tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post7015851147151430063..comments2024-03-22T02:17:52.141-07:00Comments on Bad UFOs: Skepticism, UFOs, and The Universe: Facts About Silas Newton's Claimed "Successful" Oil Discoveries - Guest Post by Dan PlazakRobert Sheafferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15324537021429419111noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-4579117094091378172024-03-17T13:49:58.496-07:002024-03-17T13:49:58.496-07:00For Further Info on Silas Newton:
I hope that you ...For Further Info on Silas Newton:<br />I hope that you will indulge me in plugging my book: "Doodlebugs & Dowsers, a History of Unusual Ways to Search for Oil" (Texas Tech University Press, 2023). The book has a 20-page section on the life and times of Silas Newton, titled "The Doodlebug from Outer Space." Those wishing to learn more about Newton might want to consult a copy of the book. The more I came to know about Newton, the more obvious and indisputable it became that he was a con man - especially to anyone the least bit familiar with geophysics and the oil industry. The section on Silas Newton could have easily taken up two or three times its length, but I had to shorten it severely to allow space for other oil doodlebuggers.<br />- Dan PlazakDan Plazakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14143281241602530953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-40433830171804564022021-01-27T05:49:59.504-08:002021-01-27T05:49:59.504-08:00Newton wrote a fan letter to Scully, suggesting th...Newton wrote a fan letter to Scully, suggesting that Scully write a biography of the English writer Frank Harris. This flattered Scully's literary ambitions, and he wrote back. Newton was in the business of selling shares in oil-drilling programs, and Hollywood people (many of whom were in the top 90 % tax bracket back then) found oil drilling to be an attractive tax shelter. So Scully's Hollywood connections were golden for Newton as a way to meet potential investors. That is why Newton kept an office in Los Angeles.Dan Plazakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14143281241602530953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-80388350704186140062020-12-28T04:41:52.647-08:002020-12-28T04:41:52.647-08:00How Scully and Newton met???How Scully and Newton met???Editorial Nuevo Mundohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01989062370932077484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-54749489360640485892020-12-28T04:41:23.490-08:002020-12-28T04:41:23.490-08:00How Scully and Newton met????How Scully and Newton met????Editorial Nuevo Mundohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01989062370932077484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-40387866620956184882016-09-12T11:26:58.841-07:002016-09-12T11:26:58.841-07:00More Silas Newton Follies
Since I wrote the above...More Silas Newton Follies<br /><br />Since I wrote the above, I have obtained copies of some court filings regarding lawsuits against Newton Oil Company. They make clear that, first, Newton started cheating his Rangely partners from day one, and second, that he was spending money faster than he could steal it. He never paid the Bockhold creditors any of their promised royalties, dating back to 1943, so they sued in 1950. Newton delayed and obfuscated, but the court finally ordered Newton to pay them their $67,317 share. He had already spent it, and was unable to pay. He also sold a five percent share of his Rangely oil sales to a Denver couple, but then refused to pay them anything, so they sued in 1951. Newton again delayed and denied he owed them anything, but the court ordered Newton to pay them their $31,862 share of oil sales. Newton had already spent their money. In 1949, Stanolind sued Newton for his $23,120 share of expenses for the Associated #1-D well, which Stanolind operated, and Newton kept a minority ownership. The court ordered Newton to pay. If you guessed that Newton didn’t have the money to repay Stanolind, you would be right. Dan Plazakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14143281241602530953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-73983284999908300862016-06-06T19:50:10.612-07:002016-06-06T19:50:10.612-07:00> Aztec supporters really are the bargain basem...> Aztec supporters really are the bargain basement variety of UFO buff.<br /><br />Right down at the level of alien autopsy supporters and those who channel wisdom from etheric Venusians.Terry the Censorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07442516952399215568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-80097786925132655552016-06-06T14:35:45.582-07:002016-06-06T14:35:45.582-07:00Excellent article. Aztec supporters really are the...Excellent article. Aztec supporters really are the bargain basement variety of UFO buff. Their connection to reality is so tenuous as to be invisible without magic saucer glasses. Lancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17280922104955532058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-33213831356996473282016-06-01T10:11:59.983-07:002016-06-01T10:11:59.983-07:00Study suggests Planet 9 is stolen exoplanet
LUND,...<b>Study suggests Planet 9 is stolen exoplanet</b><br /><br />LUND, Sweden, May 31 (UPI) -- New research suggests the mysterious and controversial "Planet 9" isn't an original member of our solar system. According to a new computer simulation developed by astronomers at Lund University in Sweden, the ninth planet is an exoplanet -- stolen by the sun from its original host star.<br /><br />http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2016/05/31/Study-suggests-Planet-9-is-stolen-exoplanet/4901464705120/zoamchomskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16519698426338891542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-8803501762599272922016-06-01T10:11:28.668-07:002016-06-01T10:11:28.668-07:003) Stan claims to be a Nuclear Physicist but doesn...3) Stan claims to be a Nuclear Physicist but doesn't have a PhD.<br /><br />4) Stan's astronomical claims are impractical to the point of being irrational, fantastical--fantasies having nothing to do with astronomy or physics, his claimed area of expertise.zoamchomskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16519698426338891542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-87428082485230319852016-05-26T11:58:33.581-07:002016-05-26T11:58:33.581-07:00> Stan Friedman has been telling us for years
...> Stan Friedman has been telling us for years<br /><br />I watched yet another movie recently that had as its premise "our atomic tests have drawn the attention of spacefaring aliens." (It was <i>Invisible Invaders,</i> 1959, which I recommend for study but not for pleasure.)<br /><br />Is it a coincidence that:<br /><br />1) much of Stan's saucer logic comes from 1950s sci-fi movies?<br />2) Stan frequently writes the preface for largely fictionalised non-fiction UFO books, such as the one currently under review?<br />Terry the Censorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07442516952399215568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-70090344902153484972016-05-21T15:57:55.715-07:002016-05-21T15:57:55.715-07:00Chris he say: "I forgot the atomic bomb test ...Chris he say: "I forgot the atomic bomb test of '45 and the establishment of Los Alamos, both adding to the attraction of NM as a target for our space visitors."<br /><br />As the Great Sage of Brunswick, Monsignor Stan Friedman, has been telling us for years.<br /><br />The only true New Mexican Question is: "Red or green?"The Duke of Mendozahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14335501899298333878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-88412252861884373682016-05-20T07:18:29.798-07:002016-05-20T07:18:29.798-07:00Oh, and I forgot the atomic bomb test of '45 a...Oh, and I forgot the atomic bomb test of '45 and the establishment of Los Alamos, both adding to the attraction of NM as a target for our space visitors.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> cdahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01005702597775594084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-89525900798298888422016-05-20T07:08:49.986-07:002016-05-20T07:08:49.986-07:00What is it about New Mexico that our ET visitors l...What is it about New Mexico that our ET visitors like so much? There are two popular crashes in that state, Roswell and Aztec. There are probably others we don't know about but remember that with Roswell it is not just one crash site. There were several, plus another on the Plains of San Augustin (and we may assume the Very Large Array radio telescope was only built there because of this 'Roswell connection').<br /><br />The state is known as 'The Land of Enchantment'. The name does predate the UFO era but obviously it became known to our ET visitors for them to have made so many crash landings there. Dr.Robert Goddard's rocket experiments of the 1930s may have helped attract the ETs as well.<br /><br />A curious, interlinked, state of affairs, but one that seems so obvious now. <br /><br />cdahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01005702597775594084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-53232815256105687802016-05-19T17:46:00.553-07:002016-05-19T17:46:00.553-07:00We seem to me to be entirely in agreement, tho'...We seem to me to be entirely in agreement, tho' I would add (as I told you) that besides the money it was loads of fun untangling the story. (And it wasn't that minor a claim—just not very well known. But weird enough to be resurrected into the folklore in due course had one not pounced.)<br /><br />I won't make a public guess at the Pelicanist In Question, tho' I have my suspicions, and my agents are working on it.<br /><br />I think part of the problem with Pillars of BS is that those who could debunk don't, because they have better things to do. As, from their point of view, indeed they do. For instance: I once asked Prof Archie Roy if he would tackle the strange claims of one Ronald Pearson, who had produced many funny equations to prove Einstein wrong, the ether persistent and existent, and (somehow) the reality of the afterlife thereby proven. Archie, it must be admitted, was capable of veering between beady-eyed skepticism and a will to believe. But his response was, in essence, that the effort involved wasn't worth the result, which would have been obvious to anyone well-versed in relativity theory. My rejoinder, that not everyone *is* well-versed in relativity theory, and silence encourage loopiness, had no effect. I think both his and my positions are defensible.<br /><br />So, one trundles on, and I for one am grateful to Dan Plazak for illuminating the bo-lox beneath the Newton legend, and to you Roberto for publishing it.<br /><br />That said, there are, as we all know, no barriers to those intent on piling the ufological midden ever higher, and apparently no shortage of people willing to gawp in awe & wonder at their efforts. Ti na kànoume; as we say in Greece.<br /><br /><br /><br /> The Duke of Mendozahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14335501899298333878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-79197064684327123712016-05-19T11:54:45.920-07:002016-05-19T11:54:45.920-07:00Scully was my introduction to ufos and his dis-inf...Scully was my introduction to ufos and his dis-information (deliberate or not) had me believing for much of the '60s and into the '70s. Its comforting to know that now the interwebs can do so much more damage so much faster.busterggihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02146221182670363053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-56442986055845764452016-05-18T22:48:18.544-07:002016-05-18T22:48:18.544-07:00Yer Grace,
I thank you for yer observations. The ...Yer Grace,<br /><br />I thank you for yer observations. The correct answer to the question, 'why expend so much effort to debunk a minor-class claim' is, I'm sure the one you gave: Because it was an article you were being paid to write. Of course the larger question would be: and why is that so?<br /><br />Of late we have been hearing from a number of sources, including a certain Pelicanist friend of yours, that there is no longer any need for case-by-case debunking like this, and hence no need for books like my Bad UFOs, even though it is accurate and well-written. The assumption is: everyone knows that UFOs (and Bigfoot or whatever) are nonsense, so why not write about something more relevant and useful?<br /><br />I would reply that it is NOT the case that "everyone knows" that. And that it is necessary to have information of this kind to be able to demonstrate beyond any doubt that the Pillars of UFOlogy are full of B.S.Robert Sheafferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15324537021429419111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8104600450225406597.post-67682252621299719732016-05-18T18:07:45.172-07:002016-05-18T18:07:45.172-07:00Cover-up! Distraction! Disinformation! Nasty noisy...Cover-up! Distraction! Disinformation! Nasty noisy negativity! And so on.<br /><br />Brilliant stuff, actually, and power to all involved elbows. I have long wondered what the truth was about Newton & his history as an oilman, and didn't know where (to be honest, neither did I have the energy) to go searching for the facts. Now I do know the truth. Thankyou!<br /><br />Roberto asked me recently why in one particular case I had expended so much energy debunking it in so much detail. Not everyone can know everything, and sometimes it is really worth while getting into the picky detail so as to nail something to its chosen cross. This is a good case in point.<br /><br />This is also, in a more general observation, why I so admire Tim Printy's relentless (and remorseless) deconstruction of even seemingly minor UFO reports. His labours show just how much work is needed even to expose the dodgy foundations of the flimsiest claims. Would that we all had such dedication.<br /><br />—Peter BThe Duke of Mendozahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14335501899298333878noreply@blogger.com