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BOA : Audio

1.29.10

Peter Robbins

(1 Hour, 47 Minutes)


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Longtime friend of binnall of america, Peter Robbins makes his long-awaited return to BoA:Audio for a discussion on his paper Politics, Religion, and Human Nature: Practical Problems and Roadblocks on the Path toward Official UFO Acknowledgment, which deftly examines issues which may arise in a post-UFO disclosure world. We'll be discussing the Disclosure movement, Peter's reflections on working on the UN UFO meeting of 1978, the issues surrounding how UFO disclosure would effect religion, most notably religious fundamentalists, the unique schism which may arise on Earth if UFO disclosure took place, advice for newcomers to Ufology, and Peter's work with local communities to help them realize the benefits of embracing their "UFO roots."

It's an enlightening edition of BoA:Audio with one of Ufology's great thinkers, Peter Robbins.

Peter has graciously allowed us to carry his paper Politics, Religion, and Human Nature: Practical Problems and Roadblocks on the Path toward Official UFO Acknowledgment, here @ BoA as a companion to this interview. You can read it HERE or download a .pdf copy HERE.

Full Preview: We kick things off with an update on what Peter has been up to in the last year, including his work with the city of Roswell, and this segues into Peter giving us some background on what motivated him to write the Politics, Religion, and Human Nature paper. In beginning to discuss the paper, we start out with the choice, by Peter, to not use the word "disclosure" throughout the text because of the connotations that have been associated with it via the Exopolitical movement.

This turns into an aside where Peter takes issue with one player in the Exopolitics field, in particular, and then we discuss the often-believed but relatively unlikely idea, put forth by some in Exopolitics, that the "UFO issue" is the top priority "behind the scenes" in Washington. To that end, Peter reflects on his job as an assistant editor for a paper that was presented to the 1978 UN meeting on UFOs and he recalls the lessons he learned from that meeting at the UN.

Our conversation then turns towards the Peters ETI Religious Crisis Survey, cited in Peter's paper, which was a study of the potential reactions of religious people and groups to a theoretical UFO disclosure. Peter talks about how the study showed that, despite previous concerns, it appears that UFO disclosure may not be as fundamentally unsettling to religion.

However, this leads to our next point of discussion (and one of the key aspects of Peter's paper), the fundamentalist factions within religion would be greatly affected. To that end, Peter shares the story of Pat Robertson, on the 700 Club program, calling for "those who believe in aliens" to be stoned to death, because aliens are, in fact, demons.

We discuss how, should the US disclose the UFO / ET "truth," segments of the religious fundamentalist groups could, in turn, believe that America is either being duped by or in league with the devil, thus leading to potentially dangerous situations of uprising. While it may be easy to dismiss this element as a fringe part of society, we talk about how such fundamentalist thinking stretches throughout society and culture, even to the upper echelons of power in America. We also find out what, if any, the reaction has been from the Exopolitics community to Peter's paper.

Looking at another potential issue in a post-disclosure world, we explore the concept that there will be a new dichotomy of "earthlings" versus those who are still beholden to nationalism or regionalism. Examining another big issue surrounding disclosure, we ponder the concept that so much time has elapsed since the start of the modern era of Ufology (1940's), that we really have no idea who, within the government and corporate communities, knows the truth about UFOs. This leads to Peter's advice for newcomers to the field on how they can learn more about the subject.

Bringing things back around to disclosure, we talk about the media and how its attitude about UFOs has evolved over the years and may be headed towards a more positive direction. Closing out the conversation, we talk about Peter's work with not only the city of Roswell but also the folks in McMinnville, Oregon and Exeter, New Hampshire, and how he is helping to develop a grassroots acceptance, on a local level, in communities that are starting to embrace their "ufological roots."


Peter Robbins Bio

Peter Robbins has been involved in UFO studies for more than twenty-five years, as a researcher, investigator, writer, lecturer, activist and author. He is a board member of Budd Hopkins' Intruders Foundation and is co-author of the British best-seller Left at East Gate: A First-Hand Account of the Bentwaters-Woodbridge UFO Incident, Its Cover-Up and Investigation.

Robbins has lectured extensively both in the States and abroad, including dozens of talks throughout the United Kingdom. Venues have included local, national and international conferences as well as presentations for organizations, seminars, private groups, public, private and secondary schools, universities, libraries, scientific organizations, educational foundations and Cambridge Hospital in Boston under the sponsorship of the late Pulitzer Prize winner Dr. John Mack.

Robbins’ lecture topics have included but not been limited to the United Kingdom’s RAF Bentwaters-Woodbridge UFO incident; the suppression of UFO information by the American and British Governments; James Vincent Forrestal, first Secretary of Defense and early casualty of UFO secrecy; the emergence of the national security state; Dr. Wilhelm Reich and UFOs; the UFO abduction phenomenon; the crop circle phenomenon, and the media and UFOs.

Peter also served as Art Director and investigator for the New York City-based Scientific Bureau of Investigation (SBI), a national police and civilian UFO research organization and as Editorial Assistant on [requested] "Blue Memorandum" for Parliament's House of Lords Debate on UFOs, January 1980; Research Assistant on United Nations Secretary General's Report "for the establishment of a UN-UFO Department."


Next Week :

Christopher Knowles

Our Gods Wear Spandex

BoA:Audio explores the esoteric influences behind comic books with Christopher Knowles, author of Our Gods Wear Spandex. We'll cover a number of areas of discussion including the evolution of comic books and superheroes, the enormous impact of Vril, The Power of the Coming Race, how Superman ushered in a new era of superhero, the Magical Battle of Britain, Batman as a golem figure, the odd man who created Wonder Woman, comic book titans Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Alan Moore, the comics code, and tons more. In addition to all that, we'll also discuss Christopher's blog Secret Sun.


BoA : Audio, Season V archive