Randi on Mitchell

Go on any “skeptic” forum and you’ll soon be accused of using ad homs but ah, the skepti-bunkie sees nothing wrong in using insults and sneering slams. Here’s the title of Randi’s bit on Edgar Mitchell:

in which Randi calls Mitchell’s recent comments about UFOs and aliens “the latest nonsense.”

Randi’s aversion to Mitchell makes sense, given Randi’s pathological obsession with Uri Geller, as we find in reading this piece. According to Randi, it’s all because of Edgar Mitchell that Uri Geller is so famous and such a thorn in the side of skepticism. (the Phil he refers to is uber skeptic Phil Plait):

Agreed, Mitchell is an all-time American hero, but as I reminded Phil, he’s also been one of the major purveyors and supporters of top-level woo-woo. It was Mitchell who “discovered” spoon-bender Uri Geller when Geller was only a cabaret performer doing his run-of-the-mill “psychic” tricks for teeny-boppers in Israel, assisted by Hannah Shtrang – who later became his wife – and Shipi Shtrang, her brother, who still works as his assistant. Mitchell actually travelled to Israel and arranged for Geller to come to the USA and be studied at the Stanford Research Institute – later to be re-named SRI International. Two physicists there, apparently awed by meeting a genuine Lunar Astronaut, chose to believe that such a hero couldn’t be wrong, that Geller was therefore the real thing, and Geller’s career took off. It’s safe to say that without Edgar Mitchell’s naivety, we’d have been spared the advent of the Geller Delusion.

Who knew?

Whatever one thinks of Geller and all that spoon bending stuff, the fact that Mitchell’s “latest nonsense” concerns UFOs has nothing to do with Geller. Or vice versa.

Whether Mitchell is telling the truth about aliens and UFOs (for the millionth time) we can’t say. Er, that’s just it, Mr. Skepti Pants, we

say, since we don’t know. Unless Randi, Phil Plait, and all the other debunkers and pathological skeptics know for a fact, are privy to some information the rest of us don’t have, they don’t know a thing.

Given the context, it seems pretty damn obvious Mitchell saw and possibly experienced some heavy UFO/alien action in his time. And, given the context, it’s clear many in the military and related realms also experienced UFOs and/or aliens. Knowing they couldn’t share their stories with the media or world at large, they did so with Mitchell.

No, it’s not proof of anything. Proof and evidence are not the same thing. We don’t know if Mitchell is telling the truth, or, if the people telling him these stories were telling the truth. But we don’t know they were lying either. Why not be a mensch

and just open up a little -- knowing the overwhelming evidence concerning the reality of UFOs -- and say that overall, Mitchell and those he’s spoken with are telling the truth.

It’s possible Mitchell, because he may be gullible in some ways and too trusting, that he’s been fed some psy op disinfo junk about UFOs and aliens. Of course, that’s my opinion on everything: we’ve

been fed psy op disinfo junk about UFOs and aliens. It’s mixed in there with the truth, the realities, the experiences you and I have had concerning UFOs, aliens, and other high strangeness. Such a tangled web indeed.

Yes, Mitchell’s said all this before in various ways; so what? That makes me wonder: what is he really working towards? It’s as if he’s trying hard to get it all out; there’s more behind the story. He just can’t get there from here to there yet.

Well, it’s not surprising Randi and fellow skeptoids think this way -- der. It’s just always both amusing as well as irritating to see the same knee jerk reactions when it comes to UFOs.

Go on any “skeptic” forum and you’ll soon be accused of using ad homs but ah, the skepti-bunkie sees nothing wrong in using insults and sneering slams. Here’s the title of Randi’s bit on Edgar Mitchell:

in which Randi calls Mitchell’s recent comments about UFOs and aliens “the latest nonsense.”

Randi’s aversion to Mitchell makes sense, given Randi’s pathological obsession with Uri Geller, as we find in reading this piece. According to Randi, it’s all because of Edgar Mitchell that Uri Geller is so famous and such a thorn in the side of skepticism. (the Phil he refers to is uber skeptic Phil Plait):

Agreed, Mitchell is an all-time American hero, but as I reminded Phil, he’s also been one of the major purveyors and supporters of top-level woo-woo. It was Mitchell who “discovered” spoon-bender Uri Geller when Geller was only a cabaret performer doing his run-of-the-mill “psychic” tricks for teeny-boppers in Israel, assisted by Hannah Shtrang – who later became his wife – and Shipi Shtrang, her brother, who still works as his assistant. Mitchell actually travelled to Israel and arranged for Geller to come to the USA and be studied at the Stanford Research Institute – later to be re-named SRI International. Two physicists there, apparently awed by meeting a genuine Lunar Astronaut, chose to believe that such a hero couldn’t be wrong, that Geller was therefore the real thing, and Geller’s career took off. It’s safe to say that without Edgar Mitchell’s naivety, we’d have been spared the advent of the Geller Delusion.

Who knew?

Whatever one thinks of Geller and all that spoon bending stuff, the fact that Mitchell’s “latest nonsense” concerns UFOs has nothing to do with Geller. Or vice versa.

Whether Mitchell is telling the truth about aliens and UFOs (for the millionth time) we can’t say. Er, that’s just it, Mr. Skepti Pants, we

say, since we don’t know. Unless Randi, Phil Plait, and all the other debunkers and pathological skeptics know for a fact, are privy to some information the rest of us don’t have, they don’t know a thing.

Given the context, it seems pretty damn obvious Mitchell saw and possibly experienced some heavy UFO/alien action in his time. And, given the context, it’s clear many in the military and related realms also experienced UFOs and/or aliens. Knowing they couldn’t share their stories with the media or world at large, they did so with Mitchell.

No, it’s not proof of anything. Proof and evidence are not the same thing. We don’t know if Mitchell is telling the truth, or, if the people telling him these stories were telling the truth. But we don’t know they were lying either. Why not be a mensch

and just open up a little -- knowing the overwhelming evidence concerning the reality of UFOs -- and say that overall, Mitchell and those he’s spoken with are telling the truth.

It’s possible Mitchell, because he may be gullible in some ways and too trusting, that he’s been fed some psy op disinfo junk about UFOs and aliens. Of course, that’s my opinion on everything: we’ve

been fed psy op disinfo junk about UFOs and aliens. It’s mixed in there with the truth, the realities, the experiences you and I have had concerning UFOs, aliens, and other high strangeness. Such a tangled web indeed.

Yes, Mitchell’s said all this before in various ways; so what? That makes me wonder: what is he really working towards? It’s as if he’s trying hard to get it all out; there’s more behind the story. He just can’t get there from here to there yet.

Well, it’s not surprising Randi and fellow skeptoids think this way -- der. It’s just always both amusing as well as irritating to see the same knee jerk reactions when it comes to UFOs.