Ashtar Command

[Irish Murdoch]

This is probably old news to everyone here, but a particularly woo-woo belief in something called Ashtar Command is entirely new to me, as is the "Ashtar" broadcast, supposedly made by ETs, that interrupted the local ITN news in Berkshire (England) in 1977. It is, of course, some hackers having fun, but a quick Google reveals how many of the gullible there are out there, as if we didn't already know ....

An audio recording (complete with British accent and silly sci-fi-type names!) is to be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu0PGd-IVNI

[Space_Ed]

So how can you be sure that the broadcast isn't genuine? Granted the most likely explanation would appear to be that it is a hoax but as far as I am aware they never found out where the broadcast came from or how they managed to do it in the first place. Can you explain how this hoax was done? Maybe the Ashtar command have amazing technology or verbal skills and spoke in a way that the British public would be familiar with and understand.

[MRC_Hans]

Not only have I heard of it, I have met someone (on an internet forum) who claimed to be a member of it. Needless to say, he appeared a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

Hans

[Irish Murdoch]

So how can you be sure that the broadcast isn't genuine? Granted the most likely explanation would appear to be that it is a hoax but as far as I am aware they never found out where the broadcast came from or how they managed to do it in the first place. Can you explain how this hoax was done? Maybe the Ashtar command have amazing technology or verbal skills and spoke in a way that the British public would be familiar with and understand.

Well, of course I can't conclusively prove that this wasn't a case of genuine aliens. Maybe they did have amazing technology (though not amazing enough to broadcast to anyone but the people of Reading, Wokingham, Winnersh, Slough, etc.). But the fact that the voice copies various sci-fi tropes, as do the names, does lead me to suppose that the message might have emanated from inhabitants of the Home Counties rather than a distant planet. But maybe I'm hopelessly naive.

Nope, I can't explain how the hoax was carried out, as I know next to nowt about electronics. I'm sure some clever people on this forum will have plausible explanations though. I believe it is the case that they never found out where the broadcast came from. But it follows from this that they didn't find out it came from a spaceship. And that leaves us with the question of whether its having a terrestrial or an extra-terrestrial origin is the more likely explanation.

[wollery]

Oh come on, what self respecting alien commander is going to use the phrase "worthless dross"?

[kosai]

They have over 7000 pages of "evidence" here:

http://www.cosmic-people.com

It takes about 10 clicks to get in the main site but the journey is worth it.

[Emerson Street]

Oh come on, what self respecting alien commander is going to use the phrase "worthless dross"?

That bit made me laugh!

[Irish Murdoch]

Oh come on, what self respecting alien commander is going to use the phrase "worthless dross"?

Well, for a start, you'd think he would know that there's no other sort. Worthwhile dross, anyone?

[wollery]

Worthwhile dross, anyone?Why, thank you, I'll have a pint please. :alc:

[Alice Shortcake]

Sounds like the work of an Orson Welles wannabe brought up on bad science fiction! I have no idea how he managed to break into the news broadcast, but I do hope that real aliens - if they exist - have better things to do with their time than spout sci-fi cliches on a local TV programme. By the way, despite living in England and being interested in UFO lore I'd never even heard of the broadcast until I saw it mentioned on this forum.

[TX50]

And they never even mentioned anything about demolishing the Earth
to make way for a hyperspace bypass :(

[godless dave]

So how can you be sure that the broadcast isn't genuine? Granted the most likely explanation would appear to be that it is a hoax but as far as I am aware they never found out where the broadcast came from or how they managed to do it in the first place. Can you explain how this hoax was done? Maybe the Ashtar command have amazing technology or verbal skills and spoke in a way that the British public would be familiar with and understand.

Ever heard of the concept of Occam's Razor?

[Correa Neto]

Old stuff from the "esoteric" UFOlogy branch. Some of those guys here in Brazil still dig it...

A number of contactees claim to have maintained telepathic contact with "Commander Ashtar Sheran" since the early 50's. It was supposed to arrive at Earth in July, 1952 and work under command of Jesus (yep, Jesus is an alien...). Oh, yes, these are the good (and good-looking) guys, while the grey aliens are the bad (and ugly-looking) guys. A bad space opera, full of worn-out cliches.

More details on this esoteric crap can be found at
http://www.ceticismoaberto.com/arquivo/chola_ashtar.htm
(in Portuguese).

[AtomicMysteryMonster]

Granted the most likely explanation would appear to be that it is a hoax but as far as I am aware they never found out where the broadcast came from or how they managed to do it in the first place.

The same can be said about this. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_pirating_incident)

[Irish Murdoch]

The same can be said about this. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_pirating_incident)

And what makes you so sure that the guy in the Max Headroom mask wasn't an alien? ;)

[AliasN]

Oh dear. Matt Frewer. Another Canadian we're compelled to apologize for...