UFO Magazine closes - lack of interest

iain · 14th March 2004, 12:20 AM

The Observer is reporting that, after 25 years, UFO Magazine was shut down last week.

There's an interesting quote from author of UFO books Andy Roberts

Quote:

Ufology is really a thing of the last century. The end of the X-Files series didn't help, and there has been a decline since the televised alien autopsy of the mid 1990s...

Ed · 14th March 2004, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by iain
The Observer is reporting that, after 25 years, UFO Magazine was shut down last week.

There's an interesting quote from author of UFO books Andy Roberts

absolutely fascinating. So, they found out all there was to know and people lost interest? No? You mean they couldn't keep selling grainy photos to the same nutjobs indefinately? What a shocker.

Pyrrho · 14th March 2004, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ed
absolutely fascinating. So, they found out all there was to know and people lost interest? No? You mean they couldn't keep selling grainy photos to the same nutjobs indefinately? What a shocker.

I believe what actually happened was that once personal computers, digital photography, and image-manipulation software became widely available, people could make their own -- and often much better -- UFO photos. Once the kids realized they could do a better job, the UFO industry began to die. We're now in the autumn of the Ghost Orb era, BTW.

Checkmite · 14th March 2004, 06:35 AM

My local Borders sells UFO Magazine, just starboard and aft of Skeptical Inquirer. I picked up an issue once, and although it contained a few newer photos, a great many of them were the "old and grainy" type. Knowing what I (we) know, it didn't surprise me, and I wondered then how long it would take for the magazine to tank with no new input. There is another UFO magazine there whose name eludes me. Fortean Times is also there.

!Xx+-Rational-+xX! · 14th March 2004, 01:34 PM

This is a good sign of a lack of slightly less widespread stupidity!

It’s irrational to consider the unproven possible!

iain · 14th March 2004, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by !Xx+-Rational-+xX!
This is a good sign of a lack of slightly less widespread stupidity!

It’s irrational to consider the unproven possible!

I see you've been increasing the medication dosage then

!Xx+-Rational-+xX! · 14th March 2004, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by iain
I see you've been increasing the medication dosage then

Not !Xx+-Rational-+xX!

Bikewer · 14th March 2004, 04:07 PM

I guess all those alien abductors got enough probe samples....

Hutch · 14th March 2004, 05:44 PM

Never fear, if you still need a UFO fix, try this site:

http://www.martiansgohome.com/smear

Quite an interesting character runs it, he thinks there are others out there but it hasn't stopped him from making fun of the more "way out there" folks.

Yahweh · 14th March 2004, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by iain
The Observer is reporting that, after 25 years, UFO Magazine was shut down last week.

There's an interesting quote from author of UFO books Andy Roberts

I could only imagine the final words of the final page of that magazine read:

HA HA HA! Fooled you! I cant believe you thought we were serious ha ha ha ha ha...

Keneke · 15th March 2004, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ed
So, they found out all there was to know and people lost interest? No? You mean they couldn't keep selling grainy photos to the same nutjobs indefinately? What a shocker.

Actually, the fact that they are losing interest somewhat flies in the face of one of our major selling points: that there exists a rising tide of woo-woo that we must fight against.

Are we winning the battle? Or are UFO theories simply being replaced by new fashions, thereby holding steady (or increasing) the overall amount of silliness in the world?

Ratman_tf · 15th March 2004, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Keneke

Actually, the fact that they are losing interest somewhat flies in the face of one of our major selling points: that there exists a rising tide of woo-woo that we must fight against.

Are we winning the battle? Or are UFO theories simply being replaced by new fashions, thereby holding steady (or increasing) the overall amount of silliness in the world?

I would go with the latter but note that psuedoscience has it's ebbs and flows.

Toastrider · 15th March 2004, 09:33 PM

Hey, Ratman! Nice to see you again... haven't seen you since the P2P/LtM boards

I think you may be onto something, though. Personally, I'm hoping for the demise of the 'ectoplasm' proponents as well, because I've seen better pics faked using photomanipulation of existing photographs.

That's probably why they're recycling the old paper-mache images; all the really good photomanipulators don't want to make ectoplasm pics, they're too busy making photo alters of tentacle pr0n.

Not that, uh, I'd know about that. Or something.

--Toasty

Jas · 16th March 2004, 01:00 PM

I think the current trench of 'woo-wooism' is drifting away from little green men and the like, and more towards personal things that "can't be measured by science", such as CAM, spriritualism, psychics, and new-age-ism. Also, there seems to be a growing fundamentalist movement.

Ratman_tf · 16th March 2004, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Toastrider
Hey, Ratman! Nice to see you again... haven't seen you since the P2P/LtM boards

Heya Toasty! I'm still hanging out at P2P and The Morlocks, if you ever feel like shooting the ****.

14th March 2004, 12:20 AM	#1
iain Graduate Poster Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,293	UFO Magazine closes - lack of interest The Observer is reporting that, after 25 years, UFO Magazine was shut down last week. There's an interesting quote from author of UFO books Andy Roberts Quote: Ufology is really a thing of the last century. The end of the X-Files series didn't help, and there has been a decline since the televised alien autopsy of the mid 1990s...
iain Graduate Poster Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,293	__________________ "Mathematicians have discovered a new whole number between 27 and 28." - On the Hour

14th March 2004, 03:15 AM	#2
Ed god Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 8,691	Re: UFO Magazine closes - lack of interest Quote: Originally posted by iain The Observer is reporting that, after 25 years, UFO Magazine was shut down last week. There's an interesting quote from author of UFO books Andy Roberts absolutely fascinating. So, they found out all there was to know and people lost interest? No? You mean they couldn't keep selling grainy photos to the same nutjobs indefinately? What a shocker.
Ed god Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 8,691	__________________ "The history of science is the record of dead religions" Phrases And Philosophies For The Use Of The Young Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Our Guarentee: One obscure (or not) Python reference per day.

14th March 2004, 06:14 AM	#3
Pyrrho Man in Black Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,678	Re: Re: UFO Magazine closes - lack of interest Quote: Originally posted by Ed absolutely fascinating. So, they found out all there was to know and people lost interest? No? You mean they couldn't keep selling grainy photos to the same nutjobs indefinately? What a shocker. I believe what actually happened was that once personal computers, digital photography, and image-manipulation software became widely available, people could make their own -- and often much better -- UFO photos. Once the kids realized they could do a better job, the UFO industry began to die. We're now in the autumn of the Ghost Orb era, BTW.
Pyrrho Man in Black Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,678	__________________ The Skeptics Society \| The Skeptics Society Forum \| Skepticality Promoting SCIENCE and CRITICAL THINKING

14th March 2004, 06:35 AM	#4
Checkmite Skepticifimisticalationist Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Third in line Posts: 14,892	My local Borders sells UFO Magazine, just starboard and aft of Skeptical Inquirer. I picked up an issue once, and although it contained a few newer photos, a great many of them were the "old and grainy" type. Knowing what I (we) know, it didn't surprise me, and I wondered then how long it would take for the magazine to tank with no new input. There is another UFO magazine there whose name eludes me. Fortean Times is also there.
	__________________ "¿WHAT KIND OF BIRD? ¿A PARANORMAL BIRD?" --- Carlos S., 2002

14th March 2004, 02:06 PM	#6
iain Graduate Poster Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,293	Quote: Originally posted by !Xx+-Rational-+xX! This is a good sign of a lack of slightly less widespread stupidity! It’s irrational to consider the unproven possible! I see you've been increasing the medication dosage then
iain Graduate Poster Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,293	__________________ "Mathematicians have discovered a new whole number between 27 and 28." - On the Hour

14th March 2004, 01:34 PM	#5
!Xx+-Rational-+xX! ! skeptiscientisuperioristism Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 876	This is a good sign of a lack of slightly less widespread stupidity! It’s irrational to consider the unproven possible!

14th March 2004, 02:40 PM	#7
!Xx+-Rational-+xX! ! skeptiscientisuperioristism Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 876	Quote: Originally posted by iain I see you've been increasing the medication dosage then Not !Xx+-Rational-+xX!

14th March 2004, 04:07 PM	#8
Bikewer Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: St. Louis, Mo. Posts: 9,536	I guess all those alien abductors got enough probe samples....

14th March 2004, 05:44 PM	#9
Hutch A broken man on a Halifax pier, the last of Barrett's Privateers Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: About 7 Miles from the Saturn 5B Posts: 6,539	Never fear, if you still need a UFO fix, try this site: http://www.martiansgohome.com/smear Quite an interesting character runs it, he thinks there are others out there but it hasn't stopped him from making fun of the more "way out there" folks.
	__________________ If sheer righteous fury could accomplish anything worthwhile, Wolverines would have inherited the Galaxy long ago." -Web DuHavel, David Weber's "Honorverse" Series

14th March 2004, 08:38 PM	#10
Yahweh Ayay ashay ayay Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,029	Re: UFO Magazine closes - lack of interest Quote: Originally posted by iain The Observer is reporting that, after 25 years, UFO Magazine was shut down last week. There's an interesting quote from author of UFO books Andy Roberts I could only imagine the final words of the final page of that magazine read: HA HA HA! Fooled you! I cant believe you thought we were serious ha ha ha ha ha...
Yahweh Ayay ashay ayay Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,029

15th March 2004, 08:46 AM	#11
Keneke Muse Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 980	Re: Re: UFO Magazine closes - lack of interest Quote: Originally posted by Ed So, they found out all there was to know and people lost interest? No? You mean they couldn't keep selling grainy photos to the same nutjobs indefinately? What a shocker. Actually, the fact that they are losing interest somewhat flies in the face of one of our major selling points: that there exists a rising tide of woo-woo that we must fight against. Are we winning the battle? Or are UFO theories simply being replaced by new fashions, thereby holding steady (or increasing) the overall amount of silliness in the world?
Keneke Muse Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 980

15th March 2004, 09:12 PM	#12
Ratman_tf Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 1,002	Re: Re: Re: UFO Magazine closes - lack of interest Quote: Originally posted by Keneke Actually, the fact that they are losing interest somewhat flies in the face of one of our major selling points: that there exists a rising tide of woo-woo that we must fight against. Are we winning the battle? Or are UFO theories simply being replaced by new fashions, thereby holding steady (or increasing) the overall amount of silliness in the world? I would go with the latter but note that psuedoscience has it's ebbs and flows.
	__________________ "In the end, I was so decent, I stopped being a Christian altogether!" -Ruby --- "God is an invention of Man. So the nature of God is only a shallow mystery. The deep mystery is the nature of Man." -Nanrei Kobori

15th March 2004, 09:33 PM	#13
Toastrider Scholar Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 80	Hey, Ratman! Nice to see you again... haven't seen you since the P2P/LtM boards I think you may be onto something, though. Personally, I'm hoping for the demise of the 'ectoplasm' proponents as well, because I've seen better pics faked using photomanipulation of existing photographs. That's probably why they're recycling the old paper-mache images; all the really good photomanipulators don't want to make ectoplasm pics, they're too busy making photo alters of tentacle pr0n. Not that, uh, I'd know about that. Or something. --Toasty
Toastrider Scholar Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 80	__________________ "You now have a plunger stuck to your head..."

16th March 2004, 01:00 PM	#14
Jas Queen Skankarella of Ho Nation Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 3,845	I think the current trench of 'woo-wooism' is drifting away from little green men and the like, and more towards personal things that "can't be measured by science", such as CAM, spriritualism, psychics, and new-age-ism. Also, there seems to be a growing fundamentalist movement.
	__________________ "Ah, there's nothing more exciting than science! You get all the fun of sitting still, being quiet, writing down numbers, paying attention... Science has it all!" Lest We Forget

16th March 2004, 06:16 PM	#15
Ratman_tf Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 1,002	Quote: Originally posted by Toastrider Hey, Ratman! Nice to see you again... haven't seen you since the P2P/LtM boards Heya Toasty! I'm still hanging out at P2P and The Morlocks, if you ever feel like shooting the ****.
	__________________ "In the end, I was so decent, I stopped being a Christian altogether!" -Ruby --- "God is an invention of Man. So the nature of God is only a shallow mystery. The deep mystery is the nature of Man." -Nanrei Kobori