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Thread: Scathing new review of the current state of ufology by veteran Spanish ufologist

  1. #1

    Scathing new review of the current state of ufology by veteran Spanish ufologist

    A new scathing review of the current state of ufology by veteran Spanish ufologist Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos is at link below:

    http://fotocat.blogspot.co.uk/2017_06_09_archive.html

    (For anyone not familiar with his name, Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos is a Spanish UFO researcher with over 30 years of experience in this field. He is the author of several UFO books, with forewords written for him by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Dr. Jacques Vallée, and Dr. Richard Haines. As I wrote in an item about a decade ago, V-J's name isn't as well known on English/American discussion forums as he deserves, partly because he is Spanish and his first language is not English. There is a definite tendency in the English-speaking UFO community to focus on the work of researchers in English speaking countries. Also, V-J avoids sensationalism. Researchers that make more sensational statements gain more attention - whether their work deserves it or not...).

    VJ's rather damning comments in his new article at the above link include:

    "In the 1950s charismatic UFO organizations were established, only to close down decades later without having achieved their main objective, to prove that flying saucers exist. Nothing extraordinary or persuasive was transmitted, only thousands of “UFO journals” pages filled with stories and lots of cabinets with innumerable cases files destined to yellow with the passage of time. Nowadays, private centers devoted to the “study” of UFOs can be counted on one hand’s fingers. The healthiest-funded one, set up in Sweden, is mainly dedicated to preserve UFO archives, well aware of the increasing number of retiring ufologists, abandoned files, and shut down organizations." ...
    and

    "Ufology not only fails to advance, it is a vicious circle. Today we see UFO news publicized on the internet with the same old images of lens flares or aircraft contrails that seemed strange in the 1950s. Because there are no academic or authoritative criteria universally accepted, and no hard evidence that exists as a certainty, past mistakes recur over and over. Ufology is immersed in a loop that never ends".

  2. #2
    Lead Moderator calikid's Avatar
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    Hello Issac,

    I'd have to say VJ's comments are rather pessimistic.
    The polls I have read put the number of people who "believe" in the 52-56% bracket. A clear majority, outnumbering Total Non-belivers by a significant margin. I'd like to think UFOlogy publicity has a great deal to do with those numbers.

    Has UFOlogy convinced governments to acknowledge existence of ET? Sadly, No. Not yet.

    IMHO, we have to be in it for the long game. Every year more and more people "believe", eventually it won't matter what double-speak the government uses to dismiss the phenomena.
    We work toward the goal of disclosure with hopes that one day irrefutable evidence will become exposed/unearthed. Either from those musty yellow pages, or from a new or previously unknown example.

    If VJ wants to give up, I totally understand his disappointment in the lack of mainstream breakthroughs.
    But as the preeminent UFOlogy researchers age out, we can only hope fresh faces with new eyes will step forward and stand on the shoulders of those who came before, too finally expose the truth for all to see.
    The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but
    progress. -- Joseph Joubert
    Attachment 1008

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by calikid View Post
    I'd have to say VJ's comments are rather pessimistic.
    I'm more optimistic than VJ about ufology. I'm generally an optimist about most things in life...

    But I think VJ makes some good points and that many people involved in UFO research would benefit from reading his article and considering his comments.

  4. #4
    Hi Isaac
    Thanks for posting that. Maybe it's just a change in direction the ufo reporting groups did so much but never really convinced that many people and went as far as they could go.
    Government/ military witnesses and hard cases seem to be our best hope. Or maybe a mass Wikileak would break it out into the open? Feels like we are soooo.... close to the barriers tumbling down.

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