UFO's! What the hell?

[wootapotky]

Now I don't believe in UFOs but this is just strange. This guy in Las Vegas claims that he can summon UFO's on command. Here's the link to the news stroy.

http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2...edia/1117987600/UFOs_do_they_exist&frame=true

Now this is making me confused. If this guy can really do this, even if it isn't UFO's it's still something strange going on. I don't know if it's a magic trick or just the news station playing a trick on it's viewers but deep down I hope it's real. I hate this kind of stuff because it always ends up being something stupid but this would be awesome if it's real.

Edit: just read through the comments on the video and one guy offered up a guess maybe that he's got another guy a way's a way that releases helium balloons up into the air and the pages the dude when it gets close to being seen so that the dude can pray before it appears. I have no idea if this could be true because I don't know if helium balloons could do that.

 

[Deep Dish]

I gladly burst your bubble. This guy is nothing new and he's up to the same tired old tricks.

From www.randi.org:

ANOTHER BORING CLAIM

Some of you have inquired about a very noisy man who has taken the "scam name" of "Prophet Yahweh." He was originally Ramon Orestege Watkins of Las Vegas via Los Angeles, a 52-year-old man who has promised to make "UFOs" appear in the skies over LV. We've been asked by readers whether his claim is eligible for the [James Randi Educational Foundation $1 Million Paranormal Challenge] prize, and of course the answer is, yes. He was recently a novelty item on one local TV show there, and the commentator was flabbergasted when a tiny white spot floated by in the sky. I have to wonder if a mediocre card trick would give that journalist an attack of the vapors, or even worse.

I'm not about to spend a lot of my valuable time on Mr. Yahweh, whose record in general indicates that he's a full-blown con artist. Suffice it to say that he has formally made application for the prize, and as soon as we go through the usual efforts to get him to actually read the rules and follow them, we'll answer him appropriately.

Understand that these would-be media stars will do anything to get some TV or newspaper coverage, and flailing about with the JREF is one way they hope to achieve that goal; we're not about to give "Prophet" any such advantage. His application arrived here with a long list of conditions he insists on. He signed the form as "Yahweh," rather than with his original name, but said he'd provide us with documentation of his name-change. And, sure enough, some paper arrived showing that on June 1st, 2000, the Los Angeles Superior Court granted him a name-change to Prophet Yahweh! I wonder if I could get my name changed in Los Angeles to "Wizard Harry Potter," or maybe "Almighty God," if I asked....?

You know, if I were an aspiring con artist who wanted to get a UFO passing by for the credulous media, I'd go to a party-supply store and invest in a small helium tank and several white balloons. I'd have a confederate stationed up-wind, available by cell phone, and prepared to release a balloon or two on cue. Gee, that's a good plan, don'tcha think...? Of course, I'd have to insist that my UFO would appear at a specific site, so the balloon-man would know where to be situated. Oh, I just noticed: in his application, Mr. Yahweh specifies that he

"...will conduct [his] summonings only at [his] summoning site."

Hmmmm.

Yes, we're prepared to test Mr. Yahweh's claim, under proper conditions, with any possibility of cheap trickery properly blocked. As soon, that is, as he gets around to figuring out how to fill out the application. Instructed by the rules to provide two short paragraphs, he gave us 825 words in 71 paragraphs.... Along with the conditions he demanded, he mentioned that he was

"...in direct telephatic [sic] contact with [his] space being friends."

and that they

"...have revealed that they will send UFOs, within a four day period of [his] asking for them to appear, on [his] cue until July 15th."

I think you can see just how fuzzy these terms are. In any case, we'll keep you informed.... At this present time, the plan is to test his claim at The Amaz!ng Meeting 4, in January [2006]. However, that date prompted Mr. Yahweh to warn us that by that time, the attention of the whole world would probably already be upon him, and we'd have lost the opportunity of being the first to extol his abilities. I courageously answered him, "We'll take that risk."

As one reader commented, this man Yahweh could escalate his nonsense into another "Heavens Gate/Hale-Bopp Comet" tragedy or a Sai Baba type of movement that uses religion and trickery to get people to give him money and fame, and to follow him as a leader...

 

[Skilla_Staz]

looked lame to me...

I'm sure a UFO would be larger..although the object did move realitively smoothly.

 

[wootapotky]

I hate this kind of stuff because it always ends up being something stupid

Dammit. I knew it. Now that I see it again it really does look exactly like a balloon. And it does look lame now.

And Skilla i know a UFO would be larger if it was up closer. Planes don't really look big when they're up high in the sky.

Be awesome if it was real though. Dumbass attention ***** con artists.

 

[Skilla_Staz]

I would love to see something like this be real...

THey're out there, I just don't think they're anywhere near here.

I mean if you think about it, billions of galaxies, with billions of stars each...with planet possibilities on many of them. The odds are too great for there NOT to be life somewhere out there.

 

[Precursor]

Yo man the only images we have of UFO's are those of the media. So we don't know if it would be "larger", or even "round". can be any literally any shape or size, and its existance is even debatable (i believe other life forms exists outside the milkyway)

 

[ValleyDJing]

You know, the news guy did say that they chose the time and place of the deal. Its not like the dude could have called someone up and been like yeah can you be here in 2 minutes to do our balloon trick? Unless the news was in on it. I wouldn't put it past em...they can only run the "the war in Iraq is going ****ty" story about 2 million times.

 

[Deep Dish]

You guys are easily fooled.

"We picked the day. We picked the time. We picked the location".... in advance. They did not spontaneously meet up, patted him down for electronics and then took him to a remote location, but rather he was told ahead of time where to show up.

 

[eminence]

yeah deep dish, that is true, but nothing you said in your original post quoted from that site really had any relevance to whether he's fake or not. For all i'm concerned those are just words from another website looking to drive in traffic. Definately not balloons though, it wouldnt move as smooth, or come back to them. Also a balloon would not be that large, because if they saw it...and it was infact a balloon, the reporter would have be close enough to be able to distinguish that it is a balloon. However, this doesn't make it a UFO.

 

[Deep Dish]

yeah deep dish, that is true, but nothing you said in your original post quoted from that site really had any relevance to whether he's fake or not. For all i'm concerned those are just words from another website looking to drive in traffic. Definately not balloons though, it wouldnt move as smooth, or come back to them. Also a balloon would not be that large, because if they saw it...and it was infact a balloon, the reporter would have be close enough to be able to distinguish that it is a balloon. However, this doesn't make it a UFO.

Many have also claimed that the objects seen in the KTNV news segment do not exhibit the movements or characteristics of balloons, but such movements can be duplicated by tethering the balloon with lightweight string and towing it with a vehicle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophet_Yahweh

Furthermore, weather balloons are large.