SUBJECT: CREDIBILITY AND THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF FILE: UFO3235 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴 MUFONET COMMUNICATIONS GROUP 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� ASTRONET BBS NETWORK - MUFONET BBS NETWORK 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴 袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴 [Note: The following article was provided by the Oklahoma MUFONEWS, the state supplement newsletter for the MUFON membership within Oklahoma. Jean Waller-Selfried, BS, State Director. Inquiries should be directed to Jean Waller- Selfried, Oklahoma State MUFON Director, 1916 Inglewood Drive, Norman, Oklahoma 73071. Subscription: $12 /Annually. 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴 Permission granted to cross-post to FIDO UFO only 袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴 Oklahoma MUFONEWS - December 1992 Issue CREDIBILITY AND THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF by Michael S. Carter - Editor, OK MUFONews Remember the boy who cried wolf? He was the little shepherd boy who kept telling the townspeople that a wolf was nabbing his sheep from the meadow, when in reality there was no wolf at all. Finally when a real wolf did start to get at his flock, the people didn't believe him. This is a problem that faces everyone at someone or another, especially Ufologists, researchers and interested parties in the UFO phenomenon. Because we don't have a real live space ship or little green man caught in a net somewhere much of what is related in journals and newsletters or from word of mouth is mainly speculation. We must rely on the word of the person telling the story to tell the truth, make a decision about their believability and credibility as a witness, and if he has a good reputation and we are not going to make the effort to personally check out the facts, take his story at face value until we can prove otherwise. Alas sometimes a story that gets circulated has not been as well checked out for authenticity as it should. Such is the case with the cover story of the November issue of OK MUFONews. In that article taken directly from the KeelyNet BBS and entitled "Something Is Coming Our Way" John Ford of the Long Island UFO Network related a story that he said was substantiated by several sources of good credibility. The story was of an object in the vicinity of Jupiter that was heading toward Earth. According to John, the object had been detected by the government and was being kept secret. Allegedly it had made several course corrections along the way indicating that it might be intelligently controlled. Mr. Ford did say in the article however, that, "As yet no evidence exists to support it...". He also says, "In UFOlogy, you hear a lot of strange stories. Some you have to take at face value, while others are too far fetched to believe even in this strange study of unusual objects and humanoid beings. Some stories you mark off as holding merit, but lack supporting evidence to bolster their credibility until a later date when something might surface which could prove their validity. This is such a story". After the issue was published, we received several calls from people who were very interested in the article and wanted to know where they could obtain more information. It then occurred to me that I couldn't tell them. I completely and utterly had nowhere to tell them to go to verify the story. I hadn't checked it out. One reader called Linda Howe, who Mr. Ford said had related the story to him, to confirm the story and she told him that she was not very happy about the way she was represented in the article. She said that the story had been going around for a long time but she did not know whether it was true or not. I then tried to call Mr. Ford in Long Island but could not get his number. Another reader also tried but found him unreachable. As a better measure, I tried to download a file I found on Paranet about the Long Island UFO Network. Unfortunately I was not able to get the file to download. Thwarted again to find the source and confirm the article's authenticity. So until the story can be confirmed, please take it as an UNCONFIRMED piece of information. It may turn out to be a flight of fancy. At this time, Mr. Ford has not been contacted or had a chance to respond. If we can do so, he will be invited to send his sources of information so we can clear this matter up once and for all. We want to give every opportunity to clarify the story. In any case, please accept my deepest apologies for not following up and confirming the story BEFORE it was put in print for your consideration. Rest assured that we at Oklahoma MUFON have never, nor will we ever purposely publish information that we know to be false. That would only serve to trash our credibility and to thwart all of our attempts to get at the truth behind the UFO mystery. And after all isn't the discovery of the truth the whole point of spending hours and money out of our own pockets to search for an answer to a question that burns bright in all of our minds? Deliberately misleading the public would be like stealing our own sheep and crying "Wolf!" When the real truth does finally come out, no one will believe us. At this point, make no prejudgments about Mr. Ford since he has not been contacted to check out his sources. Also, this in no way reflects on the Long Island UFO Network. We do however appreciate the intelligence of our readership in not blindly accepting everything they see in print without substantial proof. Kudos to you! =END= ********************************************************************* * -------->>> THE U.F.O. 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