Just Don’t Call Them UFOs

[tabibito]

I meant the general purpose of the site, based on it's name.

More seriousness happens here than in most Christian sites, this one caters to some very dedicated people's interest in theology. (Though even in the theology sections, the thread might temporarily derail to a discussion about arsonistic raptors or the relative merits of canola oil and rice-bran oil.) One benefit of the format here is that we don't wind up in echo chambers that don't seriously consider alternative viewpoints - though deriding alternative viewpoints does occur to the point of becoming vitriolic at times. Serious doctrinal discussion, yes - polite, no.

[Cow Poke]

Advice taken. I thought this was a uber-serious place to discuss theology.

There are, indeed, places on Tweb where that happens, but we get so many people showing up just to "do battle", and we have a lot of places here that are just for fun.

[Cow Poke]

And bacon. Some of which I had this morning.

[tabibito]

And bacon. Some of which I had this morning.

Some? My fridge had bacon in it earlier.

[Adrift]

Advice taken. I thought this was a uber-serious place to discuss theology.

Though it's always had a mean-spirited side promoted by certain posters (and permitted by the very lenient rules of the forum), this website used to be much more geared towards deeper discussions on theology. Over time, though, some of the resident scholars moved on, as did many of the more thoughtful skeptics, and then the website crashed and was down for awhile which meant a lot of regulars left. Within the last, I don't know (I've lost count) 6 years or so?, the website has moved much more towards discussion of politics rather than theology, mostly because the big theological questions have been debated endlessly and people had grown tired of the same arguments with people simply wanting to win the conversation rather than actually discussing the topics with respect and consideration. Also, a lot of people moved on because forums, in general, have become less popular with internet crowds now that there are places like Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook. I've done a lot of searching for other forums that are more theology based, and I just can't find any, or if I do, they're so small and insular that it's not worthwhile. So, maybe it's time that those who'd like to see more theology on Theologyweb start up discussion in those area. Start more threads in the right forums, and you're bound to attract someone to them. I've long thought that one of Theolgyweb's bigger issues with drawing new members is that there are just too many sub-forums. I know that when I go to a new forum and find dozens of sub-forums I find it kind of intimidating at first, because I'm not sure where to post. Also, most of the other sub-forums are nearly dead from inactivity. But that's just my 2 cents. For my own part, I'll try to start more threads on theology in places like Christianity 201.

[Cow Poke]

Though it's always had a mean-spirited side promoted by certain posters (and permitted by the very lenient rules of the forum), this website used to be much more geared towards deeper discussions on theology. Over time, though, some of the resident scholars moved on, as did many of the more thoughtful skeptics, and then the website crashed and was down for awhile which meant a lot of regulars left. Within the last, I don't know (I've lost count) 6 years or so?, the website has moved much more towards discussion of politics rather than theology, mostly because the big theological questions have been debated endlessly and people had grown tired of the same arguments with people simply wanting to win the conversation rather than actually discussing the topics with respect and consideration. Also, a lot of people moved on because forums, in general, have become less popular with internet crowds now that there are places like Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook. I've done a lot of searching for other forums that are more theology based, and I just can't find any, or if I do, they're so small and insular that it's not worthwhile. So, maybe it's time that those who'd like to see more theology on Theologyweb start up discussion in those area. Start more threads in the right forums, and you're bound to attract someone to them. I've long thought that one of Theolgyweb's bigger issues with drawing new members is that there are just too many sub-forums. I know that when I go to a new forum and find dozens of sub-forums I find it kind of intimidating at first, because I'm not sure where to post. Also, most of the other sub-forums are nearly dead from inactivity. But that's just my 2 cents. For my own part, I'll try to start more threads on theology in places like Christianity 201.

I think another factor with regard to politics is that religion has become pretty much politicized... abortion is almost exclusively a Democrat issue, along with gender fluidity... Pro-life has pretty much become a Republican issue, along with the concept of the nuclear family. We never talked "politics" in my home when I was growing up, but I do remember the time my Dad, who obviously had been a Democrat, announced that he was switching parties because "The Democrat Party has left me".

[rogue06]

Though it's always had a mean-spirited side promoted by certain posters (and permitted by the very lenient rules of the forum), this website used to be much more geared towards deeper discussions on theology. Over time, though, some of the resident scholars moved on, as did many of the more thoughtful skeptics, and then the website crashed and was down for awhile which meant a lot of regulars left. Within the last, I don't know (I've lost count) 6 years or so?, the website has moved much more towards discussion of politics rather than theology, mostly because the big theological questions have been debated endlessly and people had grown tired of the same arguments with people simply wanting to win the conversation rather than actually discussing the topics with respect and consideration. Also, a lot of people moved on because forums, in general, have become less popular with internet crowds now that there are places like Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook. I've done a lot of searching for other forums that are more theology based, and I just can't find any, or if I do, they're so small and insular that it's not worthwhile. So, maybe it's time that those who'd like to see more theology on Theologyweb start up discussion in those area. Start more threads in the right forums, and you're bound to attract someone to them. I've long thought that one of Theolgyweb's bigger issues with drawing new members is that there are just too many sub-forums. I know that when I go to a new forum and find dozens of sub-forums I find it kind of intimidating at first, because I'm not sure where to post. Also, most of the other sub-forums are nearly dead from inactivity. But that's just my 2 cents. For my own part, I'll try to start more threads on theology in places like Christianity 201.

The really big shift toward politics took place after the 2016 election.

[Sparko]

Though it's always had a mean-spirited side promoted by certain posters (and permitted by the very lenient rules of the forum), this website used to be much more geared towards deeper discussions on theology. Over time, though, some of the resident scholars moved on, as did many of the more thoughtful skeptics, and then the website crashed and was down for awhile which meant a lot of regulars left. Within the last, I don't know (I've lost count) 6 years or so?, the website has moved much more towards discussion of politics rather than theology, mostly because the big theological questions have been debated endlessly and people had grown tired of the same arguments with people simply wanting to win the conversation rather than actually discussing the topics with respect and consideration. Also, a lot of people moved on because forums, in general, have become less popular with internet crowds now that there are places like Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook. I've done a lot of searching for other forums that are more theology based, and I just can't find any, or if I do, they're so small and insular that it's not worthwhile. So, maybe it's time that those who'd like to see more theology on Theologyweb start up discussion in those area. Start more threads in the right forums, and you're bound to attract someone to them. I've long thought that one of Theolgyweb's bigger issues with drawing new members is that there are just too many sub-forums. I know that when I go to a new forum and find dozens of sub-forums I find it kind of intimidating at first, because I'm not sure where to post. Also, most of the other sub-forums are nearly dead from inactivity. But that's just my 2 cents. For my own part, I'll try to start more threads on theology in places like Christianity 201.

Part of the problem is that we need to update the software and it is taking longer than expected. Raphael got busy with some real life stuff and had to put it on hold. Hopefully we will get the new site up and running within a year. Once that happens I plan on doing some serious marketing to try to get more theologically geared members to join up or return. Right now though, the current software is full of bugs, with posts hanging, attachments acting up, etc. If we drew in more serous or professional people, they would probably just leave again, frustrated.

So to those of you who are still here, please bear with us until we can get the new site running.

[Cow Poke]

‘Wow, what is that?’ Navy pilots report unexplained flying objects


Back on Topic -- And so it continues...

WASHINGTON — The strange objects, one of them like a spinning top moving against the wind, appeared almost daily from the summer of 2014 to March 2015, high in the skies over the East coast. Navy pilots reported to their superiors that the objects had no visible engine or infrared exhaust plumes but that they could reach 30,000 feet and hypersonic speeds.

“These things would be out there all day,” said Lieutenant Ryan Graves, an F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot who has been with the Navy for 10 years and who reported his sightings to the Pentagon and Congress. “Keeping an aircraft in the air requires a significant amount of energy. With the speeds we observed, 12 hours in the air is 11 hours longer than we’d expect.”

In late 2014, a Super Hornet pilot had a near collision with one of the objects, and an official mishap report was filed. Some of the incidents were captured on video, including one taken by a plane’s camera in early 2015 that shows an object zooming over the ocean waves as pilots question what they are watching.

“Wow, what is that, man?” one exclaims. “Look at it fly!”

[Sparko]

‘Wow, what is that?’ Navy pilots report unexplained flying objects


Back on Topic -- And so it continues...

WASHINGTON — The strange objects, one of them like a spinning top moving against the wind, appeared almost daily from the summer of 2014 to March 2015, high in the skies over the East coast. Navy pilots reported to their superiors that the objects had no visible engine or infrared exhaust plumes but that they could reach 30,000 feet and hypersonic speeds.

“These things would be out there all day,” said Lieutenant Ryan Graves, an F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot who has been with the Navy for 10 years and who reported his sightings to the Pentagon and Congress. “Keeping an aircraft in the air requires a significant amount of energy. With the speeds we observed, 12 hours in the air is 11 hours longer than we’d expect.”

In late 2014, a Super Hornet pilot had a near collision with one of the objects, and an official mishap report was filed. Some of the incidents were captured on video, including one taken by a plane’s camera in early 2015 that shows an object zooming over the ocean waves as pilots question what they are watching.

“Wow, what is that, man?” one exclaims. “Look at it fly!”

So where are these videos? Or photos? You can't tell me that if they were appearing every day that some pilots didn't take some photos with their phone or a camera?

[Cow Poke]

So where are these videos? Or photos? You can't tell me that if they were appearing every day that some pilots didn't take some photos with their phone or a camera?

I keep finding videos - like a tease - that instantly get the paywall messages over them, and they want me to enroll or pay.

See if you can find THIS ONE.

[Sparko]

I keep finding videos - like a tease - that instantly get the paywall messages over them, and they want me to enroll or pay.

See if you can find THIS ONE.

I am sorry but in this digital age of HD video, I think they can come up with something better than a blurry black and white video. Especially, if as they say, the same UFO was appearing every day. They could have planned a mission to capture as much as possible in as much detail as possible. Heck just a pilot using an iphone would be better than that video.


Another thing about that video, the object sits square in the center of the video and doesn't shimmer or move off center at all. I think that would be impossible for two moving objects (the plane and the UFO)

[rogue06]

This one from ABC7 New York includes a video at multiple points but it's a blurry black and white video

[Sparko]

This one from ABC7 New York includes a video at multiple points but it's a blurry black and white video

I dont see any video on that page, just an article.

But I don't trust any blurry black and white video in this day and age.

[rogue06]

I dont see any video on that page, just an article.

But I don't trust any blurry black and white video in this day and age.

It takes a few seconds for the video to appear at the top of the story