The lesson? Never, ever, underestimate the power of a meme that appeals to our sense of planetary identity, because there are those who will exploit it for any number of reasons.
Having said that, I'm not blaming Mitchell; whether he realizes it or not, he's exposed the duplicitous underbelly of the memetic beast -- not exactly an opportunity we're afforded everyday.
And just in case you think I'm being a fun-killer . . .
Irene Klotz from Discovery interviewed Mitchell after his UK radio interview and here's an excerpt:
Irene Klotz: I wanted to ask you if there was anything about the radio interview you did that was different from what you've said in the past.
Edgar Mitchell: No, there's nothing different. Several of (the reports of the interview) that I've seen come around have some flaws in them. Some of the reports pushed it or spun it incorrectly. NASA had nothing to do with anything I've done. I wasn't briefed by NASA. There haven't been any sightings as a result of my flight service there, so if that part of it comes out on anything you've seen it is just totally wrong.
In this Discovery interview, and in previous interviews, Mitchell has not offered any definite proof of his claims, and said he's only been "told by people who were utterly sworn to secrecy" about alien visits to Earth. Mitchell grew up in Roswell, New Mexico.
Let the hate-mail commence.
(Big thanks to William Michael Mott.)
7 comments:
"...the power of a meme that appeals to out sense of planetary identity..."
I assume you meant "our sense," in the above.
D'oh!
"...being a fun-killer . . ."
There's that phrase again, fun-killer. I can appreciate fun, and speculation, as well as the next person, but when I saw it applied to my comments regarding the post on the ISS being potentially capable of interplanetary use, which it's not, and then again about my comment about the shady, phony Moller "Jetson"
or any projected "skycar" that Moller International, Inc. has been propagandizing about for over 20 years with nothing viable or commercial to show or sell, even now, it occurred to me that perhaps, Mac, a better, and more accurate term should be applied than "fun-killer"--I think the phrase "truth-teller" is more apt, all things considered.
As for Mitchell, it's really more sad than anything else, as he's said these things many times in the past, and without any evidence or foundation. Unless he names names, or related evidence of some kind, any kind, that can be investigated and researched, all his statements on the subject of ufos/aliens/coverups/etc. are just evidence of his having drunk the "believers' Kool-Aid" than anything else.
His reference, apparently, to MJ-12, in the Australian interview, in view of the research of Barry Greenwood and Brad Sparks, most recently in their MUFON Symposium historical review paper of last year
(see: http://tinyurl.com/2xdpak),
among many others investigations of same, such as Bob Pratt's, just goes to show how credulous and lacking in empirical foundation, evidence, and reality Mitchell's rhetoric is and seems to have always been.
I do hope you realize I use the term "fun-killer" as sarcastically as possible!
It's sometimes hard to tell in text, as we both know. I did see the "smiley face," but I still thought the term perjorative enough, in lieu of any explanatory comment, in a kind of sardonic way, to at least raise a question about the use of the "fun-killer" term.
I mean, dude, I didn't mean to "harsh your mellow," as some of the "kids today" sometimes will say. 8^}
Mutual mea culpas all around, along with a couple martinis with a lemon twist? I guess I understand now. Let's move on.
I didn't realize dude was from Roswell. Now there's a twist.
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