Back in August, I wrote a feature examining the claims of Stan Romanek, the world's only professional UFO abductee. (He's the guy who claims to have video footage of an alien peeping into his window.) Romanek and his believers insist that his UFO sightings and tales of alien abduction make up the most fully documented case of extraterrestrial contact.
I saw Romanek present his evidence in Kansas City at the Mysteries of the Universe Conference in late July. Afterward, I looked into what I could find of his vaunted evidence. (Romanek keeps most of it to himself.) What I discovered: Romanek's 2001 report of a UFO sighting, titled ""5 to 10Min Big Red thing Fallowing my Van!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Then I discovered that three sources validating Romanek's claim also misspelled "follow."
Romanek's wife, Lisa, has argued online that all of these supporting reports were transcribed by her husband from eyewitnesses, but there's a fourth that she hasn't addressed.
This one's author takes great pains to make clear that he or she has no idea who Romanek is:
"I noticed a green van going South if Im not mistaken on Estest St. Just behind the van and above it about 60 or so feet was a big red Ball. ... As I watched the van go through the light it looked to me as if this thing was fallowing the van. ... I hope the person in that van was ok."
And then, I found the same misspelling in message board posts sticking up for Romanek, such as this one posted by a a "Steve Coe" on a 2004 article titled "Stan Romanek's Mystery Equations":
"I have been enthralled with the Romanek case for some time now it is a great story. As I fallow his adventures on your site, I see something that others have missed."
My personal favorite is this January 2008 missive from "a physicist" who calls himself "tommyboy."
reply posted on 14-1-2008 @ 11:04 AM by tommmyboyI'm new and noticed the post about Stan Romanek. I am a physicist, I didn't think much about Stan's case at first, and then I started fallowing it in detail.
Good ol' tommyboy goes on to provide a link to Romanek's Web site and introduce a new defense of a silly prediction of Romanek's that had already been roundly discredited. That defense has since worked its way into Romanek's standard spiel.
In short, either many defenders of Stan Romanek have an aphasia for spelling "follow," or Romanek needs to spend less time online.
Once the piece ran, I enjoyed the minor kerfluffle it kicked up among the UFO-minded. There were two prevailing message-board sentiments: Some agreed with the gist because they were already suspicious of Romanek. Many, many others denounced it as a hit piece and carried on about how hard it is for real Americans to spell "follow."
I got on with my life just when things got good.
Two weeks after our story ran, MUFON director James Carrion posted a controversial blog post hashing over the "fallow" evidence and contributing the most amusing example yet.
One of Romanek's most outrageous claims is that one night an anonymous source stuffed a high-level Air Force memo discussing a "Project Romanek" into his mailbox. Its final line:
"As you know subject must be in range, we will fallow up as things unfold."
Maybe even more hilarious is this line, which is at least spelled right: "But Mr. Romanek is smart and stubborn and has a good support system."
He's also a dreamboat!
I especially relish that "Mr.," because Air Force brass apparently follow the New York Times style guide.
Here's the full memo, which implies that the U.S. government "incapacitated" Romanek's van, something they never could pull off with the A-Team.
Of all those fallows, Carrion wrote, "In my mind, the odds of this occurring due to chance were astronomical."
I discovered Carrion's post a couple of weeks ago. It heartened me, even if he does insist that my reporting only backs up what he had noticed long before. That's curious: The international director of an organization dedicated to the serious investigation of unexplained phenomenon has strong evidence against a possible hoaxer, and he just sits on it until two weeks after a story on the same subject -- a story written by a reporter who had repeatedly tried to set up an interview with that very same international director! (Carrion did post a link to his blog in a Pitch comment thread and provide some links back, so whatever.)
Anyway, the reaction Carrion received was even goofier than the one that greeted my story. UFO Media Matters accused him of "leaking" the Air Force document and therefore violating MUFON investigative protocol. "Zukowski" of ufonut.com wrote the world's longest (and least helpful) disquisition on the likelihood of misspelling "follow."
In November Rick Nelson of The UFO Chronicles wrote that he smelled "a rat" and called for Carrion to "get out of the way of capable individuals who are looking for the whole truth."
For good measure, Nelson also suggested that the misspelling in the Air Force document might be part of a conspiracy. "Is it possible a government agency could have set this up? It would be a clever way to discredit a case wouldn't it?"
Carrion responded, "It is a sad day in Ufology when a self proclaimed investigator personally attacks another investigator rather than the evidence/data being presented." He also discusses Romanek's failure to allow third-party investigation of his video and photographic evidence on the November 22 edition of Gene Steinberg and Davide Biedny's excellent Paracast podcast.
Encouragingly, Carrion drops the phrase "blatant lie," compares Romanek to Balloon Boy, and points out that investigators have gone easy on the case, saying
"This whole controversy about the mis-spelled word 'follow' which has shown up in Stan's own reports and some third-party reports has been out there for everyone to see since Stan first started making his claims but has been completely ignored." He also details numerous amusing stories of Romanek's evidence withering up on him. At one point, Romanek was undone by Star 69!
Back in July, before I caught Romanek's presentation, I had planned to write about MUFON's investigative techniques. My big question: How does the organization guarantee that its investigators prize reason over wishing? The international office failed to return my calls or e-mails, and I wrote about Romanek, instead. Still, all these months later, I think I have an answer to that big question. Wishing beats reason, and if you disagree, the faithful might call for your head.
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Balloon boy is only one of many UFO hoaxers. In fact I am waiting for someone that knows anything at all about UFOs. It is a way to make money. The folks who might know something are not stepping up to the podium but their anecdotal evidence would not be less than faked pictures and videos. It is time to put a group of Joe Blows on the stage to tell their individual sighting stories and or telepathic conversations. That would not at this time be less credible than anything else that is being said. Not to me. Joe Blows that don't stand to make money from sharing their stories. The average person that is talking to the average person about what they have seen and/or experienced is much more likely to be the truth. The other thing is there might IMHO be a lot of PSTD among people who are reporting abductions and such. They may be reliving a past that is not the present. I don't want highly traumatized people on the anecdotal stage either. Give me Joe Blow the college professor or Joan Blow farm wife and well those are the stories I would like to listen to. I don't want any stories from anyone that has written a book or made a film or is otherwise cashing in on UFOs. Well I like the artisans that make UFO art. MB
Stan is a phony. The use of Fallow by the witness, the air force and him proves it.
Why do you not believe in me? Haven't you seen the pictures? Your government wants you to believe that I do not exist, but I do. Please believe in me.
I have bin fallowed by UFO's sense I was a young boy. I am pretty sure my mother was made pregnut by an alian and I was the offspring of that lovemaking. It has not bin an easy life.
I don't think Lisa Romanek's good at reading for comprehension.
Or at hoaxing, either.
My guess is Romanek has had a few legitimate experiences onto which he has added some embroidery for good measure.
Let's face it, calling a press conference to announce he would only show the entire footage in an upcoming movie was not a good beginning.
>>PS
To the so-called skeptics here, my goodness you have a lot to learn! A truly rude awakening awaits you...
["How does the organization guarantee that its investigators prize reason over wishing?"]
Oh, probably the same way the police guarantee their investigators and officers will be critical thinking, just individuals who will not be swayed by their personal beliefs or opinions.
Oh wait...
Congrats on your investigative piece and the results it achieved. There probably is intelligent life on other planets, but I doubt any has visited here. UFO beliefs are spread by nuts, conspiracy theorists, and frauds. I hope I see more articles in the Pitch exposing irrational and fraudulent beliefs.
How is it silly to believe in extra-terrestrial life? I think it's naive to believe we are the only intelligent life forms in this infinite universe. The Drake Equation suggests that there are other advanced life forms in the milky way galaxy alone, much less throughout the universe. How is that at all comparable to an invisible, all knowing, all seeing, controller of all existence? And his enemy, the monster who lives in the fires below, who's only purpose is to be evil and eat your soul? Stan Romanek is a douche. And an obvious phony. And an easily spottable phony, from miles away. Just because a person believes in UFO's or ET's, doesn't mean they're going to swallow every story they read or hear regarding the subject. Every ET believer that I know, approaches every UFO related story or video or photo, or any other supposed evidence with even more skepticism than a neutral party.
I absolutely believe in UFO's because I have seen them. However , Stan Romanek strikes me as a huge fake. His video of the Alien looking in the window is too good to be true. if they can fly here across the galaxy, why the hell would they get out and look in someone's window. It just cant be real. That is the same problem I have with Roswell. They are too smart to fly all the way here and then crash.
Nice comment John P. O'Hara. Why did you spell follow incorrectly? It is one of the major issues Mr. Carrion has with Stan's case... follow/fallow. You are now a figment of Stan's creativity... according to Carrion. Anyone who misspells follow, will need to show James Carrion thier ID in the form of a drivers liscense to prove you are"really you." Please use spell check if it was an honest error. If it was done to make a your comment stand out,and create a chuckle don't be a chump, this is not a game.
Good fallow up on this story. I�m glad you left it unseeded for awhile so it could recover its natural fertility. This story, although inactive for a long period, has the possibility of activity or use in the future.
As Far As I Can Throw You, JPO
Lisa has a declaration from the "alleged" anonymous source who allegedly wrote a report 8 years ago? That proves as much as a signed affadavit from a monkey's ass.
awesome critical information about the lies behind this new american religion called UFOism.
I can only hope more media would focus on debunking frauds
Dear Mr. Scherstuhl,
First, let me say "thank you" for not only taking the time to broach the UFO subject, but to do so with pith and substance; as you are undoubtedly aware, this is a rarity with the mainstream media.
That said, I got a kick out of the title of your latest piece; certainly grabs the reader's attention, albeit an exaggeration.
A minor correction: Rick Nelson "isn't with The UFO Chronicles"; we published James Carrion's OPED, "Lost in Space," and in fairness to all sides concerned we published Mr. Nelson's rebuttal (and have continued to publish both sides of the debate).
Finally, we've recently published an OPED by Lisa Romanek (currently at the top of The UFO Chronicles site); in it, Lisa names the "fourth," previously anonymous poster to NUFORC, and includes a declaration allegedly from him.
Respectfully,
Frank Warren
Publisher/Editor
The UFO Chronicles
Unfortunately, you are correct, this discussion is not over yet and I am sure this comment will be construed as ME being defensive again, but I feel it is important to share a few details that were left out of this article.
James Carrion continues to search for the "truth" or at least what he will accept as the "truth" by making accusations that I am a liar, and about Stan making up these reports himself, and other such unsubstantiated claims as well. I have not witnessed James Carrion doing any investigation into anything concerning this case. He IS writing a lot of blogs, starting a lot of arguments, calling names and making accusations, and not only against Stan, but others (Open minds forum) and others as well, but he is not doing anything else!!! Why is that?
I have tried in the past few months to provide James with an explanation for why these NUFORC reports had the misspelled word follow/fallow in them. He didn't want to listen then nor does he want to listen to them now!!! WHY?
Stan assisted two of the individuals with typing the reports; even Peter Davenport from the National UFO Reporting Center (http://www.nuforc.org/) credited Stan for his assisting other witnesses with submitting their reports back in 2001.
I have posted these reports and statements from each of the authors of the reports...the witnesses to the sightings here:
http://www.theufochronicles.co...
My hope is that this will bring a close to at least this issue. I wish I could explain all of the misspellings of follow as fallow, but I just can�t do it. I am thinking that bloggers, who posted the comments in question, left a trail back to themselves via their IP addresses, so why hasn�t James demanded that the site owners of the blogs in questions release the IP addresses to him, for his scrutiny? INVESTIGATE! If he wanted to find John Mannon, couldn�t he? If he wanted to trace the anonymous posters couldn�t he? Why isn�t he doing it then? Perhaps it is better for HIM to instill doubt about Stan�s evidence, and stay in the public eye as the �truth seeker�� but wouldn�t it be better for him to alleviate doubt ( accept the truth) about Stan�s claims and be the real �truth seeker� that he claims to be?
I would like to point out that you named the author of this statement from the Rense site www.rense.com..."I have been enthralled with the Romanek case for some time now it is a great story. As I fallow his adventures on your site, I see something that others have missed."I believe it was authored by someone claiming to be John Mannon not Steve Coe. Mr. Carrion has taken issue with this poster publically demanding that "The real John Mannon please stand up." He puts his demand out as a challenge or a threat of some kind, WHY? (He is so clever)
Your comment... Maybe even more hilarious is this line, which is at least spelled right: "But Mr. Romanek is smart and stubborn and has a good support system." He's also a dreamboat!
I am glad you personally added the dreamboat part, which made me laugh.
This statement:
He (James Carrion) also discusses Romanek's failure to allow third-party investigation of his video and photographic evidence on the November 22 edition of Gene Steinberg and Davide Biedny's excellent Paracast podcast.
James really shouldn�t discuss what he doesn�t know about! He does not know what has been done or not done with any evidence, by whom, or where... and in his not knowing the details, apparently it has resulted in Stan's "failure to allow third-party investigations" WHAT???!
It seems that James is having a hard time discerning between "blatant lies" and "true facts" Even when presented with proof of truth, he can�t or won�t see it����..WHY?
My question is, Why has James taken Stan's case so personally, and why Now after refusing to help (this is the "blatant lie" I am accused of�That James spent 5 hours at our house and said MUFON would not get involved! Not a lie, it is a fact!!!) a few years ago?
Until he began questioning this �follow/fallow �misspelling, and trashing on Stan and the evidence, very few people knew who James Carrion was, even as International Director of MUFON� now everyone knows his name. And yet, does anyone know who James Carrion really is...? It made me laugh when I visit his site, and he gives his information and encourages anyone to check him out, as our right �Freedom of Information Act, and we are allowed to any information that is �allowed� to be released�due to his Army intelligence rank, they will only allow basic details about him to be released�but he looks like is being open and honest... A real �Truth Seeker� because he puts out that offer to show his military records. I find that openess Hilarious.
Blessings to all,
Lisa
Dear Alan Scherstuhl,
I was one of the person who felt what James did was wrong. The problem is he received the document and never notified Romanek about the post he was about to publish on it. He got the document through back channels. I agree with his take on the evidence though there are some very serious questions around this case. I know there were MUFON investagators involved in this case I wonder how they missed all this.
I let Raomanek know at the 40th MUFON Conference I felt his book was noticeable absent of any evidence. I had a friend who knew him and swore by him, now even he is bewildered. I am going to the International UFO congress he is going to speak and I hopefully will be able to question him. I try and support the witnesses of UFOs and give them the benefit of the doubt, but there comes a time where you say "where the beef", especially when they are making money.
Joe Capp
UFO Media Matters
Non-Commercial Blog
Try using the same criteria for proof of god that you would use for proof of ET and you will soon see there just isn't any real proof. And BTW the "divine intervention" card which is used to explain everything about religion that is ridiculous, just doesn't hold any water!
There are those who do have authentic experiences but for some reason decide to expand and create more than has actually occurred.Or some(very few) decide they like the attention and adrenaline rush that comes with the experiences and decide to keep them going.The second these people take this route it discredits any real experiences they may have had no matter the evidence.My advice,keep it real!
Why is it that people can plainly see that it's silly to believe in alien UFO's but they don't use that same reasoning to see that organized religion is just as silly. The last line of this article can just as easily be applied to religion as it can to belief in aliens.
Thanks for the update; I had forgotten about this story.
I think it's fascinating just how badly people want to believe in things they can't see, then tear each other apart when another's belief doesn't manifest itself in the same way as theirs.
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