Oregon L.O.W.F.I

Posts Tagged ‘paranormal’

My new Trickster’s Realm column for BoA is on beings from Venus; contactees, sort of, but with a different mode of operation than the usual Space Sister. Women From Venus.

Alien Art Genre: Drawings, paintings, and other artistic renderings of aliens, entities, UFOs, and other strange things experienced — whether literally or by inspiration — by creative witnesses. If you have an image to submit, email Regan Lee at rlee@orangeorb.net with image, medium, title and brief description (direct sighting or encounter, inspired by _____, etc.)

Linda Newton Perry’s Bigfoot Ballyhoo is a blog I’ve posted about here recently; I also had turned on the “follow” feature to her blog. I say “followed” because she’s removed me from the follow option.

Newton-Perry is a Christian and has said her religious views don’t allow her to condone the paranormal. Because I have a Bigfoot blog that focuses on the high strangeness aspects of Bigfoot research, linking to my blog or supporting it, even by mentioning it I guess, conflicts with her personal beliefs.

A few days ago, Newton-Perry responded to the e-mail I had sent her by reposting it her blog:

Thank you for the good words….Regan, I , however, can not list paranormal sites. My Christian beliefs prevent me from delving into that subject. I do not believe Bigfoot is in anyway paranormal. I believe he is flesh and blood and placed in the animal kingdom for a purpose. I respect your right to believe as you wish and I ask that you respect mine. Thank you for participating on this blog and I look forward to hearing more from you.

Seems she’s changed her mind about looking “forward” to “hearing more from” me.

This is a sensitive subject for researchers. If you put yourself out there as a researcher, you have an obligation to be honest to the data. As I asked in my previous post: if your religious views conflict with data, where does your responsibility end? If you reject, hide, or ignore data you don’t like because it conflicts with your views, are you an honest researcher? I don’t know, I’m asking. I asked that question in a spirit of discussion. I had asked in my previous post, what would Linda Newton-Perry do with, say, the recent BF report from the Oregon teacher who had a recent Bigfoot sighting on the Oregon coast if that teacher had included some weird detail like, BF dematerializing in front of her? Or a UFO appeared next to it? Or any other of the high strangeness things that have been reported by some Bigfoot witnesses?

Newton-Perry didn’t answer, either directly to me, or on her blog. She preferred to ignore the question and remove me from the follow feature. Certainly her right to do so; but I wonder where that leaves the Bigfoot reports that are coming her way? What if, as I asked previously, one of those reports she’s posted on her blog contained “weird” data? Would Newton-Perry lie about it? Hide it? I think these are legitimate questions.

Since Newton-Perry writes for two newspapers about Bigfoot, has a Bigfoot blog, and has published books about Bigfoot, these questions are valid and assuming her participation in this discussion is sensible.

Newton-Perry said her beliefs don’t allow for paranormal Bigfoot beliefs but as I pointed out, not all Christians share that opinion. For example Stan Johnson (deceased) was a Christian who had many so-called paranormal encounters with Bigfoot including telepathic communications and rides on space ships.

Like the UFO subject (sans Bigfoot) religious beliefs come into things, and there’s a variety of beliefs and opinions within any particular religion. I know Christians who believe UFOs and related entities are demonic, and don’t want to have anything to do with the topic. I also know Christians who don’t believe that at all. And everything in between.

On the one hand, if Newton-Perry believes, as she says, Bigfoot is strictly flesh and blood, and not paranormal, that’s fine. Many BF researchers, as we know, believe that, regardless of their religious beliefs. But again, the question is, what would a researcher do — Christian or not — with a ‘weird” BF report that came their way?

This post of mine isn’t to pick a fight or become one of those self appointed gurus of UFO or Bigfoot research. Not me! This field, like the UFO field, has its share of the pompous, arrogant, and self-important. This field is also full of just plain mean people who have no problem openly insulting others. This isn’t about insulting anyone, making fun of anyone’s religion, or picking fights. It’s about sincerely asking questions concerning research. If you can’t participate in that then should your work be taken seriously?

To be fair, we all have our buffers and lines we won’t cross. Concerning Bigfoot, I haven’t found mine yet. (UFOs and related subjects, maybe, but that’s another blog and another post entirely.)

I wish all researchers the best, except, those that promote a kill policy. I just can’t get past that, and well, that’s the way it is.

But as always, the question that’s been asked many times by many a Bigfoot researcher, what to do with those high strangeness reports? Not a new question, but one that won’t go away.

(Also at my blog UFO Proletariat)

At the McMinnville UFO Festival in Oregon last spring, the Bales brothers gave a simple, yet on the edge of your seat presentation about their giant triangle sighting in Idaho. During the Q & A one man chided the brothers for not being more involved in UFO research. He expected them to be sudden experts, with a mission and message of spiritual alien based insight. An astoundingly arrogant and condescending comment to make. After a slight pause, one of the brothers, who looked a bit confused at the comment, simply said “We’re here, aren’t we?”

Peter Davenport, who provides us with a much needed database of UFO reports, is perennially irritated at people who won’t “take ten minutes” to write a UFO report in “black ink on white paper.” His frustration is understandable, but not everyone feels comfortable putting such experiences down on paper. Treating UFO witnesses like stupid school children discourages people from making UFO reports.

I’ve been involved in a few local UFO minded groups through the years. The seeds of such gatherings are simple: people getting together to talk about UFOs. The purpose of these groups is to have people with experiences to share with others, but I’ve found there isn’t much honesty happening in these groups. Because as soon as you have the “leaders” of such groups state what will, and what will not, be accepted, you are being dishonest. Telling witnesses to keep things positive — in other words, don’t talk about the scary, negative parts of your experience — is a type of control. Creating a forum of only what you want to hear, in the form you want to hear it, is being dishonest. It sets up false forums of data; if you are continuously rejecting accounts you don’t like based on your biases, you’re not after genuine UFO experiences.

None of these methods consider the individual’s experience. We listen and decide they’re too negative, or not spiritual enough, or not literate enough, or are too lazy because they won’t write something down, or . . .

And maybe they are some of those things, sometimes. Maybe some witnesses are too lazy or incompetent to write a report. Maybe the witness is still experiencing trauma from their encounter and are stuck, for the time being, in a dark place. Maybe their paranoia and fears, their nervousness and confusion, is part of the process and where they need to be for awhile. Making witnesses feel bad, lazy or stupid — or crazy because they’re depressed or anxious — pushes them away.

All we can expect from people who have decided to come forward in whatever small way with their UFO experience is honesty. Negative, positive, spiritual, literate, sloppy, bad spellers, — doesn’t much matter, if they are being honest.

Notes

BOA interview: Tim Binnall interviews Peter Davenport
http://www.binnallofamerica.com/boaa12.9.9.html

Peter Davenport: National UFO Reporting Center
http://www.nuforc.org

McMinnville, Oregon’s UFO Fest.com: annual UFO Festival in May
http://www.ufofest.com/ufofest07/

(Posted earlier today on my Mothman Flutterings blog)

From the blog Strange Planet, a fascinating post about the author’s experiences involving mechanical voices, where he describes hearing at 3:00 a.m. (a time noted for being a kind of UFO/paranormal, magical time, as he notes) a very strange sound

Approximately two months ago, I awoke in the middle of the night, roughly within the magical 3am hour (That in itself is worthy of more study, as it always seems to be at that particular hour. But I won’t veer off course here). What I began to hear, was in fact, as best I can describe, the sound of a LARGE ‘mechanical and metallic’ bird(?) outside of my window. I was stunned by this sound, but not afraid. I didn’t even feel the urge to look, to be honest. I just paid attention to the sound itself. It was fascinating. For the better part of ten minutes, it would ’squawk’ several times, take a break for about 30 seconds, then resume the vocalization. I heard it that one night, and never again. If I were to match the scope and size of this ‘bird’ with the size of the sound, this thing would’ve been 8ft. tall. Better I not look after all.

He goes on to write about synchronicity; contacts with others experiencing similar things, and some of what he’s discovered via research, past experiences, and the movie The Fourth Kind.

What struck me as interesting was the immediate “mothy” vibe I got from reading this account. Even though there is no mention of Mothman or indication of any Mothman phenomena, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Mothman. There is the bird like imagery of this encounter of course, but I thought of the electronic voices Keel described in The Mothman Prophecies.

Ed Walters, author of The Gulf Breeze Sightings, described hearing weird electronic or metallic voices outside his bedroom windows at night in connection with his UFO experiences.

I was also reminded of Greg Taylor’s article Her Sweet Murmur, in DarkLore volume 1, which explores the rushing, roaring, bell clanging/chiming sounds many (including myself) experience during esoteric events. These episodes appear diverse and often unconnected from each other; UFOs, BVM (Blessed Virgin Mary) appearances, Mothman, Bigfoot or other crypto sightings, aliens, OOBEs, etc. but, Taylor asks, is there a common source from where these entities emerge? These strange sounds of clicking, clacking, singing, bells and the like are shared by fringe phenomena; possibly pointing to the idea they are related. UFOs, aliens, abductions, contactees, Bigfoot weirdness, BVM sightings, MIBS, fairies, maybe they are kaleidoscopic manifestations of the same thing.

As far as Mothman goes, Mothman wasn’t, or isn’t, an isolated and specific event. There’s a whole high strangeness context enveloping Mothman: UFOs, MIBS, telepathic messages, OOBEs, electronic voices, premonitions, heavy dreams laden with messages and communications, curses and legends, synchronicities and a thread of violence that trails Mothman. This is not to say Mothman itself is violent, or responsible for the aura of violence connected with the phenomena, but a response to it.

I’ve been working on exploring memories and dreams, trying to get closer to what “really” happened with these experiences. Missing time, UFOs, and other high strangeness; what is behind these events? For example: missing time. Where was I (or we, since two, and recently it’s been considered, possibly three, missing time events experienced by my husband as well,) so where were we, what was happening?! during these missing time times. The world didn’t stop while we were — where ever we were. The point is, my mind doesn’t remember but obviously things were still happening around me, us. . . the question is of course, what?

I was working on my Orange Orb column for UFO Magazine the other night (wrote a full article on one memory “dream” that I call the “bedroom radiator alien” but followed where that led me, to an earlier memory, of the following “dream.” ) Like my patio alien “dream” I had around the same age (but in a different house) this memory has stayed with me for some fifty years or so, as vivid as the day it happened. It wasn’t a dream and yet, it must have been, since it couldn’t have literally happened:

I’m flat on my back in the dead center of my bed, which I remember as being large, and white; white sheets, and just a white covering. The bedroom is lit up very bright; which I wonder at: if I’m supposed to be asleep why are all the lights on?

I am so full of happiness!!!! I have an expectant joy that is so wonderful; I know “they” are coming. I stare up at the ceiling in anticipation. The ceiling opens up, two halves move up and outwards, revealing the starry night sky.

A giant eagle — so huge it’s almost the size of the open ceiling — swoops down from the sky, to my left, and down into the bedroom, right above me. It’s come to take me up. As the eagle flies into the room I turn and see my parents, my grandmother, and some others, standing in the doorway. They seem to be stuck there; they aren’t coming into the room. They’re just watching. I’m very glad to see my father but am a little confused; he doesn’t live with us and I don’t understand why or how it is he’s here.

The eagle comes, it’s so fantastic!

It wasn’t until last night that I realized there is a Thunderbird and Mothman connection to this experience. At age five or so I didn’t know what Thunderbirds were, nor did I know anything about Mothman of course.

I started doing some research about eagles in terms of UFO accounts and before I knew it, I had found all kinds of interesting things; things that will take awhile to explore.

One thing I found that I haven’t read fully but did skim is an article for the E.L.F. Infested Spaces (ELFIS) ‘zine by Jeffrey Lewis: Idiot Stick – Whitley Strieber’s Encounters. It is very esoteric and I only mention it because of the thinking done by Lewis on the nature of dreams, memories, symbolism and connections in the context of UFOs, aliens and entities. Frankly I don’t know what to make of it but as I say, I haven’t given it the attention needed. (There is much there; this is a site that will take you in many directions. . . )

Mentioned, I think, somewhere on the Elfis site, was something about the myth of Leda and the Swan; I also found a passing reference to the Greek myth in Erik Davis’s 1993 My Favorite Martians: A UFO Epistomology — this myth in context of UFO experiences has been addressed by UFO and esoteric researchers before. The comparison of this theme of a god like being or entity (Zeus), disguised as an animal that is familiar to humans, coming from the skies to have sexual relations with a human female to alien-UFO abduction and contactee accounts is an obvious one to explore in terms of alien-UFO stories.

I am not suggesting my memory had anything to do with anything so literal or sexual — but the comparisons and connections, all those glittering threads that reveal themselves when going tumbling down the rabbit hole of esoterica — are natural ones to follow for Fortean junkies like myself.

All that aside, bird and winged – being imagery is strong in UFO accounts, and that includes Mothman accounts.

Image: Leda and the Swan, painting by artist from the School of Leonardo da Vinci, 1505-1510, public domain.

Visit my blog The Orange Orb
http://orangeorb.blogspot.com

Update: I added a little oil pastel drawing I did a fear years ago of the silver suited being I saw. . .

Watching Monster Quest last night — a good episode, about Bigfoot — and Jim says to me that he’d rather see a Bigfoot than an alien. I agreed. Then he said he has “no doubt extraterrestrials exist — none” — and that he “doesn’t want to know more, since “we’ve both probably been abducted anyway.” That’s the second time he’s come out and said that in recent months. Hmmmm…

I think it would be a true gift and an incredible experience to see a Bigfoot. My only hesitation would be one of my qualms about losing credibility; after all, both Jim and I have seen several UFOs, have had episodes of missing time, and a life time of paranormal experiences including ghosts, psychic experiences,astral journeys, hell, we’re walking, talking Fortean weirdos. I’d be afraid people would think I was just making it up; that I saw Bigfoot. If I were ever to see one. On the other hand, screw ‘em. If I were ever fortunate enough to see a Sasquatch, well, lucky me and then I’d know what I know about that.

As to abductions, while I think something really, really extraordinary happened, I still can’t get to the place where I think abductions are a literal event. I’ve never seen an alien in the waking state, unless, my silver suited alien childhood memory is literally exactly as I remember it. For some reason, I remember it as real, and yet, always place it in some disjointed category of “other” — not asleep, not awake, not not real, but not . . well, maybe it’s just plain old denial. By the way, my column in this issue of UFO Magazine is about silver suited aliens. Nice how I got my plug in, eh?

As to the Patterson-Gimlin film, Jim is 99% sure it’s authentic footage of a real Bigfoot, and is almost as sure there is a Bigfoot as he is sure there are aliens. He’s leans a tad towards being in favor of aliens. For myself, while I have no doubt at all Bigfoot exists — for one thing, just what is it all these witnesses are seeing, if not a Sasquatch? — I am minuscially less sure the P-G film is of a real Bigfoot. I want to believe it’s so; I just can’t see one way or the other. Some days it looks indubitably like a real creature; swaying breasts, arms, the way it’s looking back. Other days it’s looks phony; the weird white face showing through and mask like appearance of the fur on the face, the bottoms of the feet.

But, as MQ pointed out last night, the analysis done on the original footage shows that blurring has a lot to do with the way the images come across, as well as the film ’s translation to video, etc. No human could fit into a suit like that, the technology that would cause things like fur swaying wasn’t invented back in the 1960s, when the film was shot, and, it turns out after analysis the creature was taller than thought, 7ft or more tall. And yet I can’t be 100% sure, as much as I want to be.

It doesn’t matter however. I believe (yes, I said “believe!”) Bigfoot exists. What exactly is Bigfoot, who knows, but if nothing else I can’t ignore the countless eye witness reports of people who say, in all sincerity, they’ve seen a Bigfoot.

The popular film Twilight, from the equally popular book, was filmed in Oregon and Washington state. I haven’t had a chance to read the books yet, but plan to, though I don’t think I’ll see the movie; seems too young and commercial for my tastes. I’ll probably end up watching it on television some late night. . .

I am a vampire fan however, and loved the Anne Rice books, as well as the movie made from her series. I’m a huge fan of the HBO series True Blood, also taken from a book series. (new episodes begin in June.)

One of the scariest vampire films: The 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire with John Malcovich and William Dafore. (and Eddie Izzard!)

This is the current Trickster’s Realm column for Tim Binnall’s Binnall of America. TR is a bi-monthly column I write for Binnall of America.

My friend “Lola” lives in the coast range in Oregon. Lola has a life long history of paranormal activity in her family including not just ghosts but UFOs, Bigfoot and other paranormal and psychic phenomena. These things seem to follow the family; particularly the women. There are some paranormal clichés involved: events happen more to the females in the family, some members have Native American blood, and at least one house is on Native American hunting grounds.

Lola, her husband and their children moved a few years ago to their present home in the coast range. We’ve visited them several times and it’s a great place; out in the country, on acres of land by a creek. The night sky is magnificent and far from city light pollution. There is something odd about the place however, and that is the space between their house and the shop. The shop is a large building; it could easily be a house onto itself. It’s placed in an odd spot; very close to the house; there’s only about six feet between the shop and the house, which makes for a dark, cold, narrow passage way to navigate through.

In the narrow dark space between house and shop there is a persistent feeling of something very heavy and large, as well as depressed, close by. Neither one of the children (young teens) will go out there at night, and they’re no wimps. They’re used to living in the country; many family members live in rural areas; they’re no strangers to the country. Lola doesn’t like to go out there at night either, and really, no one does, including myself or my husband. It’s not only the space between the buildings that has this heavy cold feeling, but the shop itself. The remodel work going on hasn’t seemed to improve these feelings.

The feeling I get when in this space is one of extreme heaviness, a depression as well as an oppression, of something very, very large. It’s a living, conscious entity but I haven’t been able to call it “human,” or “animal” — it seems to be both, as odd as that sounds.

The other day George had mentioned that he’s always felt it’s an animal spirit, and that this energy is one of great depression due to abuse. Right before he said that to me, I was thinking about this energy, trying to get closer to what it is. I received a strong vibration of mistreatment, but as to animal or human, it was still vague. It seemed wrapped up altogether. Then George said, out of the blue, “I’ve always felt very strongly that this animal energy had a lot of abuse energy surrounding it.”

Lola’s bedroom faces the shop, and their bedroom widow looks directly onto the building. She keeps the curtains closed at all times, because of the negative energy she feels coming from the building. There are strange claw marks on their bedroom window, high up and no one can figure out how they got there, or what made them. Whatever it was, had to jump up very high to make them; and why would it? It’s as if something was trying to claw its way into the bedroom. It’s possible a bear was looking in the window, (they do have a black bear problem in the area) still, the bear would have had to have been an exceptionally large one to reach that high.

Lola has had other strange experiences; one afternoon, while lying on their bed, she saw an entity appear beside her. The entity, in Lola’s own words, “Wasn’t human, but was trying to pass itself off as human.” Lola was clear it was a female entity, with a pale, almost white face, and a “wig” of dark brown hair cut short. Lola doesn’t know if this has anything to do with the energy between the buildings; but she does say this entity wasn’t a positive one.

The other day, Lola was working in the herb patch outside her kitchen, which is a few feet from the shop. She told me she kept getting a strong image of something dead buried nearby; something large and animal like.

There is a sad history to the place; a horse that the previous owners kept on the property was terribly neglected, and they left the animal on the property when Lola and her family bought the place. The poor thing suffered a great deal for years but fortunately, Lola’s family has worked closely with the horse, who is now very happy and healthy, and they’ve since bought other horses to join the family. The area where the horses hang out seems fine; but near this shop area, it’s another feeling altogether. And I’ve noticed the horses don’t go near there either, or in the upper field that faces Lola’s bedroom.

Something seems to have left an imprint; either a series of events, or one specific being, be it human or animal. Whatever it is, has been felt by many visitors.

My husband Jim is writing a novel; it’s a conspiracy/sci-fi/paranormal tinged book, and it’s wonderful to have him read me the latest every week. It’s tenativley titled Product A recent scene in his book has the main character remembering something that happened when he was a child. Staying at the beach with his mother, he is aware of a creature in need. A giant, whale/octopus/leviathan kind of creature, preternatural, that calls to him. The character goes to the creature, who is injured, meets a girl; through a series of telepathic Fortean type events, the creature manages to return back into the ocean. Part of the strangeness of this event was the character’s repression of such a vivid, poignant, eerrie encounter and his dealing with the recovered memory. Something about this passage was very moving; I could picture the creature, with its one, huge orb of an eye, on the wet sand. Jim wrote this at the same time I started this blog but he hadn’t known about the blog or its title. (I was reminded of the movie Whale Rider and how moved I was watching the scene where the whale washes up on the beach.)

Sunday, a fin whale beached itself here on the Oregon coast at Devil­’s Elbow State Park. The smell from the whale made its way up and over Highway 101 and gruesome, gratuitious poachers cut away parts of the whale, so getting the body off the beach was a priority. There was also the “gross out” factor; as Jim Rice with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network remarked:

“There seems to be a lot of concern about grossing people out.”

a quote that the Register Guard felt important enough to display in large font as a header, highlighting the idea that “grossing people out” was the concern, and justification, to quickly bury the whale rather than wait and tow it out to sea.

The problem was how to move the body; blowing it up had already been tried in 1970, when a whale beached itself on a Florence beach. Naturally that turned out to be an unpleasant mistake. This time, the twon decided burying the body was a goog choice. A giant hole was excuavated, the body rolled into it, after scientists had their way slicing away body parts to study why and how it died.

Jim remarked that this all seemed very sad; wrong somehow, the body belonged in the sea, not in a hole. It just seems wrong to bury a sea creature on land. However, the authorities believed the ocean conditions unfavorable to send teh body out:

The early afternoon’s high tide had failed to carry the whale back out to sea, and U.S. Coast Guard officials deemed the rough surf at Heceta Head too treacherous to try towing it out via some kind of boat.

Instead, the whale was buried in a hole, with this memorial:

Parks workers dumped lime on the carcass as the dozers carved out a little extra space for its tail, then filled in the hole. As they worked, Kelly Lucas, whose husband, Dennis, is the manager of Heceta Head Scenic Viewpoint, fashioned a handmade cross from two sticks bound by yellow caution tape. She then stuffed the stems of a bouquet of daffodils she picked from her garden into the cross and laid it against some driftwood.

“We named him Jonah,” she said.

Notes
End to sad tale of whale:Eugene Register Guard

Washed Up Fin Whale Forces Beach Closure:Register Guard
Image source:The Explodingwhale.com
Jim Rich: Yessy.com and blog.
Fin whale image public domain.