If you want to get a thrill
If you want to see the sights,
Jump right in.
I got an unidentified flying object, yeah!
Let's go for a spin!
We're going UFO-ing,
We're trying saucer flying.
We glide across the skies,
Nobody will believe their eyes!
Just when they think they've seen us,
We zoom away to Venus!
One moment we're in Mexico,
Like THAT we're over Idaho,
Just tell me where you want to go
In my UFO!
(Lyrics from the great Jimmy Durante's novelty song, "We're Going UFO-ing," punctuation mine)
Jimmy Durante got it right. With UFO stories making headlines everywhere in the 1960s, the pressure was on and, say what you will, anybody who could successfully relieve heightened public stress with humor -- but not derision -- was a welcome addition. Durante's lyrics were ridiculous, but filled a void in an unexplained mystery which routinely enjoyed a seemingly absurd relationship to what we all believe is reality. Conflicting Web sites indicate release dates of 1964, 1966, 1968 and probably more, so I need to determine accuracy. Life should be easier.
(Update 4-26-2023: Though an exact date of the song's initial release still flutters about online, 1966 seems close enough, and I was surprised to find that this obscure novelty song, co-written by Durante and Jackie Barnett, actually appeared on at least four albums over the years -- two of them Durante's.)
Though newsletters circulated by government entities can seem routine and even boring, I look forward to e-mailed constituent reports from New York's Sen. Gillibrand. Why? Because every once in a while she will update readers on the "new" congressional UFO investigation guided along by her committee. It's generally just a brief synopsis, but certainly beats anything I received in the sixties when my own interest in UFOs received condemnation from the likes (and dislikes) of L. Mendel Rivers and the usual debunking squadron. Now it's 2023 and the damned phenomenon is respectable. Who saw that coming?
So yes, there was a closed subcommittee meeting with public teasers last week with senators (well, between those who showed up anyway) and those investigating the UFO or UAP or triple alphabet designation of your choice. A new video, too, of a shiny spherical object cruising effortlessly across the sky between ground and aerial camera in the Middle East.
They're going UFOing.
I won't bother with names or specifics, because those are available among several news sources, though the amount of national reporting was rather scarce. Maybe it's because nobody brought aliens along.
No evidence of an extraterrestrial source so far, we are told. Caution, a hint of negativity and mild emotional jitters seemed to be the soft theme, though the interest among senators during public moments seemed to shift more toward whether some of these objects were Chinese weaponry or surveillance devices used by our enemies. Again we ask, do you government folk not realize that the observation and recording of UAP is not new? Chinese and Russian military accomplishments obviously had nothing to do with reports from the 1940s or fifties.
Nice to hear the old comforting mantra repeated that no evidence has yet been found indicating extraterrestrial intelligence, but one should ask just how in the hell would our "experts" know in what manner an extraterrestrial presence would show itself if millions of years advanced beyond our, sorry to be rude, relatively recent pea-brains? (With apologies to Elon Musk, seemingly the self-determinant of extraterrestrial life's presence, who should be asked the same question despite his obvious brilliance.)
There were 10 important UFO-related questions researchers and journalists hoped would be asked at the session. They were not. Additionally, significant additional funding for the project had already been denied, forcing at least the near future of investigations to be hobbled.
My having approached an elder age without the customary kicking and screaming, it's nevertheless disappointing not to know with what we're dealing in the UFO arena. Like others, I've hinted or suggested in recent years that maybe the term, "extraterrestrial" may not even matter. Like universal matter itself, maybe the phenomenon has always been with us as an integral part of our existence, and maybe we should leave it alone when push comes to shove in the skies. A phenomenon capable of presenting itself in so many ways, thereby suggesting multiple frames of reference from the great unknown, may well be an enigma whose "nuts and bolts" are incapable of ever being understood using tools currently available. Who knows, maybe earthbound artificial intelligence will prove to be the ultimate detective providing a solution (that is, if AI has an opportunity to do so after first destroying every human on the planet!).
We wish Gillibrand's subcommittee would go whole-hog on releasing stuff that they sit upon under the guise of national security or for reasons unknown. But anybody who believes the censorship screws are soon to loosen, now that China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and a growing succession of enemies are rising with confidence, may be doomed to the right NOT to know. Un-American, yes. Unfortunately prevalent in U.S. government operations currently? Yes. The Freedom of Information Act probably needs its own FOIA (sigh. . .).
Bad Government at Work: The Biden bunch never quits, and we're pretty sure most of this nonsense is prepared for public poisoning whilst the old man sleeps, or perhaps has conversations with the family dog whom he sometimes might mistake for a Cabinet member. The latest: Forcing people with great credit scores to pay more for their mortgages to help subsidize mortgages for home purchasers with weak credit scores. Wha. . .? Oh yes, this will work out well. We hope the lawsuits are already rolling out to destroy this unconstitutional boondoggle, set to go into effect on May 1rst. The word, "equity" appears nowhere in our nation's founding documents, last I heard.
Shootings: May we suggest that recent headline-grabbing stories of gunshot deaths and injuries perpetrated by people doing stupid things with firearms result in no small way from the stress, border invasion, criminal pampering and uncertainty Biden and his green lunatic fringe have fostered in just two years? Everybody is on edge, sometimes for the wrong reasons, but we now have a society artificially made to mistrust itself, even when innocent encounters occur. Fear is a natural reaction to instances unknown, but we've gone way over the mark. Remove guns from the streets? I don't know about that. With various world players serving up threats to our very existence in the West, I entertain thoughts that our government should issue various states some high-tech armaments in case a future invasion by whatever means should occur. Which is to say, true, one can't fight off a high-tech ammo invasion with shotguns, so individuals among local and state governments must have access to The Big Stuff. The VERY big stuff.
The Rape of Fox News? 787 1/2 million dollars in damages to a company worth a fraction of that amount? Wow, talk about a bonanza! Yes, Dominion Voting Systems was rocked by careless statements, but aren't there instances when a handshake is better than a kiss? I'm sure intensive public apologies would have gone a long way in un-damaging whatever palpable or intangible harms were assessed, but as often happens in the courts and among those responsible for supposedly amicable agreements, financial damages went super-bonkers. Awaiting even more lawsuits for comments carelessly, wrongfully and intentionally made, we cannot help but see derisive, vengeful politics taking a front seat in such decisions, and if rational minds would weigh the First Amendment with damages actually done, final totals allowed should be far less than "Crazytown" levels.
BREAKING: If it's not broke, fix it anyway. The announcement today that Fox News unburdened itself of its number one commentator Tucker Carlson is at least a temporary disaster for viewers who seek truth. Yes, chunks of fool's gold showed up among the real gems at times, but the choices to seek facts from entities not totally under control of the gigantic leftist media just became fewer in number. We suspect Carlson will show up soon elsewhere, his talents and approach to controversial issues perhaps bigger and better in scope. Fox News? Welcome to yet another layer of the mainstream, Fox, the leftist pod people will rejoice.
