Keeping your eye on the ball

Do others share my difficulty in keeping their eye on the ball, in terms of keeping focused on the most significant UFO evidence or working on things that may actually help ufology in the longer term?

It's just too tempting to get distracted and amuse outselves by looking into the lastest trivial hoax or Youtube video rather than doing the (frankly, often pretty tedious) work that could add something more meaningful to issues relating to UFO reports...

Most of us have relatively little time for ufology, due to family and work commitments (or other - probably more socially acceptable - hobbies), so passing time on the latest flash-in-the-pan sighting is generally going to be a waste of time.

Given the rapid turnover of people interested in ufology (goodness knows how many new people get interested in, and leave, this field each year), I've always thought that more time should be spent on building up resources that would limit the amount of reinvention of the wheel by the next crop of researchers - e.g. chronologies, bibliographies and collating references to relevant resources/discussions. I know... yawn,,,

Perhaps I'm the only one that finds it difficult to keep my eye on the ball and only work on the projects which I think will actually be fruitful...

All the best,

Isaac

reply to post by IsaacKoi


What keeps me into ufology is the few stories that actually are significant in some way. I find a lot of stuff in the field not even worth a second glance these days. But every once in a while through my hours of skimming stories, and threads I find the ones that really stick out. And every now and then a story comes out of no where with un-deniable proof that takes me for a complete U turn and I say to myself oh yeah this is why I Love this field.

reply to post by IsaacKoi


I feel the exact same way.

There have been numerous threads and articles about UFO cases that look/sound amazing, and are quite possibly credible, yet they are devoured and dismissed like some sort of b-class hooker.

Research and investigation is necessity. Otherwise, we're just oogling photos the equivilent of alien-porn.

I believe we must always progress and remain fresh with current sightings/etc however continuously filter and comb through any/every credible/incredible case that comes up.

SO many topics have come and gone in a blink. Amazing archeological discoveries, video footage of craft( s ), significant articles contributing to the likelyhood of UFO/alien existance from high level officials etc.

They are posted, commented upon, accepted warmly or dismissed abruptly, then either somebody gets shot... and makes the headline, 10 new people join creating threads saying 'hello', a quarter of the ATS community posts (and keeps posting) nonesense about Obama and his citizenship etc.

< face palm >

reply to post by IsaacKoi


Just too good I know what you're talking about. And more than once I thought, how much time I've lost with investigating so many cases, that all too often ended in hoaxes or dead ends, so that I often just want to forget it all.

But then I remember my own sighting of an object, that was so strange and in no way comparable with anything I've ever seen built by man.

And then there are the few cases, that still after all these years leave me restless... (for example the incident in the Ariel school in Zimbabwe in 1994, investigated by John E. Mack - www.youtube.com...)

And the strange accounts of people in my family and my circle of friends and acquaintances, that sometimes really make me speechless.

Yeah, sometimes it's really frustrating. But then... this is probably the most exciting intellectual trip one can do (beside finding enlightment and the answer to the question, if there's a life after death)

Maybe the answer to all our question is already right in front of our noses.

We just have to reconfigurate our perception.

Yeah, it's all about perception.

Originally posted by IsaacKoi
Perhaps I'm the only one that finds it difficult to keep my eye on the ball and only work on the projects which I think will actually be fruitful...

No I too spent several days in the Jerusalem and Turkey UFO threads trying to show what I see wrong with them and why. I also spent a lot of time over the missile/contrail issue. (I think that was what finally made Phage leave)

But how can you fight it when a retired NATO director says it was probably a missile as a show of force to China while Obama was visiting

Yet every time someone posts a UFO vid with a plausible title.. I still look. At least I now have gathers a great collection of awesome missile launches to show for it

What bothers me more than the waste of time... is that Ufologists and whistle blowers are now just supporting ANYTHING that is the latest buzz on the net Dr Leir is one

www.alienscalpel.com...

I guess it is all about the hit points to keep your share of the audience... and toss any real facts out the window if they are in convenient (like it's a hoax)

The hoaxers have won this round...

1) They got mega million plus hits on youtube
2) They got worldwide media coverage on the most obvious fake and MSM to boot
3) They got a whole list of "Next time don't do this" tips from ATS

Originally posted by zorgon
Yet every time someone posts a UFO vid with a plausible title.. I still look.

Sigh. I know ... these things are more addictive than chocolate. Well, almost...

What bothers me more than the waste of time... is that Ufologists and whistle blowers are now just supporting ANYTHING that is the latest buzz on the net

I'm not sure how much of a change that really involved from the supporting of the latest book by Adamski/Scully/(insert your own example here...).

The hoaxers have won this round...

As usual.

Must ... walk ... away...

All the best,

Isaac

reply to post by IsaacKoi


Ha! See you in a week.

Springer...

Originally posted by IsaacKoi
Do others share my difficulty in keeping their eye on the ball, in terms of keeping focused on the most significant UFO evidence or working on things that may actually help ufology in the longer term?
g to UFO re
It's just too tempting to get distracted and amuse outselves by looking into the lastest trivial hoax or Youtube video

I actually have some material to share with you guys but at the moment there is a list of threads I want to read first... Maybe I should just delete them and write my next thread.... I don't want to end up feeling the same as you...

I'll just read a couple of the juicy sounding ones first

No, I really will write some more threads soon - even if it means missing a few hoaxes or slanging match threads

reply to post by IsaacKoi


Absolutely agree, not that I am a serious investigator in any way myself, but would be great if an unbiased summary could be updated at the top of each of the more "important" new threads, but probably practically impossible.

Maybe a "super group" email circle that can alert others to cases that do appear of interest, with the originator volunteering to provide the summary, but how would that work !

reply to post by chunder

That's not a bad idea. The trouble is you need to know someone whose opinion you respect has reviewed new threads, otherwise you end up wanting to make a quick check for yourself and your time is absorbed again.

I gave in to temptation again and looked at some Youtube videos. I posted about an explanation for several of those videos in another thread. In response, I received a comment that reminded me of this thread.

The relevant response is at the link below:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by MainLineThis
Seriously? I would expect so much more from a highly regarded poster such as yourself. i realize your trying to make a point here, and point I 100% agree with, but you of all people wasting your time looking at youtube videos, and the[n] possibly thinking that your opinion is going to educate or enlighten others that live and breath by consuming such ignorance? Any normal person around here that lives off youtube videos lacks the mental ability to even understand why they are wasting their time....

I remain open to suggestions for keeping my eye on the ball...

Or for a way to walk away from ufology...

reply to post by IsaacKoi


If someone that has no 'hardcore interest' in UFOs captures something on video, they'll probably put it on YouTube. - It's mainstream.

No proper investigation.
No MUFON report.

May end up in The Sun newspaper , but apart from that would only get picked by people looking through YouTube.

So while YouTube is contaminated, you can't ignore them all; that's just racist.