cont...
     In case you were thinking that this cosmic battle might
not affect us directly, Gwen has suggested that information
she has seen "makes the cold war seem to be fake and a
propaganda tool." Now that must be one heck of a conspiracy!
But then, the Ashtar Command is involved, so I guess that
pretty much explains everything.
     Gwen, along with a number of her friends, really
doesn't like skeptics. We keep doing these annoying things
like asking for evidence. She wants no part of that. She has
proposed that we all simply accept that UFOs are alien craft
and go from there. In other words, her conspiracies stem
from a religious belief system which is not open to
question. This is even better than a standard conspiracy, in
that those in control have godlike powers. A good
conspiracy, as I've mentioned, can meld any fact or absence
of fact into it. A GOD conspiracy can simply use
supernatural means in such a way that facts, or the absence
thereof, are simply irrelevant.
     In a similar vein, we have Will2. Nothing I can say
about Will's beliefs can do them justice, so I will simply
let him speak for himself:
     "Some of the Creator Gods wanted man to evolve as a
God. Others did not! The controversy became heated and
created conflict for many thousands of years. So great was
this conflict, Wars became prevalent across the Earth. The
side that eventually won did not want man to understand his
origins. This is where we stand today. The other side having
lost is now returning to set man free and give him his place
in the Stars."
     There's the religious part. Now, for the part getting
back to UFOs and our government:
     "The above is the reason for disinformation on
extraterrestrials and the refusal to release the truth
hidden in our history revealing what and who controls this
planet and why."
     He has stated outright that "Aliens rule this planet"
using "Secret governments run by the filthy rich." "The
TRUTH is opposite to what they want you to believe. ...
People like [William] Cooper get their reputations
discredited... Watch those being discredit! (sic)" (Emphasis
in original.) Of course, the only way to find out the real
truth is to join him and those who have been discredited.
Contrary to a rational course of action, in which
discredited people would lose their followers, in this case
we should follow those people when evidence is used to
discredit them. The conspiracy wins again.
     Lest the reader think the only ones who believe in
these ideas are a couple of far-out wackos who nobody
listens to anyway, I bring you to the case of Dr. Robert2.
Dr. Robert is a therapist and author who specializes in
"alien abductions." My first encounter with him was when he
wrote a message saying that he was leaving the UFO
conference because he had to go into hiding. A couple weeks
later, he came back, with little explanation. Soon after
that, he was publicly accused (in a lawsuit and newspaper
article) of improper conduct with several of his patients
(he later lost his license to practice because of these
accusations). Almost immediately, the accusations became
part of the conspiracy against him. After all, he had told
us that They were after him, right?
     "Some of my harassment is ongoing, and involves both
dirty tricks and legal process, on which I cannot comment at
this time upon advice of my attorneys. ... the Dark Forces
have turned up the pressure on me to the extreme setting.
Trying to discredit me, so that what I tell about will not
matter."
     On a radio show, he was asked if the lawsuit had
anything to do with his views on aliens. He responded, "Oh,
very much. That's exactly, you know, what it's about, and
without again trying to follow my attorney's advice not to
get into the particulars. (sic) I think probably the best
anecdote is one of my fellow UFO researchers said to me,
'well [Robert], you must be getting too close to the truth
because they're trying to do the smear stuff on you.'"
     Of course, the lawsuit is not the only way the
government is going after him. He believes They are tapping
him. He knows "remote viewers" (people who use ESP to scan
the area, apparently) who warned him that an "intercept
team, armed and dangerous" was waiting for him at a location
he planned to visit. Once again, if there was a huge
government conspiracy with the control he thinks they have
after him, and they really wanted him dead, couldn't they
get it done-at least if this group is as successful as he
claims at all the other conspiratorial stuff they do?
     In addition, Dr. Robert is among those who think the
skeptic mentioned earlier is not who he appears to be.
Specifically, he said, "The team that take turns playing
'[Curly]' are a bunch of gutless wonders, afraid to use
their own real names. 3"
     And, of course, the government doesn't just restrain
itself to trying to kill him, sue him, or annoy him on the
computer. He also thinks They are trying to ruin his work
with people who claim alien abductions. He said that some of
the people who come to him with these claims fall into the
"category of what appeared to me in my opinion to be plants
from 'military and intelligence,' who were coming in trying
to muddy-up what I'm doing by planting preposterous stories
with me hoping I'll bite on them, and announce them, and
sound so absolutely goofy that my research will not be taken
seriously." Remember that second category of disinformation
agents involved in conspiracies? Considering some of the
tales Robert has told, I can't honestly figure out how
anybody could discredit him further!
     Just what are some of those claims, I hear you ask.
Well, let's start with: "In my research to date, I've come
up with a minimum of seven different races [of aliens] and
possibly more.." and "I would estimate that there's probably
three thousand extraterrestrial contacts going on a day in
the United States." What could the government possibly do to
make his claims any more outrageous?
     But the government isn't just after him. They're after
all of us, in a way. They want us to think that the aliens
are evil, even though Robert thinks they are good: "My frank
opinion is that the negative stereotyping is part of the
organized cover up of the extraterrestrial presence and UFO
presence phenomenon." And if promoting a negative image for
aliens isn't enough: "It appears that [some abductions] are
psychological warfare operations designed to enhance the
image of extraterrestrial contact as a horrible experience
that people should fear". So the government is actually
participating in some of them, according to him!
     I must remind the reader now, this man is not just some
loon who spouts nuttiness over the computer. He claims to
have counseled 98 people in alien-abduction-related work, he
was a licensed psychologist, and has an impressive-looking
r‚sum‚. His conspiracies have a direct effect on the lives
of those he counsels!
     I could go on (and on and on and...), but I think the
point is clear: Some people are going to believe no matter
how little evidence exists, and in some cases the lack of
evidence only encourages them to believe further. Can we, as
skeptics, do anything about it? No and yes. No, we probably
won't have much, if any, luck in trying to convince those
people pushing these "theories" that they are wrong in
either their actions or conclusions. As I pointed out, a
good conspiracy theory can incorporate anything into it,
even directly contradictory evidence. But, yes, we can
prevent others from falling for their nonsense. There are
people out there who are neither "believers" or "skeptics."
They may just be interested in the claims and begin looking
around for more information. By giving them this
information, we can convince at least some of them to be
more skeptical about UFO-related claims in the future.
     Don't get the idea that everybody involved in UFOlogy
or BBSes are as far out as the people I've mentioned here.
While most "believers" do think the government is hiding
something (for example, the Roswell crash is still a hot
issue, and may be until the end of time), their credulity
covers a wide range from almost entirely skeptical to, well,
the people I've mentioned here. Believers argue amongst
themselves at least as much as they argue with skeptics
(remember that second class of "disinformation agent").
There seems to be no single case that all of them can point
to and say, "There it is. Proof that we are being visited by
alien beings." However, there seem to be an infinite number
of cases for which they say, "We would have the evidence, if
only it weren't for..."
1. The skeptic in question has asked that I not use his
   real name here. He gets enough crank calls as it is.
2. I have decided not to use the real names of these three
   people. Several of them have threatened lawsuits in the
   past, and, frankly, I don't have either the time or
   money to fight a frivolous lawsuit.
3. Contrary to Dr. Robert's claims, "Curly" does use his
   real name on the nets. See above note.
--- msgedsq 2.0.5
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