Day 2 of the Ozark UFO Conference - end of a good long day.

A great second day of the Ozark UFO Conferene. 

In the morning, Anthony Cataldo, producer of the new docudrama, 701 was the first to speak. He talked about the film, and about some of the motivations behind it. He did a screening of part of the film, discussing the 1994 Zimbabwe CE3, the 1996 Varginha, Brazil UFO crash, and other cases. It was a wonderful talk, and I'm glad to see he will be more involved in the MUFON board.

First off, he brings a lot of money, as well as business/publicity savvy to the board - something that MUFON really needs. Secondly, he brings a good sense ofleadership. I asked him if I could model a character in my novel after him. He said just fine. I think I want to make him be a high ranking figure in MUFON, but who has ties to the cover up. And his wife - ooh gorgeous - a stereotypically beautiful Scandanavian blonde. I think I will have the character in my book married to a Nordic hybrid or something like that. After all, she is an alien, of sorts… :-)

Heard Linda Moulton Howe talk this aft, then heard George Noory. Linda's talk was great. George's talk was entertaining.

Linda's talk was great. She talked a lot about Gobekli Tepi and about self-activating machines, the same thing she covered two years ago at the Paradigm symposium. I had heard most of that, and then had to go to get to the MUFON meeting. There was a lot of really good stuff at the end, that I missed, or so I learned later.

The MUFON meeting was good, as well. It was a small group - about 15 or so, from Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas - the southern heartland states, plus myself and Mike Knox from MN (Mike is also from Tennessee and Texas). Not much official stuff business, mostly more face time more than anything else.

George Noory's talk was basically a couple hours of entertainment and meet and greet. He had a bunch of Q&A, with not much A,followed by the meet & greet. I was somewhat less impressed… :-)

I went into vendor room at one point and bought Sherry Wilde's book. I later managed to corner Sherry to have her autograph the book. We ducked outof George Noory's talk and I caught a ride back to the motel Jerry and Carol and I were staying at.

Day 3 is a half-day, presumably because most of the attendees have to get back to Little Rock, or wherever their flights home are leaving. We are staying tomorrow night, then driving back on Monday. I'm having a great time, but it will be great to be home, too.

Also, I need to get a bunch of DVDs for the MN MUFON library tomorrow. In addition, I think I might try to corner a couple of people who might be great speakers at MN MUFON sometime in the future.

Eureka Springs is a wonderful place. It is an old town, back to the late 1800s, centered around health spa hot springs in the area. The streets look old, reminiscent of the old city in a European city. The place has a delightful Bohemian flavor to it - a lot of little artist's colonies, massage therapists and alternative health centers, etc. A delightfully progressive community in the middle of the Bible Belt.

Enough for now - it's the end of a great Day 2. Time to plank and get ready for day 3…

Notes from the Ozark UFO Conference -first day

A few quick notes from the first day of the Ozark UFO Conference.

A lot of very iteresting personalities here. Met a number of experiencers and a number of UFO researchers - from the skeptical to the far new age. 

The first talk was by Antonio Paris, a skeptic - not a debunker, but one who advocated more of a scientific approach. The talk was on space science, the difficulties of star travel, and what any ET visitors would have to confront. The assumption of the talk was that the visitors are nuts and bolts ETs. He also said that by temporarily throwing out the ideas of interdimensional travel, artificial gravity, etc., we get back to the real problems of space travel.

I thought his talk was really limited

The second talk was by Sherri Wilde, an abductee who grew up in southern Wisconsin. It turns out that many of her abduction events were in the area right around Madison. Sherri lived only about 20 to 30 miles from where I grew up. Her talk was diametrically opposite to Antonio Paris's talk, in that she presented the ET presence as real, largely benevolent, and undeniable.

The third presenter was Nick Pope, who talked about the coverup, and creeping disclosure. I find it fascinating that many of the countries in the western world have released a lot of their UFO files while the USA has not done much of anything. He talked about the Rendlesham/Bentwaters/Woodbridge encounters.

I found that there were a few undercurrents of politics, a few elements of conflicting beliefs and philosophies and a few moments of disagreement throughout. Nothing major, but just enough to tell us that the field is dynamic and interactive as ever.

Lots more later. Gotta bag it tonight....

The Physics Behind the Metaphysics

The last few days have been  humbling, coloring and enlightening. I've had my aura photographed, I've learned a fair amount about energy medicine and I've begun to see just how deep the theory is behind it. I've also discovered how much has changed in the theory behind quantum mechanics since I was in college (I studied physics and engineering over 35 years ago). It's been quite an interesting last few days, and I've only scratched the surface. So - what I doing and why am I doing this? Hmmmm, glad you asked...

At the last Edge expo, my booth was on the other side of the curtain from a group of aura readers. As I talked with them, the engineer within me got interested in the question of just exactly what is going on in this process. To generalize the question, what is the physics behind the metaphysics?

At another gathering I attended only a week or two ago, the presenter was talking about crystal healing, how it worked and what it did. She described a lot of things related to energy patterns, quantum processes, waves, frequencies, etc. She used a lot of physics-y language in an attempt to describe what was going on. Unfortunately for someone with a physics background, the explanation had a lot of visible flaws. It was just enough to make a sci-tech geek like me to want to run screaming from the room.

It took me a few days to recover from the "BS bath" - or so it felt at the time. But as I began to think about it, I realized that there is probably a lot to this. The ideas were intriguing, yet the actual physics concepts are poorly understood. Thus, the language of the field - the buzzwords, if you will - tend to be vastly misused. Yet they point to ideas that at their core, are valid.

When I look into metaphysical topics, right brained stuff, things are pretty coherent. Studying meditation, theology, psychology and spirituality all form a very intriguing picture. I love the path I am traveling into this new (for me) meta world. The depths of spirituality are endless.

At other times, when I look into topics such as physics, I find another, different, also nicely coherent world. Quantum physics is a fascinating field - and while the concepts are mind-bending, they still follow the rules of mathematics and logic. At least in principle, with enough mathematical understanding, one can understand even the most advanced physics. The mysteries of physics are endless. I love this path as well.

The trouble comes when we try to mix the two. Sometimes, when I hear people try to explain the physics behind spirituality, my discernment filter wants to scream for a time out. What do we mean when we talk about frequency, vibrations, energy, wave functions, etc.? A lot of terms are used, a lot of ideas are thrown about, yet overall understanding of them is limited.

Quantum physics is truly a mind-bending topic. It's very easy to get overwhelmed by both the concepts, and the mathematics involved. I recently started reading Quantum Physics for Dummies, a 'basic' primer on quantum physics. Indeed, I did feel like a dummy after starting to read it. The math is at the PhD level and counting. I've had to re-read the early chapters multiple times, and my background is in physics and engineering.

One cannot really understand quantum physics without understanding mathematics at a pretty high level.  And yet books like Quantum Reality, by Nick Herbert can give one a feel for the concepts, along with a hint of the mathematics involved - just enough to give you that first glimmer of understanding.

The book Vibrational Medicine, the #1 Handbook of Subtle Energy Therapies, by Richard Gerber, MD, does a good job of building the case for a lot of subtle healing modalities. The author does a wonderful job (the best I've seen) at explaining the concepts behind it. I have started to delve into this, and found it makes quite a lot of sense.

Part of the material I was reading last night was on homeopathic medicine and how it works. For me, the biggest conceptual hurdle in  homeopathy is the idea that water can retain the essence of whatever substance has been dissolved in it. This concept is at the core of the modality and for me, it is the sticking point - I cannot say it is false, but I need to be convinced of it. Still, the idea is intriguing. Similarly, the idea of the human aura is intriguing, yet I need to be convinced of just what it is, and how we can perceive and measure it before I can fully accept it as scientifically valid.

Much about the human energy field is speculative at best. A host of electromagnetic effects are present and measurable. Yet it is not clear what is being described in various esoteric texts. Is the human aura a field of electromagnetism? Or is it something we don't yet understand? Based upon what I've read so far, that question is not answered yet. But the gist of it is that the idea of an energy field surrounding the human body is probably valid. Healing using energy fields, frequencies, etc. has a lot of merit.


From the point of view of we physics geeks, it's fine to talk about metaphysics, spirituality, healing modalities, etc. Similarly, it's great to talk about pure hard science topics. Like the relationship between science and religion, when we try to think of one in terms of the other, when we try to explain the subtle or esoteric in terms of physics and mathematics, we venture onto conceptual thin ice.

We need to be careful to use the terms and concepts in physics correctly. If we are going to be scientific, we need to be sure the science is valid and accurate. It is very easy to get beyond the data, to stretch actual physics concepts of well beyond the breaking point. Then we are left with the dreaded "p word" so beloved of the debunkers - "pseudoscience."

We need to be sure we are sticking to the data and using the mathematics correctly. Otherwise the skeptics are right. It's the downside of the physics behind the metaphysics.

Visitors Day Invitation to my BNI Chapter

This is an invitation to any businessperson in the north Twin Cities Metro - especially around New Brighton, Minnesota - who would like to build their referral network.

My BNI chapter, Synergy BNI, will be holding a Visitors Day on Tuesday April 22, at 8AM.
We meet at the New Brighton Community Center, 400 10th St. NW, in New Brighton, MN 55112
(Old Hwy 8 and 10th St. NW, near the I35W/I694 interchange).

Bring lots of business cards and come prepared to meet a lot of other business people looking for connections and referral partners.

Please feel free to let me know if you are interested. I would love to have you there as my guest.

Thanks,
 -Craig Lang

Finding the Answers Anyway...

"science advances one funeral at a time"
- Max Planck


I noted some encouraging news in the last couple of weeks, especially regarding the ongoing social and scientific paradigm shifts. One of these primarily involved learning of new research endeavors that are going on out there. People are taking action in the right direction. Specifically, I learned of a couple of efforts now underway - not publicized yet as the organization is still in its early stages - to do some very solid Atlantis research. I won't say any more because this is so preliminary, and so tentative. Not sure how much those involved would want me to say, but the thoughts were intriguing - and very encouraging.

Another idea is not part of the expedition proposal I heard about, but I have often wondered what we would find if we could take a sidescan sonar profile of the continental shelves off the east coast of the USA, at about 350 to 400 foot depth. If we followed that depth contour, especially focusing on locations that would have been natural harbors and estuaries about 12,000 years ago. That was the time at the close of the last ice age, and just before the Younger Dryas, a time of environmental catastrophe associated with sudden sea level rise, radical climate change and according to many, the close of the Atlantean age. If one could put together a privately-funded expedition, with absolute scientific rigor, to survey the ancient coastline, my bet is that some amazing paleo-archaeological finds would result.

Ultimately, I think some of the current work will converge on this. More and more tantalizing clues will emerge of things to be discovered, a vast underwater treasury of knowledge just under the surface of the sea. Eventually, the idea will become acceptable to conduct a thorough survey of the continental shelves in the hunt for our own distant, forgotten past.

I also was encouraged by what I read in other areas of science. Some of this was about organizations like the 100 Year Starship, the Tau-Zero foundation and other similar efforts. It tells me that there is serious and credible work being done on the idea of interstellar travel. When I heard Eric Davis speak at the MUFON conference last year on this topic, I was quite encouraged. Again, while we're not there yet by any means, people are doing things to move us in the right direction.

The biggest take-away from this, and other endeavors in physics, complimentary/alternative medicine (CAM), parapsychology, UFO/CE4 studies, etc., are that people are doing serious scientific research in spite of the official poo-poo'ing. There is solid research being conducted that is not part of, and therefore not controlled by, the scientific mainstream.

I suspect that the old guard of scientists in particular disciplines will ultimately be overcome by an end run around their field. In this case, Frank Joseph had a lot of non-positive things to say about the modern-day archaeological community in the USA. Specifically, the arch-conservatism of the field prevents any meaningful research into pre-columbian archaeology - as if somehow life began in 1492. Agree with this - otherwise you lose your tenure... (a rough paraphrase of Frank Joseph's words).

A lot of researchers outside of the field - including "amateurs" that have nothing to lose from the academic inquisition - might be the ones to make headway. The necessary caveat, of course, is that we need to maintain the solid scientific rigor to make sure the results are valid.

At the vanguard of this was Dr. Roger Leir, who unfortunately passed away this week. He was just beginning to do some fascinating work on alien implants - or, more conservatively worded, medical extraction of anomalous foreign bodies. I think we need to keep our own conclusions very conservative, and several researchers objected to his conclusion that some of the material was 'extraterrestrial' in origin. Yet he did build a good case for that conclusion.

Whether his conclusions turn out to be right remains to be seen. Unfortunately, he died suddenly and unexpectedly, just as he was beginning a new phase of his research.

Where will this go? Will there be breakthroughs in the study of paleo-archaeology, medically anomalous foreign bodies, threshold physics, etc.? I certainly don't know. In many cases, work may lead nowhere - at least at first. But the end result can only be an increase in knowledge, the true aim of science. In spite of the resistance of the conservative old guard, people are doing something to find the answers anyway.

.

Thinking green - the other green

“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."
Luke 12:27 [NIV]

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A couple of days ago, as I was doing my books in preparation for our annual visit to our tax accountant, I realized once again how much of the healer's time and energy is spent around running a business. Then, the next day, a student in one of the new college-level complimentary/alternative medicine programs interviewed me about what it was like to be in the healing world. One of his questions was quite telling - if you could change one thing about that world, what would it be?

Curious, I asked him what kind of answers he got. He replied that many of the healers simply wished that money never existed. For someone trained and nurtured as an intuitive, a healer, heart-centered, etc., it is hard to think in terms of money. To grossly misquote a famous puppet, it ain't easy being green - especially the other green. It isn't easy to think in terms of business and money.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could all just practice our craft? What if you could just be a healer? What if you could simply do your thing and you didn't have to care where the money came from? Wouldn't it be nice if we could all do what it is we love - work our passions without having to sell it to others? This is one of the comments I get from many healers, and I sometimes feel it myself. Yet it is also one of the biggest fallacies of the professional world - that the process of marketing and the work you are marketing are separate things.

One thing I discovered a couple of years ago, as I was setting out into this brave new world, was that marketing and networking were really quite enjoyable. I got to meet people from all walks of life - professionals of many stripes, in health and wellness, business, technology, and so much more. I found it a wonderful opportunity to get my message across. And even more, I got to learn about people in aspects of life I had never known much about. The world is a fascinating place, and now I got to see more of it. And at the same time, I get to share the message, share my own passion with others in the world around me.

One common theme among entrepreneurs - and especially among healers - is the polarity between abundance/prosperity consciousness and the feeling of lack and vulnerability. It's hard to motivate yourself to practice your craft when you feel pressed to make enough money to keep the lights on. Believe me, I understand that feeling. Yet I have also seen the opposite...

The parable of the Lilies of the Field (Luke 12:27) holds special meaning at times like this. The message is that if you act out your faith, then somehow God will extend a hand to support you. More than one personal and/or business coach has told me (with varying degrees of success) to simply relax, to "let go, let God." Rather than trying to make it happen, just let it happen. 

In the midst of marketing, updating my website with new content and search engine optimization (SEO), the lesson has been - send out the right prayers. Put out the right intentions to the Universe. See yourself being successful. Yet that advice nearly always feels counter-intuitive. It's hard to trust that the hand of God is there. Yet when I listen to that little piece of advice, I find it works every time (though often in ways I wouldn't have expected).

Yes, even if you send out your affirmations to the universe, you still have to do your marketing. Even if you meditate and visualize success, you still need to advertize, go to networking events, trade shows, etc. Yes, it would be awfully nice if we could just be healers and the right clients would somehow find their way to our doors. Yet perhaps the paradox is the message - life is a balance between intentions and actions. For something to happen, we often need do something to make it happen.

Sometimes as healers, we do indeed need to think green - the other green.

The far side of the hangar

Last night, I spent a few hours watching some of the latest UFO and alien encounter documentaries. Some were pretty campy, others were pretty good. So far, after seeing the first episode, I'm pretty impressed with Hangar 1 - the MUFON official-line documentary about the UFO phenomenon. I'm not privy to the inner workings of how the show was made, yet I did get a good feel for it just from seeing the show. It looked like much of the show was simply good legwork. A lot of care went into keeping it objective and professional. They build some pretty convincing cases about the history of the UFO coverup, etc. In short it looks like they did their homework.

While I was very impressed, there were also a few things that left me a bit cold. The biggest of these was the presentation of a secretive, dark hangar. They portrayed the MUFON sighting and investigation reports as being housed in this super secret repository called Hangar 1. They went to great pains to stress that MUFON is not a governmental organization. Yet then they turned around and drew the image of a dark, forbidding secretive repository of knowledge. They pointed out that few have been able to see this repository until now. Now, as they open the hangar to us, we can see it for the first time (or something like that). As a field investigator who has been working on these sighting investigations for nearly 20 years, that image left me a bit cold.

The show portrayed an old hangar, looking like something from the movie Roswell, or maybe some place deep within Wright Patterson AFB or Area 51. They portrayed MUFON cases as being boxes on dusty shelves from deep within these archives. It was a fascinating way to portray old cases but it had one disadvantage - it makes the organization look like part of the very coverup it is trying to unmask. Instead of a researcher studying cases, I half expected to see a man in black, wearing a suit and dark glasses, demanding to see my security clearance. 

Much of the correspondence I've heard in the last few weeks tells me how this show is the official line of MUFON. They have been working on this show for years, with many hundreds of hours of painstaking research and documentation. Indeed, the show does a good job of keeping the discussion focused on science, evidence, and rational/skeptical stufy of the unexplained. While I generally echo that official line, I also have to ask - do we really want to have an official line at all? Isn't this an organization based upon open, discerning inquiry?

While I was quite impressed with the first episode, I think we need to be careful about how we project the image of our organization. We are working to be part of the search for truth, to unmask the secrets behind UFOs and close encounters. We need to be careful not to look like someone hiding those same dark secrets somewhere on the far side of the hangar.