CARET/Drones Debunked? – A “viral” fantasy

Hey all, just checking in. Got Drones?

Nothing new really... My 'History of Photo Trickery" thread is too much work! I have some good images that I have photocopies of, but I need to find some better versions, otherwise it doesn't fly.

Hope you all are well.

DocMoreau

That Forvertron thing looks pretty cool.

The crazy thing to to do is compare it side by side with the 'drone' images. You can totally tell that the 'drone's are fake when doing so. You see how light should reflect of an object that is 'real'

Now if we could just get the 'professor's' artwork to fly...

DocMoreau

ps... No Beam. Never been a Beam fan. Maker's Mark, now we are talking!

Hey all... I thought I dropped in a couple days ago and posted, but it is not here... I must have written it and not posted it actually.

All I was saying, was never Beam... but if you have some Maker's... or Knob Creek.

Anyway, some of you righteous crusaders for truth have already seen it, but in case youhaven't and to keep the documentation in this thread up to date:

Email to Earthfiles RE: Drones, this is what i got.. thread by October.

I guess LMH is trying to put as much distance between herself and the hoaxes, I mean drones....

DocMoreau

[edit to fix RErones, he he]


[edit on 13/9/2007 by DocMoreau]

Thanks, Doc - the 'viral' idiosyncrasies in that thread kind of piggyback on this one, but that's ok.

Interesting side note: Since this thread on the "meme" theory re: " 'da Drones" (said with the same intonation as Chicago's " 'da Bears!") began, I've noticed that Wikipedia's description of meme-science has expanded considerably. Check it out here.. I wonder if discussions like ours have motivated some of the new entries(?). Nah....

Anyway - thanks for plugging along, friends. I just hope we're listed in the credits of the movie/book/game/dissertation/documentary/thesis when it finally hits the tube/newsstand/library/net/arcade. YOU OWE US BIG TIME Chad Isaac (or whoever you are)!

p.s. to Sys - interesting stuff you've enlightened me on. Thanks...

Ha ha, I guess my posts were here. I just missed em somehow...

Three in a row. Sorry Gents....

The world is definately watching ATS now after the Drone campaign, and how this thread,ATS Premium: Barksdale Missile Number Six: The Stolen Nuclear Weapon reached like number 3 on Digg

My question for you all, what is ATS Premium? And have any of the rest of you noticed how nicely the C2C/LMH drones affair dovetails into all the attention ATS is getting these days?

Maybe indirectly, but I think that this Anderson Cooper video owes alot to ATS as well...
www.youtube.com...

It seems like we are doing all the work for the 'real' journalists, whatever that means.

We write the memes, that the whole world sings...
DocMoreau

LMH is unusually quiet about YouTube video postings.

Originally posted by Outrageo
p.s. to Sys - interesting stuff you've enlightened me on. Thanks...

Got the same and have a reaction that is unsafe to post. I'll do an outside email, if desired. Apologies for the 'intrigue.'

[edit on 9/13/2007 by schuyler]

Originally posted by schuyler

...have a reaction that is unsafe to post. I'll do an outside email, if desired. Apologies for the 'intrigue.'

[edit on 9/13/2007 by schuyler]

I think in light of what we are all realizing about our sweet little drone meme, and now some of the other attention, that perhaps we should all remember that great piece of cinema, Conspiracy Theorist, and maybe keep some of of our thoughts under wraps.

Plot synopsis

Jerry is infatuated with an assistant district attorney named Alice Sutton (Julia Roberts), whose life Jerry once saved. Alice believes Jerry is a harmless, good-natured eccentric — until one of his theories turns out to be fact.
Jerry turns out to be linked to the murder of Alice's father and to a mysterious scientist named Dr. Jonas (Patrick Stewart) who has been using a CIA program called MKULTRA to program Jerry as a Manchurian Candidate-style assassin. Some of the other conspiracy theories believed by Jerry seem to come true. For example, Jerry believes that NASA is trying to kill the President with a shuttle-mounted seismic weapon. Later in the movie, an earthquake occurs in a region of the world the President is visiting, and he narrowly escapes.

Controversy over opening

Mel Gibson is rumored to be a conspiracy buff[citation needed]. At the beginning of Conspiracy Theory, Jerry Fletcher is expounding on a number of his theories to a succession of taxi passengers. On the DVD's audio commentary track, director Richard Donner revealed that these scenes were ad-libbed by Gibson to extras acting as passengers who were not told of what Gibson was going to say because they wanted realistic reactions from them. It was widely speculated that these were, in fact, Gibson's personal views. Arguably, the most controversial comment Gibson made was when he told two nuns that the Vatican was a "festering scab that needs to be lifted." In reality, Mel Gibson is a devout traditionalist Catholic who (like his father, Hutton Gibson) is a vocal critic of the modern Roman Catholic Church. They belong to a small sect that operates independently of Vatican influence and denounces many of the new rules implemented during the Second Vatican Council.

There is also a reference to the Seven Sisters conspiracy, in which the world's seven largest oil companies were actually in cahoots to monopolize the industry — in essence, it was one company under seven different names.

In the 1981 film The Road Warrior, which also starred Gibson, the words "Seven Sisters Oil" were painted on the side of an 18-wheeled tanker.

Ooh, maybe that quote is too big. Let me know if it is and I will edit...
DocMoreau

[edit on 13/9/2007 by DocMoreau]

Hi guys,

Just to say that i have been lurking in the background and reading this thread sporadically but i haven't really had anything to post that has any substance yet. Needless to say i'll keep an eye on developments and chip in when i can. Whoever found the "Forevertron" pics www.roadsideamerica.com... got a really good find, i'm seeing similarities there. Might be messing with Copyright so apologies in advance. [Edit] I AM messing with Copyright so i removed it but click the link above and look at the Wiba Roverlord Control image.





[edit on 13/9/07 by October]

[edit on 13/9/07 by October]

yes there is a definite resemblence..I like this spread better than the other..(gallery)..I am posting this as someone is claiming to have knowledge of the main player designer of caret thing..I will post here what I posted there..

In another forum covering this subject someone by the name of 'Reader 'claims knowledge of the people behind the Caret. in essence one of them is Arthur Reyes, one of the professionals that evaluated the Caret documents. On researching Arthur I found good reason to believe it is him.
I will post here everything I posted there this morning. If you click on the links things will become self explanatory..and my conclusion statement to Reader. They are bashing the poor man already it seems..So much for the bearer of good tidings , but I know if he does come here..at this thread that he will be treated well.


post number 1

Reader..Thank you for your clues with Arthur Reyes..he is indeed exceptionally talented in several disciplines..he is also is long time model builder.of planes and spacecraft .a very long time..and is meticulous..if I were to hire anyone construct the caret model..it would have been him his involvement with the cassini project at NASA AMPHION only one of many amplifications on that talent

utamagazine.uta.edu...
ti.arc.nasa.gov...

ranger.uta.edu...



Arthur Reyes
Senior Lecturer Arthur Reyes received his Ph.D. in information and computer science from University of California at Irvine in 1999. He received his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Polytechnic University in 1987. Dr. Reyes' experience includes working for Northrop Corp. from 1987 to 1992 on the B-2 stealth Bomber aircrew training services.

the latter was always available at Earthfiles..but not the model building..nor the FDD background that would made him comment positively early on on the functional interface of the linguistics document..as a possibility?
he is even into Tai chi makes his students do it prior to class..an amazing man..This really was a work of art..

So can we say then he built it and the script was his partners..that the intent not to hoax..but to place science/tech as art on the net..and let it grow "organically"..so to speak on the innternet..i have seen some industrial artists doing that as of late..such as dreamtime dr forevermore.. hypermedia art

Gracias Mein Freund

Post number 2


Dear Reader. I salute you ...

I dedicate this German Poem to you and your group:


Gefunden Found
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Translation: Hyde Flippo

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ich ging im Walde I was walking in the woods
So für mich hin, Just on a whim of mine,
Und nichts zu suchen, And seeking nothing,
Das war mein Sinn. That was my intention.

Im Schatten sah ich In the shade I saw
Ein Blümchen stehn, A little flower standing
Wie Sterne leuchtend Like stars glittering
Wie Äuglein schön. Like beautiful little eyes.

Ich wollt es brechen, I wanted to pick it
Da sagt' es fein: When it said delicately:
Soll ich zum Welken, Should I just to wilt
Gebrochen sein? Be picked?

Ich grubs mit allen I dug it out with all
Den Würzeln aus, little roots.
Zum Garten trug ichs To the garden I carried it
Am hübschen Haus. By the lovely house.

Und pflanzt es wieder And replanted it
Am stillen Ort; In this quiet spot;
Nun zweigt es immer Now it keeps branching out
Und blüht so fort. And blossoms ever forth.


I have done much thinking on this..it was no mere puzzle..it was an expression of the beauty of math and physics and imagination..the language of the ET mastered, and us here just beginning..if there is a functional language with each object representing infinite as part of an overall data flow..it was that. When we understand those things so evident in the underlying as well as open relationships of things in nature..we will understand the ETs..with very little effort..It is like Ray Bradburrys revelation we are them. they are us...but we have a little bit more far to go yet.

I can even forgive LMH..she put it right there before us..the truth was always there..she did not lie..and in a way took us all to a higher level..

Thank you and the group for a great masterpiece..the craft..the linguistics..and the vision..for indeed we are headed in that direction..and you may have stimulated others to go there as well..the branches indeed are blossoming..The pupils have a way yet to fully grasp what you all have done..

Thank you again for sharing the vision and the beauty inherent in it..

Regards
Sys_Config

Fellow ATS' ers

If I am the only one who saw this lesson..well I am the only one..but I am the better for it.. But I think I am not alone or am I tell me when you read about this man..whether he has reached out to touch us..not with a hoax..but lets us see the world thru his eyes..tell me if you do not think it is a wondrous vision..and all so so within our reach..that it is an attempt to share the magic with us..


Sys


[edit on 14-9-2007 by Sys_Config]

[edit on 14-9-2007 by Sys_Config]

[edit on 14-9-2007 by Sys_Config]

Thanks, Sys - saw your post in"the other" drone thread and followed the links but was hoping to see a few more examples of Reyes models.

I'm also curious as to his seemingly neglecting your overtures. Maybe its a case of "not answering the door" hoping you'll go away - a potential indicator of culpability. It would be much easier to just reply and say he has nothing to do with it. Could you be stepping on his meme?

I like your theory (it's still a theory, yes?) that Reyes and co. merely (memely) went through the exercise to release an elegant, self-generating, ET wonder-lesson of sorts. Like releasing a basket full of white doves in a crowded square, one of which you've colored fluorescent pink - just to get people talking and observing their reactions (both individual and group).

Some would stand and gawk and stare in wonder, others simply scratch their heads. Some would immediately point and shout out, others grab the arm of the closest to them to share the experience. Some would jump in place with joy, others begin to run after the flock, trying to follow the 'special bird'. Some would cry, some would laugh, some would simply shrug their shoulders and walk away after a cursory glance.

Many would stay in the square long after the doves have gone and talk amongst themselves in small groups. In some the discussion would be complementary, civil, benign. In others the arguments would get heated, so much so that some would need to be restrained to prevent them from overreacting and attacking others.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Whether or not it was Dr. Reyes, perhaps along with a pal or two, has yet to be ascertained.

What we can't deny (other than ignorance) is that whoever presented us with this fluorescent dove has (and my guess is NOT inadvertently), revealed a magnificent lesson in social conscience development.

To me, one of the really beautiful lessons to be obtained here, is that this project was engendered such that all intelligent observers might gain something from the experience of watching their fellow enthusiasts, detractors, devotees, naysayers, disciples, monomaniacs, Pollyannas, killjoys, and "a cast of thousands" as they see, touch, taste, swallow, digest, regurgitate (or eliminate), and then move on with their lives (or, as in our case, not so much).

We may never realize the satisfaction of "possessing" the drones in any greater fashion than these fleeting images. But at least we have shared in the opportunity to learn a little something about ourselves, our desires, our beliefs, our limitations.

Whether it was Dr. Reyes, a government goon squad, a think tank, a movie studio, a clever sociologist, a software company, or even the aliens themselves, there is no doubt they've learned a thing or two about us. Perhaps we have as well.


[edit on 9/15/2007 by Outrageo]

The Reyes information is outstanding. Kudos...

I post this next part to show how the drone 'meme' has, at least here at ATS, become a quite a joke. I have seen other instances, but not one so direct and come to so fast a conclusion.

From the thread civil war ufo image

Originally posted by Evasius
Found this version as well:



This is evidently the original, however it was so unbelievable that in one version they replaced it with a saucer-shaped craft, and in the other version they removed it entirely. Crazy drones...always pestering us.

With the great debate as to how easy it is to fake something these days, what if the 'meme' was not so much a study, but a for gone conclusion. That the perpatrators would know that they had given us a 'straw man hoax' knew that LMH/C2C would eat it up, knew that it would drive the ufo community into a furvor. What a way to divert the attention from the simple smooth silver craft of the O'hare case onto the fantastic creations of humans designed to outdo the previous hoax. What ever came of the O'hare case? Nothing that I can find...

Perhaps the whole drone affair was done to make the simpler crafts even more unbelievable to some. That I am not sure, what I do know, is that if Automobile manufacturers were to design strictly based on aerodynamics, all cars would look the same. In order to maintain 'brand identity' they design automobiles that humans think 'look good' and then take that design to the windtunnel to make as aerodynamic as possible. Part of the discussion regarding the drones when they came out was the unbelievable mode of flight. They look cool, but are not aerodynamic at all.

In my mind, space crafts that have a 'tighter' more compact design than the 'drones' would evolve design wise. Maybe not 'steamlined' for aerodynamics, but streamlined so that the propulsion can move the mass more efficiently for space travel. Perhaps I am way off.... That is just how my mind works... Also, humanity has been conditioned to think through sci-fi/fantasy media that different races have different looking spacecrafts, when that is more of a design element to help the viewer discern good from bad. Starwars would be a confusing movie if everyone was flying a tiefighter.

There are countless discussions here in the military forums about mig vs tomcat or whatever, but when it comes down to it. Function determines much of how a craft looks. Subway trains the world over, Boeing vs Airbus, passenger cruise ships, automobiles for the most part. But somewhere along the line, automobile manufacturers became waged in a war for customers where in addition to the new 'features' added, performance and styling moved to the forfront of what the people wanted. Both a vw bug and a ferrari can get you from point a to b, but the ferrari might get you there faster, and in more 'style'

That is why the 'drone' type space craft worked the way it did. For the most part, the different models all look pretty cool, and we have these supposed 'ufo news' leaders saying 'check this out'. So the styling is there, obviously exotic performance (since we have no idea how its supposed to fly), and then there is the media giving us to thumbs up. Who even cares about a weather balloon, when they have they new egg beaters out? Now there is a certain new quality needed in order to 'believe', when we still haven't seen the weather ballons... I hope I am not being too fringe...

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." —President George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002

DocMoreau

Hey Guyz Hi Doc..Hi Outrageo..Hi Its Beautiful..That email I sent to reyes was friday pm so its a weekend and professors do just like bankers..and us too I give at least 5 working days for the answer
Oh man Doc that pic is funny..When was it taken..? Oh I just checked..verdict hoax..It still is funny..Two hoaxes haiti and Civil war..they made short shrift of..quickly..Now if LMH released the rest..you know..slide it under our doors ..mysteriously...

Back to reality, I will post here from reyes site 2 of his dreams he recorded. The link is below..

2003/07/14, a.m.
I see a fantastic flying machine. It looks like something you would see in a Gerry Anderson production (i.e., Thunderbirds). It is festooned with scoops, fins, wings, etc. I watch the stages separate. This is very similar to a type of dream I often enjoyed as a boy.


The model hovers or floats near me and the others. The model changes from a fixed-wing to a rotary-wing to what looks like a marionette puppet. Now there are three models floating near us. The people near me feel concern, not knowing what they are. I look to find the three people who must be controlling the models. I see three men in a two or three-story apartment building across the street. Each man sticks his head and upper torso out a window and holds a radio control transmitter. Two men are on the lower floor and one is on the upper floor.

Each story of the building has a dramatically different construction method. One story is adobe, another is brick, and another is wood. I tell the people around me that the models are controlled by the men in the apartment building. The people look at the men and realize they control the models. The men disappear inside the building.

www-cse.uta.edu.../08/21,%20a.m.

Ps some things older pix reposted by moonking that put things better in context..
I just dont know how you do that Doc putting the image so it shows like that on a post..without referring to a url ok I got u2u Thanx Doc


Sys







[edit on 15-9-2007 by Sys_Config]

[edit on 15-9-2007 by Sys_Config]

[edit on 15-9-2007 by Sys_Config]

[edit on 15-9-2007 by Sys_Config]

This speaks for itself does the globe look like an ET engine 2 you?

Sys

its over..i have done an analysis on the other thread


sys

[edit on 25-9-2007 by Sys_Config]

Hey All,
Sys... That does look like an 'et engine' or at least similar to the device in the movie Contact...

I saw a newer thread today Drone Music Video Released by saladfingers. The video is well done, and very entertaining.

I wonder if this band Drone is just being savy in their marketing, and have been around for a while. Or if it is a band being savy to name themeselves Drone?

Chicken or the Egg...
DocMoreau

Edit to Add....
After I posted something really dawned on me. In the Video, saladfingers has the Drone get shot down by the Airforce. He also implies that the scale of the Drone's wreckage can be taken away via helicopter. We all know it is 'art' and his interpretation of the Drone, but was there ever a confirmed 'scale of the Drones'?

It makes me wonder how Big they are supposed to be. To me "DRONE" is something smaller than "CRAFT" because it is automated and doesn't have occupants. All the 'photo evidence' is shown in a way that it seems hard to determine true scale, but that the "Drones" are seem fairly large. And if thats the case, why have we been calling them Drones all along?

A craft in the same design as the original "Chadsquito" style would theoretically function the same if it were 3 inches across and every piece were miniture, or if it were gigantic and the inner ring four stories high, right? Its anti-gravity based on some sort of 'magic' of geometric codes, right? You print those codes small enough and the junk will fly...

Also, why "Drone" even if craft is f-16 sized. UFO culture has tall aliens and short aliens. Two foot tall humanoids could fit inside smaller crafts than homo sapiens. WHy Drone? What about the crafts really implies that they were automated?

Here is the zinger...

Now that we have the "Drone" meme and real life drone style airplanes, a certain percentage of internet searches will possibly pick up Chadsquito flak regarding the key word "Drone". Especially here at ATS if one were looking for info on the latest USAF Drone Aircraft, you would get incredible amounts of infor on the Chadsquito.

I am not sure if was a viral disnfo campaign to culture jam the keyword "Drone", but it was an effective one. It helps muddy the waters for the searches of America's enemies, even if their google search is slightly hindered by their government...
You know what I mean?

I had this epiphany just today, but I think we have been participants in a propaganda campaign to cover future USAF Drone intel from prying eyes.

I don't mind being a part of a viral campaign, especially one that protects the ol' You Essay, but I don't like being duped, lied to or trolled along. I also think that perhaps even the 'campaign' got out of 'their control' because of places like ATS. Perhaps that is why the Issac docs were dropped, to 'wrangle' the meme back under their control.
But who really knows...

Kudos again to SaladFingers, where ever you are, that Music Video is pretty Badass...



[edit on 29/9/2007 by DocMoreau]

Hi doc..yes your points are well taken..my research is taking me now to Germany....the isaac document puts in intentional or unintentional clues, if you look at my previous posts, on the other thread after I posted this pix here, especially the last one you will see why. Please disregard all the feel good philosophy, but certain principles are in play.I have neen able to break down aspects of the docs and pix that were "second" layered..I have uncovered only one player, and now the mistake or clue leads me to the other partner.A german..a soldier physicist in fact. where in Germany? The max planck institute..Nasa and Darpa funded. Salad is a decoy or distraction whether by design or accident it doesn't matter. I observed him and other players for 3 months.
I kept getting cross references in searches using Alta vista and google to Germany. Droneonline is a very nice person. a musician I would examine the credits on Salads film (Kaptiva studio in England, no immediate connection to Partizan need the other credits though if you can list them here.)as I cannot play it or download it. I have a slow system. The document anagram was suggested as a game by drononline, initially..it stopped, I continued..it references German also. Droneonline is from Germany transferred from Texas, possibly military..Yes Doc they are very talented whether by design or not. The question is just who is playing the fiddle, and what tune are we dancing to. We know its a hoax..I would love to find out who before they change the sheets on the bed. I don't think the document and diagram point to hiding so much as herding into a different direction. I am pursuing those to see what we are supposed to see.thats all.
In the meantime..remember the witchhunts..in Europe ..how a whole cottage industry of wood cutting and carpentry built up, becoming a juggernaut by itself necesitating new victims..Expect more spinoffs..I may start posting here as the other thread is so long..and well it is about fantasy and I have been accused of fantasy anyway..what the heck.

Cya my friend and a pleasure to read you all the time. and a shout out to the rest of the crew! Outrageo kaminski Yuefo Schuyler!! o/

SyS










[edit on 30-9-2007 by Sys_Config]

reply to post by Sys_Config


Keep doing it, sys. For awhile there my small brain just wouldn't wrap around all yer stuff, but I feel a resurgence coming on with this last. Even if I don't post I'm reading every word.

I'm not going to jump on this simply because there is something new to see regarding the topic but watching the video you must be able to see the work done to raise an eyebrow. The animations on the symbols alone were enough for me to post this and i'm wondering what the reason is behind this besides releasing a music video.

I think someone who doesn't want questions pointed at them is leading this in another direction and perhaps has done so even from the start. Hmm what shall i do next to raise awareness for what is essentially a ghost on the net... something we are still talking about but we have nothing tangible.

My word, yeah. I absolutely loved the symbols from the first time I saw them in the "leaked document". The animation of them in the music video is just so awesome. Makes me wonder if the guy could be behind the original content too. To produce work of this quality takes some time & effort.

I'm actually trying to put something together myself which is based on the concept of the symbols. More of a personal project/challenge than anything else.

Keep at it Sys_C. You are a "rock-crusher" and like the Baker 6 speed transmission in my Hawg, great bottom-end, excellent mid-range and the top-end pretty-much takes care of itself. You'd make an excellent journalist - wait, you ARE an excellent journalist! Top-cog, top-drawer.

This Reyes fellow... excellent sleuth-o-metry on your part Sys. Well done. It will be interesting to see where this now leads and how much more skeptic "the average" becomes regarding memes, drones and the "yankers-of-chains"... can we expect an onslaught of UFO-art, me-too's and unoriginal wannabe types? Or much less?

I hope you get a reply Sys. I would enjoy a feature by you expanding on this aspect of the issue... I can't be "here" as much as I would like owing to my public political involvement and efforts to only nearly-drown myself while learning to sail...

Cheers and cheers, Sys!

Vic

[edit on 1-10-2007 by V Kaminski]

The Salad video came to me by way of a link in an e-mail from someone I didn't recognize - still don't. Was it one of you? No signature, no text, just the link. And a reply bounced back undeliverable. This was a few weeks ago. It then cropped up "on the other forum", then on a couple of other ATS threads. In any case...

Yes, the video is well done, artsy, captivating, and quite entertaining. Loved the video - but I don't think it's science. And I don't think Salad is 'our man'. He's an opportunist and post-adopter, who, though quite good at his art, is merely making a strong name for himself for his own reasons. This is just a vehicle to that end. What about the video itself?

For one thing, the cadence and drumbeat of the music in the background implies an effort to influence the viewer emotionally - like the music score of a Bollywood flick. Sure it made my heart beat faster, but it did little to stimulate more int eh way of interpretive, cognitive curiosity. For someone who is introduced to the topic for the first time, perhaps...

Second, I'm in agreement with Doc's line of thinking regarding drone/craft size, with the added caveat: Lots of "creative artistic license" exercised here in assuming the craft is tens of meters across rather than mere tens of centimeters across as most of the previous threads have concluded/assumed/analyzed as such - and I think most of us have accepted. So this issue of scale is a new twist introduced by the video, along with:

Why shoot it down like that? Lots of drama via an overly-CGIish air-to-air followed by a death spiral auguring into the countryside. Just symbolism?

And if it's really meant to be depicted as a craft (no-drone) the size of a bus, then the lettering would be enormous - not merely an instruction set (or set of 'make-it-go' switches) but a billboard to be seen and interpreted from afar. By whom? Some other-worldly FAA or fellow dronecraft pilot?

Yes, tin-foil hats off to our man on the virtual street, TheSystematicConfigurator: I have been following your leads and suppositions nigh these many moons. Been looking under quite a few stones myself - many engendered by your tireless net-antics. Been somewhat frustrated in that many folks I dig out e-mail contact info for simply do not know or claim to not care one iota about our enigmatic little (or big) craft. Makes me think sometimes there is a perpetrator somewhere humoring himself over the fact that many of us are spending colossal amounts of time and have yet to pull him/her/them, from the Saddam-hole he's hiding in. Our guy is harder to ferret out than UBL himself! You go, Sysfriend!

Which brings us back, not quite full-circle, to: WHY? OK, so the whole quagmire has spawned thousands of posts, motivated very creative and talented artists to create snazzy music videos, promoted the careers, websites, and marketability of legions of real and pseudo-UFOlogistis, and grabbed a bunch of us thinkers and inquisitors by the short hairs for months.

But so far none of these players, IMO, are the originators. It STILL feels like I'm in the middle of an umpteen-ring circus, along with y'all, and we're running around on the backs of each others horses, twirling plates of ideas in front of each other, juggling CGI imagery, swallowing swords of disdain - FOR WHAT? FOR WHOM?

We're all in the ring. Who is the ringmaster? Better yet, who is Barnum and Bailey?

And when is the final act....?