From: spani@mprgate.mpr.ca (Leonard Spani)
Subject: Re: alt.alien.visitors.sewage.garbage.bullshit.crackpots.fantasy
Followup-To: alt.alien.visitors
Organization: MPR Teltech Ltd., Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 92 19:37:54 GMT

In article <memo.687350@cix.compulink.co.uk>, asm332@cix.compulink.co.uk (Sean Eaton) writes:
[...]
|> Easy.  Try it for yourself.  Sort the wheat from the chaff in these
|> recently-discussed topics:
|> 
|> Hot-Tub Breathing;
|> Telepathic Communication with Bigfoot;
|> Baby Talk;
|> Dolphin Talk;
|> Breakdancing Rocks;
|> Ruins of 30000yr old City;
|> The Portal;
|> Astral Train;
|> Ostrich People;
|> Information on John Lear; and
|> Information on Dr Mack's work with abductees.
|> 
|> Now which two topics on this list *are* appropriate to a.a.v.?


I think most of them are.

Alt.alien.visitors wasn't created with scientific research in mind. It 
was created to discuss the aliens that are visiting the earth. You know...
space brothers, pleidians, etc...

I may be wrong here, but the name itself *does* pre-judge the phenomenon. When
I started reading a.a.v there were already ~650 articles expired. Has anyone
been reading since the beginning so they can actually remember why the
group was formed? In any event, it is currently used by 2 distinct types
of people, new agers and researchers. The new agers need a place to 
discuss the aliens that are so affecting their spiritual lives and the
researcher need a place to discuss UFOs rationally and exchange
information (I'm aware that I'm over-generalizing here.)

All in all, we seem to be getting along pretty good, but a group split 
would ease up on the flaming quite a bit. Personally, I would read both.


[...]
|> Why not turn alt.alien.visitors into a moderated group instead of creating
|> a new one ?


And just tell half of a.a.v readers/posters to <euphemism alert> "go away"?

Nobody will ever be able to change the character of alt.alien.visitors. Even
if you somehow succeeded (a "rationalist" coup?), how would you (or any 
moderator) decide what was wheat and what was chaff? I like to keep my mind
open and explore all the possibilities; like it or not UFOs are forever
connected with new age ideas either by design or by analogy. Personally I 
don't like it, but I try.


[...]

|> It looks like feelings are running high on the subject of the abuse
|> of alt.alien.visitors.
|> Should a.a.v. become moderated ?   Perhaps if we ask Mr. Clavelli nicely
|> he'll let us use his voting booth again....
|> 


As I said before, I don't think the off subject articles are "abuse"
of alt.alien.visitors; nor are they necessarily off subject.

I still think a new group would better solve the problem. 
Alt.ufo.research would provide the group the "serious" UFO people
wanted and the rest could enjoy the "anything goes" atmosphere of
alt.alien.visitors without being constantly abused.

Besides... I would be willing to bet that a high percentage of the 
alt.alien.visitors readers do so *only* for a good laugh and would vote
against anything that would take their fun away. They won't even 
be reading this posting.


|> -s.

-- 
***********************************************************************
| Leonard E. Spani      |       //!?\\         | (disclaimer-p)       |
| spani@mprgate.mpr.ca  |       \\?!//         | t                    |
*****************-<( "everybody thinks I'm paranoid" )>-***************
Newsgroups: alt.alien.visitors,sci.skeptic