The second annual National Go Topless Protest Day will be held this Sunday, August 23, in various American cities. It happens to be run by Raelians, members of a UFO religion founded by Rael, a former French sports-car journalist and test driver born Claude Vorilhon. (Coverage of last year's protest in New York City, which is, as one might suspect, NSFW.) Though the current "Go Topless!" site talks more about women's rights than Raelism, in 2004, Raelian women were marching topless not for the legalization of bare breastedness, but against "the repressive Myth of God." Don't remember the Raelians? This is just the most recent stunt by the publicity-hungry group that capitalizes on media-friendly controversy: in 2002, during the slow news week between Christmas and New Year's Day, they announced the creation of the first human clone, gaining what Rael estimated at over $500 million of free media coverage. In an interview, Rael unabashedly discusses his passion for publicity. [more inside]
posted by ocherdraco on Aug 21, 2009 - 63 comments

The mysteries of Area 51 revealed!
posted by mudpuppie on Apr 9, 2009 - 61 comments

Marcelo da Luz has been attracting a lot of attention with his snazzy solar car. He's hoping to set a new world record by driving the car from Buffalo, NY, to Inuvik, Northwest Territories.
posted by mrgrimm on Sep 10, 2008 - 19 comments

The UK Ministry of Defence has just released previously classified documents detailing numerous UFO sightings and alien contacts from across the country. Report yours at UFO Watch.
posted by MrMustard on May 14, 2008 - 5 comments

Alien Images Appear On Wall In Calgary "I looked out and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, I've lost my mind,'" resident Karen Henuset said of the first time she saw the specters. "So I asked our nanny to come and take a look at this, and the hair on her arms just stood straight up."(photo) (video)
posted by KokuRyu on May 2, 2008 - 40 comments

“He'd speak wistfully about some future day when he'd have less work on and could investigate the paranormal for real. And now that day has come.” Jon Ronson attends a UFO conspiracy conference with Robbie Williams. Compare and contrast, Dan Aykroyd.
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Apr 19, 2008 - 31 comments

Staging a UFO crash to attract Men in Black. [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 on Oct 24, 2007 - 22 comments

We all know the UFO Festival is coming, but with it just a week away also comes fresh news of the crash itself. Walter Haut, the former PR man at Roswell Army Airfield, filled out an affidavit in 1993 detailing his experience with the crash. But nine years later Haut secretly filled out another, much more detailed, affidavit that was to be sealed until after his death. One with much heavier implications. Seeing as how this information was first released in book form, are we looking at a postmortem fame grab or a genuinely guilty conscience?
posted by Roman Graves on Jul 2, 2007 - 13 comments

LOOK UP! (or down, if you happen to be reading from one of these. The annual "Amazing Roswell UFO Festival" happens this weekend, and it looks like people - er, visitors - are coming from all over! Who knew back in 1947 that this little incident would be the start of an entire sub-culture? Well, for me the fascination started with two of the the greatest UFO movies ever. For my grandparents, it started with one of the greatest radio broadcasts ever. But hey, there's no need to rely on fiction when we have one of the most insanely great UFO videos of all time provided by none other than the Mexican Government! Seen anything strange in the sky yourself lately? If so, you'd better report it here.
posted by janetplanet on Jun 26, 2007 - 18 comments

Have you ever run into Trotskyites before? You know, those dour, uptight dudes handing out free papers at demonstrations? They can spout some pretty colorful rhetoric but apart from that, most of them lead dull, constricted lives devoted to Party meetings and getting out the Party newspaper. Juan Posadas was the exception to this rule. Señor Posadas was a high-octane Trotskyite superfreak who advocated a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the USA in order to hasten the proletarian revolution. He looked to the skies and saw UFOs as evidence of the triumph of communism on other planets. Fidel Castro banned the Cuban section of his movement for trying to organize an attack on the U.S. base at Guantanamo. They don’t make ‘em like Posadas anymore. That’s for sure. (If you’re curious, there’s an archive of his works stored here. And some people are still keeping the faith.)
posted by jason's_planet on Sep 24, 2006 - 50 comments

Why are political extremists so interested in UFOs? The Nation of Islam has its “Great Mother Wheels.” Their melanin-challenged brethren in the Neo-Nazi movement have the myth of Neu Schwabenland, an Antarctic redoubt where the remnants of the Third Reich fled after the war, with the U.S. military in hot pursuit. There, hidden among the ice and the Emperor Penguins, the frostbitten Aryans plotted to reconquer the world. To that end, they created a fleet of UFOs, using top-secret Nazi technology that They don’t want you to know about. Nizkor has recreated pamphlets published by the Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel on this topic, one of which includes a helpful list of German phrases to be used during an encounter of the Third Kind. (This myth is also covered in the eighth chapter of this book.)
posted by jason's_planet on Aug 16, 2006 - 21 comments

"White people call them Unidentified Flying Objects." This blog covers the incorporation of contemporary UFO myths into the Nation of Islam's peculiar pigmentational eschatology. It includes a link to a fire-and-brimstone speech by Reverend Farrakhan himself on this topic. (Due to subject matter and racial themes, these might not be the best links for work.)
posted by jason's_planet on Jul 6, 2006 - 11 comments

Aliens and Children. This website features a series of drawings made by children who were abducted by aliens for the purpose of creating a new race of alien/human hybrids. They successfully resisted the aliens by using a thought screen helmet which blocks the telepathic control aliens have over humans.
posted by Robot Johnny on Feb 12, 2006 - 35 comments

UfoMaps.com utilizes the Google Maps API to display UFO incidents across the United States. Bonus: for more UFO-related audio, video, documents & images, AreaDownload provides a huge archive.
posted by hall of robots on Oct 11, 2005 - 16 comments

Aliens and Children. "This website features a series of drawings made by children who were abducted by aliens for the alien purpose of creating a new race of alien/human hybrids." More goodness from our old friend, Michael Menken.
posted by cedar on Jun 6, 2005 - 21 comments

Reptilian Imagery and Demonology: A well researched analysis of astral archetypes and modern/post-modern American culture. [via our friends at the cDc]
posted by kuatto on Mar 12, 2005 - 17 comments

Introducing: Metal Rubber. "Twist it, stretch it double, fry it to 200°C, douse it with jet fuel—the stuff survives. After the torment, it snaps like rubber back to its original shape, all the while conducting electricity like solid metal." Sounds familiar, no? Here's the son of the Roswell air field's intel officer, describing the debris he says he saw in 1947: "It was possible to flex this stuff back and forth, even to wrinkle it, but you could not put a crease in it that would stay, nor could you dent it at all. I would almost have to describe it as a metal with plastic properties." The UFO freaks are already all over the "back engineering" of Roswell crash debris. Meanwhile, there's something unusual in the sky over Minnesota right now.
posted by CunningLinguist on Aug 20, 2004 - 49 comments

Pictures of UFOs.
posted by monju_bosatsu on Jan 5, 2004 - 18 comments

Did UFO's originate in Ancient India? According to Indian legend, the kingdom of Rama existed at the same time as the lost kingdom of Atlantis. Both kingdoms developed airships that could fly not only between countries, but also into outerspace. The Indian ships, called Vimanas, are described in many ancient manuscripts, and perhaps most spectacularly in the Mahabarata, in which some believe there is a description of an ancient nuclear war. Is it possible that such technology could have been lost in antiquity, or kept in the posession of some "secret society"? Fascinating stuff...
posted by greengrl on Jul 3, 2003 - 28 comments

The real reason we invaded Iraq! The Von Doniken explanation for Iraq Ataq. This is wierd stuff, folks. But it does raise an interesting question: should Earthly politics reflect galactic defense and solar interests? (heehee) (this link via y2karl over at WarFilter, cause he kinda begged for it, and I'm a simpleton who complies ..)
posted by Wulfgar! on Jun 13, 2003 - 9 comments

From the secret world of the "black budget" comes the story of a man who wants to know the truth about the army's research into anti-gravity technology and zero-point energy ("There's enough energy in your coffee cup to evaporate the world's oceans many times over." ). Is he a lunatic? A "Ufologist"? Nope, he's an award-winning defense and aerospace reporter for Jane's Defence Weekly, the highly respected magazine on international military and policy issues. In fact, he says, the loonies may be right! He thinks there probably are saucerlike flying objects, but they're not alien, they're made in the USA (who got the technology from the Nazi's - who else?). He even goes so far as to suggest that the CIA has a program to discredit people who see UFO's. I like my stories rich, and this one is very rich. (via Atlantic Unbound)
posted by NekulturnY on Sep 17, 2002 - 13 comments

the "Moohnochwa" is coming! A mysterious UFO type object has killed 7 in India and injured more. Mmm Hmm. I for one want to be the first to welcome our new insect overlords.
posted by outsider on Aug 14, 2002 - 27 comments

I'm Skeptical. UFOs, psychic phenomenon, Bigfoot, or miracles got you down? Consult the Skeptic's Dictionary. Debunker James Randi is online as well, while psychic Sylvia Browne just refuses to take $1 million dollars.
posted by owillis on Jul 15, 2002 - 13 comments

Last week was a good week for aliens and a bad week for cows.

UFOs visited sacred sites and tourist attractions in Sri Lanka, Chile declared an official UFO tourism zone, and Scotland claims to have the most reported sightings each year.
much more inside...
posted by joemaller on Jun 25, 2002 - 5 comments

CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs Just brushing up for this Sunday's two hour series grand finale.
posted by Voyageman on May 16, 2002 - 1 comment

The real culprit behind the 9/11 attack.
posted by tiaka on Jan 23, 2002 - 25 comments

UFOs are sooo last century
posted by johnboy on Apr 22, 2001 - 2 comments

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence at HOME This isn't a new site, but there is a new version of the software. It's nice to be able to use your CPU to find ETs while your away from your machine. It is simple and doesn't crash. Check it out! I'm running in on both my NT box and my MAC G4
posted by brdesign on Jan 27, 2000 - 0 comments