Since 2001, Bedhampton, a small British
community in Havant England has been a hotbed for UFO activity…allegedly.
As with many UFO sightings and encounters, there are always some very gray
areas in the explanation and accounts. The aspect of this story that
stuck out the most was that, even though Bedhampton has been experiencing
such common recurrences of UFO activity, only one witness is quoted or referenced
in this article. Although it is mentioned that “I have followed every
incident involving several respected and reliable witnesses,” none of these
witnesses were even named or their incidents described. Furthermore,
though these other witnesses allegedly have conclusive video evidence, the
author still claims that “I still have not a reasonable explanation to the
intense degree of sightings reported and taped by these witnesses.”
If UFO sightings and activity is such a common occurrence in this area,
why can the author not even provide a name of other details than “I’ve seen
it.”?
The author seems to have no real authority pertaining
to the subject. The closest thing that resembles authority is that
Abby Parker, “have been deeply involved in this enigmatic phenomena for a
long time and her encounters have been taking place regularely in the field
near of her home in Bedhampton as well as other places in the area.”
Obviously Abby Parker is quite expert in the supernatural realm. It
is ridiculous to believe that she has any actual conclusive knowledge on
the subject. It would be like me saying, “there have been three plane
crashes in my community in the past 3 years, I consider myself to be a reputable
researcher and analyst of plane crashes.”
The evidence that is provided on the web site is nothing
more than very dull and blurry images. However, the author has given
us no choice but to accept them as UFO’s as in one picture, he labels an
airplane as “aircraft” and a mere speck above the clouds as “UFO.”
(
Click here to see UFO picture gallery) So it
has been labeled, and so it must be. He also goes on to say, “The images
present solid and consistent objects present in the environment and their
characteristics and behaviors are not conventional to our actual technology.
These are structured crafts that denote intelligent behavior and the characteristics
they display defy our physic laws.” Yet he fails to provide any explanation
as to what these characteristics and behaviors might be. His claims
that the images denote intelligent behavior and that they defy our physic
laws are completely unfounded. They are in the air at the time of
the picture. It is very unclear as to how an object, photographed
during a mere moment where it is suspended in the air defies any laws of
physics. It seems more that the author’s claims more likely defy human
laws of common sense and rationality.
Another phenomena that is common with the concept of
UFO’s is the thought that the government, and even NASA in this case, are
involved in a secret cover-up conspiracy. Jim Marrs, provides an article
explaining the cover-up that NASA has taken part in to silence astronauts
from speaking about the extraterrestrial life that they encounter while in
outer space. While Jim Marrs is the recipient of a college education,
a bachelors degree in Journalism from the University of North Texas as well
as graduate work at Texas Tech, his degree seems to be one that does not exactly
lend itself to being a researcher of outer space and extraterrestrial life.
The basis of Marrs’ articles is that NASA switched their
radio contact over to secret channels that they could monitor and censor
anything that “the people” were not supposed to know. However, an unnamed
(seems convenient) ham radio enthusiast had tapped into the radio transmissions
from the Appolo 11 mission where man landed in the Sea of Tranquility.
He overheard an astronaut exclaim, “These babies are huge, sir….enormous…Oh,
God, you wouldn’t believe it! I’m telling you there are other spacecraft
out there…lined up on the far side of the crater edge…they’re on the moon
watching us.” However, NASA never mentioned such a transmission in order
to protect the public from startling news that could invoke chaos.
Marrs also claims that NASA has informed its astronauts and employees to
“1. rewrite and even destroy documents ‘to minimize adverse impact’;
2. mix up documents and camouflage handwriting so that the document’s
meaning would be ‘less meaningful’; and 3. take steps to ‘enhance the utility’
of various FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) exemptions. While it does
appear that there might be some possible wrongdoings within the government
and NASA, it does not conclude that they are directly speaking about an
alien cover-up. Many times in cult archaeology things are quoted out
of context, and the author does not lend alternative explanations (as in
this case), but rather leaves the reader to believe all or nothing.
As in most cult archaeology cases, there is a lack of
conclusive evidence. These two cases have not differed from that norm.
While there are many listed examples and claims to substantiate the authors
viewpoint, they are simply nothing more than claims. In most cases
the “evidence” that the authors have spoken about (radio transmissions and
videotaped footage) somehow are never available or are unavailable until
further research has been conducted. Perhaps cult archaeology might
be looked at in more of a serious light if there ever really seemed to be
any substantial evidence to support the thousands of claims.
Since the beginning of time, man has glanced up at the
skies and wondered what exists beyond earth. Man’s curiosity of the
universe and eagerness to uncover the unknown has sometimes led them to
“jump the gun” and misinterpret strange objects they see in the skies.
As more and more reports of unidentified objects emerged, the U.S. Air Force
labeled these incidents as being “unidentified flying objects” or UFO’s.
The Air Force took the term UFO’s to refer to objects in the sky that could
be seen but not identified. But this term soon took on a new meaning.
Blown out of its original context, the term UFO became a synonym to many
for “alien spaceship.” There is usually a logical explanation for whatever
the observer witnessed, like a weather balloon or some kind of special effect,
yet there are many non-skeptics out in the world that immediately label
unidentified flying objects as flying saucers manned by extraterrestrials.
Of all the UFO reports, about 80% are simple cases of
misinterpretation (UnMuseum). What an individual witnessed could have
been one of the planets, the unusual electrical glow of Saint Elmo’s fire,
kites, balloons, secret military aircrafts, and so on. The last 20%
or so of reports, more likely than not, are cases of fraud. There
many people who think it’s funny to play tricks on people and actually stage
some kind of encounter or there are others who make up stories to get attention
or something. Hoaxes are not illegal so there isn’t much that can
be done to prevent such incidents, except for maybe teaching the general
public to beware of improbable stories and not buy into everything they
hear or read.
