Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Eric Weinstein Speaks at a ‘UFO Disclosure’ Symposium in Europe (Hardcore skeptic becomes believer)
medium.com ^ | David Bates

Posted on 10/25/2022 6:42:08 AM PDT by RoosterRedux

In the run-up to a government report on UAPs, a former UFO skeptic seems to have made UFO Disclosure his mission.

Eric Weinstein speaking to a UFO conference in San Marino this weekend. [Photo used with permission] Yes, the U.S. Government is expected to release another public report on UFOs by Oct. 31; yes, James Fox’s new UFO documentary Moment of Contact is available to stream; yes, the UAP story was hot last week thanks to the “racetrack” UFOs spotted by commercial airline pilots, first reported by the indefatigable Christopher Sharp in the UK — and let us pause for a moment to acknowledge that a young journalist from England beat the U.S. media on an American UFO flap — and yes, #UFOTwitter is buzzing with the usual heady mix of anticipation, rumor, euphoria, cynicism and rage.

But right now the most interesting public development in ufology is what we might call the Strange Case of Eric Weinstein.

Which is to say: He’s become a ufologist.

It is one thing for a scientist who has not previously displayed the slightest interest in UFOs to suddenly become intensely interested in and even outspoken about the phenomenon.

In this small but rapidly growing camp, we find people like Harvard University astronomer Avi Loeb, and Stanford University immunologist and inventor/entrepreneur Garry Nolan. Those are the marquee names, but there are plenty more in virtually every major scientific field who are now working in some capacity with civilian-led efforts on the UAP phenomenon.

But it is quite another thing for a dedicated skeptic like Weinstein to not only renounce his former intellectual myopia and apologize to the UFO community, but then — there’s really no other way to put it — emerge as a vocal and determined UFO Disclosure activist who tells his considerable audience that “some HUGE story” is up.

The Skeptical Inquirer crowd will moan that their comrade has tumbled down the rabbit hole: Farewell, Eric, we hardly knew ye! Such a reaction evades a far more interesting and compelling question: Why is Weinstein exploring this rabbit hole? And why is he diving into it now — at a time one might reasonably conclude that the most urgent issue on humanity’s plate is whether Putin will go nuclear in Ukraine? Weinstein, after all, has provided occasional commentary on that evolving nightmare himself, urging people to pay attention to it.

Which makes it all the more intriguing that on Saturday morning, it was revealed on Twitter that Weinstein spoke this weekend at UFO symposium in San Marino, a tiny nation landlocked by northern Italy.

Luis Elizondo and Eric Weinstein, in an image posted on the latter’s Twitter feed in September. Who is Eric Weinstein, and why does this matter? Eric Weinstein is a Harvard-trained mathematician who is known for having jokingly coined the term “Dark Web,” a loose coalition of what the New York Times in 2018 termed intellectual “renegades” who have carved out a space for themselves in the podcasting world discussing culture and politics in terms that has rendered them unwelcome in “politically correct” circles because they have questioned and criticized what they regard as the “excesses” of the political left, identity politics, etc.

Weinstein isn’t a household name, but he occupies a layer of American intellectuals and opinion-makers who enjoy a considerable audience in Podcastland. He counts the neuroscientist and unapologetic materialist Sam Harris as a close friend; each has appeared on the other’s podcast to hash out religion and other topics.

In June 2021, Weinstein took to Twitter, where he enjoys an audience of more than 696,000 followers, in the wake of the UAP report that had been released earlier that month by the DNI. A research scientist had joked that the 9-page report, characterized as a nothing-burger by skeptics, “basically looks like an Eric Weinstein post.” Riffing off that comment, Weinstein posted a series of comments that amounted to a mea culpa:

A lot of UFO people are nutty. But you the careful community that called balls and strikes as best you could with limited information deserve not only rehabilitation in the minds of the public, but some official recognition that you are to be listened to in the future. Thank you.

I believe you now when you say that there is even much more high quality data available but that it has not been released. At a personal level: You were right, I was wrong. Thanks for letting me join you at the ‘last minute’ in the few months before the report. I’ll listen more.

The rest of his remarks may be found here.

Eric, meet Lou; Lou, meet Eric On Sept. 29, Weinstein posted a photo of himself (above) grinning with none other than Luis Elizondo, the ex-Pentagon spook who is working behind-the-scenes with Congress to pull alleged secret government UFO programs out into the daylight and whose position basically amounts to: I’m not saying it’s aliens … but it’s aliens. Cryptically, Weinstein said he was “trying to figure out what the heck is actually going on. Thanks Lue.”

A couple weeks later, a Twitter user asked Weinstein if he’d care to elaborate on “what you learned from hanging” with Elizondo. He replied the next day:

I decline. My private conversations are treated by me as private. And there are, potentially, *serious* security implications. I may be a fierce critic of government malfeasance, corruption & gaslighting, but I’m also team United States. If that’s confusing, I can’t help much.

Inevitably, that kicked off a stream of questions, many of which Weinstein, to his credit, answered. I’ve included a selection below, and for the sake of clarity, they may not be in the exact order they appeared and I don’t identify the account posing the question. But it’s all there on Twitter for anyone to see.

Do you feel more or less optimistic that the public will anytime soon have a clearer idea what is going on?

But it has to be done by the book. I’m trying.

Do you believe something world changing will happen within your lifetime?

You aren’t going to have to be wait that long.

Another gatekeeper of knowledge recruited.

No. It is not my information. It belongs to others.

Others = humanity. It’s time for this shell game to end Eric.

Totally agree.

Do you consider that you might be part of the gaslighting?

100000000% You should worry about this too. I’m positive I’m being used. Completely.

Did you find it useful?

Quite.

Shouldn’t we be team Human? All working together for a greater purpose?

That is my highest allegiance.

Are we in good hands?

I don’t know. Yet.

Based on what you know, can you speculate a timeframe for further disclosure either from individuals or govt?

Not yet publicly.

Do you find the topic worth pursuing?

It’s infuriating. But I don’t feel I have a choice. I would love to stop. Smoke and mirrors are everywhere and the answer is hidden in a national security funhouse that is no fun at all. But we have zero choice here given what is claimed and what is at stake. Thanks.

Eric, we are just tired of the infinite circle jerk. There are people with answers and those answers need to be made public.

And so on and so forth.

I’ve never spoken or corresponded with Weinstein, and he’s never responded to the occasional question or comment I’ve tagged him with on Twitter. But it is clear, based on what we know, is that Weinstein — by virtue of his reputation and visibility as a respected public intellectual — has been trying to find out whether there’s a “there” there in the world of ufology and that in so doing he’s acquired sufficiently compelling background to convince him that the issue is worth pursuing and that this conversation is worth having.

Remarkably, he essentially echoes here comments made in 2021 by Harris, who said that on three occasions within the space of a few months he had been included in high-level talks about the reality of UFOs. Among his remarks:

I’ve had someone reach out to me and has assured me that I’m going to be on a Zoom call with, you know, former heads of the CIA and Office of Naval Research and people whose bona fide are very easy to track, and they’re concerned about the messaging around all of this to the public …

Harris brought this up repeatedly in 2021 as the release of the first UAP report drew near, with both guests and fellow podcasters; it seemed to nag at him. He couldn’t say much, but he also wouldn’t let it go. The implication was clear: Someone who was, apparently, in-the-know about UFOs he regarded as credible wanted his help with easing the public into what would amount to a historic paradigm shift. To my knowledge he has not raised the subject since. But it is worth recalling that last May, Weinstein on Twitter confirmed on that the “outreach” did happen.

And in the exchanges excerpted above, he acknowledges as much again: “I’m positive I’m being used. Completely.”

So who, exactly, is using him? For what reason?

Talking UFOs in Europe [Note: This section has been updated to reflect new statements by Weinstein]

Flash-forward to Saturday morning, Oct. 22. Several photos of Weinstein on stage in San Marino at a 2-day “World Symposium” on “UFO Disclosure” appear on Twitter, posted there by someone who said he/she attended the event. Two other Americans, Elizondo and Loeb, were scheduled to be among the speakers although the scuttlebutt Saturday afternoon was that Elizondo had to cancel and so he stepped in; sometimes, a rumor turns out to be true.

Writing on Twitter early Monday (Oct. 24) Weinstein said that he had been invited to participate in the press conference for what he termed a “totally separate” project. He said he had come as an unaffiliated observer, “so I politely declined.”

“I was not expecting to speak,” Weinstein wrote. “The guest of honor, Lue Elizondo, became unavailable at the last minute. I was asked to step in. As a courtesy I agreed, and shared some ideas that represent no one but myself as a private US citizen working with publicly available info.”

Projected behind Weinstein on a large screen as he spoke was a series of slides with talking points. Given that he was filling in “at the last minute” for Elizondo, all the material on the slides, which have been subjected to Talmudic levels of analysis on #UFOTwitter, were either prepared by or for him.

A few excerpts:

True Confessions: Ufology is a danger to both National Security and Fundamental Physics. So, What’s the problem?

— UFOlogy is currently both light entertainment and serious study.

— The former is chasing away serious scientists from the latter.

— MOUNTAINS of indirect evidence for existence of something profound. (italics added).

— ZERO solid direct evidence in two years of looking at this topic. ZERO.

— This seems impossible. No story makes the above two facts make sense.

And, further down:

— STIGMA and NONDISCLOSURE chases away the people who could make progress.

On another slide, the text refers to UFOs being equal to “hope,” in the context of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. “UFOs,” the slide reads, “aren’t merely interesting or fun to talk about. They may be our best way out.”

Responding to questions on Twitter today (Oct. 24) Weinstein had some interesting things to say, though nothing conclusive. At one point, he speculated that the UFO phenomenon “could sorta kinda maybe be a cover story for advanced tech. But I can’t get that to make sense yet.”

Weinstein, clearly not caring about stigma, appears to have arrived at a place where he believes, for reasons known only to him and those he’s spoken with, that there is something to disclose, and that it is essential that it be disclosed, sooner rather than later.


TOPICS: UFO's
KEYWORDS: ericweinstein; fringe; ohsomysteriouso; ufo; ufos
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121 next last
To: willyd; All
Here's a 2 minute video clip of an interview with Chris Mellon, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. Among other things, he says, "If we’re really going to be going down this road [disclosure], it’s helpful to lessen the shock and help people internalize and process this.”

Chris Mellon Video clip

He also describes how a former president held a meeting to discuss possible disclosure and, after considering all the potential problems, decided not to disclose.

This video was posted on youtube about an hour ago. Hot off the press.

81 posted on 10/25/2022 12:25:07 PM PDT by RoosterRedux
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 77 | View Replies]

To: Boogieman; Openurmind
That sounds like confirmation bias to me.

Absolutely. They're obviously advanced government tech. Romans, Babylonians, et al. were into black projects like that.;-)

82 posted on 10/25/2022 12:28:48 PM PDT by RoosterRedux
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 80 | View Replies]

To: RoosterRedux

I guess one place to find the “scientists” is here:

https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/galileo/home

https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/galileo/people

What is happening here is that “science” is about to go through a true revolution as discussed in this famous book:

https://www.amazon.com/Structure-Scientific-Revolutions-Thomas-Kuhn/dp/0226458083

Once some artifacts are declassified and released to public view the public will get to join the party...

Another scientist digging deep into this topic is Gary Nolan:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7nzkq/stanford-professor-garry-nolan-analyzing-anomalous-materials-from-ufo-crashes

Then of course we have Hal Puthoff (link I posted earlier):
https://thejournalofcosmology.com/Puthoff.pdf

(I think the Puthoff link is the best summary I have seen of current leading edge thinking on this topic. He has received the full classified briefings and knows the topic very well.)

Of course my favorite “old timer” is Jacques Vallee—who has written many books on this topic.

The classic (which imho has never been matched) is:
https://www.amazon.com/Passport-Magonia-folklore-flying-saucers/dp/B0006CPDGI

My agenda is not to persuade the un-persuadable—but rather to give them the early warning—the truth is gonna come out on this stuff, and folks need to get ready to throw away a lot of old myths that we now call “science”.


83 posted on 10/25/2022 12:30:26 PM PDT by cgbg (Claiming that laws and regs that limit “hate speech” stop freedom of speech is “hate speech”.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: RoosterRedux; Boogieman

“Absolutely. They’re obviously advanced government tech. Romans, Babylonians, et al. were into black projects like that.;-)”

Amazing right?


84 posted on 10/25/2022 12:44:22 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 82 | View Replies]

To: Boogieman

UFOs are religion for atheists.
. . . . . . .
I always found it interesting that many of the big time investors were “secular humanists”.


85 posted on 10/25/2022 12:58:01 PM PDT by dragonblustar (Romans 12:12)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Openurmind

Yep. Those UFOs were probably just Roman candles at sunset.


86 posted on 10/25/2022 12:59:32 PM PDT by RoosterRedux
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 84 | View Replies]

To: Vermont Lt

People dismiss the idea of fallen angels because they have a simplistic idea of them, a carry over from the middle ages. The behavior of most “alien” encounters are evil in nature. People like to think these creatures are beneficial to the world but that part is the lie. They have personal agenda that is at our expense.


87 posted on 10/25/2022 1:10:09 PM PDT by dragonblustar (Romans 12:12)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: cgbg

Good job!!! Thx!


88 posted on 10/25/2022 1:12:22 PM PDT by RoosterRedux
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 83 | View Replies]

To: dragonblustar

I have read/heard thousands of accounts of “alien encounters”.

They run the full range from very bad to very good with all the shades of “gray” (:-)) in between.

Here are some podcasts if you want a fair sample—the good, the bad and the ugly—start from the oldest first if you want to listen to them:

https://podbay.fm/p/aliens-and-artists


89 posted on 10/25/2022 1:15:28 PM PDT by cgbg (Claiming that laws and regs that limit “hate speech” stop freedom of speech is “hate speech”.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 87 | View Replies]

To: cgbg

Thanks for the link!

I remember an interview with Betty Hill saying that her encounter was good but Barney was basically so traumatized that the stress eventually killed him.


90 posted on 10/25/2022 1:52:39 PM PDT by dragonblustar (Romans 12:12)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 89 | View Replies]

To: Openurmind

That’s the one! I get a kick out of the painter putting a little guy in the background looking up at the thng int he sky.


91 posted on 10/25/2022 2:04:50 PM PDT by MHGinTN (A dispensation perspective is a powerful tool for discernment)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]

To: MHGinTN

Sure brings attention to it doesn’t it? :)


92 posted on 10/25/2022 2:09:16 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 91 | View Replies]

To: dragonblustar
Have you eliminated the notion that some of the things seen are the tech of the good angels? I mean, take the aTravis Walton story. The UFO folks picked him up and apparently saved his life and returned him to the little village closest to where he was accidentally struck down.

It is my opinion, after many years of dealing with this phenomenon, that there are good angels tasked with preventing nuclear missile exchanges.

93 posted on 10/25/2022 2:14:24 PM PDT by MHGinTN (A dispensation perspective is a powerful tool for discernment)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 87 | View Replies]

To: Boogieman; RoosterRedux

Of course Im not him so I dont really know but...

I believe the connection between “hope”, “UFOs”, and “Putin”, is that in the past there are significant upticks in reported activity during times of conflict and these visitors have supposedly shut off nuclear weapon systems in the past.

In otherwords, I believe that what he was saying is that if they are real visitors, and the same ones as were here in the past, which are visiting during this time of conflict then the fears of a nuclear exchange may be unfounded because hopefully the visitors will just shut them off again.


94 posted on 10/25/2022 2:14:55 PM PDT by gnarledmaw (Hive minded liberals worship leaders, sovereign conservatives elect servants.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: RoosterRedux
Yeah like these... :)


95 posted on 10/25/2022 2:19:44 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 86 | View Replies]

To: gnarledmaw

“the fears of a nuclear exchange may be unfounded because hopefully the visitors will just shut them off again”

And if I were to say “I hope Jesus sends some angels to stop the nukes before they launch”, what’s the difference?


96 posted on 10/25/2022 2:22:28 PM PDT by Boogieman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 94 | View Replies]

To: Openurmind

Heheh. Oops. Wrong again.


97 posted on 10/25/2022 2:34:00 PM PDT by RoosterRedux
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 95 | View Replies]

To: Boogieman

The difference is that nobody was discussing Jesus nor is Jesus known to pop in and shut down weapon systems.

I responded to your response of the line you quoted. There are references in the conversation that Eric anticipates are understood by anyone paying attention to what is being said.


98 posted on 10/25/2022 3:06:12 PM PDT by gnarledmaw (Hive minded liberals worship leaders, sovereign conservatives elect servants.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 96 | View Replies]

To: dragonblustar

Yup—I heard that about Betty and Barney Hill as well.

This stuff is ridiculously complicated:

—Every single person is different and reacts differently to new and/or bizarre circumstances.

—The “aliens” (or whatever they are) come in all different shapes, sizes, attitudes, “bedside manner” :-), delivering a wide variety of different “messages” etc.

The rabbit hole gets deeper and deeper as you learn more and more about this stuff.

Many “aliens” add to the confusion by being tricksters and just plain liars—you can’t trust anything they tell you.

Even scarier is the possibility that they do not even know what the “truth” is—and/or are totally unable to translate it in a form that we could understand it.


99 posted on 10/25/2022 3:32:05 PM PDT by cgbg (Claiming that laws and regs that limit “hate speech” stop freedom of speech is “hate speech”.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 90 | View Replies]

To: Openurmind
...they have always been here...

That does seem to be the case. So, I suppose they might not actually be ETs at that.

100 posted on 10/25/2022 4:47:28 PM PDT by GingisK
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson