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Originally Posted by Skeptical
Regarding the "dangers" of UFOlogy, I think the vast majority of these are purely in the eye of the beholder. Now I do think there was some danger back in the day of running afoul of Phil Klass. His mean-spirited campaign against James MacDonald was almost certainly a contributing factor in MacDonald's suicide.
As for claims of being pursued by MIBs and such, it is more likely that some UFOlogists are being stalked by the phenomenon's fringe human element. As we ourselves have seen, some "unusual" personalities are attracted to UFOs. Such people may stalk a UFOlogist in much the same way TV and movie stars are pursued by delusional fans.
The biggest danger of showing any serious interest in UFOlogy is that your friends and family will consider you to be a little goofy. For example, several years ago, I asked a Canadian friend to record one of Paul Kimball's documentaries off of Canadian TV. The guy has chided me about it ever since. Oh well, I still kid him about hockey pucks and Moosehead beer too. 
S |
I think you are right Skep in that the dangers lie more with the mental attitudes and how people get caught up in things. John Keel talked about this in several of his books but he was never really hurt by anything though he claimed the 'malevolent' aspects of the phenomena involved did hurt a few others but he was never specific about this and only referred to the bridge collapse in Silver Springs (The Mothman prophecies) which he claimed was 'foretold' by these entities.
Those that have been hurt or damaged seem to have brought this on themselves by falling down the rabbit hole of belief in marginal areas.
I know I have mentioned this book many times but The Trickster by Hansen is an excellent look into this whole area.