provided is to limited. Many questions
come to mind when reading this, such as, for instance, what was the size and brightness of the “fiery
red flash”? What was the globular material like and how big was it? What did the face look like? What
did the spinning and separate pieces look like and how did they disappear? What did this “inner voice,”
say and why has this witness now decided to go against it? Has there been contact with any authorities
after the incident? Was there any press coverage at all? Were there any physical symptoms noted? Were
there any extra witnesses that have since come forward? Assuming for a moment that there is some
grain of truth in all this, all we have here is a brief unconfirmed witness statement which, whilst curious,
ultimately proves nothing and should be in no way considered as strange at this time. It can be hard to be
open-minded without open data and evidence, and the benefit of the doubt should never be given.

We must not forget how quickly the amazing or strange can become the normally explained and how
difficult, if not impossible, it can be for ufologists and others to understand and accept this. Over the
years we have seen how ufological happenings can be very much reflective of the place, people and time
period in which they occurred. These can all play a role in how such events are presented, investigated,
influenced and interpreted and how they can differ greatly from case to case. Regarding the personal
side in all this, the many facets of an individual’s character will always influence how one experiences
and interprets different situations.

There can be many varied and conflicting versions and aspects regarding a ufological tale, but it is
ultimately up to us to find the truth, wherever possible, whether the answers are what we expect or not.

The above case can be found at (http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/039/S39735.html)

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Xavier
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