UFO 'event' - Printy, Forgetomori, etc are you listening in?

[ChrLz]

I apologise for the title - hopefully it got your interest!!  I was rather intrigued to read that the 'American University' (a rather strange, but seemingly reasonably credible, if not all that highly regarded, institution) is hosting a 'panel event' discussing the UFO phenomena.

A panel event that has, as its panel:
Leslie Kean (Belgian Wave, Chilean ufos bugs)
Col. Charles Halt (Rendlesham)
Tom Carey (Roswell book author)
Richard Haines (he of the mediocre image analyses)

Hmmmmmm.  Seems a little unbalanced to me.  Anyways, this event will be held on Nov 12, 7:30pm, public welcome, free.. in Washington DC.  Is anyone nearby and able to attend?  And do any of you folks know who in the UFO skeptic arena eg Printy/Forgetomori etc, might live thereabouts?  I don't know if there will be much, or even any, opportunity to question these rather well-known folks about what they present, but even so I'd love to be there to find out what they are saying nowadays, and also if they mention any of their past failings...   Seems a very odd thing for a uni to host, especially crewed by those .. insert favorite ad hominem here..

[RAF]

I apologise for the title - hopefully it got your interest!!

I saw the name, Printy, and had to see what this was about...so yeah.

...and also if they mention any of their past failings...

In Keen's "case", that would be the entire presentation.

Seems a very odd thing for a uni to host, especially crewed by those .. insert favorite ad hominem here..

The "professor" hosting this credulous "UFO love fest" should be fired. When he stated that "so and so" was standing 20 feet from supposed UFO, I had to turn off the video.


edit....to answer your question, I have no idea who might live in that area...sorry.

[Echnaton]

Egad, it is hosted by the Honors Program.  Universities have peculiar presentations all the time, but one would hope the school would have a more sense than to claim this tripe as having anything to do with academic excellence. 

[RAF]

Egad, it is hosted by the Honors Program.

Did I hear "the professor", correctly?....that he is teaching some sort of class where these sightings are taken seriously??

I repeat that this "professor" should be fired, and wonder if the administration of said school knows what's going on here.

[Echnaton]

If he can't be fired because of tenure the admin certainly should be embarrassed enough not to put it in the program web site.  UFO studies belong in the sociology or psych department with the  study of other irrational curiosities in human nature.  One can only hope for the university's sake that some social science prof made attendance at this event a class assignment.

[ChrLz]

It is pretty disturbing.. I have sent an email to them pointing to some sites that give details about the credibility of their subjects and questioning the fact that the University is, rightly or wrongly, seen as endorsing this - especially given that Honors Program business..  I shuddered when i saw that...

Next year Jaime Maussan and Steven Greer?  Or perhaps Blossom Goodchild or Nancy Lieder...  (I love misusing the ole 'thin-end-of-the-wedge' approach..)

[ChrLz]

I've also now sent an email to both Tim Printy and Kentaro Mori - it's a long shot but maybe one of them might be in the region, or know of someone..


I do hope we get to see a video or transcript...  No-one here from Washington who can attend?

BTW, I note they have named the event in homage to a Leslie Kean book, it seems...  eeeurgh...

[ChrLz]

A small update, Tim was kind enough to reply and suggest a Washington based skeptics group, so I'm sending a heads up to them also..

[AstroBrant]

  Is anyone nearby and able to attend? 

<sigh>...I'm about 45 minutes away. I "checked my calendar", , and unfortunately, I have nothing on it for that day. No guarantees, but I'll give it some thought. Maybe I can make the trip worthwhile and stop at Goddard SFC on the way.

[ChrLz]

Astro, you are a brave and worthy soul to even consider this - I would not blame anyone for choosing not to go..  But if you do and there is a question time, I'd love to hear Leslie Kean update us on the Chilean UFO (El Bosque Air Show - November 5, 2010)* incident, in particular why haven't ALL the alleged videos been released as promised?
Also, does she accept Maccabee's conclusion (that they are not anomalous and likely insects)..?  If she prefers Haines conclusion, can she explain how Haines allegedly got a triangulation match but Maccabee couldn't?
Doesn't this suggest that (at least) one of the experts is an ignorant buffoon?

Sorry, I'm getting carried away...  I looked at that case in great detail some time back, and Haines 'analysis' was a complete joke - it's one of the few times I actually mostly agreed with Maccabee!


* Note that Leslie is plugging more than one Chilean UFO case...