Articles and Novels

UFO Aliens — to Be or Not to Be

By Sydney Setterlund, June 26, 2021 ©

Zombies may not be real, but it’s starting to look like UFOs are. That statement sounds ridiculous, and most are dubious, but both military and airline pilots have reported seeing unidentified flying objects in the sky that have not been explained. On November 9, 2018, multiple pilots called in sightings of a UFO off the coast of Ireland. British Airways pilot and crew saw bright lights streaking through the air at phenomenal speed — two times the speed of sound.

There’s also the question of Area 51. In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower initiated the Area 51 program. The “advanced aviation threat identification program was designed for the government investigations into UFOs in the 1950s and ‘60s.” The Pentagon recently confirmed a $22 million government program to collect and analyze “anomalous aerospace threats,” government-speak for UFOs.

Last year in Kimberly, Australia, the 5000-year-old Aboriginal cave paintings of the “Wandjina” were found. The Wandjina are “cloud spirits” or “sky beings” according to the lore of the Aboriginals. These “mythological beings” are associated with the creation of the world. The paintings are a classic representation of “Mr. Grey” — the big-eyed, round head, slight-body being that many have reported experiences of encountering.

Dr. Carl Sagan of Cornell University has long argued that intelligent life probably exists elsewhere in the universe. It’s not out of the question that there is more than what we think we know. It’s hard to imagine there may be more beings out there; they could be dangerous to our way of life. Or they could be friendly and helpful, perhaps bringing the cure for cancer or the revelation of what comes after.

It must be asked: Why haven’t the aliens been in contact with us? The government has reported 140 UFO sightings by military pilots. Yet, they never land — that we know of, that is. Perhaps they’ve been watching us for 5000 years and just don’t like what they’ve seen. They already know we’re barbaric, and they are probably avoiding us just like we avoid people we’d rather not spend time with. Maybe they’re just too intelligent to come down to our level.

So, what’s the answer? Some will say, there’s no clear answer, and we’ll never know. Others say there are aliens walking among us. The Aboriginals believe the Wandjina created the world and were here before we even came along. Perhaps we are the aliens, original Wandjina who still walk the earth. Unlikely that it will be solved in our lifetimes, as it is one of the greatest questions in the universe.

Manic Memory

Posted in Thoughts of Naught on January 12, 2011| by Sydney Setterlund ©

Would you want to remember all the details of your life, including the worst of times? More so than eidetic or photographic memory, “hyperthymestic syndrome” (academic Greek for exceptional memory), is when the memory of one’s own past is so abnormally intricate and precise. According to a segment on 60 Minutes, only six people in the world are known to have this total recall. Name a date, and any one of them can tell you what day of the week it was and exactly what they did on that day, what the weather was, and what large events (or events of interest to them) happened in the news. Of course, it all depends on if they experienced the news that day, or if there were events so extreme that it would have been unusual for them to have missed it.

While the memories of personal history are retained in totality, the memory of ordinary things is not. When asked to repeat a list of words spoken to her in a predetermined order, a test subject missed many and substituted words that hadn’t been mentioned. Amazingly, though, she can recall everything she’s ever done on a day-to-day basis.

Of the six people known to have hyperthymestic syndrome, all show serious signs of OCD. One test subject had 50,000 pages of diary entries, which it’s thought that must have assisted with the memory retention. Psychologists call it “elaborative encoding,” when every time we think of something and especially how it relates to something else, we get better at remembering it. Apparently, this woman spent the majority of her life reflecting on the past, constructing timelines and lists and making connections from a current date to the same date of the previous year. According to Gary Marcus, Cognitive Psychologist at NYU, this is the OCD of memories. “The truth is, most people could remember their lives in considerable detail if they contemplated them with the same manic intensity.”

I find hyperthymestic syndrome fascinating; however, I lean more toward wanting to forget than to remember. I like that my memories are softened with time, seemingly happier than reality would suggest. I like remembering the best of times and forgetting the worst. I see no reason to develop super-memory, although I would like to remember everyone’s names and what I was told yesterday. I’m sure there’s a happy balance in there somewhere.

A Few Fun Facts of Animal Anomalies

Posted in Thoughts of Naught April 22, 2011 | by Sydney Setterlund ©

I saw somewhere that snakes can see through their eyelids, and they never stop growing, which is why they need to shed their skin. This made me curious about other animal anomalies and oddities. I did a bit of research and came up with the following facts.

In Switzerland, twenty-eight cows leapt off a cliff over a three-day span. There is no known cause for this action. In Jatinga, India, hundreds of birds from several different species dive to the ground to commit suicide every year. It is believed by Indian scientists that atmospheric conditions in Jatinga confuse the birds, which causes them to lose their sense of direction and fly straight down, crashing into the ground.

Another interesting fact was discovered when scientists viewed aerial photos of cows grazing. Curiously, all of the cows faced the same direction when eating, either north or south. It is believed that it has something to do with the earth’s magnetic field, which the cows are able to detect. Why they face the magnetic pull when eating is anyone’s guess.

Most animals (and toads) have the ability to predict earthquakes. Some can know of an imminent earthquake even a week in advance; the animals will evacuate the area where the earthquake eventually hits. Some other interesting facts about animals are that beavers can hold their breath for forty-five minutes underwater, and a hippopotamus can stay underwater for thirty minutes. Polar bears are left-handed, and a crocodile cannot stick out its tongue. Flamingos eat with their heads upside down in order to strain the water out of their food. They are pink because their main source of food is shrimp. The huge rock python of Africa is known for eating whole crocodiles and even children.

Finally, and maybe most interesting, is the turritopsis nutricula, a jellyfish that is essentially immortal. It reaches adulthood and then transforms back into infancy and begins its life again. Old age cannot kill it, although it is still susceptible to disease and fatal injuries.

Camping Out

Posted in Thoughts of Naught on May 27, 2011| by Sydney Setterlund ©

I wasn’t too concerned when Harold Camping predicted the end of the world on May 21, 2011. In his prediction, Camping said 200 million Christians would ascend to heaven, and the rest of us, well, we’d be SOL. When the day came and went without any apocalyptic action, Camping apologized for not having the date “worked out as accurately as I could have.”

Now, this is not the first time Camping has predicted the end of the world as we know it (and, apparently, it’s not to be the last). He previously predicted the Apocalypse would come in 1994 but later said his math was wrong. This is a man who has a major math malfunction.

According to Camping, instead of the rapture, May 21^st turned out to be “a spiritual judgment day, which places the entire world under Christ’s judgment.” He explained that he had, once again, made an error in his calculations—a five-month discrepancy. So he corrected his math and rescheduled the Apocalypse, proclaiming the planet would cease to exist on October 21, 2011. Not surprisingly, Camping did not give away his vast fortune or possessions before May 21^st in anticipation of the rapture, as so many of his followers did.

As much as I refuse to take these predictions seriously, I’m beginning to get annoyed. Too many followers do take the apocalyptic predictions seriously, and they keep wiping out their finances in order to be prepared for the rapture. Camping is taking advantage of their faith and reaping the monetary benefits.

I’m tired of this man leading the pack and getting news coverage to do it. It’s about time we ALL wised up and removed the guy from our radar. Believe me, the man is a KOOK who doesn’t have a clue about much of anything. Save your money for something really important like dental work or car maintenance. You’ll need that while you’re here.

Memories in Autumn

Posted in Thoughts of Naught on October 8, 2010| by Sydney Setterlund ©

I have flashbacks of the trip to the hospital. I have no memory of three weeks in a coma, but I can remember that ride specifically and in minute detail. I remember the smell, just after a rain, muddy and wet in the forest. It was the smell of earth and dirt, woods and harvests, dead leaves and falling walnuts. I remember the smell was pungent, lingering in my throat, almost as though I could taste it.

I remember the noise of an off-road motorcycle, whining through the trees. Every time I hear that noise now, I’m transported back in time. I remember the color; it was autumn. The photos in my mind during the autumn months are softened by the general lighting of the season.

I remember the grey of the road, the lane breakers coming at me, one by one, flashing along. I remember the sight of horses in a corralled field, slowly foraging for food. Everything looked surreal. I remember the urgency and purpose of our trip seemed so extreme in comparison to the slowness of our surroundings.

I have no memory of the three weeks that followed, but I can recall the ride to the moment. I’m told I was delirious that day, and yet I have such vivid memories. It’s strange to me what my mind retains and what it cuts loose. There are unimportant moments that are stuck in my brain, simply fodder for flashbacks.

Why Beavers Build Dams

Why do beavers build dams? That’s just one of the many questions that pester me, so I made it my business to find out. Most articles will tell you that beavers build dams to create a body of water that is relatively safe for the beaver family. Since they are good swimmers, the deeper water allows them more protection against predators.

While that may be true, I found another study that determined a different reason. It’s well known that beavers pick the narrowest part of a stream to build their dams and that beavers living in ponds, lakes and along rivers don’t even build dams. But why is that?

For the study, researchers captured dam-building beavers and let them loose in different environments. Burrowing into the bank and setting up housekeeping seemed to be it for those released in ponds, lakes and rivers. Those released along streams, however, found the narrowest part of the stream and proceeded to build dams.

The researchers got to thinking. They set up tape recorders along the streams, lakes, ponds and rivers. The tape recorders played the sound of water rushing over gravel and rocks. In all cases, the beavers covered the speakers with sticks, gravel and mud, silencing the noise. The beavers covered the speakers until they could no longer hear the sound of rushing water. The researchers concluded that this solved the case of why beavers build dams and why they always pick the narrowest and noisiest part of the stream. They hate the sound of rushing water and build dams to cover up the noise. “Beavers build dams because they like peace and quiet.”

NOVELS:

I’ve written five novels, three of which I self-published through Amazon. Click on the underlined title of the book to hyperlink to Amazon.

In What Happened to Robbie Tibbons, Sally and Lyddy are thirteen-year-old cousins, one white, one half-black, growing up in a changing era. This is the story of their summer together in 1973 when a boy changes their lives forever. It’s about doing what’s right versus doing what’s best for yourself. It’s two girls, struggling over a secret that could do them in. The review in The Lost Coast Outpost can be found on Amazon.

In Darkness tells the story of Dean Thompson who has a great life. He has terrific friends, a nice girlfriend, a job he loves and enough money to feel comfortable. He loves surfing, running with his dog and playing basketball with his buddies. He’s sittin’ pretty. But, everything must change. This is the story of how Dean attempts to cope when his life is seriously threatened. What happens affects his work, his friendships, his life.

Sam Dooley, PI is an ex-military, ex-police detective, present-day private investigator who does most of his work with a bourbon buzz on. It helps break the monotony of his days of following husbands and wives who are screwing around on each other. His friend, Dom, calls with the news that he’s incarcerated awaiting trial on a rape and murder charge. On top of that, his sister and her two young children were just killed by a hit and run driver, and Dom wants someone to pay. Sam knows he has to help. During the investigation, Sam meets Jane, who knows a lot more than she’s telling. She could be the key to finding answers, but she could also be a complication Sam wasn’t counting on.