From spani@mprgate.mpr.ca (Leonard Spani) Mon Mar 15 13:20:09 1993 Path: igor.rutgers.edu!rutgers!network.ucsd.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!destroyer!cs.ubc.ca!mprgate!mprgate.mpr.ca!spani From: spani@mprgate.mpr.ca (Leonard Spani) Newsgroups: alt.alien.visitors Subject: Paranet News Groups Message-ID: <1993Mar15.182009.29537@mprgate.mpr.ca> Date: 15 Mar 93 18:20:09 GMT Sender: news@mprgate.mpr.ca Followup-To: alt.config Organization: MPR Teltech Ltd., Burnaby, B.C., Canada Lines: 333 Nntp-Posting-Host: atom Note: Followups set to alt.config. Here is an article from alt.config posted by Michael Corbin of Paranet. He is trying to set up some news groups that readers of alt.alien.visitors should be very interested in. For those of you who can't seem to tollerate John Winston, this alternative could be for you... ---------------------- begin included article ------------------------------- Article: 14116 of alt.config Newsgroups: alt.config Path: mprgate!cs.ubc.ca!destroyer!caen!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!csn!teal.csn.org!mcorbin From: mcorbin@teal.csn.org (Michael Corbin) Subject: Creation of alt groups ParaNet Message-ID: Sender: news@csn.org (news) Nntp-Posting-Host: teal.csn.org Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc. Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1993 18:42:43 GMT Lines: 301 This [sic] is an amended request for discussion to start a series of alt conferences. The following conferences are desired, together with an explanation of each: alt.paranet.ufo This is ParaNet's international UFO conference. All UFO- related subjects will be discussed within this conference. This area is currently carried over ParaNet's own network and will be gated into the alt group. All traffic originating in the alt group will be gated into the ParaNet network. This conference combines active discussion on the phenomenon as well as posting of text-based files or information as it becomes available to ParaNet. Additionally, many recognized research groups use this conference for discussion. These groups are located all around the world. alt.paranet.paranormal This is ParaNet's general paranormal discussion group. All aspects of the paranormal are discussed within this group. Again, this conference is already in place within ParaNet's own network. alt.paranet.abduct This conference concerns the alleged world-wide abduction phenomenon. It is moderated by Dr. David Jacobs, a respected author of two UFO-related books, "The UFO Controversy in America," and recently, "Secret Life," a book detailing the abduction phenomenon. Jacobs is a history professor at Temple University with a considerable background in the UFO research community. This conference is a ParaNet conference and is frequented by other international researchers of note, namely Keith Basterfield of Australia, who published a paper in psychological journals concerning Fantasy Prone Personality and the Abduction Scenario. The discussion is intelligent, informative and active. alt.paranet.askufo This conference is a direct link between ParaNet and the publishers of UFO Magazine in California. It is moderated by Don Ecker, Research Director for the magazine. alt.paranet.skeptic This conference is moderated by Anson Kennedy of the Georgia Skeptics Association. It is primarily for the discussion of the UFO phenomenon and how a skeptic views it. The discussion is open-minded and challenges those who tend to accept the ET hypothesis out-of-hand without basis or evidence. Rules of evidence are also discussed and how the UFO community could interface with the scientific community to instrument or measure the phenomenon. alt.paranet.science The title of this conference is "Science on the Edge." As it's title implies, this conference deals with hard science and physics and the relationship that this may have to an understanding of the UFO phenomenon. It is moderated by Clark Matthews, who has a background in science and regularly posts articles on quantum physics and other science-related topics. All of these conferences are unique to ParaNet in quality and composition and are very different from what is currently offered in the alt groups with similar titles. Below is further information about myself and ParaNet for information purposes. It is our desire to provide these conferences as an educational tool demonstrating what is really known (or not known) about the UFO phenomenon. Currently, ParaNet maintains a large listserver with approximately 250 names. This has become unmanageable and further demonstrates the need for creation of these various alt groups. BIOGRAPHY FOR MICHAEL F. CORBIN Michael Corbin is 36 years old and resides in Denver, Colorado. Born and raised in the Denver metro area, Michael has had a very diverse background. With an accounting background, Michael operated a real estate brokerage firm specializing in commercial property management for five years before assuming the helm of ParaNet Information Service as its owner and director. Since 1988, Michael has built the organization into a multi- national communications network specializing in distribution of news relating to the paranormal and UFOs. The scope of ParaNet has increased tremendously to the point of providing an international forum and communications link with many of the international researchers and investigators, many of them luminaries in their field. ParaNet has grown in size to appreciable portion and now provides an international gateway via Internet, a global communications network owned and operated by the National Science Foundation. This link has provided a real- time point of presence in the world allowing the movement of time-sensitive information to virtually any ParaNet affiliate in the world. Among some of ParaNet's accomplishments have been the creation of a moderated conference dealing with the abduction phenomenon, hosted by author David Jacobs. A direct link with UFO Magazine and editors Vicki Cooper and Shari Stark has been established providing access by the public. Michael has appeared on various television programs, several radio talk shows, both local and national, and has appeared in various magazines. In addition, Michael has written articles for publication. Michael has recently started MICAP (Multi-national Investigations Cooperative on Aerial Phenomena), an international research organization which has begun many "leading edge" projects interfacing the UFO research community with mainstream scientific researchers to bring about a focused, global research effort to better understand the complexity that the phenomenon presents. About ParaNet... PARANET: FIVE YEARS AND COUNTING by Jim Speiser, Director of ParaNet 1986-88 It may be a bit late to celebrate an anniversary that occurred on New Year's Day, but the premiere issue of CONTINUUM provides an opportune moment to recognize that ParaNet is now over five years old. The chance to write about those first five years brings with it the temptation to spout off about ParaNet's lofty goals, to boast of its various accomplishments, and to reflect on those triumphs not yet realized. Not being one to resist temptation ... On January 1, 1986, a bulletin-board system (BBS) called "The Other Side" opened its doors to enquiring minds, featuring a type of information which had, at that time, never been gathered together for electronic mass consumption. The modem world had not yet emerged from its MacLuhanesque infancy; very few BBSs of the time had ventured beyond the "games-and-utilities-for-download" stage. The idea behind ParaNet was revolutionary, and yet long overdue; it was to be a BBS network: - which accomplished more than merely supporting the habits of computer addicts; - which not only _informed_, but _inquired_; - which covered a topic that desperately cried out for studious inquiry and wide-ranging dissemination: the paranormal. Thus was born ParaNet's first motto, which was also the embodiment of its basic goals: "Answering Questions, Questioning Answers". >From the beginning it was intended that ParaNet link together the three factions of paranormal debate: the skeptics, the believers, and (most important of all) the undecided, which I believe includes the vast majority of Americans. As ParaNet's first Director, I wanted it to be a place where those of us who had taken a firm position on the fence would feel comfortable, and would be able to benefit from public discussion of paranormal issues by the other two factions. And so, from the start, I actively encouraged participation by skeptics and the unconvinced, as well as believers. I think it was this promotion of ParaNet as neutral ground, tempered by our common-sense approach, that has contributed most to its reputation as a credible network. This tradition has continued under the directorship of Michael Corbin, to whom I turned over the reins in 1988 due to equipment problems and time constraints. Mike has actively sought and gained the participation of the Bay Area Skeptics (via the Skeptic's Board), the South Shore Skeptics (via Cleveland FreeNet), and other skeptics' groups. Another goal which I saw as vital to ParaNet's success was to bring as many recognized investigators, authors, and researchers on-line as possible. This was no small task, as most of the world's paranormal researchers had never heard of a modem at the time, let alone bought one or learned how to use it. Nevertheless, over the years ParaNet's bandwidth has been honored by communications from Marge Christenson, T. Scott Crain, Dan Drasin, Stan Gordon, Barry Greenwood, Budd Hopkins, Linda Howe, Phil Imbrogno, Dr. David Jacobs, Dr. Donald Johnson, Philip Klass, Bruce Maccabee, Maj. James McGaha, Dr. Mark Rodeghier, Robert Schaeffer, Tracy Torme, and Dr. David Webb--not to mention our own Don Ecker, who brings with him Vicki Cooper and our interface to the premiere trade publication, UFO Magazine. I believe that both we and they have benefited from ParaNet's existence. No researcher can operate in a void. The investigator's raw material, in the form of sighting reports, comes from data supplied by "regular people", and there is probably no better way to stay in touch with regular people and keep one's fingers on the pulse of UFO activity than through a computer network. The network concept provides the investigator with immediacy, one-on-one contact, and instant access to a global communications medium. Best of all, the same advantages apply to the rank-and-file user, placing him on a communicative par with the big-name researcher--something not possible with conventional media such as journals and newsletters. It is hoped that these advantages will have a "snowball" effect, attracting more researchers, who will attract more users, who will provide more raw information, which will attract more researchers, and so on-- until eventually ParaNet becomes the "network of record" for the anomalistics field. Of course, the "network advantage" was also bound to attract people of a more disruptive nature, and as a result ParaNet's bandwidth has also been graced by the presence of provocateurs and troublemakers. But ultimately the network's collective wisdom prevailed over the disrupters, simply by allowing them to hang themselves with their own words in a public forum. ParaNet survived the incursion, and may even be healthier for it. Another accomplishment that ParaNet can be proud of is its timely reporting of major, fast-breaking stories, often beating mainstream and even trade media to the punch. The first of these was the unfortunate death of J. Allen Hynek, the founder of the Center for UFO Studies. By happenstance, I found out about it from a secondary source, confirmed it, and ran his obituary on ParaNet a full day before it hit the press wires. While bearing bad tidings is nothing to brag about, it did prove the viability of the computer network as a news medium. Then, in January of 1987, I got wind of what was being termed a "major breakthrough" in the Cosmic Watergate. Piecing together conversations with Bill Moore, Bruce Maccabee, and Barry Greenwood, I put out the word over ParaNet that the upcoming "breakthrough" probably involved something called "MJ-12". Sure enough, in March of that year Moore released the first "sanitized" version of the Majestic 12 documents--and ParaNet was the first mass medium to publish them. It would be a full two months before most other people in the UFO community would even hear of MJ-12. Thankfully, it wasn't more than a few months later that we published a series of strong caveats about the veracity of the documents, and we _never_ took a position endorsing their validity. Other notches on ParaNet's gun include the JAL 747 "Encounter over Alaska" (thanks to a contact in Japan), the first reporting of the results of the testing on the Shroud of Turin (thanks to a slip by one of the researchers involved in the test), and the identity of Gulf Breeze's "Believer Bill" (thanks to the detective work of Mike Corbin). More such scoops are in the offing, and may be breaking on-line by the time you read this. One of our proudest accomplishments is our reach into foreign lands. Thanks to the tremendous growth initiated by Mike Corbin, ParaNet can now be accessed in six countries on three continents. And it is entirely possible that by the time this magazine goes to press, there will be a ParaNet node up and running in St. Petersburg, Russia. I think we can all agree that ParaNet is much more useful because it reflects the global nature of UFOs and anomalistics. Which brings me to the part where I fret about those goals we have yet to accomplish. Briefly, over the next five years I would personally like to see ParaNet: - establish a major presence in more countries, especially Japan, Belgium, Brazil, Peru, and South Africa; - establish a vigorous investigative arm, with "ready teams" in place to track down sightings and other claims; - promulgate investigative standards that are palatable to all sides, so that the results of our investigations are viewed with respect; - establish a press liaison office, and perhaps even a wire service, so that the mainstream press need not fish around in the dark for the definitive word on a paranormal story; - establish a Congressional liaison office, or perhaps just a regular publication to quietly and reliably keep Congress informed on the major issues; - begin to delve more deeply into other anomalies, including crop circles, surface features on Mars, Bigfoot, ghosts, and other mysteries. We need not take a position one way or the other; I'd simply like to see us carry more information on these topics. [Editor's note: Consider it done, Jim. See the article on the Blue Grass, Iowa, crop circle in this issue!] Overall, and most important, I'd like to see ParaNet establish itself as the "network of record" for the field of anomalistics. I believe we have truly come a long way toward accomplishing that goal, and it would be a shame to come up short now. For once that's accomplished, we will be one step closer to achieving that ultimate, most elusive of goals: Finding the Answers. For that, of course, ParaNet will need the cooperation of as many of you as possible. In the end, the network is only as good as the people who use it. We thank all of you for contributing to the growth of ParaNet over the past five years; and we hope you will continue to use the network and benefit from it, so that we can maintain our stature as "the world's most important computer network." Additionally, we have been in contact with various sites in Australia who are interested in carrying the alt groups when they are created. Please let me know what the next step is in the creation of these groups. I can be contacted at mcorbin@paranet.org Michael Corbin Director ParaNet Information Services ---------------------- end included article ------------------------------- -- *********************************************************************** | Leonard E. Spani | //!?\\ | (disclaimer-p) | | spani@mprgate.mpr.ca | \\?!// | t | *****************-<( "everybody thinks I'm paranoid" )>-*************** From: Michael.Corbin@p0.f428.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin) Newsgroups: alt.alien.visitors Subject: ParaNet Directory Message-ID: <141247.2B18318B@paranet.FIDONET.ORG> Date: 29 Nov 92 01:38:01 GMT Sender: ufgate@paranet.FIDONET.ORG (newsout1.26) Organization: FidoNet node 1:104/428.0 -