"True" UFOs - Monster Hunting 2

In the 1980s I had a friend who was an editor at True UFO magazine.  One day, I said to him, "Mike, where did you find all those true UFO stories for the magazine?"  He replied, "We made them up."

UFO shows on TV remind me of that.  Lots of made-up stories, lots of misidentifications, lots of people wanting to believe more than they want to investigate.  Often, not much science.  The Ghost Hunters producers are soon coming out with a UFO Hunters show.  I have no idea what mix of science and credulity to expect.  UFO shows on TV tend to be, IMHO, more crackpot-filled than most other "monster based" shows.  People seem to take UFOs more seriously (and personally) than, say, bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster.  Is that an expression of our desire not to be alone in the universe?

THE REAL ROSWELL (National Geographic channel)
This is a very good show about the Roswell incident and the myths that have been built up around it since.  It starts by explaining the sequence of events as they were reported, gives background on the era of the crash, relates the history of UFO sightings, and details the Roswell story as believed by many UFOlogists.  Then the show looks at the facts and draws a very skeptical conclusion -- a conclusion which, frankly, the facts seem to support.  Standout on this show is the repeated use of eyewitness testimony and records.  They have the son of the Air Force officer who recovered the object, and tapes of the father as well.  They also have news reports and witness reports from the time.  Plus, they have at least one scientist from the top-secret Project Mogul.  Also, this is the first show I remember that mentioned Behind the Flying Saucers, by Frank Scully, a "true" story (later revealed to be a hoax) that seems a likely source for many Roswell myths -- most of which only appeared 30+ years after the actual incident.  The conclusion the show reaches is that Roswell actually featured the crash of a top secret -- and very unusual -- balloon array from Project Mogul, and not a UFO crash.

UFOS SEEING IS BELIEVING (ABC - Peter Jennings- repeating on NGC)
An interesting show combining interviews, recreations, skepticism by top scientists, and historical perspective.  Topics range from recent sightings to Roswell to alien abductions to SETI.  The late Peter Jennings does an admirable job of pulling together past and present UFO accounts.  Of particular interest are the recreations, all of which -- according to a disclaimer -- have been approved by the witnesses for accuracy.  That's a nice touch.  It's also a nice touch that the recreations are labeled as such.  (Many programs today mix "real" footage with fake and never distinguish between the two.)  Many of the eyewitness reports are very compelling and well told.  The show seems to suggest that Project Blue Book was not as rigorous as it should have been; this, of course, plays into the UFOlogist conspiracy theories.  Certainly there are deficiencies on both sides -- and Jennings's reporting points that out.  Neil deGrasse Tyson and several other scientists talk compellingly about evidence, and why eyewitness testimony is "the lowest form of evidence" in science.  'In science, seeing is NOT believing."  Maybe that seems obvious, but the dispute over that idea is what keeps the UFOlogist community and the scientific community at each other's throats about UFOs.  Overall, the show does a good job of presenting the accounts, uncovering the facts and evidence, and presenting the scientific and sociological explanations for many cases.  Does it explain every sighting?  No, nor does it intend to, but it's a good rational overview of the UFO phenomenon.  A very well produced show to start exploring case.

STEPHENVILLE SIGHTINGS ON LARRY KING LIVE (CNN - January 18, 2008)
What do you get when you pit a dozen witnesses and believers against one lone and not-too-attractive skeptic?  You get the kind of show that passes for "news" these days.  Lots of flash and bang and very little substance.  King asks annoying and often irrelevant questions, guests spar testily, and nothing is solved or much illuminated.  What does come across clearly is that the complete inability of UFOlogists to admit when something has been debunked (Arizona lights) -- and this damages their credibility on everything else.  The skeptic's stalwart nature can be annoying, too, but what can you expect when many on the other side treat UFO myths and conspiracy theories as though they were religious scripture?  The "follow the money" principle would seem to imply that anyone making a living talking about UFOs -- and there are several on this show doing so -- are unlikely to be unbiased advocates.  Perhaps most annoying of all is the cluttering of the show with UFO footage -- some "real," much fake, and some from TV and the movies ... with none of it labeled for what it is.  When tornadoes struck Wisconsin unexpectedly this January, pictures from witnesses quickly showed up; even the "best" UFO photos are unclear by comparison.  And I have no idea from this show whether any of the photos & videos shown were actually from Stephensville.

Monster Watch

"True supernatural" TV shows are often on my viewing list -- even when UFOs aren't headlining on Larry King (the Stephenville sightings).  I don't consider most of them, true, but they're usually good "grist for the mill" of writing.  I've often thought that there should be some kind of listing/clearing house for such shows -- as many seem to duplicate content or re-prove subjects that have been well debunked on other shows.  For instance, there's a famous film of bigfoot that some shows claim "can't be fake" because the bigfoot in question has an "inhuman gait."  And I've seen a least one show "prove" that no human can walk that way.  Yet, I've seen another show where an actor matches the gait with just a bit of practice, and a third that uses a candid camera technique to photograph a man long suspected of being in the bigfoot suit in the film in question, and the man's natural gait perfectly matches the "inhuman" gait.

So, some kind of database on these shows and what they contain and allege to prove, and what their strengths and weaknesses are, would be helpful.  Here's my start at such a database.  Having specific episode guides would be good (perhaps on Wikipedia?) -- but I'll start with a few general reviews.

GHOST HUNTERS and GHOST HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL (SciFi channel - general review)
The most famous of the current "True Supernatural" shows, these shows are quite good.  Some of the science they bring to bear (EVP, EMF) is a bit dicey, and much of the suspense is created by over-excitable investigators.  But -- when not going for the ratings -- the TAPS teams bring a reasonable amount of scientific investigation and skepticism to bear.  They're at their best when debunking, though occasionally obvious solutions seem to slip past them.  They also need to do a better job of controling light sources, some of which may be responsible for the fleeting shadows often seen by the group.  The first season, where TAPS' standard for declaring something "haunted" was very high, was in some way the best.  But I'm sure "haunted" houses are better for ratings.

MONSTER QUEST (History Channel - general review)
A mixed bag of scientific techniques and investigation.  Sometimes, the show is dead-on, other times pretty fuzzy headed.  Clearly, the need for sensational "cliff hangers" at the commercial breaks often hurts it.  (Ghost Hunters has a similar problem.)  And sometimes it stretches things out (the "rods" show) in order to avoid quickly reaching a "no supernatural stuff here" conclusion.  (Rods, BTW, are insects and other fast-moving objects transformed into something "mysterious" by slow-moving camera technology.)  Also, there was one bigfoot show (they've done about 4 -- each with a slightly different focus) where the investigators hid in a cabin while a possible bigfoot stood in the woods and threw stones at them.  Not very brave, or scientific.  (Hey, look!  An unknown animal!  Let's hide!)

IS IT REAL? (National Geographic channel - general review)
This show is usually the toughest and most scientific of the series supernatural shows.  Their research is generally good, and their cliff hangers tend to foreshadow an eventual debunking (when that's the outcome) -- the question then becomes not "is it real?" but "how do they know it's not real?"  That's a refreshing switch from 50 minutes of credulity followed by a 10-minute "but it's all fake" bit at the end (which often happens with Monster Quest).  I saw the Chupacabra episode this week, and it pretty well proved: 1) there are more wild dogs in the world than chupacabras (and such animals are often the actual culprits in alleged chupacabra cases), 2) so-called animal mutilations can be achieved by natural processes of decay and predation, 3) some people would rather cling to their own superstitions than believe scientific evidence.

DEEP SEA DETECTIVES (History Channel) -- The Loch Ness: The Great Monster Mystery
Divers may not be the best detectives, but they sure are intrepid.  And the show's research is pretty good, too.  What they discover in this episode is: Loch Ness is too murky to find much in, though it's deep enough to hide many secrets (including shipwrecks).  A local believer takes issue with Adrian Shine's conclusion that the loch eco-system couldn't sustain a big animal population (while this is true, he says Shine doesn't take into account migrating salmon, which don't eat while spawning).  There's also a focus on Robert H. Rines expeditions (though Rines original "monster" photos have proved dubious).  Annoyingly, though the program is copyrighted 2005, it highlights a 2001 expedition in which Rines finds what may be a carcass (though the scale seemed wrong to me), which will be explored in a future expedition.  No explanation of why no follow-up was done between 2001 and 2005.  Surely that carcass, whatever it was, is gone by now.

Tornadoes Missed Us

The tornadoes on the national news missed us by a couple of miles, thankfully.

They came closer to my in-laws -- dropping a utility pole on a restaurant we frequent about a mile away.

Fortunately, no one seems to have been hurt.  Thoughts and prayers welcome for those affected by the storms.

Deep Condolences to Pakistan

My deepest condolences to the people of Pakistan and especially to the family, friends, and supporters of Benazir Bhutto.  I greatly admired her courage and determination.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays to all my friends and readers.

I'm catching a bit of a breather after a busy and exciting year which included starting my own company -- Walkabout Publishing -- as well as the usual writing (and the occasional bit of art).

Walkabout's books should be available from Amazon shortly, so be sure to look for them there.  (Though you can get autographed copies if you order them directly from me!)

Here's hoping that all of us have an even better 2008!

Happy New Year! -- Steve

The Best Ice Cream in the World

Growing up in my hometown, Sharon, Massachusetts (next to Foxboro where the Patriots play), we always said that our hometown dairy's ice cream was the best in the world.

Now we have proof:

Crescent Ridge story

Makes me hungry just reading it.

Congrats to the Parish family and all those who make CRidge ice cream great.

What I'm Watching

A slight upgrade in my cable system has changed my TV viewing habits. There's so much more to see now!

Heroes remains a fave of course (and I hope the strikers will win so we can see more this season), and joining it in the lineup of must-see are:

Justice League
Torchwood

And the show which is currently taking up way too much of my time, Ninja Warrior (Sasuke). (I think there may be a book there somewhere.)

More on the middle two in my blog soon -- I think.

Time to watch some TV.