Thursday, May 22, 2008





The following (about the imminent arrival of the Mars Phoenix mission) appeared in Unknowncountry.com's latest newsletter, accompanied by the familiar photo above.

If this lander succeeds, it will return incredible imagery of the frozen areas of Mars. But will it be as incredible as the shot pictured here, that was dismissed by NASA and astronomers as a trick of light.

Whitley Strieber took this question to a statistician, to determine the probability that this was, indeed, just a rock. He laughed in Whitley's face and agreed to tell "anybody" that it was either a living figure or a statue. Then he found out it was on Mars. He demanded anonymity and refused an interview on Dreamland.

Thus does the prejudice of the scientific community throw away knowledge.


Part of Whitley's problem is his steadfast refusal to let old memes die, regardless how absurd or discredited. My disgust is compounded by recently having finished "2012: The War for Souls," one of the worst books I can remember reading. Ill-conceived, poorly written and burdened by horrendously unconvincing characters, "2012" marks the last Strieber title I'll bother seeking out.

4 comments:

Paul Kimball said...

Mac,
I would bet good money that there is no "Anonymous expert" - rather, Strieber is just making it up.
I know you and others cut him a lot of slack, but I think he's just a huckster, like Greer et al, although arguably more talented, at least as a writer.
Paul

mister ecks said...

Mac's linked to this before, but I still think this is the best summation of Strieber yet:

http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board/viewtopic.php?t=16642&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Mac said...

To my mind, Strieber's early books about the "visitors" ("Communion" and "Transformation") read with a skeptical sensibility that he's since all-but-jettisoned. The guy seems strangely fragile for someone who's endured (and learned from) the experiences he recounts.

His site is whorishly commercial. That doesn't necessarily mean he's lying, but it's far from flattering.

mister ecks said...

I thoroughly agree.