SIGHTINGS


 
Highly Controversial
UK UFO Researcher Levels
Broadside At UFOlogy
By Tim Matthews <matthews@zetnet.co.uk>
8-12-98


Note - Few UK UFO reserchers have seemingly generated as many intense detractors and as much turmoil as has Tim Mathews. Here is his latest commentary. Replies are welcome and encouraged.
 
 
 
The dearth of Ufology - part 227
 
Stop Press - New information to be released on so-called "Aurora" project!! See below!
 
Just a short note to you all....
 
For the foreseeable future I will be taking a back seat. I am writing a novel and a follow up to my first book and this will take up considerable time and energy. Perhaps most importantly I have family commitments.
 
The few Conference engagements that I have will be fulfilled and events organised by Lancashire UFO Society and the British UFO Studies Centre will receive my full support. I shall also cooperate with our many supporters to put out the regular email bulletin - which takes up relatively little time. The Lancashire UFO Society will be organised by other members of the team. There will be a new postal address and a better deal for subscribers.
 
Instead of offering membership plus a magazine we have streamlined things as follows;
 
Pay £12 subscription to our popular magazine UFO NEWS in return for which you get a 40 page magazine four times a year.
 
- Gain admission to Conferences and local events at a greatly reduced rate.
 
- Receive regular updates and join the email bulletins list.
 
........................
 
ALIEN LIES?
 
The UFO politics and goings-on of the last year or two have highlighted a number of major problems within Ufology - in no particular order.
 
1 - Total lack of scientific methodology in research.
 
2 - (combined with) Lack of serious investigation.
 
3 - Replacement of factual information with pseudo-scientific twaddle.
 
4 - Rejection of all mainstream science.
 
5 - Ufology as a social club rather than a discipline pushing at the boundaries of scientific and philosophical understanding.
 
6 - Ignorance of military matters and the system of Security and Classification that accompanies classified projects.
 
7 - Failure to counter the sensationalist UFO nonsense that mainly emanates from the USA but which is becoming increasingly popular here except by the miserable skeptics - whose material is often just as ridiculous as the believers and which often trots out government propaganda.
 
8 - Support for extremist political conspiracy theories.
 
9 - Failure to make UFO reports and sightings information publicly available through libraries and similar collections (BUFOSC is on the verge of producing it's first sightings 3.5in floppy. Available at minimal cost upon request! See postage address below).
 
10 - Support for unacceptable regression hypnosis and similar techniques which have been shown again and again to be dangerous.
 
Philip Corsos' book - a recycled version of several recovered alien technology myths - has now been given thrown into the most serious doubt thanks to excellent factual research undertaken by Brad C. Sparks.
 
Linda Moulton Howes' latest article for 'Nexus' magazine that supposedly provides us with new information on EBEs and government involvement is so full of factual and technical errors that it is not clear whether she actually checked any of it before going public. Hysteria about crash retrievals, videos of "EBEs" and the revelations of so-called government insiders have reduced this subject to a circus. There is absolutely no evidence to support any of these claims. Attempts to shore them up with the publication of fake documents like MJ-12 or the MJ-12 EBE Recovery Manual are simply laughable but serve as an effective tool for guiding the research community in the wrong direction.
 
In parallel with these third-rate science fiction stories various charlatans have emerged onto the scene and made a ton of money from people desperate to believe in aliens. Of course some of these dubious people do well before scuttling back into the woodwork after their evidence is shown to be bogus or at least highly questionable.
 
Bob Dean and "The Assessment" might be said to be an example. Now I'm sure Dean is a very nice man but even Tim Good, a noted author and believer in aliens and ET-human contact a la George Adamski, was able to provide considerable evidence to show that "The Assessment" almost certainly non-existent..... And yet it is not long ago that I remember Dean being courted by many UK Ufologists and getting standing ovations from enthusiastic crowds at Conferences.....
 
Why do these stories emerge? Are they perhaps a deliberate attempt to lead people up the garden path.......? I suspect that the military is very happy with aliens. Very happy indeed.
 
You might conclude that Ufology becomes a sort of self-regulating and all-too-convenient cover story for the operation of several black project aircraft once - from the smallest classified UAV able to pull high 'g' turns through to the largest hybrid triangular LTA craft. Maybe elements of the intelligence community need only do the bare minimum to discourage serious research - by the non publication of information, even when it is legitimately requested by the FOIA, and by encouraging probably no more than a couple of useful well-placed idiots within Ufology to put out silly stories about alien-human hybrids and motherships....
 
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE?
 
The non-release, perhaps even cover-up if you prefer a little drama, of certain information about Operations Overcast, Paperclip and Lusty, the US flying disc, flying wing and other low aspect ratio classified aircraft programmes of the late 1940s, 1950s (Project Silver Bug) and 1960s (which we strongly suspect continued until the late 1970s before aircraft of triangular planform became more desirable) is deliberate entirely because of the dubious Nazi scientists input into the earlier stages of these programmes and the horrific war crimes associated with them, the massive cost to the US taxpayer of 'black' aircraft and the culture of secrecy that grew up and grew out of control that protected certain details of the projects in question.
 
Remember this; the US Air Force, after numerous FOIA requests and appeals, was UNWILLING - not unable - to provide information on those German scientists who we believe had a direct input the early events of the post WW2 UFO wave.
 
WHERE HAS ALL THE ENTHUSIASM GONE?
 
The opportunities presented by heightened interest in the subject have, to some extent, been squandered. In the North of England both the Lancashire UFO Society and the British UFO Studies Centre have made a considerable impact and I have spoken on numerous TV and radio programmes and presented a balanced, factual and positive account of the UFO evidence - such as it is. This has been very well received by the public but not anything like as well by the old guard of Ufology....
 
STRANGE BUT TRUE?
 
I first suspected that Ufology was full of strange characters when I appeared on a Radio Lancashire programme in 1995 with two members of a small local group who were ranting on about John F. Kennedy and his assassination being the work of MJ-12. A couple of months later another Lancashire group got caught up in the 'Alien bodies' photographs hoax. It soon emerged that a member of the audience at their Jan.1996 Conference had dropped some computer images of an alien face that he had concocted in the toilets at the event (!). The UFO group responsible then tried to milk the images (they claimed that they had been "telephoned by a mystery caller" in the days leading up to the event and had subsequently been left a "surprise package" of alien images) as the real thing and went public - thus damaging AGAIN the little credibility Ufology had in the UK.
 
Two successful conferences and numerous well-supported local meetings put BUFOSC and LUFOS in a very strong position and our aim is now to develop the RESEARCH side further.
 
LOVE AND BULLETS.....
 
We recognise that success, within Ufology at least, breeds contempt and we were not surprised to receive some hate mail and anonymous leaflets. Latterly an attempt to put us off the road for good was undertaken when Eric Morris' car was sabotaged just hours before he was due to give a talk in Sheffield. A small number of people associated with Ufology also got together to put out illegal and defamatory leaflets about Eric and myself and this is currently a focus for Police investigation.
 
This appears to be entirely the result of jealousy and is the work of a tiny minority of malcontents. I think we all know who they are and the time is right to show them the door.......
 
COMING SOON - UFO REVELATIONS!
 
A great deal more information on several important subjects that affect our understanding of military, political, historical and cultural affairs, will be presented at the BUFOSC Mini-Conference in Staffordshire on September 19th. Be there! Newcastle-Under-Lyme Central Library 10am - 4pm.
 
In a shock development we will be presenting new information on the Top Secret US high-speed spy plane nicknamed "Aurora". This information is not available elsewhere! It looks as if there may have been, at one point, an operational hypersonic US aircraft. We now suspect that a newer mach 3.5-4 aircraft has been flown recently over the SE USA....
 
LUFOS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE - JANUARY 1999.
 
We have also decided to put on a Conference in Southport next January featuring a particularly well-known speaker.
 
Be there!
 
LAPIS GIG COMING UP.
 
We have received news from the people at LAPIS.
 
We can confirm the dates for the LAPIS Conference. There was a little confusion initially.
 
It's Saturday and Sunday 14th and 15th November folks - Speakers include Al Bielek, Ed Sherwood, Jordan Maxwell, Gloria Dixon and Andy Roberts.
 
Lowther Pavilion, Lytham St. Annes 11am-6pm both days.
 
IN THE EVENING ON SATURDAY OR SUNDAY WE WILL BE PROVIDING A CONTRASTING PRESENTATION. WE SHALL BE HOLDING A FREE LECTURE EVENT NEARBY, IN LYTHAM ST. ANNES ON....
 
'THE SECRET HISTORY OF MILITARY UFOs!'
 
The latest exciting research on this curiously neglected subject fully backed up by primary research - first person interviews, FOIA documents and more!
 
Absolutely FREE - supported as usual by big screen overhead and video projection!
 
Starting at 7.30pm, magazines and books for sale and BUFOSC/LUFOS information
 
....................
 
Latest sightings - Ormskirk/Skelmersdale, Grimsby and Wigan. The Wigan sighting was more like a sounding - a man heard a strange whooshing sound as if some sort of aircraft had passed over his house low and at high speed. Thanks to G for the Wigan information.
 
In addition to the above, we posted several important findings to 'UFO Updates' and 'Skywatch' forums in the last two weeks - all part of our intention to share information where possible for the widest audience.....
 
WELL - that's it for now. I have many thousands of words to write and further research to undertake before our exciting 19th September event in Staffordshire.
 
 
Tim Matthews (pager - 07666 766869)
 
Email; please use our full addresses;
 
matthews@zetnet.co.uk bufosc@compuserve.com
 
BUFOSC, 78 Greenall Road, Northwich. Cheshire CW9 5RN. Tel (01606) 330567 Pager (01523) 160249




RESPONSE


From Bill Hamilton <skywatcher22@hotmail.com
Exucutive Director
Skywatch International
 
8-14-98
 
 
Jeff,
 
Tim sounds like he is ranting here and cites few examples, and the actual state of affairs is not supported by his blistering commentary on the UFO community.
 
 
 
- Total lack of scientific methodology in research.
 
There are many examples of use of scientific methodlogy in research including Friedman, Macabee, Sanio, Haines, and others who are trained scientists.
 
2 - (combined with) Lack of serious investigation.
 
I have done serious investigation myself and know others who have so can he say he does?
 
3 - Replacement of factual information with pseudo-scientific twaddle.
 
Those who have little understanding of scient themselves usually make this claim.
 
4 - Rejection of all mainstream science.
 
No so! Dr. Puthoff and Dr. Sarfatti have proposed extended theories to account for UFO behavior -- what is mainstream today may not be tomorrow.
 
5 - Ufology as a social club rather than a discipline pushing at the boundaries of scientific and philosophical understanding.
 
Many other scientific disciplines have members who congregate socially. That is the nature of being human.
 
6 - Ignorance of military matters and the system of Security and Classification that accompanies classified projects.
 
Many of us, including myself, are not ignorant of security matters. I had a Top Secret Crypto clearance in the USAFSS.
 
7 - Failure to counter the sensationalist UFO nonsense that mainly emanates from the USA but which is becoming increasingly popular here except by the miserable skeptics - whose material is often just as ridiculous as the believers and which often trots out government propaganda.
 
The USA gets the bad rap again. Actually, we are at the leading edge of UFO research and that is why many of the UFO magazines in the UK turn to stories about American researchers.
 
8 - Support for extremist political conspiracy theories.
 
Ahh, we are human again. Are to believe that no conspiracies exist? That is good propaganda. Could not a few conspiracies exist? These are hard to prove and easy to deny so it is a cheap shot.
 
9 - Failure to make UFO reports and sightings information publicly available through libraries and similar collections (BUFOSC is on the verge of producing it's first sightings 3.5in floppy. Available at minimal cost upon request! See postage address below).
 
MUFON has a UFO public awareness week every year. My local library carrys many UFO books.
 
10 - Support for unacceptable regression hypnosis and similar techniques which have been shown again and again to be dangerous.
 
What is so unacceptable. Using regression hypnosis coupled with objective investigation of reported facts could yield meaningful data -- so why reject it?
 
Philip Corsos' book - a recycled version of several recovered alien technology myths - has now been given thrown into the most serious doubt thanks to excellent factual research undertaken by Brad C. Sparks.
 
I still do not doubt Corso. I had the opportunity to meet and talk with him at some length and he only confirms what I have been told by other sources.
 
Linda Moulton Howes' latest article for 'Nexus' magazine that supposedly provides us with new information on EBEs and government involvement is so full of factual and technical errors that it is not clear whether she actually checked any of it before going public. Hysteria about crash retrievals, videos of "EBEs" and the revelations of so-called government insiders have reduced this subject to a circus. There is absolutely no evidence to support any of these claims. Attempts to shore them up with the publication of fake documents like MJ-12 or the MJ-12 EBE Recovery Manual are simply laughable but serve as an effective tool for guiding the research community in the wrong direction.
 
In parallel with these third-rate science fiction stories various charlatans have emerged onto the scene and made a ton of money from people desperate to believe in aliens. Of course some of these dubious people do well before scuttling back into the woodwork after their evidence is shown to be bogus or at least highly questionable.
 
Bob Dean and "The Assessment" might be said to be an example. Now I'm sure Dean is a very nice man but even Tim Good, a noted author and believer in aliens and ET-human contact a la George Adamski, was able to provide considerable evidence to show that "The Assessment" almost certainly non-existent..... And yet it is not long ago that I remember Dean being courted by many UK Ufologists and getting standing ovations from enthusiastic crowds at Conferences.....
 
Why do these stories emerge? Are they perhaps a deliberate attempt to lead people up the garden path.......? I suspect that the military is very happy with aliens. Very happy indeed.
 
You might conclude that Ufology becomes a sort of self-regulating and all-too-convenient cover story for the operation of several black project aircraft once - from the smallest classified UAV able to pull high 'g' turns through to the largest hybrid triangular LTA craft. Maybe elements of the intelligence community need only do the bare minimum to discourage serious research - by the non publication of information, even when it is legitimately requested by the FOIA, and by encouraging probably no more than a couple of useful well-placed idiots within Ufology to put out silly stories about alien-human hybrids and motherships....
 
Good grief, Tim thinks there are LTA triangular craft...how do they accelerate so rapidly, Tim? Impossible for LTAs.
 
Now, Linda Howe is bashed again despite the fact that she now checks credentials as far as she possibly can.
 
The best explanation for the origin of UFOs, considering all the data collected over 51 years, is that they are extraterrestrial and/or extradimensional. We may now have some terrestrial technology that constitutes a model-T version of these antigravitational craft.
 
Tim is apparently xenophobic and avoids the mention of sightings of alien life forms, EBEs, and the like as he cannot make any sense of it so has to relegate it to "nonsense", "science-fiction" and the like because it simply exceeds his acceptance level. However, the repeated sightings of non-human entities in association with these craft, and their response to telepathic communication should stimulate our scientific curiousity. Rumors of black aircraft technology are just that...rumors.
 
Sincerely,
 
Bill Hamilton
Executive Director,
Skywatch International





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