Apr 10 2007

Dave Clarke on UFOs

Dave Clarke (whose most recent UFO book with Andy Roberts - Flying Saucerers - was recently reviewed by me for this blog) has a new website/blog that has just been unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. You’ve been warned!

Parts ofÂ the siteÂ are still under construction; but right now you can find information on UFOs, the Angel of Mons, Spring-Heeled Jack, urban legends (which includes a fascinating story titled Haunted Highway), and more - includingÂ his review of my latest UFO book, On the Trail of the Saucer Spies that appeared in Fortean Times.

Dave took me to task for relying on the testimony of a former (and off-the-record) British Police Force Special Branch source in Saucer Spies. The source had claimed that certain members of the British UFO research community were secretly being watched by Special Branch for reasons that weren’t directly linked to their UFO activities. Nevertheless, and lo and behold, data did later surface confirming Special Branch interest in elements of the UFO research community in the UK - largely for reasons not directly related to UFOs, as my source had maintained all along. Doubtless, this is a story that is going to run and run!

Anyway, we can probably expect to see a lot of debate on all things ufological at Dave’s site.

As Dave says:

“Do I believe in UFOs? People see objects in the sky they can’t identify, therefore there can be no serious doubt that UFOs exist until they are identified (usually as natural or man-made phenomena). As far as I’m aware no ‘UFO’ has ever been identified as an alien spaceship; but this question frames my interest in the subject. When I’m asked, as I frequently am, particularly by the media, ‘do I believe in UFOs?’ what they actually mean is ‘Do I believe UFOs are alien spaceships?’

“As Carl Sagan wrote in his Demon Haunted World: ‘I’m always struck by how the question is phrased the suggestion that this is a matter of belief and not evidence.’ To me this incredibly strong belief - in visits by aliens - is a modern myth, and myths of all shapes and sizes are what fascinate me.

“My approach to the subject of UFOs and UFOlogy is from the viewpoint of a journalist and a historian. Although I take a sceptical stance, I remain open-minded about the possibility that some ‘UFOs’ might have an exotic origin, most probably as UAPs - Unidentified Atmospheric Phenomena. But I would need a lot more evidence than has currently been brought to the table to convince me that aliens, as opposed to human or natural phenomena, lie at the root of the UFO phenomenon. My stance is similar to that of Carl Jung who in his book Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the SkiesÂ (1958) said: ‘..something is seen, but one doesn’t know what.’”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 10th, 2007 at 6:20 am and is filed under Alien Encounters, Author Interviews, Books, Breaking News, Close Encounters, Evidence, Eyewitness Accounts, Government Projects, Media Appearances, Reviews, The Redfern Files, UFO Sightings, UFOlogists, UFOlogy. You can follow responses via RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is not allowed.
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