22 replies to this topic

[Skeptic Chicken]

Why do people always focus on the fact that it caused the disasters? I remember reading a theory about it appearing before disasters as a warning of impending doom, and that it shouldn't be seen as a threat, but a warning.

Just pains me to see people looking at the subject of a portrait, when theres paint around it too.

[scowl]

Kryso, on 23 June 2012 - 06:36 PM, said:

It was an interesting film. The book by John Keel is much better and deeper. Would recommend it.

Has anyone debunked Keel's book? It is one of my favorites since it's page after page of strange experiences he supposedly had when he was investigating Mothman. They get increasingly more bizarre (alien pregnancies, MIB, Mothman attacking a bloodmobile!)  and hard to believe yet his matter-of-fact writing is so convincing that it pulls you into this strange world that I now am pretty sure only existed in Keel's mind. Even if it's 100% fiction, it's fun to read especially since he has a sense of humor unlike most Forteans.

I was disappointed when he concluded that a young man's wild tale of being teleported to a planet where humans walked around naked couldn't have been fabricated simply because the witness was a college student and far too busy in his studies to become involved in making up a story like that. Earlier in the book he criticized other UFO investigators as being laughingly naive, yet he thinks a college student would never make up a story.  

I have read critiques about his book "Disneyland of the Gods". It is not a first-person investigation like Mothman Prophecies and unfortunately dug up a bunch of "Chariots of the Gods" silliness that had been proved false ten years earlier. He also shamelessly rehashed material from his other books.

[scowl]

Skeptic Chicken, on 27 June 2012 - 04:24 PM, said:

Why do people always focus on the fact that it caused the disasters? I remember reading a theory about it appearing before disasters as a warning of impending doom, and that it shouldn't be seen as a threat, but a warning.

In the book, Keel leaves this conclusion hanging. He doesn't say it caused the disaster, but he strongly implies that the same supernatural force behind Mothman, MIB, the UFOs, and the other wild things in the book was also behind the bridge collapse. Because bridges never collapse on their own.

The last sentence of the book is something like, "If there is a God, then why should we assume that He is sane?"

[Rafterman]

scowl, on 27 June 2012 - 04:30 PM, said:

Has anyone debunked Keel's book? It is one of my favorites since it's page after page of strange experiences he supposedly had when he was investigating Mothman. They get increasingly more bizarre (alien pregnancies, MIB, Mothman attacking a bloodmobile!)  and hard to believe yet his matter-of-fact writing is so convincing that it pulls you into this strange world that I now am pretty sure only existed in Keel's mind. Even if it's 100% fiction, it's fun to read especially since he has a sense of humor unlike most Forteans.

I was disappointed when he concluded that a young man's wild tale of being teleported to a planet where humans walked around naked couldn't have been fabricated simply because the witness was a college student and far too busy in his studies to become involved in making up a story like that. Earlier in the book he criticized other UFO investigators as being laughingly naive, yet he thinks a college student would never make up a story.  

I have read critiques about his book "Disneyland of the Gods". It is not a first-person investigation like Mothman Prophecies and unfortunately dug up a bunch of "Chariots of the Gods" silliness that had been proved false ten years earlier. He also shamelessly rehashed material from his other books.

Kind of hard to debunk what is essentially a book of fiction.

Keel seems to fabricate a lot of what he relays in the book and then attempts to draw connections between things that have no connection whatsoever - the collapse of the bridge for example.

Here's an very good objective analysis of the whole Mothman mythology.  You can listen to the podcast or read the transcript.

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4159

[QuiteContrary]

Skeptic Chicken, on 27 June 2012 - 04:24 PM, said:

Why do people always focus on the fact that it caused the disasters? I remember reading a theory about it appearing before disasters as a warning of impending doom, and that it shouldn't be seen as a threat, but a warning.

Just pains me to see people looking at the subject of a portrait, when theres paint around it too.

Mothman is like some super creepy guardian angel then?
Warnings are good, but without specifics they serve no purpose.
I'm betting on crane just trying to ask for directions.

[QuiteContrary]

Creepy creature!

Close the bridge!

Tragically, it didn't happen that way.

[scowl]

Rafterman, on 27 June 2012 - 06:46 PM, said:

Kind of hard to debunk what is essentially a book of fiction.

Sigh. That's what I figured. How did he pull it off? He mentions locations and names all through the book. Did he fabricate all the people?

Quote

Here's an very good objective analysis of the whole Mothman mythology.  You can listen to the podcast or read the transcript.

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4159

Thank you! Yes, it sounds like he was going to investigate a handful of Mothman reports, got nothing, then decided to make an elaborate fictional account of his investigation with Fortean events that he made up. I wonder if anyone in the book even existed.

Mothman Prophecies was a spooky book to read as a child and lots of us read it. It described a time and place where for a while almost anything could happen. Even as fiction Keel has a great way of throwing in strange unexplainable and unrelated incidents to keep the reader off balance:

• He claimed one clear night the full Moon never appeared. It showed up the next night.
  
• He claimed to see stars that stayed in fixed positions in the sky all night. I guess Keel was the only one looking at the sky. He discounted a plausible explanation which was pointless because he made it up.
  
• He claimed someone was tampering with his phone (missed phone calls, other people answering his phone) and includes an accurate description of a phone company's central office when investigating his line.
  
• He claimed to see a valley lit up with a purple glow, as if no one else in the area would have noticed it or reported it.
  
• He claimed planes were dropping duct tape. No explanation!

Keel deserves credit for coming up with some very strange ideas. Too bad his book is a fraud.

[lalalalana]

AliveInDeath, on 24 June 2012 - 02:19 AM, said:

The book was good, and quite astounding, I must say. It is definately a must read.

Bought the book the other day, started reading it now. Creepy is an understatement.