From looking through old magazines/newsletters of the period
it is obvious that 1978 saw a
large number of UFO reports and CE3Ks.
It has been claimed that this was due to the release of the
movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind
(1977) -why not Star Wars (1977) one might ask? It is a rather convenient "explain-it-all-away
for the debunkers who like to declare themselves "sceptical
ufologists". Why not, as we are discussing UK reports, blame it all on Dr Who
episodes -1963 onward covered.
I have been involved in this subject now since 1973 and
became fully active in 1974. Here is the thing; these things have come and gone
over the years -X-Files, Dark Skies, the seemingly uncountable number of TV
shows and documentaries and the thing is that there follows a "surge of
UFO sightings".
Untrue.
What you get are a lot of people who want to attach
themselves to a subject for various reasons.
This is not just in ufology.
From 1977 on I was an exotic wildlife consultant to UK
police forces and the usual focus was non native cats (if you go by reports
there is only one member of the Big cat family seen in the UK;the
leopard/panther for which we have had hairs, tracks and so on). Newspapers get
bored -oh, someone said they have seen a strange cat?" out comes the
feature and suddenly "big cat hunters" are everywhere and they have
no knowledge of the subject pertaining to UK cases other than "The
Classics" (yes, even this subject has Classics!) or some facts they have
taken from other "British Big Cat" sites online. I spoke to one after another who told me
"Yeah, I've been doing this over three/five years now" and it is said
as though it makes them veterans. The utter disbelief -just stopping short of
calling me a liar- when I say, well I started 40 years ago in 1977".
The same pattern emerges here; the reprinting of
"classic" reports, the odd new report and these "Big Cat
Hunters" being determined to find evidence of the British Big Cat -to
throw in the face of the Government cover up.
These people will claim they have been followed, attempts have been made
to silence them and some even claim mystery helicopters have appeared on
"investigation sites". Any of
this sound familiar? I have not experienced any of this in 40 years and, guess
what? I have affidavits regarding cats
killed. So "ya-boo-sucks!"
Now, I also have an interest in the paranormal, since I was
a youngster in fact. Again, the "Classic cases" and people jumping
in, particularly since the mass of fake paranormal TV shows. Die-hard truth-seekers who will not stop
until they have the incontrovertible evidence.
These Big Ghost paranormalists have their tag team of psychics,
sensitives and all the new expensive gadgets -most are just old builders
gadgets re-labelled to sell at 3-4 times the normal price to dupes. Oh, I'm sure that the black clothing industry
must be making a big profit these days, too!
Sasquatch/Bigfoot -all the same type of things and, of
course, since the internet and all the TV shows the UK has got to have its own
Bigfoot...its own Dog-man..it goes on and on.
Most of these truth-seekers, or hobbyists, vanish after a
while. They turn up again as they jump band wagons and I note names that were
into Big Cats appearing in UFO circles and the paranormal circles and now
'British Bigfoot'. If turd polishing was
to become a hot US TV show trend you can bet these people will turn up as
British turd-polishing truth-seekers.
The only common factor in all of these subjects -with the
exception of turd-polishing as I (hope) I made that one up- is that there is
constant in-fighting, back-stabbing, lying, hoaxing and false claims. It is
also true to say that these people publish no research. To be honest a badly
written "investigation" report is not a substitute for a technical
paper that can be peer reviewed and that others can build or improve on (EEKS! "Share
data?!").
I have my name on technical papers concerning feral and
hybrid felids and possible populations of English wildcats; on wolverines in
the UK ;
for the Eastern Cougar Conference I contributed to a paper. My decades long study
of foxes in the UK
was published as a paper but then made more widely available as a fully
referenced book: Red Paper 1:Canids.
Summing up all I have learnt since 1973 and, again, fully referenced and
coming out at over 500+ pages, UFO Contact? was originally part of the Grey
Book UFO Report but updated.
I'll point out that I am not welcome when it comes to
ufology, cryptozoology, paranormal groups, etc., because (and I was actually
told this three times and still have those emails) "we were a bit concerned. You have a reputation..." And what "reputation" is this? Well, and I will be honest here, I want to
find those cases that are genuine and not explainable (in the sense of "it
was this" or "That was obviously...") because that is something
to build on and find out what it really was.
To prove where the UFOBs -solid, constructed objects- come from with no
real doubt. There are areas of the
paranormal that are not just imagined so we have to look at the
"unknown" aspects.
I am not a fantasist.
I do not believe that, for example, the UK is full of ghosts (thousands of
them), demons, Bigfoot, UFO bases, cattle mutilations and gateways/portals to
hell and that thousands are being kidnapped daily by aliens. If I believed all
of that I am quite sure I would be welcomed by all!
But you have to look for an explanation and when you find it
make that known -fully reference your article or publication so that your
explanation can be checked. I would hate to think people say "Well, he
says that is what it was" without checking themselves.
Dr Who as a TV series has not spawned countless reports of
Cybermen or Dalek like entities in flying saucers. Close Encounters of the
Third Kind simply resulted in some people making new reports or old reports
being churned up by desperate UFO groups hoping to get publicity and increase
the social club membership. 1977 -1979 were very busy years for me as a UFO
investigator. I covered a wide geographical area because most of the others in
local UFO groups just could not be bothered -they had the newspaper clippings
after all. I submitted 300 reports to
BUFORA. They confirmed receipt. One year later; "We seem to have mislaid
them somehow. Three hundred reports
But that was in the past.
Who cares. I can tell you, however,
that despite everything those "sceptical ufologist say, shout or write
-the reports made and investigated before and after the movie were the
"standard" type. No one
reported a compulsion to get to the peak of the Berwyn mountain. No compulsion to build a mashed potato Berwyn Mountain
Facetious? Well. if
these "sceptical ufologists" actually did some real research work or
even got off their cushioned asses once
in a while rather than pushing their own agendas they would know all of this.
Are they aware that overt a four week period in late 1978 it
is possible -not proven- that there were at least three UFO abduction cases,
one a multi-witness case?
Here is another truth: as an investigator/researcher you
find out more when not involved in a group(s).
Also,a lot of hard work went into making this face! :-)
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