Welcome Thread - New Members Post Here

Hello. My name is Kieron, I live in London and work in a psychiatric hospital.

I’ve relatively recently come across Mick’s work through You Tube. At least part of my journey has echoes of his. I was fascinated by UFOs growing up in the 1970s subscribed to the Flying Saucer Review! and I remember my dad bringing home The Unexplained magazine as well. I thought back then that the mystery of UFOs would soon be solved. There was always hints that real conclusive evidence was about to be brought up to confirm that we have indeed been visited . The evidence though, always remains just over the horizon and strangely out of grasp. It remains a matter of faith and wanting to believe. I suspect it will always be this way.

The main attractions of this site is that it is a. fun and b. a strong island of rationality in what seems to be increasingly cult-ridden and bonkers world. I loved Escaping the Rabbit Hole and lent it to my teenage son to try to inoculate him. I wish I had it read it before getting into an argument (about chemtrails ) with one of my relatives.

I loved the recent debunking of the mistaken explanations in parts of the press of the pictures of “hovering” ships in the UK. This led me to doing some further reading on the nature of mirages which I’ve found to absolutely fascinating and magical. I‘ve learnt that water seeking insects aren’t fooled by inferior mirages because their eyes are polarised light sensitive whilst ours aren’t. I’m sure this fact , which you can take to the bank, will be useful at some point . :)
 
Hello I watched your youtube channel from watching your video colaboration with Steven Hassan (A few months ago I read his book "Combatting cult mind control"), I´m still learning a lot, I´m currently reading your book "Escaping the rabbit hole..."). My story, long story short, is that last year I consumed a lot of youtube videos of Red pill dating and Mgtow videos, and after like 6 months or so I realized that it has a very cultish vibe and their theories or beliefs are very exaggerated and toxic. I don´t know if someone here wants to debunk or explained some of the fallacies about their theories and why there is something that´s feels so wrong about this "philosophy" that uses the matrix reference of red pill and blue pill, some youtube channels of these toxic community are: "CoachGregAdams", "Entrepreneurs in Cars", "Rollo Tomassi", "Better Bachelor", "Thinking-Ape".
 
Hello. I am a Danish man of 41 years. I've heard references to Metabunk before without checking you out. Today I heard a podcast on Danish radio p1 "supertanker" where one of the participants in today's panel Rikke Peters associate professor at UCL Odense referred to Mick West and metabunk as a resource the listeners should check out.
 
Hello. I found this site when I got addicted to debating flat Earthers on YouTube. I have since moved on to debating Moon landing hoaxers. I have used this site as a reference for a lot of things.
 
This thread is for any first time poster to (optionally) post an introductory "hi everyone" post, which will also get you "verified" (meaning you can post without anti-spam restrictions) once that post, and a few posts in another sub-forum, have been approved.

A few words on who you are and how you ended up here would be appreciated. Or just say hi!
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It's highly recommended that you first read the Posting Guidelines:
https://www.metabunk.org/threads/posting-guidelines.2064/
This is how I came upon this site: I read an FBI post on Facebook about the removal of malicious web shells from US computers. I noticed that the majority of the commenters seemed to have delusional beliefs. One said that she was being hit with neurological weapons, and provided a link to a You Tube video about "NASA war documents." The rest is history. Aside from seeking truth, I am interested in how to deal with these terrified people.
 
Hi Everyone, I'm Paul B, a geologist by qualification, with more than 30 years' experience in mineral exploration, and an amateur astronomer for longer than that. I've been following Mick's YouTube content for several months.
 
Hi Everyone, I'm Paul B, a geologist by qualification, with more than 30 years' experience in mineral exploration, and an amateur astronomer for longer than that. I've been following Mick's YouTube content for several months.
Welcome Paul
 
This thread is for any first time poster to (optionally) post an introductory "hi everyone" post, which will also get you "verified" (meaning you can post without anti-spam restrictions) once that post, and a few posts in another sub-forum, have been approved.

A few words on who you are and how you ended up here would be appreciated. Or just say hi!
upload_2013-11-7_15-17-0.png

It's highly recommended that you first read the Posting Guidelines:
https://www.metabunk.org/threads/posting-guidelines.2064/
Hello All: I am Judi, 74 years young and a transplant from Minnesota to Texas, in my retirement as a psychiatric nurse. I have dear friends here with odd beliefs. I am lame at arguing facts so always run to my laptop to look up their beliefs when they are gone. I am not interested in arguing; teaching would be my goal if possible. Also I am interested in the psychology and sourcing of what I've just been told. I found you. I hope this is my place.
 
Hello to my new metabunk people!

[...]

I have some education in thinking from things from a rational, evidence-based perspective, but I, like all of us, still tend to get caught up in the ethos of propagandistic narratives and find myself dashing across the skies of speculation, swept away by mile long winds that the media/associated "experts" have taken from the few inches of breeze they've been given.

Mick West's presence in these conversations has really, really been a breath of fresh air. There is so often a series of unimpressive, logical explanations for the things we cannot immediately explain in such terms that arises after a bit of careful, honest analysis. Skepticism is the right position, I think - not contrarianism or blanket-incredulity. It says, "I will believe this once incontrovertible evidence has been carefully uncovered in support of it, but until then, I have no compelling reason to adopt such an extraordinary claim into my worldview."

Thanks Mick
 
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Hi there everyone! My name is Kevin and I have an interest in researching old UFO cases. I'm not really too fond of the UAP/UFO nonsense floating around these days and I hope to meet someone here with a similar interest in the historical cases.
 
Hi All.

New poster. Englishman, husband, father of 2.

Reluctant sceptic, I suppose. My heart wants UFOs to be real alien craft, but my head keeps making objections.

I came here after watching Mick speak to Luis Elizondo. The "I've got more evidence that I can't show you" defence was most frustrating!
 
Hi all,

I found you guys when searching for high-quality debunking of flat eartherism. I've been engaging in some of that on Reddit in the last couple of months. I must say, some of the threads on here are the most well documented, well reasoned, and thorough I have seen on the interwebz...!

I'm a long-time amateur astronomer, observational back in the day, more theoretical now. I have (and occasionally use) a small collection of vintage optical surveying gear. Also many decades of electronics experience, professional and amateur. Always interested in history, particularly of my many hobbies.
 
This thread is for any first time poster to (optionally) post an introductory "hi everyone" post, which will also get you "verified" (meaning you can post without anti-spam restrictions) once that post, and a few posts in another sub-forum, have been approved.

A few words on who you are and how you ended up here would be appreciated. Or just say hi!
upload_2013-11-7_15-17-0.png

It's highly recommended that you first read the Posting Guidelines:
https://www.metabunk.org/threads/posting-guidelines.2064/
Hello. From Calgary, Canada. I discovered your work by joining the GSoW a couple of years ago, which led me to reading your fantastic book, then eventually to this webpage. I decided to become a member of your site after listening to your excellent interview with Richard Saunders on the Skeptic Zone.
 
Hi! Thanks for accepting me. I have recently found myself "debating" several flat earthers online, as mostly an intellectual exercise. Although I am not a scientist by any stretch, I am a history buff and have always been fascinated with the role science plays in how history unfolds and the how society adapts when "the science changes". I hope to get a better understanding here of the actual science here.
 
This thread is for any first time poster to (optionally) post an introductory "hi everyone" post, which will also get you "verified" (meaning you can post without anti-spam restrictions) once that post, and a few posts in another sub-forum, have been approved.

A few words on who you are and how you ended up here would be appreciated. Or just say hi!
upload_2013-11-7_15-17-0.png

It's highly recommended that you first read the Posting Guidelines:
https://www.metabunk.org/threads/posting-guidelines.2064/
Hi Mick! I'm happy to officially be part of your "metabunk community". I am a psychotherapist in NJ. I came across your book while searching for resources to better assist my clients (and family and friends) who are, well, down a rabbit hole believing a lot of the inflammatory rhetoric that has contributed to a divide in this country. Your book hit the spot! It really helped me put things in perspective (and learn more than I ever knew about chemtrails!!). Your videos also helped illustrate how you approach individuals who believe in some of these conspiracy theories. It may help to do more like that, but maybe it is difficult to get willing participants! I don't usually post on forums but I'm sure I can find someplace to contribute. Thank you for what you do and I look forward to future journeys in and out of the rabbit hole!
 
Hi Mick! I'm happy to officially be part of your "metabunk community". I am a psychotherapist in NJ. I came across your book while searching for resources to better assist my clients (and family and friends) who are, well, down a rabbit hole believing a lot of the inflammatory rhetoric that has contributed to a divide in this country. Your book hit the spot! It really helped me put things in perspective (and learn more than I ever knew about chemtrails!!). Your videos also helped illustrate how you approach individuals who believe in some of these conspiracy theories. It may help to do more like that, but maybe it is difficult to get willing participants! I don't usually post on forums but I'm sure I can find someplace to contribute. Thank you for what you do and I look forward to future journeys in and out of the rabbit hole!
Welcome Scott. J mentioned to H that you might be dropping in. I'm very glad you liked the book, and I'm interested in how it relates to a therapy context. Maybe the topic of a new thread!
 
Hi, all - I'm a long-time skeptic currently working in the area of science communication at NASA. I came to the site after being impressed by Mick's work on the "confirmed" Navy UAPs, and am looking forward to participating in the forum. Cheers!
 
Hi thank you for having me. Im a debunker with a youtube channel called Exposed W/ Rick Debunks. I mostly debunk fake paranormal videos that people think are real for some reason but i debunk pretty much anything im able too. i found this website after finding mick west youtube channel
 
Hi everyone, good to meet you all. I'm glad to be here. A bit about me - as the username suggests, I'm on the fence about something in particular - UFOs. And I've found it incredibly difficult to get any sensible input to the debate, as the internet's echo chambers just tend to tell you whatever the prevailing opinion is wherever you land (and on the internet, that's mostly that UFOs are aliens and they're obviously here). So I'm hoping for some more sensible scientific discussion here, and to hopefully help me untangle data from my own potential biases, and get to some sensible modicum of truth.

About me: I have a scientific background in earth and planetary sciences (specialising in geochemistry), and latterly as an academic researcher in theoretical evolutionary biology. Until about a year ago I paid no attention whatsoever to UFOs, and just grouped them in the same category as god, unicorns, or any other such superstitious folklore. Being an evolutionary biology researcher, I've also had my fair share of (undesired) conversations with creationists and the like, so I have a reasonable idea what belief in the face of logic looks like.

Anyway, learning about the 2004 Nimizt incident and associated NY Times articles made me take a step back and reassess. And a year on, I'm still not sure either way. I'm looking forward to so sensible scientific discussion and learning a few things from you all.
 
Hi everyone, good to meet you all. I'm glad to be here. A bit about me - as the username suggests, I'm on the fence about something in particular - UFOs. And I've found it incredibly difficult to get any sensible input to the debate, as the internet's echo chambers just tend to tell you whatever the prevailing opinion is wherever you land (and on the internet, that's mostly that UFOs are aliens and they're obviously here). So I'm hoping for some more sensible scientific discussion here, and to hopefully help me untangle data from my own potential biases, and get to some sensible modicum of truth.

About me: I have a scientific background in earth and planetary sciences (specialising in geochemistry), and latterly as an academic researcher in theoretical evolutionary biology. Until about a year ago I paid no attention whatsoever to UFOs, and just grouped them in the same category as god, unicorns, or any other such superstitious folklore. Being an evolutionary biology researcher, I've also had my fair share of (undesired) conversations with creationists and the like, so I have a reasonable idea what belief in the face of logic looks like.

Anyway, learning about the 2004 Nimizt incident and associated NY Times articles made me take a step back and reassess. And a year on, I'm still not sure either way. I'm looking forward to so sensible scientific discussion and learning a few things from you all.
Welcome, feel free to read the extensive threads we have on the Navy reports/videos. There's quite a lot of stuff that gets mixed up in the media with regards to testimony versus the videos, a lot of confusion about the time/dates of the videos and the actual testimony.

I'm pretty sure that even moderately interested lay people mostly think the videos and the testimony are all from the same incident and were all filmed by Cmdr Fravor for instance. I still see UFO people and media people to this day mix up the claims made and the video analysis done here, intentionally or not, there is a lot of mixed up descriptions in peoples minds.
 
This thread is for any first time poster to (optionally) post an introductory "hi everyone" post, which will also get you "verified" (meaning you can post without anti-spam restrictions) once that post, and a few posts in another sub-forum, have been approved.

A few words on who you are and how you ended up here would be appreciated. Or just say hi!
upload_2013-11-7_15-17-0.png

It's highly recommended that you first read the Posting Guidelines:
https://www.metabunk.org/threads/posting-guidelines.2064/
Retired research chemist here, dropping in to browse UFO data critiques. In West Cork, Ireland now and previously San Francisco. Thanks for the useful website!
 
Hello Everyone! My name is Matt and I am a research scientist at Georgia State University (in the US). I have spent most of my career teaching math, experimental design, statistics/data science, and scientific computing to students with a variety of backgrounds (from undergraduate to graduate level). I have also done some research in perception (human hearing), machine learning, terrorism, schizophrenia, neuroscience, and the replication crisis in science.

Recently, I have been getting pulled into a lot of conversations about science communications. I am here because I am concerned with how science is being represented in the sorts of lay discussions that interest the people of this site. I am also concerned with the decreasing level of trust that many people have in science, both in science as an institution and with individual scientists as people. I think science communicators are doing a lot that is wrong in how we talk to the public and present science, and that the sorts of processes that people engage in here are interesting as a model that can be emulated to alleviate some of these trust problems. So, I am here to learn more about that.

I am also interested in how things presented as evidence come to be absorbed into individual worldviews. Since the sorts of things I am interested in are routinely discussed here, it seems like time to join in officially. But I am not here for any specific types of bunk (as it were). I hope that I can be helpful to others here!
 
Nooooo.... I just accidentally cut instead of copied my post (which I do every time before I submit), it said copied to clipboard but it didn't.

Ugh.
500 words gone...

Anybody know where I can find Mick's Rogan videos? They seem to have been removed from yt.
 
Very impressed with Mick and this forum's sober, methodical, crowdsourced approach to explaining what's going on in the UFO videos. The Drive article making the case for the US military being spoofed by foreign UAV and electronic warfare plus this video that Mick posted convinced me there's a lot less to this than Reid, Elizondo, Mellon, Podesta, etc. are implying.

When I thought of drones, I thought of RC toy helicopters, not flight capabilities like this. I had no idea drone technology had advanced this much while becoming so inexpensive.

LOS drone performance

It's disappointing and deflating in a way, the same way learning a how a magic trick is performed. I'd love to be alive for first contact with another civilization, but the likelier explanation is so anodyne and bland. The bloated Pentagon which couldn't defeat militiamen in Toyota trucks armed with RPGs over the course of two decades is also getting exposed as being wholly unable to stop Chinese and Russian asymmetrical warfare waged with glorified, mass produced crap from AliBaba. What a letdown.
 
Hey I'm Neil, I like engineering, foreign films and Battelle. Currently filling a god-shaped hole with incomprehensible beings, shifting realities and conscious earth fantasies.
edit: Also I like the simulation memes.
 
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Hi, I just saw you on your interview with Fraser Cain about the UFO videos, very interesting. It is scary that the air force pilots don't seem to know much about how the cameras in their planes work... I am embarassed that I got sucked into the Bermuda triangle, Erich von Daniken ancient astronauts books etc in the 70's as a child, all thoroughly debunked now. As a professional scientist it was appalling to hear the Lord Chancellor Michael Gove say before the Brexit vote "I think people have had enough of experts" ( although there was some follow-up in that sentence that gets cut out). I spotted your discussion on mirages so will add a post over there. I wondered if you had tried to debunk the rapidly-expanding flat-earth group, but maybe that is a hopeless case ?
 
Hi there,

I joined about a month or so ago and never wrote an introduction, because I am lazy. Aside from 9/11 stuff which I always knew but never cared about, my introduction to other, more wild (and more to my liking) conspiracy theories happened on pre 2010 YT. Of course there were always the X-Files and other media making conspiracies fun, but I remember specifically listening to coast to coast recordings, back then still cut into 10 minute bits because YT didn't allow for longer videos.

I personally view many of the conspiracies around as a fun time. Like a sort of emerging viral sci-fi storytelling. It allows the mind to wander, consider many interesting what-ifs and so forth. And I have my favourite genres that I come back to every once in a while. Aside from the truly delusional or the mentally ill, I think this will be the same for most people on YT/Reddit etc., at least in some degree.

What made me finally join here was the interview with Lou Elizondo that Mick did a couple of weeks ago. That man reminded me of a character from an old school fighting game, he has like 3 or 4 things to say that he repeats over and over again, while never actually saying anything of substance. Very tiring, also very revealing.

Anyway, hello to everyone.
 
I'm Sayaka from Tokyo. I am a translator and have been debunking supernaturals, pseudoscience, and quackery for years with my pals. I am also a vaccine advocate working with doctors. I found here reading Mick's book. I would like to translate and share your stories in Japanese if you let me. I translated and have published several books and often write chapters for debunking books. I am a good old lady, and you can trust me (^_^)/Thank you. Really glad to be here. my Twitter is @ sayakatake. Sorry, it is mostly in Japanese.
 
Hi. I am new here. I found out about this site from an article in Psychology Today about q-anon and conspiracy theories. I have a couple of perfectly normal, good-hearted relatives and friends who believe some very odd things. I think at least one is incapable of distiguishing opinion from evidence-based fact. I wonder if something happens to the chemistry in their brains that changes them significantly. I'm more interested in political conspiracy theories than ones on UFOs and cosmic phenomenon. Perhaps there is a more fitting site for me. If someone has a suggestion, I'd be interested. I'm just glad this site is available. So thanks for all the work.
 
Just an initial post to introduce myself. I found my way in here serendipitously while doing some research on Russell Jay Gould and his 'quantum grammar' and 'quantum financial system' notions. Found nothing here on that topic, so far, but have been very favorably impressed by this site, therefore registered and created an account. My full name is William F. Zachmann (you can Google it). My login name here (W1LLZ) is also my US FCC amateur radio call sign.
 
Just an initial post to introduce myself. I found my way in here serendipitously while doing some research on Russell Jay Gould and his 'quantum grammar' and 'quantum financial system' notions. Found nothing here on that topic, so far, but have been very favorably impressed by this site, therefore registered and created an account. My full name is William F. Zachmann (you can Google it). My login name here (W1LLZ) is also my US FCC amateur radio call sign.
Welcome!
 
This thread is for any first time poster to (optionally) post an introductory "hi everyone" post, which will also get you "verified" (meaning you can post without anti-spam restrictions) once that post, and a few posts in another sub-forum, have been approved.

A few words on who you are and how you ended up here would be appreciated. Or just say hi!
upload_2013-11-7_15-17-0.png

It's highly recommended that you first read the Posting Guidelines:
https://www.metabunk.org/threads/posting-guidelines.2064/
Hi,

I’m a lawyer in New York City. I’ve been a subscriber to Skeptical Inquirer for almost as long as I’ve practiced law (that is, over 40 years). I’ve been a long-time admirer of the work of skeptics in debunking claims of the paranormal.

One of the great moments in late night television was when Johnny Carson (secretly assisted in his protocols by James (“The Amazing”) Randi) completely foiled Uri Geller’s attempt to bamboozle Carson and his audience. It made my day to watch that huckster squirm when he realized he couldn’t tamper with the props.

I first read of Mick West in this week’s New Yorker, which had a long article about UFOs. Although the article was mostly larded with one anecdote after another, the author, to his credit, wrote flatteringly about Mick and his work. So I checked out his painstaking work on Youtube, and decided to join up here.
 
Hello, everyone. I'm a physics professor at Central Washington University; my area of expertise is acoustics. I have recently started teaching classes on how to apply scientific thinking to become better at recognizing misinformation, bogus claims, and conspiracy theories. I learned about Mick West and Metabunk in the May 10 issue of the New Yorker. This is an amazing resource! I will be happy to post on issues that relate to my areas of expertise. I will also steer students this way!
 
Bonjour et merci de l'acceptation.
Il y a un moment que je tente de suivre les fils ici, particulièrement intéressant de part la pertinence des intervenants. Je reste agréablement surpris du ton , des approches et du respect qui règne ici. Je suis français, ufo-sceptique, ce qui ne veux pas dire que je ferme les portes de l'extraordinaire. Je tente mes enquêtes à charge et à décharge mais toujours avec en tête de désir d'invalider ce que je pense, de confronter mon approche aux arguments contraires. Je suis enquêteur bénévole pour le GEIPAN (structure du CNES en France). J'ai une page Facebook et un petit forum dédié au sujet, qui tente d'analyser les faits avec la méthode sceptique de l'esprit critique. Merci encore de votre accueil, pardonnez moi si d'aventure ma (mes) question(s) sont mal formulées dans votre langue.
Patrice
 
Hi there,

I'm a freelance translator in Montpellier (FR) and ended up here via an article in The New Yorker. This site seems so far to have the right balance of curiosity for me, because conspiracy theorists, pseudo-sciencers and all other peddlars of quackery drive me nuts but I'm also strongly averse to rabid fundamentalist sceptics. I have always been a firm advocate of valid scientific research and proof ... yet I have also always loved anything weird and bizarre; I was an avid reader of The Unexplained magazine back in the UK in the 80s!

I used to look at all this as just a bit of fun, but the recent upsurge in fake news and other dangerous BS has resulted in me kind of losing it with some people (even lost a couple of friends...) and it's good to see people thinking clearly.

Looking forward to reading the posts on here.

Cheers
 
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