High Weirdness back roads

I've been thinking a bit about some of the subjects and events which seem to stay low on the horizon within the Conspiracy Theory and High Weirdness communities these days. With the current state of events in America we certainly have our plates full and it seems the odd, kooky and more curious stories get shuffled out of the deck. The recent Drones photos and revelations are a prime example, so is the VaTech Black Op.

Listed below are three subjects that fit this description. The Gulf Breeze Six is an example of a story that simply gets overlooked because it predates the Internet and doesn't have the broad range of appeal that the JFK assassination or UFOlogy has. Maitiera seems to only interest the folks who are interested in cults or mind control and those who are interested in Theocratic Conspiracy Theories. The emergence of the Internet and it's effect on our community falls more in line with people who have an interest in the history of our communities or those who have been publishing their ideas for long before the Internet was known of by the average person.

There are many other subjects and stories that can be listed but these three seem to have more prominence in my mind these days. The Gulf Breeze Six have been in my head because of the recent drones photos and the major UFO sightings in England this week. Maitiera has been in my mind because I have been thinking more about the VaTech Black Op. Our history has been in my mind because I'm in a mood to assess where I want to take this blog and looking back is always a part of looking forward.

The Gulf Breeze Six – This was an extremely peculiar case when it played out in the summer of 1990. I had spent several years in the Pensacola area before this occurred and was in fact stationed in Pensacola during the Gulf Breeze sightings. I never had a sighting but there was indeed a “feeling” of strangeness around the area during the sightings time frame. The story itself was odd on far too many levels and I’m afraid that Vance Davis’ publication of Unbroken Promises has only added to the muddy waters of this story, in my eyes.

I’ve thought that this story would actually make a very good film. The story has it all; intrigue, mystery, a manhunt, the supernatural, all of this against the backdrop of the military Intelligence Community. There has been very little interest about these six individuals and I think it would be interesting if someone could get them together for an interview to talk about the history of their adventure and perspective since we are nearing the 20th anniversary of the event.

Maitiera – In early 2006 several local Atlanta television stations began airing Maitiera commercials in the early morning hours, usually around 4:00 AM. I often wondered how many people were first introduced to this figure because of the ads. I especially wondered how many trust fund babies in Atlanta saw the ads after a particularly bad and desperate night of drinking and drugging in the Buckhead nightclub district. In the right set of circumstances, with a head full of coke, a belly full of Grey Goose and a empty yearning in the heart, a young person perched in their lofty condo looking down on Peachtree could see a possible “meaning” to their life by seeing those ads.

Cults and cult leaders in general seem to garner very little attention these days. I do have a feeling that the renewed Pentecostal movement has tempered any desire of the corporate news outlets to expose and discuss the activities of cults. I’m not saying that the Pentecost is a cult but it is obvious that cults use the tactics of organized religion to recruit and keep members.

The emergence of the Internet – Before the web, the typical Conspiracy Theory or High Weirdness enthusiast had to rely on a loose and ethereal world of mail order and print magazines for information, new ideas and guidance. Those were the days of kitchen publishing and printed databases and mailing lists that you could get from sources as varied as Donna Kossy and Ivan Stang. What the web has done to this sub-culture is open it to a completely new audience but it has also removed a certain charm and work ethic that was inherent to the subject. It’s been years since I sent out a SASE and got that rush of excitement many weeks later when I saw my handwriting on the envelope, knowing there were pages of goodies inside.

I have never read or even seen an essay on the effects of the Internet on our community. I think this would be a marvelous subject for one of the better writers to tackle. I think we have some incredible historians in the community and their perspective on how things have changed, become more mainstream and more open for disinfo would be exciting to learn.