Us and Them

I often ask myself why the subject of UFOs is treated so shamefully in the media? Of course I know the answer to the question, but still I have to wonder when people will wake up to the facts about the subject and cease the ridicule factor.

Occasionally some tidbit of information comes along that makes me think the silence quota is filled and now someone is going to spill the beans. Then, usually very soon after, some other situation occurs where I believe we are back where we were 50 years ago. We take one step forward and five steps back. And those back steps can be something as subtle as a remark or gesture from a prominent person.

There are many factors the people, government and organizations must overcome for disclosure to happen. It won't happen overnight, but perhaps it will happen in our lifetimes. Perhaps...

2008 - Banner Year for UFOs

A good video that may support the idea that the media is slowly warming up to UFOs. Indeed some networks have been down right supportive in recent years and others who continue their tongue - in - cheek journalism at least try to be unbiased at times. With 2008 producing multiple good cases of UFO activity across the country, many with supportive video or photographic evidence, it's time people begin to be informed about this.

I don't think the American people will stand for the status quo reporting of UFOs anymore. Its time to take the subject seriously and have science look into it. Of course we don't need another "PR" campaign like Project Blue Book, but a serious independent scientific study that will advance our knowledge of the phenomenon.

2008 will go down in UFO history as a banner year. A "flap" as it is called. Perhaps we haven't learned much more about the phenomenon but at least the people are growing tired of the same rhetoric and how the subject is treated, and this change will bring on more disclosure.

Sacramento UFO

SACRAMENTO, CA - News10 often receives calls from those who spotted something unusual in the night skies. It's not nearly as common for those calls to be backed up by our own Air10.

While shooting Friday Night Football highlights over Sacramento, Air10 pilot Ed Georges and FNF correspondent Angel Cardenas spotted a strange set of lights flying over their helicopter.

"I know what aircraft lighting looks like and this was definitely something different," Georges said. "It looked almost like a scrolling message on a blimp to the naked eye. I was at 1,200 feet and it was considerably higher."

Georges said he and Cardenas manuevered the helicopter to get a better look at the lights through Air10's Power Zoom camera.

"(Angel and I) were both amazed at the odd lights and movement. I started flying toward it, but it began to fade away and disappeared to the southeast," Georges said. "Not knowing the size of the object, I couldn't determine how far away we were, but I believe it was some distance away as the image was fuzzy even through the PowerZoom camera."

Not long after their sighting, several callers phoned the News10 newsroom to report seeing the same phenomenon.

When contacted, Federal Aviation Adminstration and Sacramento International Airport spokespeople said they hadn't heard anything about the object and had no idea what the craft could be. A Travis Air Force Base representative said the base had no aircrafts that could be confused with a UFO.

It's Fake.

It's fake. Ok. Next...

The Bigfoot "body" is rubber. It was a huge hoax. Everyone is now scrambling to put it all in perspective. Life moves on.

I didn't report on this story until the press conference. I figured it's now paranormal news and I'll post some news here. Ok, I held up my obligation to report on the news.
Now, we can move on?

What Was It? UFO over Oregon

Over the weekend many eyewitnesses in Oregon reported seeing a UFO. One resident grabbed his camcorder and got some video of what could be a ufo, or a mylar balloon. Many eye witnesses said the object changed direction before disappearing and traveled unlike a balloon. The video is 45 minutes long and appears to show a shiny metallic object. Officials at a local observatory said that it could be "anything". They said they don't know what to make of it. Since the beginning of this year there has been a rash of UFO sightings from Texas, Oregon, California, and all over America.
Naturally the media treated it with humor as in this report from ABC.

Viewpoint

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce a new segment to the Conundrums Blog. It's called Viewpoint. It will be your outlet to express yourself to the community. Viewpoint is an opinion program whereby you can say whats on your mind. There is one catch though. You must say it into a camera! You may use Viewpoint to express a theory, discuss current events or simply rant if you wish. Whatever is on your mind.
Of course there will be some rules. You may not slander anyone and you must be civil. Present your idea in a brief and understandable way. This is not a "slam someone" show, it's a program slot where you can present your opinion of anything going on within the community or share your theory on a specific subject. With the proliferation of easy to use digital cameras you probably already have the tools to submit a Viewpoint. Just point the camera at yourself and start talking! Your viewpoint will be posted here on the Conundrums blog after we review it.
After you have recorded your Viewpoint simply connect your digital camera to your computer and email the video clip to staff@cryptovideography.com. We will prepare the file for Internet streaming and post it in a special section on this blog.

Here are some simple guidelines:
• Keep your viewpoint under 10 minutes.
• Do not libel yourself, no name calling, hearsay, or slanderous comments. Viewpoints that contain such will be rejected.
• Stand or sit close enough to the camera so you capture yourself and your voice clearly.
• There is no need to 'edit' the piece, we will do any necessary editing before it is posted. {i.e. we will cut out the parts when you start and stop the camera, we will not censor or edit out any segments or add content. }
• Express yourself! You can describe or show any materials that support your theory or idea.
• Do not show any copyrighted materials or trademarks in your video. (T-shirts with ad slogans or logos in the background)
• Your Viewpoint is your opinion so you are responsible for it's content. We will have a disclaimer on each entry. (You are protected under the constitution to voice your opinion.)
• Do not curse.
• Take notes and have your thoughts together so you can discuss the opinion or subject of your viewpoint.
• You may enlist a friend to operate the camera if you need too.
• If you have technical questions email us and we will try to help.

Viewpoints will remain online for a limited time. Up to 5 days. Opposing viewpoints will be welcome too. Again, civility is necessary.
It is not our intent to have flaming wars or arguments back and forth using this program. This is simply a venue for you to express yourself, talk about issues or theories and garner discussion of the subject matter, without the fear of trolls hiding behind screen names. It is an open and honest platform without censorship to express yourself and your ideas.
Frankly, you could do this on your own blog. But if you do not have a web site or blog, or do not know how to build one then you still can have a voice in the community through this opinion program. All you need to know is how to press the record button and attach a file to email.

Viewpoint is an experiment.
Too many times it is not possible to write a lengthy post on a forum or have a place to express your thoughts in a concise and easy to understand manner. The written word may not convey the emotions you want to express. Or you may not be able to show related materials you need to accurately get your point across. Video can do this easily. You already have the tool to do this, your digital camera. Almost all digital still cameras will record a few minutes of video. There have been many issues within the community that could easily have been avoided if the interpretation of the written word was what the author intended. Viewpoint is your vehicle to present concepts, ideas and opinions without the risk of misinterpretation. In many cases it is simply easier to just say what you want to convey.

All Viewpoint entries remain the copyright materials of their creators. Cryptovideography nor myself retain any copyright to your submissions. We simply will host it here. We will be handling the technical stuff so you don't have to. All we will do is put a graphic on the beginning and disclaimer on the end then upload it. Also, to be honest a program like this will draw viewers to our blog so we will get some much needed traffic too.

Of course Viewpoint may never get off the ground. We realize that most people may not want to be seen on camera, or are uncomfortable with expressing their thoughts. It is much easier to write them on a forum or blog, or call a radio show. But the venue will be here for any takers. We will begin the show with our first submission.
We will probably get a few folks that want to rant about some community issue. That's okay too if it's done in a civil and nonthreatening way. If you just want to bash someone you are wasting your time, but if you have a point then its likely others may agree with you.
It's your viewpoint, your entitled to it.
J.
Some technical info you really don't need to worry about: If all of this is Greek to you, ignore it. Just email us your video clip. :-)
If you are computer/camera savvy then we prefer your entry to be 320x240 resolution. AVI, MOV, MP4, ASF, WMV or any file type is acceptable. Keeping your file small will reduce the time it takes to email it. So if you have the option, send your file in WMV, MP4 format or a compressed format.

Well, here we go!

Season Two is in production and we are looking forward to the new fall lineup! This blog will be a place for us to announce information and news related to Conundrums as well as a place for us to comment on the community at large. We encourage you to bookmark this site for frequent updates. It is our intent to make this site the communication nexus between our studio, myself and the viewers of our programming. Questions and comments are welcome in the COMMENT section below each post.

Our blog posts will be written and in some cases, v-blogged*. So look for *video content on this site as well as our studio web site. I'll also be using this outlet for commentary and opinions on happenings in the universe. I hope I don't bore you. :-)
Pull up a chair, put on your spectacles and enjoy the verbiage that ensues from this new media outlet as we seek the answers to all the conundrums that elude us.
J.