THE BLOB

Two shots from Gavrilo Princip’s gun in Sarajevo ignited the fires that drew Europe toward World War I.

 Lee Harvey Oswald’s bullet killed John Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, and perhaps that act served to extend the Viet Nam War.

Senator John McCain’s “NO” vote, to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act, saved health care for millions of people.

Senator Joe Manchin’s “NO” votes will further many attempts to disenfranchise minorities of their voting rights, and serve to block President Biden’s plans to improve the lives of our citizens.

It is hard to understand that the act of one person can change the course of history. That is why it is so appealing to believe in conspiracy theories. It is much easier to believe that it takes more than one person to get us into a mess— or get us out of one.

For many folks, it is also terrifying to believe that we, the people on Planet Earth, are the only viable life in the Universe. Surely, this can’t be as good as it gets!  In 1952, there were reports that “flying saucers” were seen on radar “swarming our Capitol.” In 2021 insurrectionists swarmed the US Capitol. In 1952 TV owners reported their TVs were acting “wacky.”  In 2021 people were acting wacky. In 1952 senior military officials blamed the weather. In 2021 some politicians blamed over enthusiastic tourists. So what should we believe?

I’m not sure if some folks in Mississippi are still making home-brewed rot gut, but should we  really believe the men who claimed they were abducted by aliens? And, they are not talking about undocumented men coming in from Mexico.  It makes no sense.  Why would extraterrestrials pick up some yahoos from Mississippi when they could hit the jackpot in Las Vegas?

So, now, in 2021, as if we didn’t have enough to worry about, Senator Marco Rubio told the reporter on 60 MINUTES, “There’s a stigma on Capitol Hill” (as if we didn’t know) but he was talking about the resurrected subject of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects).

It is so much easier to distract people with fuzzy photos of blobs in the sky than recognize the attempts of unethical people who are attempting to upend  our fragile democracy. Consequently, under pressure the US Government is once more taking a hard look at unidentified flying objects, and the forthcoming report will find that they have “found no extraterrestrial link to the sightings reported or captured on video.” However, realistically, they won’t rule out a link to another country causing mischief.  Yes!  It just might be a real problem from our neighbors on Earth.

To paraphrase science historian, Michael Sherman, editor of  SKEPTIC MAGAZINE, “Several billion people worldwide have smartphones that take crisp images, and satellites precisely render detail on the ground. Show me those pictures.”  So far, in most cases, all the mysterious sightings have been disproven under examination.

Also, I remember in years past, an insurance company insured actress Betty Grable’s legs for a $million. I don’t know if any insurance company on Earth will cover an alien abduction—even in Mississippi.

Esther Blumenfeld