MUFONET COMMUNICATIONS GROUP ASTRON



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Г               MUFONET COMMUNICATIONS GROUP                 Г
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Г       ASTRONET BBS NETWORK  -  MUFONET BBS NETWORK         Г
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Г[Note: The following article was provided by the Oklahoma   Г
ГMUFONEWS, the state supplement newsletter for the MUFON     Г
Гmembership within Oklahoma.  Jean Waller-Selfried, BS, StateГ
ГDirector.  Inquiries should be directed to Jean Waller-     Г
ГSelfried, Oklahoma State MUFON Director, 1916 Inglewood     Г
ГDrive, Norman, Oklahoma 73071.  Subscription: $12 /Annually.Г
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Г     Permission granted to cross-post to FIDO UFO only      Г
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Г          Oklahoma MUFONEWS - December 1992 Issue           Г
Г                                                            Г
Г          CREDIBILITY AND THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF            Г
Г                                                            Г
Гby Michael S. Carter - Editor, OK MUFONews                  Г
Г                                                            Г
ГRemember the boy who cried wolf? He was the little shepherd Г
Гboy who kept telling the townspeople that a wolf was nabbingГ
Гhis sheep from the meadow, when in reality there was no wolfГ
Гat all.  Finally when a real wolf did start to get at his   Г
Гflock, the people didn't believe him.                       Г
Г                                                            Г
ГThis is a problem that faces everyone at someone or         Г
Гanother, especially Ufologists, researchers and interested  Г
Гparties in the UFO phenomenon. Because we don't have a real Г
Гlive space ship or little green man caught in a net         Г
Гsomewhere much of what is related in journals and           Г
Гnewsletters or from word of mouth is mainly speculation. We Г
Гmust rely on the word of the person telling the story to    Г
Гtell the truth, make a decision about their believability   Г
Гand credibility as a witness, and if he has a good          Г
Гreputation and we are not going to make the effort to       Г
Гpersonally check out the facts, take his story at face valueГ
Гuntil we can prove otherwise.  Alas sometimes a story that  Г
Гgets circulated has not been as well checked out for        Г
Гauthenticity as it should.                                  Г
Г                                                            Г
ГSuch is the case with the cover story of the November issue Г
Гof OK MUFONews. In that article taken directly from the     Г
ГKeelyNet BBS and entitled "Something Is Coming Our Way" JohnГ
ГFord of the Long Island UFO Network related a story that he Г
Гsaid was substantiated by several sources of good           Г
Гcredibility. The story was of an object in the vicinity of  Г
ГJupiter that was heading toward Earth.                      Г
Г                                                            Г
ГAccording to John, the object had been detected by the      Г
Гgovernment and was being kept secret. Allegedly it had made Г
Гseveral course corrections along the way indicating that it Г
Гmight be intelligently controlled.                          Г
Г                                                            Г
ГMr. Ford did say in the article however, that, "As yet no   Г
Гevidence exists to support it...".                          Г
Г                                                            Г
ГHe also says, "In UFOlogy, you hear a lot of strange        Г
Гstories. Some you have to take at face value, while others  Г
Гare too far fetched to believe even in this strange study ofГ
Гunusual objects and humanoid beings. Some stories you mark  Г
Гoff as holding merit, but lack supporting evidence to       Г
Гbolster their credibility until a later date when something Г
Гmight surface which could prove their validity. This is suchГ
Гa story".                                                   Г
ГAfter the issue was published, we received several calls    Г
Гfrom people who were very interested in the article and     Г
Гwanted to know where they could obtain more information. It Г
Гthen occurred to me that I couldn't tell them. I completely Г
Гand utterly had nowhere to tell them to go to verify the    Г
Гstory.  I hadn't checked it out.                            Г
Г                                                            Г
ГOne reader called Linda Howe, who Mr. Ford said had related Г
Гthe story to him, to confirm the story and she told him thatГ
Гshe was not very happy about the way she was represented in Г
Гthe article.  She said that the story had been going around Г
Гfor a long time but she did not know whether it was true or Г
Гnot.                                                        Г
Г                                                            Г
ГI then tried to call Mr. Ford in Long Island but could not  Г
Гget his number.  Another reader also tried but found him    Г
Гunreachable.                                                Г
Г                                                            Г
ГAs a better measure, I tried to download a file I found on  Г
ГParanet about the Long Island UFO Network.  Unfortunately I Г
Гwas not able to get the file to download. Thwarted again to Г
Гfind the source and confirm the article's authenticity.     Г
Г                                                            Г
ГSo until the story can be confirmed, please take it as an   Г
ГUNCONFIRMED piece of information. It may turn out to be a   Г
Гflight of fancy. At this time, Mr. Ford has not been        Г
Гcontacted or had a chance to respond. If we can do so, he   Г
Гwill be invited to send his sources of information so we canГ
Гclear this matter up once and for all. We want to give everyГ
Гopportunity to clarify the story.                           Г
Г                                                            Г
ГIn any case, please accept my deepest apologies for not     Г
Гfollowing up and confirming the story BEFORE it was put in  Г
Гprint for your consideration.  Rest assured that we at      Г
ГOklahoma MUFON have never, nor will we ever purposely       Г
Гpublish information that we know to be false. That would    Г
Гonly serve to trash our credibility and to thwart all of ourГ
Гattempts to get at the truth behind the UFO mystery. And    Г
Гafter all isn't the discovery of the truth the whole point  Г
Гof spending hours and money out of our own pockets to searchГ
Гfor an answer to a question that burns bright in all of our Г
Гminds? Deliberately misleading the public would be like     Г
Гstealing our own sheep and crying "Wolf!" When the real     Г
Гtruth does finally come out, no one will believe us.        Г
Г                                                            Г
ГAt this point, make no prejudgments about Mr. Ford since he Г
Гhas not been contacted to check out his sources.  Also, thisГ
Гin no way reflects on the Long Island UFO Network. We do    Г
Гhowever appreciate the intelligence of our readership in notГ
Гblindly accepting everything they see in print without      Г
Гsubstantial proof. Kudos to you!                            Г
Г                                                            Г
Г=END=                                                       Г
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