Friday, July 8, 2016

The Dangers of UFO Obsession

That's the subject of a new Mysterious Universe article from me, which you can find here.

And here's how it begins...

Time and again I tell people that if you’re interested in UFOs, don’t let the subject rule and dictate your life. The same goes for every other aspect of Forteana, too, whether it’s Bigfoot, ghost-hunting, lake-monsters, etc, etc. I don’t know why I bother though. They seldom listen. But, they should. As someone who has been in the UFO subject for more than a few years, I have seen plenty of what I call ufological screw-ups of the personal kind. By that, I mean people who – step by step and bit by bit – go down a pathway that ultimately takes them far away from reality and into a world of downright unreality. And that realm of unreality is rarely, if ever, a positive one.

Now, don’t get me wrong: after all, I write books, I write articles, and I give lectures on the world of the paranormal, and on a regular basis. But, I’m very good at keeping a balance. Unless I’m out of town for a gig, or doing a radio-show to promote a new book, I work from roughly 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday to Friday. And that’s it. When 5-ish comes around, I’ll close the Word document of the relevant book I’m working on and forget about it until the next morning. Evenings during the week are all Forteana-free. As for weekends, there’s no writing, no researching, and Bigfoot is nowhere in sight (or in mind). Nessie and the Men in Black? They can all wait until Monday morning comes around. Evenings and weekends are for something else: it’s called a social life. For me, that’s soccer, friends, women who look like Abby from NCIS, cold beer, and going to see a band etc., etc.


4 comments:

  1. So true! One can obsess over UFOs (or any other esoteric subject) every waking minute of every day, but as I often tell myself, borrowing a favorite line from the Rockford Files, "That don't feed the bulldog".

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  2. That's Entertainment , love seeing you and your friends on UFO on all the history and science shows. As an artist this is the back music for my brain. Love it thank you.

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  3. This comment is late, don't know if you'll see it, but I just bought your book Final Events. !!!! I'm only 10% into it and I'm committing myself to a life of prayer. Not kidding! And you have made your life's work researching this high strangeness and don't pray or praise God or beg for mercy? I'll put you on my prayer list!! It's a zero sum game - when we're not praying we're losing. When we're praying and praising "they", whatever or whoever they are, are the losers. I checked the UFO Stalker map - around my home town is a comfortable radius of no reported sightings. Prayer is powerful because God is good.

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  4. Nancy,
    Religion and prayer can also become obsessions. Carl Jung famously warned against "one-sidedness", in which an individual becomes obsessed with one aspect of life at the expense of other equally or more important areas. We see many one-sided people who focus their lives on money, power, prestige, beauty, sex, consumerism, and yes, religion, at the expense of developing a more well-rounded personality and life, especially a life of being involved with others in more than merely transactional relationships.

    At one time in my life, I nearly became an obsessed UFO nerd. I ate, drank and slept UFOs. Everything else seemed so mundane and boring. So what if the price of gas went up? Who cares? There are ETs out there and we don't know what they're up to! This is the most important event in the history of mankind! I can't be bothered with crap like taking kids to ballet lessons or buying school supplies!

    Fortunately, this obsessive period lasted only a short while and I soon returned to reality. I told myself that whether UFOs were "real" or not, my life would still go on much as before. I would still have to make a living, socialize with family and friends, participate in my community and remain aware of important events in the world.

    I accepted that even if UFOs were "real", they didn't affect my day-to-day life one iota. That is why most people don't obsess over UFOs (or anything else). Life goes on. I’d still have to take out the garbage and go grocery shopping. OTOH, if it was somehow proven that UFOs didn't exist, my life would not be shattered and I would continue to move on with my life. I didn't want to become a UFO casualty. I didn't want to become "Mr. Flying Saucer" and be able to empty a room faster than an ebola patient with bad breath.

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