Is Bill Birnes an Idiot?

[Cosmic Ejaculator 1814]

Having just watched the most recent Larry King episode on Ufo's,one question popped into my head: - Is Bill Birnes an Idiot?
The show started of promising,with James Fox,a couple of MUFON guys and several credible Ufo witnesses doing a good job debating Seth Shostak,from SETI.They all came of as intelligent and serious.
Then they had too bring on the predictable Nutcase at the end...
It was Bill Birnes and the "UFO HUNTERS" time too shine!
All he did was undermine everything that had been said up too that point;with stories of Alien Artifacts,The(infamous)Philadelphia Experiment,Ufo's as Us from the future and the obligatory Roswell "crash"..

It's people like Birnes who do the most harm too the Ufo field today,I think.
They're only after the sensational stories and MONEY(The Day After Roswell)...

[Brian Now]

I wish I could find that video online somewhere. I've looked but can't find it.
I don't know much about Bill Birnes except what I know from the Paracast of course. I do know that he co-authored that book with one of the greatest purveyors of ignorance today, George Noory.
In my eyes, it's hard to redeem yourself of that sin.

[CapnG]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Ejaculator 1814

It's people like Birnes who do the most harm too the Ufo field today,I think.

Really... you're gonna put Birnes on the same level as Peckman? As Greer? As Horn? Please. Bill maybe somewhat enthusiastic about the topic but at least he has the temerity to point out when something is unknown or merely theoretical. And he is, after all, a businessman. He's not trying to be sneaky about it like certain other shills...

The people who make these absolute pronouncements about the UFO enigma, those are the people doing real damage to the field.

[Cosmic Ejaculator 1814]

The show is on www.youtube.com .Just type in "Stephenville UFO Larry King CNN".
There are 4 parts...

[Daedalus]

I don't think Birnes is an idiot. I do, however, feel that he is pretty self serving and I dont think he holds UFO truth above all else. Like CapnG said he is a business man and I think that perhaps his comments on Larry King Live was meant to entice interested viewers to go to the UFO Hunters website (I like his hat, lol) and drum up some viewership. I mean he said they have ALIEN ARTIFACTS! Thats cold hard proof that alot of people want. My $0.02

[Cosmic Ejaculator 1814]

He should use his business skills;patent the alien artifact and make a killing in the alien artifact marked!

[Miah]

I fell asleep last night before it was over, so I missed that part til just now, and HOLY CRAP! I was headed here to post about it myself, but see I was not the first or only one.

Start at 3:30ish on this file, and then again at 5min in:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bXv13TnTsEk

Bill just threw poop on the show that was otherwise going great!

Idiot indeed.

[Brian Now]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Ejaculator 1814

The show is on www.youtube.com .Just type in "Stephenville UFO Larry King CNN".
There are 4 parts...

Thanks! I wasn't using the right keywords originally. Ok, I have just finished watching the show. Birnes is a little towards the flashy side obviously, but I wouldn't say he was an idiot based on the interview.
However, when you say you are testing a possible "alien artifact" and results will come out "soon" you might as well tatoo 'idiot' on your forehead! Heheh. When the results come back they will be "inconclusive" at best, but Birnes probably won't breathe a word about the failure...despite having told millions of people about the tests.

My thought is you shouldn't bring up the testing of any sort of artifact in this field until said testing is complete.

[TClaeys]

Maybe the word "Idiot" is not really what we should be talking about here. Is Greer an idiot?? Is he someone who can convince people to give him money?? YES Is Bill Birnes of the same cloth, a self interested shameless promoter of everything UFO?? YES.

I'm only comparing Birnes on the level that he is not an idiot and neither is Greer. Greer may be completely deluded or a liar or both, but not an idiot. Birnes, on the other hand, has a mouth to feed from this topic and it is to his advantage to have everyone subscribe to UFO Mag and watch his ridiculous UFO Hunters show. This is completely regardless of the truth. He, IMO, is not interested in the truth. In fact the truth may be the worst thing for him. He is interested in convincing people that there is an enigma. The enigma sells, or so he hopes. In that regard it is in his best interest to try and sell and market this enigma in hopes of money.

Either way, as I see it, he doesn't do anything neccessarily good for ufology. Marketing an enigma doesn't get us any closer to the truth of it, which is what I'm looking for. But apparently, or seemingly apparently, his light speed gibberish seems to be effective. I don't like listening to him at all. He is transparent in his approach and certainly muddies any serious dialog in the pursuit of answers.

[Gil Bavel]

I think Bill Birnes did a really good job of not blinking a lot considering he looks like he has some kind of nervous tick when you watch the show... an excellent job, actually.

And, for the most part, he came across as credible. Also, he was directly asked a question about alien artifacts... on talk shows, usually that means a guest wants to discuss it... so, maybe he really has something. I don't think somebody of his stature (read: with that much to lose) would just dangle that out there by itself for the fun of it.

But, I've been wrong before...

I mean, he's got a demographic he's pitching to... not just the UFO Magazine/UFO Hunters audience (which includes me, in the interest of "full disclosure"), but as a bone fide UFO expert (certainly a lot more than Peckman, Horn or any of those other aforementioned idiots), he has both an obligation to be as honest as possible, and to keep us on the hook.

As was mentioned in the Paracast not too long ago, the UFO topic is littered with entertainers as well as journalists, researchers, investigators, and those just looking to get at the truth.

To a degree, especially when you helm a TV show like UFO Hunters, you have to be entertaining, to keep people interested.

Maybe he's got a rivet from the Kecksburg Acorn, and doesn't want to alert the MIB just yet...